Follow the link to an interesting article which reports that today's college students are too narcissistic. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/print?id=2909034 

Here are some highlights that I enjoyed.

"We need to stop endlessly repeating 'You're special' and having children repeat that back," said the study's lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. "Kids are self-centered enough already."

"Current technology fuels the increase in narcissism," Twenge said. "By its very name, MySpace encourages attention-seeking, as does YouTube."

"Permissiveness seems to be a component," he said. "A potential antidote would be more authoritative parenting. Less indulgence might be called for."

Now youth pastors have to watch out for students using hand sanitizers to get themselves drunk.

STORY: Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer

(ht ysmarko.com)

When will we learn.  Teachers seem to either live in fear of student's rights or are just plain idiotic.  Can teachers and adults just treat students as they are?  Not as pals or buddies.  Not as projects.  Not as mindless Cretins.  But as young adults who need mature adults to educate, guide and counsel them.  They are not our chance at a second youth.

This following story is saddening:

Coach allegedy hit students in groin

Gregory Lynn Burr, 28, face charges ranging from sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust to child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, according to court documents reviewed by The Gazette of Colorado Springs. One of the students claims to have had scrotal surgery because of Burr's alleged assault.

A student in documents said Burr would ask them, "What is the capital of Thailand?" When they would answer "Bangkok," he would hit them in the groin.

The incidents allegedly took place from September 2005 to March 2006 at The Monument Academy.

Burr's phone number in Colorado Springs was not listed. Burr attorney Phil Dubois told The Gazette Monday that the charges are unwarranted, adding, "Mr. Burr is not a sex offender or anything close to it."

Burr, who was arrested, posted $10,000 bail on Dec. 14, court records show.

Burr is no longer is employed at the charter school, which is part of the Lewis-Palmer School District 38, said Ted Belteau, the district's executive director of personnel and student services.

Burr's wife, Sharalee, was athletic director, coach of the girl's basketball team last season and a teacher at the school told the newspaper that she was fired.

In arrest records, some of the victims portrayed the incidents as Burr's misguided attempts at humor but said they kept quiet for fear of getting kicked off the team. One student estimated some of the players were hit in the groin 30-40 times.

Another said the blows occurred at every practice, with the coach hitting them with his hand, basketballs and tennis balls.

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I will admit though that I do find some humor in that fact that FoxSports.com has to explain the "Bangkok" bit.  Didn't we all learn that back in junior high?

Apparently you can purchase the home of the blood-sucker himself.  Or at least his inspiration. 

I wish I had $78 million sitting around.

HERE is the story.

I saw this article on the internet today and it raises some tough questions.  I'm not sure what to think about it.  I thought I'd post it so that I wouldn't forget about it and continue to challenge myself with the implications.  The article below can also be found HERE

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- In a case fraught with ethical questions, the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled child have stunted her growth to keep their little "pillow angel" a manageable and more portable size.

The uterus and breast tissue of the bedridden 9-year-old girl were removed at a Seattle hospital, and she received large doses of hormones to halt her growth. She is now 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6.

The case has captured attention nationwide and abroad via the Internet, with some decrying the parents' actions as perverse and akin to eugenics. Some ethicists question the parents' claim that the drastic treatment will benefit their daughter and allow them to continue caring for her at home. (Watch a bioethicist discuss Ashley's condition. )

University of Pennsylvania ethicist Art Caplan said the case is troubling and reflects "slippery slope" thinking among parents who believe "the way to deal with my kid with permanent behavioral problems is to put them into permanent childhood."

Right or wrong, the couple's decision highlights a dilemma thousands of parents face in struggling to care for severely disabled children as they grow up.

"This particular treatment, even if it's OK in this situation, and I think it probably is, is not a widespread solution and ignores the large social issues about caring for people with disabilities," Dr. Joel Frader, a medical ethicist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, said Thursday. "As a society, we do a pretty rotten job of helping caregivers provide what's necessary for these patients."

The case involves a girl identified only as Ashley on a blog her parents created after her doctors wrote about her treatment in October's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The journal did not disclose the parents' names or where they live; the couple do not identify themselves on their blog, either.

Shortly after birth, Ashley had feeding problems and showed severe developmental delays. Her doctors diagnosed static encephalopathy, which means severe brain damage. They do not know what caused it.

Her condition has left her in an infant state, unable to sit up, roll over, hold a toy or walk or talk. Her parents say she will never get better. She is alert, startles easily, and smiles, but does not maintain eye contact, according to her parents, who call the brown-haired little girl their "pillow angel."

She goes to school for disabled children, but her parents care for her at home and say they have been unable to find suitable outside help.

An editorial in the medical journal called "the Ashley treatment" ill-advised and questioned whether it will even work. But her parents say it has succeeded so far.

She had surgery in July 2004 and recently completed the hormone treatment. She weighs about 65 pounds, and is about 13 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than she would be as an adult, according to her parents' blog.

"Ashley's smaller and lighter size makes it more possible to include her in the typical family life and activities that provide her with needed comfort, closeness, security and love: meal time, car trips, touch, snuggles, etc.," her parents wrote.

Also, Ashley's parents say keeping her small will reduce the risk of bedsores and other conditions that can afflict bedridden patients. In addition, they say preventing her from going through puberty means she won't experience the discomfort of periods or grow breasts that might develop breast cancer, which runs in the family.

"Even though caring for Ashley involves hard and continual work, she is a blessing and not a burden," her parents say. Still, they write, "Unless you are living the experience ... you have no clue what it is like to be the bedridden child or their caregivers."

Caplan questioned how preventing normal growth could benefit the patient. Treatment that is not for a patient's direct benefit "only seems wrong to me," the ethicist said.

Dr. Douglas Diekema, an ethicist at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, where Ashley was treated, said he met with the parents and became convinced they were motivated by love and the girl's best interests.

Diekema said he was mainly concerned with making sure the little girl would actually benefit and not suffer any harm from the treatment. She did not, and is doing well, he said.

"The more her parents can be touching her and caring for her ... and involving her in family activities, the better for her," he said. "The parents' argument was, `If she's smaller and lighter, we will be able to do that for a longer period of time."'

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.