Relationships and Going Places

"My own favorite activity to mark summer's end is one that I discovered during my years as a classroom teacher: finding the caterpillars of Monarch butterflies, bringing them indoors to observe their metamorphoses, and seeing them off on their annual trip south to Mexico for the winter. Anyone who can identify milkweed growing nearby will be able to find Monarch caterpillars in late August or early September. All you need is a jar of water, a pair of scissors, and a bit of patience. This is a great activity to share with your favorite child, but it's also a rewarding experience if the only person involved in it is yourself." more »

When travel plans go awry, airline passengers may take out their frustrations on customer service agents. We surveyed 104 customer service agents. About half said passengers had verbally threatened them and 10% said passengers had physically assaulted them in the past year. One prosecutor told GAO the transitory nature of airports makes it difficult to get witnesses to testify at trial; when prosecuted, passengers generally face misdemeanor charges. While stakeholders GAO interviewed generally did not identify gaps in resources, some said incidents could be further mitigated if, for example, airports made law enforcement’s presence more visible or airlines provided conflict de-escalation training to customer service agents. more »

The authors analyzed data from the Los Angeles County Health Survey with a focus on two specific health behaviors — eating at fast-food restaurants more than once a week and eating five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily. For the purposes of the survey, an apple is used as a reference point for a serving of fruit, and a handful of broccoli or a cup of cut carrots are used as references for a serving of vegetables. The researchers analyzed 4,244 responses from both immigrants and native-born Americans regarding fast-food consumption. They analyzed 9,166 responses to the fruit-and-vegetable-intake question.   more »

Amid a surge in measles cases nationwide this year, legislators and community leaders are debating ways to boost the number of kids who are up to date on their school-mandated shots. Many have focused on restricting or eliminating vaccination exemptions based on religion or personal opinions, which are common and have been offered by school districts across the United States for decades. But three recent academic studies suggest this might not be the most effective way to improve childhood vaccination rates. Scholars studied student vaccination rates in California and discovered that when parents cannot get an exemption based on their personal beliefs, some seek other ways for their children to stay in school while skipping one or more vaccinations.   more »