Dinner Table Topics

I know it's been a long time, but it's back! As you may remember, Dinner Table Topics are family issues in the news that you can discuss at the dinner table (making sure to edit as necessary). So, set the table, pull up a chair, and get ready to discuss these things with your family!

Looks like moms aren't the only ones choosing to be full-time parents and raise their kids hands-on. At times, the dads are the ones being the at-home parent, and now there are plenty of resources for dads who take on this task. AtHomeDad.org gives resources, information, and connections to dads who have decided to make their children their sole occupation. There's even recipes and a humor page to occupy their time! I love it! (And they don't check I.D.'s: you don't only have to be a dad to read it!)

In Ohio news, a teen decided to shoot his parents after they took away his favorite video game. His mother died, but miraculously his father survived the injury. I definitely think the kid should be locked up forever (and get some serious psychiatric help). It makes you wonder why he had violent tendencies: the game he was playing was the violent game Halo 3. Maybe he shouldn't have started playing it in the first place. But, his priorities are in order -- when the teenager fled the scene, he only took one item with him: the Halo 3 game. Hmmm... I think we'll stick to our Wii Music.

And I'm still reeling from this story: Megan Meier was a 13-year-old girl who was being bullied on MySpace. As a result, she committed suicide. Lori Drew, Meiers' 48-year-old neighbor, admitted in a police report that she created a fictitious MySpace account and pretended to be a boy with a romantic interest in Megan. According to the police report, Drew created the profile to find out what Megan was saying online about her teenage daughter. However, the mother actually wrote hurtful and hateful things, such as "the world would be a better place without you." Shame on Lori Drew -- she needs to set a better example for her own daughter. High school is a cruel enough world with teenagers inhabiting it. We don't need mothers jumping into the melee to make it worse.