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Parents of teenagers know that there comes a time when you can embarrass your kid simply by being visible. So when one Wisconsin couple opted to flood their daughter's Facebook page with pictures of themselves posing goofily for the camera, they probably knew they were inflicting some emotional pain.

Related: Parents May Be Teaching Teens to Be Bullies

Adding insult to social-media injury, her brother posted one of the pictures on the social news-sharing site Reddit, where nearly 1,000 people have since weighed in on the punishment. Since the photo made the rounds on Reddit, we've had a hard time confirming the story (if AustinMac gets back to us, we'll be sure to let you know).

See what her brother thinks of his parents' playful punishment after the jump.

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An Illinois school district is banning Halloween this year in what the superintendent says is an effort to address low test scores and avoid cultural and religious conflict.

Related: Glam Meets Gore in Goldie Starling's Halloween Makeup Tutorials

"There will be no costumes, no candy bags, no parties," District 69 superintendent Quintin Shepherd told the Skokie Patch.

But parents aren't pleased — and not just because they'll be dealing with disappointed kids. Shepherd made the decision in early October without allowing parents to weigh in, saying that asking the community for input would have been a waste of time.

Related: Rules For Teens on Halloween

"We knew what their response would be," he said. "We know they would feel strongly [about banning Halloween in the school district]. So, the reason we didn't go forward with the community hearings is because we knew they would be upset."

Instead, he sent out a letter saying that the decision had been made.

Read on to find out what Mr. Shepherd's letter said and how parents reacted.

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Many parents rely on a dose of "Dora" or "Diego" to help their kids to settle down in the evenings. So when Nick Jr. launched NickMom, a block of comedies aimed at adults, earlier this month, it came as a shock to those who tuned in for toddler-friendly viewing and instead found jokes about stoned busboys, sex, and how much moms dislike their kids.

Related: Parents who hate parenting. Is this the latest trend?

"At a certain point in the evening, hopefully the little ones are in bed, and this is an opportunity for mom to get some much-needed me-time," Bronwen O'Keefe, senior vice president of NickMom, told Newsday. The NickMom.com homepage — tagline: "Motherfunny" — is crowded with video clips and snarky memes. "Everything we have on the site is a bite-sized piece of content because we know moms are busy and don't have a lot of time," O'Keefe says. (NickMom did not immediately respond to Yahoo! Shine's request for comment.)

Related: Nickelodeon TV says Romney skipped kids' questions

But instead of finding the shows — or the website — funny, some parents are furious.

Read on to find out what real moms have to say about NickMom.

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Popping a binky in a baby's mouth is a quick way to stop them from fussing, but for boys, it may also short-circuit their emotional growth.

Read More: 10 Simple Ways to Boost Kids' Self-Esteem

Before a baby can talk, he or she relies on non-verbal cues, especially facial expressions, to communicate. Babies also mirror those cues, and in so doing, discover the emotions the cues are attached to. In a recent study published in the Journal of Basic and Applied Social Psychology researchers from the University of Wisconsin scientists evaluated over 100 kids and found that that six and seven-year-old boys who had heavily used pacifiers were worse at mimicking emotions expressed by faces on a video. They also interviewed more than 600 college students and discovered that college-age men whose parents reported they had relied on pacifiers scored lower on tests measuring empathy and the ability to evaluate the moods of others. For girls and young women, the researchers found there was no difference in emotional maturity based on pacifier use.

Read on to learn more about this study.

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Parents in South Carolina are up in arms after their kids were encouraged to compete in a beauty pageant at their elementary school. Though organizers insist that it's no different from a sporting event or a dance contest, outraged parents say that schools have no business judging kids based on their looks.

Related: School District Bans Father-Daughter Dances After Single Mom Complains

"Come be the first Warrior King or Warrior Queen of Indian Land Elementary! Represent your school all year long during school events!" the flier read. "Contestants will be judged on facial beauty, personality, and overall appeal."

Related: 10 Simple Ways to Boost Your Child's Self Esteem

According to the three-page flier, prizes would be awarded at the October 20th pageant for "Best Eyes," "Best Hair," "Best Smile," "Best Dressed," and "Most Beautiful," which would be "based upon the contestant's facial beauty score only." Boys and girls could also submit photos to win additional awards, and could collect signatures to vie for the "Sweetheart" title. The flier included instructions on how to walk, turn, and pose for the judges.

Read on to learn more about beauty pageants in elementary schools.

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For more than a century, Norland College in Bath, England, has trained young women to be elite caregivers to the world's wealthiest children. This year, though, the famous nanny school is taking on something new: a male student.

Michael Kenny, 18, is the first young man to enroll in the elite school's Bachelors of Arts program in Early Childhood Studies, which they offer in association with the University of Gloucestershire.

Related: Hiring a Babysitter? Ask These Questions First.

"I have always wanted to work with children and Norland has the best reputation in the country, if not the world, for studying childcare," Kenny told ABC News in a statement. Being the only man in the 48-student class "doesn't bother me at all," he says.

After teaching English and mathematics to severely disabled children in Uganda, where he lived with his family, Kenny knew he wanted to go to Norland, but wasn't sure if they even accepted male students. He called to check before applying.

Read on to learn more about Michael's pioneering journey.

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It's hard to believe something as small as a peanut could cause so much controversy. But put it in a lunch bag and it can divide a school.

In Viola, Arkansas, a debate is heating up, after a student had his peanut butter and jelly sandwich confiscated at lunchtime. The school has a no-peanut-products policy due to a few students with allergies, so the teacher helped the little boy get a new lunch and sent home a note explaining the situation to his mom.

Related: A Surprising Reason Why Kids Are Shorter

That note didn't go over well, apparently. Soon after the incident, a "School Nut Ban Discussion" group was launched on Facebook by parents conflicted over the policy.

Some parents believe allergy-free students shouldn't have to cater to a few kids' health sensitivities, particularly if it means cutting out healthy or low-cost snacks packed in their own child's lunchbox.

The mom who packed the confiscated PB&J sandwich thinks kids with allergies should learn "how to manage the problem" rather than live inside a "bubble," according to a local news report.

Other parents of special needs kids feel like they're playing second fiddle to those with allergies. "There are some autistic children that will only eat a PB&J sandwich or nothing at all," one parent opposing the ban argued on Facebook. According to the Viola District Superintendent John May, this is the first push-back on a policy in place in his school for some time.

"The policy is in place to protect those with a severe, life threatening problem," May told Area Wide News, a Missouri-based news site. "Until we figure out something else, it would be foolish to drop the policy."

Keep reading to learn more about this lunch staple controversy.

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The public rarely catches a glimpse of President Barack Obama's daughters Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11. Even an appearance on stage at the end of the Democratic National Convention wasn't reason enough to break the "you must go to school" rule; as the president promised in his speech, the girls were at their desks at Sidwell Friends School first thing in the morning. But when you're parenting in the White House, you have to be even more strict than your average mom or dad.

How strict? The New York Times' Jodi Kantor listed a few rules that First Lady Michelle Obama has mentioned over the years:

• The girls must write reports about what they've seen on their trips, even if it's not required by their school.
• Malia may use her cellphone only on the weekends, and she and her sister cannot watch television or use a computer for anything but homework during the week.
• Malia and Sasha have to play two sports: one they choose and one selected by their mother.
• Malia must learn to do laundry before she leaves for college.
• The girls have to eat their vegetables, and if they say that they are not hungry, they cannot ask for cookies or chips later.

Check out more Obama household rules here.

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Nils Pickert's 5-year-old son likes wearing dresses. If anyone thinks that's odd they can take it up with Nils. He's the guy in the skirt.

The German dad has become a role model not only for his son, but for parents around the world, after a photograph of the pair holding hands in red skirts spread across the internet.
"Yes, I'm one of those dads, that tries to raise their children equal," he explained in an essay published alongside the photo in Emma, a German feminist magazine.

Celebrities who were bullied as kids

Pickert never minded that his son liked dressing in little girl's clothes, but when his family moved from West Berlin to a small southern town in Germany, he learned that other people did. In fact, it became a "town wide issue," according to Pickert, whose essay was translated by Tumblr user steegeschnoeber.

Related: Breastfeeding Dad Raises New Questions About Motherhood

A new school didn't make life any easier for his young son. Shortly after his first day, he stopped reveling in his own tastes and Pickert worried about the damage it could wreak on his self-confidence. "I didn't want to talk my son into not wearing dresses and skirts," Pickert explained. "He didn't make friends doing that in Berlin… so after a lot of contemplation I had only one option left: To broaden my shoulders for my little buddy and dress in a skirt myself."

Keep reading to find out more of this heart-warming story.

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In the first week of August over 100 schools around the country are already back in session.

Instead of the standard 180 day cycle, several charter schools and even a handful of public schools have added about 20 days to the academic calendar, The New York Times reports.

Advocates of the shorter Summer break say those extra few weeks give students a head-start, particularly for those in low-income areas where class size is at a maximum and extra-curricular support is at a minimum.

"The kids' education is more important than all of these breaks that we have," Debra Phillips, an Arizona-based mom with two kids starting school this week, tells the Times. Keep reading for the rest of this story.

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It seems like every big-name store is having a back-to-school sale right now, and for the 43 percent of parents who put off back-to-school shopping until the last minute, it's tempting to hit up the nearest big-box store and call it done. But some places offer better bargains than others, so in an effort to help you keep your costs down (who really wants to spend $500 or more on supplies and clothing?) Yahoo! Shine did a little digging to find out where the bargains are.

Related: Back-to-School Trends For 2012-13: Stainless Steel, Glitzy Accessories, Superheroes, and iPads

Backpacks
Toys "R" Us has a great deal on backpacks — buy one character-themed bag for $14.99 to $17.99 and get a free lunch kit. But be warned: a more-expensive bag may save you more money in the long run. Lands' End, L.L.Bean, and Jansport all offer lifetime guarantees on their backpacks, which means that if something rips or wears out, they'll replace it for free. (If a bargain backpack tears mid-school year, you'll have to buy another at full cost.) Staples is offering $15 to $45 off their higher-end backpacks, so it's worth checking them out now.

Related: Are Parents Setting Kids Up For Failure by Pushing Too Hard For Success?

School Uniforms
If you're looking for school uniforms, head to Target, Old Navy, and Kmart. Their prices for French Toast-brand uniform pieces are all great (they have store-brand options, as well) and at Kmart you can save an additional 5 percent on new, in-store layaway purchases until Aug. 25. Schools in 21 states and in Washington DC require students to wear some sort of uniform, and those specialized outfits rarely go on sale. But right now, boys' and girls' uniform short-sleeve polo shirts are about $6 (down from $10) at Target. Old Navy has a four-pack of pique polos on sale (two white, two dark blue, online only) for just $20, and boys' pants are just $10 a pair online, down from $14.50. And Kmart has customized their selection to work with different school systems.

(If your kids are growing too quickly for you to stock up on uniforms, just be patient. "If you can't find great prices, just buy what will get you through the first few weeks of school," frugal shopping expert Mir Kamin of Wantnot.net suggests. "Whatever's left over after the rush will be on clearance in short order.")

Back-to-School Clothes
JC Penney has plenty of great back-to-school clothes for kids who don't need uniforms, but the biggest bargain it's offering this month is free haircuts for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade.

High-Tech Gadgets
Gadgets are on many kids' wish lists, but for some college students, they're a necessity. Apple is offering a back-to-school bargain for college students: if you buy a Mac between now and Sept. 21, you'll get a $100 gift card to use in the App Store or on iTunes. (New iPads get you a $50 gift card.) Bonus: shop through the Apple Store For Education for special (that is, lower) prices.

Lexar 8GB USB drives to go with that computer are on sale for just $6 each at Target, where you can also find plenty of notebooks, sticky notes, markers, and other supplies for $1 each. If you have tiny kids at home, the savings get bigger: RoseArt brand crayons, markers, and colored pencils are 49 cents per pack or less. At Staples, you can buy notebook paper for pennies (literally, a package of 120 sheets for 1 cent, as long as you have $5 worth of other stuff in your cart).

Some stores are appealing to more than just our pocketbooks. On Saturday, Aug. 11, Sears is offering an extra 15 percent off back-to-school clothes to people who download a special coupon (at Sears.com/TeamUp); 5 percent of the money shoppers spend there that day will go to Sears' anti-bullying initiative, Team Up to Stop Bullying.

— Lylah M. Alphonse
Copyright © 2012 Yahoo Inc.

Also on Shine:

Women and the Back-to-School Buying Binge
Back-to-School Spending: $500 Per Shopper?
Back-to-School Trends For 2012-2013: Stainless Steel, Glitzy Accessories, Superheroes, and iPads

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Back-to-school spending is expected to top $500 per shopper, a consumer survey says, but just what are the things kids are clamoring for this season?

Related: 10 tips for beating back-to-school stress

Parents may assume that their kids want new clothes to kick off the school year, but according to a Harris Interactive survey conducted for Ebates.com in June, most kids — 42 percent — said what they really wanted was a tablet computer or a new smartphone. Preteens are most likely to want some sort of high-tech gadget, even though their age group is less likely to be allowed to bring smartphones to school.

Related: Are parents setting kids up for failure by pushing too hard for success?

Out of the 2,208 parents surveyed by Ebates, 43 percent said that they planned to do their back-to-school shopping in August, five percent said that they wait until September to stock up, and just 30 percent have started scoping out the back-to-school sales already. More parents than ever before plan to shop online, paying special attention to free-shipping deals, the National Retailers Federation says.

Related: Everything you need for your college dorm room

"The budget-conscious consumer has not forgotten about price, quality, or value, we're merely seeing a more savvy shopper," BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow said in a statement. "There's no question consumers have become more practical in their shopping, and with school purchases oftentimes considered a necessity, parents have likely been saving and scrimping to be able to fully afford all of their children's needs for the upcoming school year."

Retailers are already placing bets on what kids will want their parents to buy, stocking the shelves with things that they hope will be the hot items for back-to-school this year. Here's a look at the emerging trends:

For the lunchbox:

Stainless steel is in — not for the lunchbox itself, though, just for the stuff you pack it. With the government's new ban on BPAs in baby bottles, manufacturers are taking things a step further and making thermal containers and water bottles out of sleek stainless steel. They're pricier than plastic, but they last longer, don't hold on to odors, are reusable, and won't leak toxins into a kid's lunch.

For school supplies:

Superheroes are always big among the elementary school set, but this year, they're even bigger, thanks to blockbuster movies like The Avengers aimed at adults and older teens. Another must have for younger kids: anything Angry Birds, from backpacks to notebooks to lunch boxes. For older kids, notebooks and other school supplies will be governed with glitz and glitter or animal prints in colors not normally found in nature.

For the tech-savvy:

According to data from Ebates.com, kids of all ages are clamoring for high-tech gadgets like tablet computers and smartphones, but the people who can benefit most from those devices are the college-bound. If you're heading to the dorms, a tablet computer (like an iPad) can serve as your entertainment system (streaming movies and TV shows, playing music and games, reading books via Kindle, iBooks, or Nook apps) and as an in-class learning aid (for tapping out notes or recording lectures or even for toting around PDFs) and can even be used for carrying around all those English lit books they'll have to read (thank you, ereaders!). Students will still need a computer for writing papers and doing research, both of which are more difficult to do on a tablet.

For clothing:

For girls, skinny jeans and ballerina flats are popular, and for students who have to wear school uniforms, flowered headbands are a hit, thanks to shows like Gossip Girl. Floral prints and tribal themes are also rumored to be hot this season. For guys, retailers are counting on bright colors and classic prints — think wide horizontal stripes and argyle patterns.

— Lylah M. Alphonse
Copyright © 2012 Yahoo Inc.

Also on Shine:
Back-to-School Spending: $500 Per Shopper?
Shaquille O'Neal's Mom Opens Up About Education, Sports, and Keeping Kids Motivated
Back-to-School Tips For Homeschoolers

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"I credit my mom with modeling the right behaviors," Angela Lemond, Registered Dietitian and Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells Shine. "She cooked a healthy meal every night and that was our only option." Lemond, who specializes in pediatric and family nutrition, says the research is clear that parental behavior and modeling has a significant impact on childhood obesity.

Related: Childhood Obesity and Bullying Top Health Concerns for Voters

"Parents have the responsibility for providing food, meal planning, and eliminating distractions at the table," says Lemond. "The responsibility of the child is to eat or not to eat." She is concerned that today's parents are "letting kids dictate what food is being served." She sympathizes with parents' desire to nourish their children, but points out that this often means that they are exclusively serving meals of "chicken nuggets or mac and cheese" to picky eaters which are high in fat and calories and low on nutrition. She points out that a generation ago, "You ate what you were served or waited until the next meal."

Gallery: The worst summer foods for kids

On the other hand, Lemond says her mom "didn't force feed. Nutritionists don't advocate the clean plate club," a rule that can thwart children from developing a natural sense of when they are still hungry and when they are actually full.

Another important factor in helping kids to learn to enjoy nutritious choices is exposing them to a variety of foods—and not giving up if they say they don't like something new. "Even though parents want their kids to eat healthy," explains Lemond, "They have a misconception that if kids reject it once, it should be taken off the meal plan."

WATCH: Kids Jump Rope to Combat Obesity

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the rate of childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years. Overweight children are at a higher risk of developing chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. They are also prone to low self-esteem and stigmatization by their peers.

Related: What Is in a Hot Dog?

Current research shows that there are many habits that parents can adopt—starting at pregnancy—that will help prevent kids from becoming overweight.

• Maternal Body Mass Index (BMI) has an impact on baby's birth weight which may, in turn, predict adult overweight. Maintain a healthy weight before and during pregnancy. If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, discuss what an appropriate weight gain is for your body size and frame with your doctor.
• Breastfeeding women should eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Babies who are exposed to certain flavors through nursing are less picky when they are weaned.
• Let your baby wean itself with age-appropriate finger foods. Some research shows that babies who are spoon fed purees tend to be more overweight and prefer sugary tastes than babies who help feed them selves.
• Is your toddler picky? Don't give up. It may take as many as 15 exposures to get a toddler to try a new food.
• Turn off the TV. A recent study by the University of Montreal showed that for every extra hour per week watched by 2-4 year-olds, waist size increased and athletic ability (as indicated by explosive muscle power) decreased.
• Eat together. From toddlers to teens, the research shows that children are healthier when they regularly sit down and eat meals with their families.
• Lose weight yourself. A 2012 study by the University of California shows reports that the number one factor in the success of an obese or overweight child's ability to attain a healthy weight is parental weight loss.
• Engage in some sort of physical activity. Kids who say their parents are sedentary are 50% more likely to be medically unfit themselves.

To learn more strategies, visit the Academy's website for families, Kids Eat Right. They provide a wealth of information on children's nutrition from birth to the teen years.

— Sarah B. Weir
Copyright © 2012 Yahoo Inc.

Also on Shine:
Alarmingly Unhealthy Kids Snacks
25 Things Every Kid Should Experience This Summer
Teachable Moments in Sports

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One of the ironies of the Summer Olympics is that so many sports fans show their support for US athletes by gluing themselves to the TV and turning into couch potatoes for the duration of the games. Sure, getting together with friends and neighbors to watch the Olympics is great, but you can bring the fun and fitness to a higher level by hosting your own backyard Olympic games as well.

WATCH: Raising an Olympian: Lolo Jones

"Let's support Team USA not just by cheering them on at home, but by striving to live up to the examples they set," the first lady said last week in a video message. "Let's encourage our children to get active just like their Olympic heroes." Keep reading for the rest of the story.

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Many parents are planning to spend $500 or more on back-to-school shopping, a new survey says, with general school supplies and clothes at the top of the list. But budget-shopping experts insist that getting ready for the school year doesn't have to cost quite that much.

Related: Back-to-School Sales Start Early

Forty-six percent of consumers surveyed by PriceGrabber in May and June said that they planned to spend more this year than they did last year. Sixty-three percent said they were budgeting up to $500 for school-related gear (up from 48 percent last year), while 20 percent said they had between $500 and $1,000 set aside for back-to-school purchases. Keep reading to see what a shopping expert has to say about this.

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The statistics about girls' sports injuries can be scary for parents: girls suffer from up to 10 times as many anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries as boys, and in comparable sports (such as basketball, hockey, and soccer), they sustain nearly 30 percent more serious injuries than boys do. Perhaps most alarmingly, sports-related concussion rates are twice as high for women and girls and researchers don't know why.

Part of the reason for the overall increase in and visibility of girls' injuries is simply because of the sheer numbers of females participating in organized sports today. In the mid-1970s, only about 1 in 27 young women played high school sports; now that number has soared to 1 in 3, according to Nicole LaVoi, assistant director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport.

Researchers also point out that athletic training has traditionally been developed for male bodies and hasn't kept pace with the physiological requirements of girls and women. During puberty, girls and boys both sprout in height, but boys put on more muscle. This imbalance can lead to and increase in sprains and fractures, especially related to the knees, hips, and pelvis. Female hormonal cycles can also cause connective tissues to soften. Keep reading for the good news.

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It was raining when her children left for school on Tuesday, so Jesse Michener did not slather them in sunscreen, even though she knew they'd be outdoors for field day later that afternoon. But the sun came out around noon, and when the kids came home, two of them were so severely sunburned that they had to go to the hospital.

"We've never done a field day at the school before," Michener told Yahoo! Shine in an interview on Thursday. "They were outside for over five hours."

A freelance photographer, she posted pictures and described her daughter's sunburns on her blog. "Two of my three children experienced significant sunburns. Like, hurts-to-look-at burns," Michener wrote. "Violet is starting to blister on her face." Both Violet, 11, and her sister, Zoe, 9, "have headaches, chills, and pain" and had to stay home from school the next day. (Her youngest daughter, 7-year-old Eleanor, was also sunburned but not badly.) The girls did not stay overnight at the hospital, and Michener said they are being treated at home with cool baths and over-the-counter pain medications.

Related: CDC says half of young adults get sunburned

To make matters worse, Zoe has a form of Albinism — and teachers and staff at Point Defiance Elementary School in Tacoma, WA, were aware of her extreme sensitivity to the sun. She even has a written agreement — a 504 plan — with the school because of it. And yet teachers refused to send the girls indoors or allow them to apply sunscreen themselves, according to her mom.

"My children indicated that several adults commented on their burns at school, including staff and other parents," Michener wrote on her blog. "One of my children remarked that their teacher used sunscreen in her presence and that it was 'just for her.' So is this an issue of passive, inactive supervision? Where is the collective awareness for student safety?" Keep reading for the rest of the story.

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When basketball star Shaquille O'Neal was still a kid, he knew that he had to get good grades before he could to play sports.

"In our home we had a rule: No pass, no play," his mother, Lucille O'Neal, told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "If you didn't pass the grade, then you weren't allowed to play the extracurricular activity." That dedication to his studies is still strong: On May 5, the four-time world champion and 15-time All Star player earned his doctorate in education from Barry University in Miami. That's earned, mind you, not honorary. According to The Miami Herald, Shaq, 40, spent the past 4 1/2 years working toward a doctoral degree in organizational learning and leadership with a specialization in human resource development, studying before and after NBA games and between segments as a sports analyst on TV.

Keep reading to hear Lucille's advise for parents.

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There was a time, not so long ago, when infertility was something whispered under pitying, gossip-ful coffee breath. "That's Rose's daughter, she can't have a baby" or "They keep trying, but something's wrong." These days, many women are sick of the whispers. They're infertile and they're not ashamed.

The childbearing generation of the late 2000s are nothing like those that came before them. Many are opting out of parenting in favor of fertile careers, others are turning to the magical promise of medicine. We've seen it work for celebrities and innumerable reality stars. But we don't usually hear about the one in 20 couples who don't have the same success. Keep reading for the rest of this story.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a stern warning to parents: TV is bad for kids under 2. And not just some TV shows, all moving screens with pictures.

That means "Yo Gabba Gabba", but also the football game playing in the living room or the Youtube clip buffering on your iPad.

A statement on the AAP website stops short of calling the glowing moving images on your iPhone that transfix your baby what it sometimes appears to be: kid-crack.

"The Academy is concerned about the impact of television programming intended for children younger than age two and how it could affect your child's development," says a statement on the AAP website. "Pediatricians strongly oppose targeted programming, especially when it's used to market toys, games, dolls, unhealthy food and other products to toddlers. Any positive effect of television on infants and toddlers is still open to question, but the benefits of parent-child interactions are proven." Keep reading for the rest of this story.