What's up?

In celebration of Black History Month this month, check out this CNN story about a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter 50 years ago. It still amazes me that this country had segregation only 50 years ago.

If you can stomach it, here is a depressing Newsweek story on children as indentured servants in Haiti.

Here is a game-changer in favor of abstinence-only education: At least one study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania has found that a third of 6th and 7th graders did delay having sex after taking an abstinence-only course compared to students in other sex education classes, according to the Washington Post. Officials for the Obama Administration, who have called for a scientific approach to sex education, have said abstinence-only courses like the one in this particular study could qualify for federal funds.

Laurie Puhn over at the Expecting Words blog cast a spotlight on a parenting philosophy of treating children like "little people" as opposed to babies and toddlers. In this case, a father let his almost 3-year-old daughter run around a high-end bar because she needed to figure things out on her own. Puhn viewed it as a lack of parenting while the father thought otherwise. What say you?

Starting in April of next year, fathers in Britain will be able to take 6 months -- three months paid -- of paternity leave, according to the Telegraph of the UK.

The taxpayers of Oregon just passed tax hikes on wealthy individuals and corporations to avoid a budget crisis in the state, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Here is an interesting article in Education World on how recess before lunch actually helps children eat more, behave better and gives teachers more instruction time. Who knew?

I, too, missed the Grammys Sunday night so here is a recap thanks to CNN.

Apparently American Idol will go on without Simon Cowell next year. Among floating names to replace him is former head of Sony Music Entertainment, Tommy Mottola, according to CNN.

What else is in the news? What's up with you?

Okay, I am jealous. Not only does Britain have universal healthcare, it also offers mothers up to nine months of paid maternity leave and up to 12 months of leave. Now, the British government has said it will allow women to share their leave with their husbands.

From BBC News:

Fathers will be able to take six months' paternity leave, the government has announced.
The move will allow mothers to decide to return to work after six months and fathers to stay at home for the rest of the 12 months off allowed by law.

But plans to extend the total paid childcare period from nine months to a year look set to be shelved as the government attempts to save money.

Government sources say the proposal is "under review" with no decision taken.

What a relief to have this kind of social safety net.

I wish we were having this debate in the United States. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission in Britain is making recommendations to encourage more mothers and fathers to take additional parental leave at 90 percent of their salaries, according to the Guardian in the UK.

The move comes at the heels of controversial statements made by a British entrepreneur who was reluctant to hire women because they would leave to have babies, not to mention a 17-pence pay disparity between men and women in the country, according to the Guardian.

Concluding that it was time that "policy-making enabled men to play an equal part in parenting", the EHRC proposes that the first 26 weeks of a baby's life would remain dedicated maternity leave for mothers, but with higher rates of pay, so that they would receive 90% of pay for the entirety of their maternity leave. Fathers would still get two weeks of paternity leave at the birth of their child, but this would also go up to 90% of their pay.

Beyond the first six months of maternity leave, the commission proposes three blocks of "parental leave", which could be taken any time before the child's fifth birthday, each of about four months, one block dedicated to mothers, one to fathers and one either could take.

The first eight weeks of each of these blocks of leave would be paid at 90%.

Under the scheme, parents would not usually be able to take leave simultaneously. "To encourage more fathers to take responsibility for caring for children we are keen that some part of the leave entitlement for fathers is taken alone, without the mother on leave," the report says.

Of course, the 26-week to 2-week disparity at the beginning does send the message that women are primarily responsible for taking care of their children. What if the woman earns more money than the man?

Still, this American will take any week of paid parental leave!