When Gardasil, the relatively new vaccine for the human papillomavirus, was announced, a lot of people worried that the effect of inoculating teenage girls against a sexually transmitted disease would be rampant sexual activity and that eliminating the possibility of getting certain types of cancer just wasn't worth it. Well, according to one news station, promiscuity may not be the biggest concern.

Close to nine thousand reports of side effects from the HPV vaccine have been made, ranging from nausea and light-headedness to paralysis. A handful of girls have become paralyzed after receiving the vaccine and their parents are placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of Gardasil. Given the low numbers of serious problems -- eight thousand cases out of eight million doses of the vaccine, and that includes the minor side effects -- I'm not sure that the vaccine needs to be recalled. I do think there should be -- and hopefully is -- ongoing testing and research, however. It would be nice to know whether or not the more serious issues really are linked to the vaccine or just a coincidence.

Of course, there is the alternative to Gardasil -- more than eleven thousand cases of cervical cancer each year, with four thousand women dying from the disease. It should be noted that pap tests are generally effective at identifying HPV and cervical cancer -- which, if caught early enough, can be prevented or treated. Having a daughter of my own, you can be certain I will be keeping a close eye on any findings of serious side effects to this vaccine.

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If you're tired of cheap broken puzzle and game boxes spilling bits and pieces everywhere, try this method for keeping it all together.

The British have long had a reputation for bad teeth, but now the government has a plan that may address that in future generations -- they want to add fluoride to nearly half the nation's water supply. (There's no word on how they'll keep it separate, however.) Currently, only the West Midlands and the North East have fluoridated tap water.

Opponents, however, are calling the scheme "mass medication" and claim that fluoride causes cancer, lower intelligence, and a whole host of other ailments. Is there any validity to these claims, however, and if there is, do the risks outweigh the benefits of fluoridation? Chief dental officer Barry Cockcroft dismissed the concerns as "scaremongering" and noted that "A total of 170 million people in America drink fluoridated water and it is the most litigious country in the world."

Personally, I am in favor of adding fluoride to drinking water, and I'm glad our tap water has fluoride in it. We also have a water cooler for which we get fluoridated spring water. Some may think me insane, but I want my kids to have healthy teeth.

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Schools have banned tag and other chase games. Playground equipment is safe and non-threatening. Swings are short so they can't swing too high. Climbing a tree is a lost art. Keeping kids safe is important, but are we protecting our children too much? There does seem to be a bit of a backlash against over-protection. First, there was The Dangerous Book for Boys, then Gever Tulley's TEDTalk, and now a new study from Play England, part of the National Children's Bureau in England says that children are missing out on an essential part of childhood -- risk.

The study found that half of all children are not allowed to climb trees and one in six is not allowed to play tag or other chase games. Adrian Voce, director of Play England, says that kids "are not enjoying the opportunities to play outside that most people would have thought of as normal when they were growing up." He also noted that nearly three times as many kids ended up in the hospital after falling out of bed as after falling out of trees.

Now, I know it can be difficult for parents to watch kids get themselves into dangerous situations and the natural reaction, when they get hurt, is to ban the activity that caused the accident, but the truth is kids can run into poles walking through the mall (as my son did the other evening) just as easily as playing "tickle pirate" at the playground.

Sure, you don't want your kids to suffer serious damage, but a few bumps and bruises, if you ask me, builds character. My kids are forever running into things and falling down and they've learned you just get up and get on with it. That seems to me like a good attitude to take.

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If your kids want to be famous and you're not entirely in favor of their current plan to become so by jumping off the Johnson's garage roof with flannel blanket parachutes, then perhaps this might offer an emergency-room-free alternative. Seven boys in Michigan jumped around in a bounce-house for twenty-four hours straight in order to set a world record and raise money for charity.

The boys took turns bouncing two at a time in order to break the previous record of nineteen hours and twenty-four minutes. Their parents were worried, when they couldn't get them to relax between shifts, that the boys would run out of energy. Those fears, of course, turned out to be completely unfounded. "At the beginning we could not get them to rest," said Jeannie Brott, whose son Mason came up with the idea after seeing the previous record in the Guinness Book of World Records. "They don't run out of energy. It is insane."

It wasn't all just fun and games, however. The boys managed to raise about a thousand dollars which will be donated to Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network. The boys wanted to raise money while setting the record and would like the money to go to a charity that helps children, Brott said. As for the experience itself, well, Mason Brott summed it up well: "It was awesome."

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Around here, the popular language for high school kids to study -- at least back when I was in school -- was Spanish. With a large Hispanic community, it was far more useful than the available alternatives -- French and German. These days, however, linguistic choices are much wider, with Chinese, Japanese, and Russian on the menu. In New Mexico, you can add Navajo to that list.

In fact, New Mexico has just approved a new Navajo textbook for use in the classroom, the first time a state has officially adopted a textbook in the Native American language. "Overall, we believe it will help improve academic achievement," said state Education Secretary Veronica Garcia. Navajo is one of seven American Indian languages taught in New Mexico and is available in about ten school districts. Last year more than five thousand students were enrolled in Navajo language classes.

The textbook, Dine Bizaad Binahoo'ahh, or Rediscovering the Navajo Language, begins each chapter with a cultural lesson and contains photos of life on the Navajo reservation which includes parts of New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.

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It's a hot day in Montana and you've been on your Harley for hours, on your way to the annual Hells Angels gathering, held this year in Missoula. You're thirsty and you're looking for a cold drink to help you cool down. So where do you go? To Jase and Dylan Lewis' Kool-aid stand, of course. It seems Hells Angels like bug juice as much as the next kid.

The seven- and eleven-year-old boys have set up their shop alongside the road just in time for the arrival of the motorcycle club's leather-clad members. Members who, it seems, have a soft spot for both kids and Kool-Aid. A cup of the juice costs only a quarter -- the boys decided against raising prices this year, despite rising costs -- but most of the bikers tip a lot more.

Jase and Dylan have done quite well in the past with their stand, and hope to earn enough this year for some back-to-school clothes and a trip to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho (not necessarily in that order, I imagine.) It's good to see kids taking initiative and nice to see the Hells Angels show in a positive light.

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When I started high school, for some reason, I had to share a locker with another kid from my homeroom. He decided he was going to share our locker with all of his mates and I no longer felt secure leaving my skateboard there. So I spent the remainder of the year carrying everything around with me. I never could get the hang of those darn combination locks anyway.

That might be the option a lot of Florida teens pick this year as well -- One high school has decided to begin charging for the use of their lockers. Admittedly, the cost is only $5 -- less than many accessories available these days to pimp out a locker -- but it's still a significant change. The school cites shrinking budgets, declining enrollment, and the cost of maintaining the lockers as the reason for the new charge. At least two other schools in the area also charge for the use of a locker.

Five dollars isn't a lot, especially when you consider that the school spends between two and five thousand dollars each year repairing the lockers and changing combinations. Still, I think I would probably have just carried my stuff around with me. Of course, these days, I'm an old fart with a bad back, so five bucks for a place to stash my stuff doesn't sound half bad.

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Motherhood is definitely a challenge. It's a lot of hard work and moms are, in their own special way, true superheroes. One Boulder, Colorado mother, however, took that concept literally and chased down a pervert, on her bicycle, while carrying her ten-month-old baby on her back. Twenty-three-year-old Danika Bueno was out for a bike ride when a man on a bike rode up to her from behind and grabbed her chest.

Instead of reeling in shock and letting the man get away, Bueno took after him, following him for more than a mile, and called 911. Police were able to apprehend the man and have charged him with unlawful sexual contact and child abuse. In regards to the pedal-powered chase, Bueno said, "I'm pretty comfortable on a bike, but I was nervous about getting too close to him." That's certainly understandable.

Still, kudos to Bueno for having the presence of mind to chase the guy down and get him off the streets. Way to go, Supermom!

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It seems like a day doesn't go by that we don't hear about another recalled toy -- lead paint, dangerous chemicals, magnets -- but that will, hopefully, become less common, due to legislation making its way through congress. It's been hailed as the "most aggressive overhaul in decades of America's consumer safety system" and comes after months of haggling where, in almost every aspect, safety came out on top.

The bill calls for stricter limits on lead in toys, beginning with 600 parts per million after six months and decreasing to 100 ppm after three years. There will be new safety standards for all-terrain vehicles and a half-dozen compounds will be banned from use in plastics. In order to make sure that companies comply with the new rules, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's budget will get a boost, state attorneys general will have the power to pull products off store shelves, and violators will face fines as high as fifteen million dollars.

Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky called the legislation "a really strong, strong bill" and said of the plans for the CPSC that "it really, in many ways, is the birth of a new agency that will have much broader authority, particularly to keep our children safe." It's a shame that this is at all necessary, but I'm glad it's in the works.

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