Marriage Hits a Record Low

In the United States, marriages fell to a record low in 2009, with 52 percent of adults 18 and over saying they were joined in wedlock, compared to 57 percent in 2000.

The never-married included 46.3 percent of young adults 25-34, with sharp increases in single people in cities in the Midwest and Southwest, including Cleveland, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Albuquerque. It was the first time the share of unmarried young adults exceeded those who were married.

Marriages have been declining for years due to rising divorce, more unmarried couples living together, and increased job prospects for women. But sociologists say younger people are also now increasingly choosing to delay marriage as they struggle to find work and resist making long-term commitments.

Web Tracking Products

It is a good idea to monitor your children as they use computers and the internet. It isn't spying, especially if you tell your children that they are being monitored. Everyone should have accountability on a computer or cell phone, not just children. Being able to see where children have been and what they have been doing in a potentially very dangerous online environment, can be very helpful in keeping children safe and teaching them how to be responsible online.

Here are 4 different monitors with descriptions. Each work differently and monitor different levels.

Check out www.commonsensmedia.org for more on monitoring your children online.

AOL SafeSocial; $9.99/mo
What parents need to know: 30-day free trial offer; doesn't require kid's email passwords, but kids have to connect you to their social networks; toll-free help covers product support only, not guidance on handling specific social networking problems.
Best for: Newbies. AOL provides a lot of set-up guidance to new users, and the product is marketed as a tool parents and kids can use in partnership.

SafetyWeb; $10/mo; $100/year
What parents need to know: Requires only child's email address (not passwords); logs cell phone calls and texts; robust website links parents to helpful resources; Toll-free help and email support to help parents solve problems; no free trial offer (free first search only).
Best for: Families with older kids. This product stresses the importance of managing your kid's online reputation.

SocialShield; $10/mo; $96/year
What parents need to know: 30-day free trial offer; requires you to either log-in as your kid (with their password) or requires them to connect you to every social network they use; email support offers guidance on handling social networking problems; company website isn't well-maintained.
Best for: Facebook users. Although it checks other social networks, SocialShield started as a Facebook monitor.

WebWatcher; $97
What parents need to know: 7-day toll-free support; monitors computer use only; doesn't monitor social networks but records all of your kid's conversations; PC only.
Best for: Parents who think their kid may be at risk for serious issues like suicide, cyberbullying, or questionable relationships.

Pentagon reverserses decision and will investigate child pornography viewed by Dept of Defense employees

In a reversal, the Pentagon says it will reopen hundreds of cases of alleged purchases of child pornographyby Department of Defense employees that Pentagon officials previously declined to investigate, The Upshot has learned.

Earlier this month, The Upshot reported exclusively that in 2007, investigators for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service obtained a list of 264 military service members, civilian employees and contractors for the Department of Defense who had used credit cards or PayPal to purchase access to a child pornography website. But the DCIS, citing scarce resources, pursued only 52 of the names before closing the project -- known as Project Flicker -- in 2008. Since no further public information on the cases was made available, it appears that the other people on the list of suspected child-pornography patrons were able to continue their careers without any interruption that stemmed from the investigation.

But today, the Pentagon official in charge of DCIS told The Upshot that he has ordered the remaining cases reopened. "I have tasked Defense Criminal Investigative Service representatives with reviewing each and every Project Flicker and related referral DCIS received so as to ensure action was taken regarding these allegations involving employees of the Department of Defense," Deputy Inspector General for Investigations James Burch said in the statement Wednesday.

Burch announced his decision to revisit the cases, which had been abandoned for two years, in response to inquiries from The Upshot.

Dr. Hilton on Pornography Addiction and the Brain

Mesa Police Implement OffenderWatch to help keep Children Safe

The OffenderWatch database will enable citizens anywhere in the City to view maps and register for notifications concerning offenders that live in areas that are of interest to the viewer. These notifications will be sent to the citizen via their e-mail address. They will be alerted if an offender should register an address within the preferred radius of the citizen's registered address. They can also be notified if a specific offender moves from his or her present address. Citizens may register as many addresses as they like, at no cost to them. These addresses can include homes, work addresses, parks, playgrounds, bus stops, etc.. The purpose of the program is to promote sex offender awareness by proactively alerting the citizens of Mesa should an offender move within close proximity to them.

Citizens can access the Mesa Police Department OffenderWatch Community Web Page 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the Mesa Police Department's web site athttp://www.mesaaz.gov/police.

Pentagon declined to investigate hundreds of purchases of child pornography

A 2006 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into the purchase of child pornography online turned up more than 250 civilian and military employees of the Defense Department -- including some with the highest available security clearance -- who used credit cards or PayPal to purchase images of children in sexual situations. But the Pentagon investigated only a handful of the cases, Defense Department records show.

The cases turned up during a 2006 ICE inquiry, called Project Flicker, which targeted overseas processing of child-porn payments. As part of the probe, ICE investigators gained access to the names and credit card information of more than 5,000 Americans who had subscribed to websites offering images of child pornography. Many of those individuals provided military email addresses or physical addresses with Army or fleet ZIP codes when they purchased the subscriptions.

In a related inquiry, the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) cross-checked the ICE list against military databases to come up with a list of Defense employees and contractors who appeared to be guilty of purchasing child pornography. The names included staffers for the secretary of defense, contractors for the ultra-secretive National Security Agency, and a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But the DCIS opened investigations into only 20 percent of the individuals identified, and succeeded in prosecuting just a handful.

The Boston Globe first reported the Pentagon's role in Project Flicker in July, citing DCIS investigative reports (PDF) showing that at least 30 Defense Department employees were investigated.

But new Project Flicker investigative reports obtained by The Upshot through the Freedom of Information Act,which you can read here, show that DCIS investigators identified 264 Defense employees or contractors who had purchased child pornography online. Astonishingly, nine of those had "Top Secret Sensitive Compartmentalized Information" security clearances, meaning they had access to the nation's most sensitive secrets. All told, 76 of the individuals had Secret or higher clearances. But DCIS investigated only 52 of the suspects, and just 10 were ever charged with viewing or purchasing child pornography. Without greater public disclosure of how these cases wound down, it's impossible to know how or whether any of the names listed in the Project Flicker papers came in for additional scrutiny. It's conceivable that some of them were picked up by local law enforcement, but it seems likely that most of the people flagged by the investigation did not have their military careers disrupted in the context of the DCIS inquiry.

American Academy of Pediatrics New Study: Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media

American Academy of Pediatrics New Study: Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media

by Caroline Knorr at Common Sense Media

Millions of kids saw Toy Story 3 earlier this summer, and many were frightened by the scene in which the toys are heading toward almost certain death on the incinerator's conveyor belt. But it was another scene in that movie that made my hair stand on end: It's when Ken first meets Barbie, and the song Dream Weaver ("I believe you can get me through the night") starts to play. Ken says to Barbie, "Love your legwarmers," and Barbie purrs, "Nice ass-cot."

There it was: another one of those sexy zingers designed to make parents laugh and sail over kids' head. Turns out my parental instincts were right.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, sex -- and its cheeky cousin, innuendo -- doesn't go over kids' head. In fact, the AAP's new report, "Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media," says that exposure to sexual content in TV and other media in early adolescence can as much as double kids' risk of early sexual intercourse.

Perhaps more importantly, what kids aren't seeing -- consequences for risky sexual behavior and messages about healthy sexual relationships -- also negatively impacts their behavior and attitudes about sex.

According to the report, having a TV in a child's bedroom is associated with early teen sexual activity. On the other hand, adolescents whose parents limit their TV viewing are less likely to engage in early sex.

But let's be clear: The occasional sexual reference or sexual dysfunction ad isn't going to hurt your kid. And while no parent wants their kids to learn about sex from animated movies, explaining to them that lovey-dovey stuff is often exaggerated in movies and TV to get attention helps counteract those sexy messages.

As kids get older, the conversations get a little less comfortable (as when my then-10-year-old asked me what a three-way was after he saw a joke on TV about a sexual triangle involving a bicycle built for three). But offering a counterpoint to the exaggerated notions of sex that kids see is one of the keys to helping them develop a healthy attitude about sex.

What You Can Do

There are a few other things parents can do, according the AAP:

Take the TV out of the bedroom. Bedroom TVs have been identified as a risk factor for early sexual behavior -- and don't forget kids can watch TV on their computers, too.

Recognize the impact of media in kids' lives. Don't buy the excuse that racy jokes go over kids' heads. What kids hear and see affects their lives socially, emotionally, and physically.

Help them make age-appropriate choices. Kids get excited about movies and TV shows that are being marketed to them. But check our reviews first, and find age-appropriate alternatives to movies and TV shows you don't think they're ready for.