Courtesy Tressa Housen

Arden, 18 months, shows some sweet Christmas love.

Kids and candy canes -- does it get any sweeter? Take one look at gorgeous Arden, above, and there's no way you can disagree. Arden's mom, Tressa Housen, was one of many TODAY Moms Facebook fans who submitted photos for this week's edition of Your Cute Kids. We asked to see the little ones partaking in holiday decorating, and what fun to see so many trees, sparkling lights and bright smiles! Thanks for sharing a little of your family's fa la la.

Courtesy Tiffany Kiyemba

4-year-old twins Kennedy and Kaelan and 2-year-old Geneva pose in front of their tree

Courtesy Amanda Blair

Noah, 5 months, decorating the tree with his Dad

Courtesy K. Cole

Austen, 11 months, loves twinkling lights

Courtesy Rebecca Tabor

Aiden, 4, wants to share his milk and cookies.

Courtesy Lindsay Tallman

Gus, 6 months, decorating with Daddy

Courtesy Martha Mehegan

Gavin, 1, decorates his tree.

Courtesy Tai Bender

Elijah, 1, does his version of Norman Rockwell's famous painting.

"Like" TODAY Moms on Facebook, and follow us @TodayMoms

Courtesy Vickie Bresnahan

Twins Finley and Alexandra (8 months old) celebrate their first turkey day!

While we are gastronimically grateful all the gorging on turkey and stuffing has subsided, we are happy to relive the holiday with some totally terrific Thanksgiving photos, courtesy of some of our TODAY Moms Facebook fans.  Twins Finley and Alexandra, shown above, celebrated with lots of giggles, and we thank mom Vickie Bresnahan for sharing their cuteness with the rest of us -- talk about the ultimate dessert course. (And there's more...see some other turkey day cuties below.)

Courtesy Kim Contreras

Ava is happy it's her first Thanksgiving

Courtesy Amy Sullivan

Max, 4 months, licking the spoon clean

Courtesy Kaitlyn Caddell

Thankful for my little turkey Olivia

Courtesy Jennifer Armao

Lorenzo, 3, and Juliana, 22 months, showing some love at the dinner table

Courtesy Nohelani Moe

Karma, 3, and Brady, 4, show some Thanksgiving cuteness

Courtesy Kerry Edwards

Charli, 1, is my little chef

Courtesy Brittay Troyer

9-month-old Tyles on his first Thanksgiving

Courtesy April Peris

Warren, 18 months, asks: Like my hat?

"Like" TODAY Moms on Facebook, and follow us @TodayMoms

Diana Sugg

Oliver, 10 months, and Sam, 2, travelling through the airport in style.

We were the last ones to board the plane that clear January night, and I had a good feeling. My 10-month-old baby was fed and happy, and I’d been granted a last minute, unbelievable gift: the plane was full, so I – and my baby boy – had been bumped up to first class.

It was the year we’d become travel pros.  Because of my husband’s work in Switzerland, we’d already pulled off several long overseas trips with our baby and toddler. And we had it down to a science.

Every inch of my carry-on bag was strategically packed, with enough snacks and supplies to survive any delay or diaper blowout. I’d discovered special wheel carts that turned the boys’ car seats into ad-hoc strollers so we could roll them through the airports. And at security checkpoints, we knew the routine so well that we could unload and reload the boys, get everyone’s shoes on and off, and get through the scanners in record time.

No matter how prepared I might have been for traveling with small children, though, I was learning there were two things beyond my control: whether the boys would sleep, and the temperament of nearby passengers.

On this flight, as I sized up the seat that I would share with my baby, I noticed that the first-class cabin was full of men, all in suits, some already stretched out and looking forward to a long, quiet night above the ocean. We were on a red-eye flight from Washington D.C.’s Dulles airport to Zurich. The flight attendant bent near me and whispered, “Do you know who is sitting behind you?”

I looked back, and there, directly behind Oliver and me, was Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

It was January 2009, and the financial crisis was in full swing. Bernanke had a huge stack of work with him and impossibly difficult decisions to make. I, on the other hand, had a bag with 25 diapers, teething toys and a soft, cloth book with sailboats and anchors sewn in it. Oliver, 35 pounds of chubby baby, was drooling, rubbing his fingers over his teething gums. He was standing on my lap, pumping his legs up and down, as if readying to launch himself through the ceiling of the plane. Oliver was just tall enough to pop his big pumpkin head over the seat and smile at Bernanke.

Related content: Tips for taking a trip with toddlers

I found myself flashing back to past experiences with fellow passengers: the ones who played peek-a-boo with the kids, or the kind, older woman, who, after sitting through my 2-year-old son Sam’s crying, bent near me with a warm smile and said, “Oh honey, I understand. I have grandchildren.”

Other times, it didn’t go so well. On one flight, as I settled into my seat with Oliver, I found myself saying out loud, “Oh no, you made a pooh pooh.”

“Oh gawd,” moaned the man sitting next to me, clearly disgusted. He looked at Oliver and me as if we were another, more primitive species. I hugged Oliver and wished we could hide.

But this night, in first class, I thought, it had to be better. The cabin felt quiet, almost meditative. The flight attendants gave me warm nuts in a little ceramic bowl. The leather seat was huge. I reclined it and nursed Oliver, trying to get him to sleep. When that failed, I tried to create a little playpen for him in the back of the seat, with me positioned on the seat’s edge as a fence. He was not interested.

He kept trying to bust out to the aisle, where he crawled at top speeds past Bernanke, or he grabbed onto seats and toddled from row to row toward the economy section, where my husband and our 2-year-old son were in their seats. I scooped Oliver back in my lap and tried to settle him. But then he would reach for the window cover, pushing it up and down, or he’d investigate the buttons on the fancy control panel. When the food came, he yanked at the white cloth placemat, almost spilling the deluxe food and flatware.

Related content: TSA's new kid-friendly checkpoints

He never cried. He was just happy, curious, and very awake. And mostly, for some reason that night, Oliver wanted to climb on me so he could see Bernanke. I cringed, trying to pull him down. Oliver jabbered at Bernanke in baby talk. At one point, I think around 2 a.m., I heard Bernanke’s voice reply. He must have said something funny to Oliver, because they both laughed, like old colleagues sharing a joke.

It wasn’t until we began descending into Zurich the next morning that Oliver finally conked out. As we landed, the plane stopped before the gate, so Bernanke could get out. He stopped at my seat.

“Did you ever get any sleep last night?” he asked sympathetically.

“No,” I said, thinking it was a bigger deal for him, for interest rates, for the economy. “I’m really sorry about the noise. I know you need your sleep right now.”

Then, just before he was whisked off in a black sedan with a police escort, the chairman of the Federal Reserve looked back at me with a huge smile, and words that would earn him a place as one of my favorite passengers: “I didn’t hear a thing.”

Diana K. Sugg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has covered medicine, crime and other issues for newspapers around the country. She is now a freelance writer in Baltimore raising two young sons. 

More great stories from TODAY Moms:

Take our survey: Is your child spoiled by the holidays?

Baby name trends for 2012 are fierce, heroic

Michelle Duggar's having another baby

"Like" TODAY Moms on Facebook, and follow us @TodayMoms

By Rachel Rettner
MyHealthNewsDaily

Children under age 2 should avoid watching TV as much as possible, according to a new policy statement from the nation's largest group of pediatricians, who suggest the tots should play instead.

The idea that TV programs are beneficial to the learning of children this young has not been proved, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. In addition, TV viewing may lead to sleep problems and a delayed use of speech in young kids, recent research suggests.

Even merely having the TV on in the background may be less than optimal for a child's development, the AAP says. Background television may distract from playtime activities that benefit children's learning. And it may distract parents, preventing them from speaking and interacting with their kids, the AAP says.

However, the recommendations run counter to what most parents actually do. About 90 percent of parents say their kids younger than 2 watch some type of media, according to a 2007 study. By the age of 3, nearly one-third of kids have a TV in their bedrooms.

As a compromise, parents should come up with a strategy to manage TV viewing in their young children, the AAP says. Ideally, when kids younger than 2 watch TV, their parents should watch it with them.

The new policy statement was released today (Oct. 18) here at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. The policy statement specifically addresses the viewing of TV programs and does not comment on the potential benefits or risks of using phone applications, video games or other programs a child may encounter on a screen.

Young kids and TV

The AAP first released guidelines on media use by young kids in 1999, concluding that media use by kids under 2 should be discouraged. Since then, a lot more research has been done on the subject. The AAP reviewed this research for its new policy statement and essentially came to the same conclusion.

That's not to say that kids can't benefit from TV. Children older than 2 can improve their language and social skills by watching TV, some studies have shown.

However, in order to gain a benefit from a TV program, kids need to be able to understand and pay attention to it. Young kids may lack the mental ability to comprehend what they are watching. In fact, two studies have found that, for kids 2 and under, watching programs such as “Sesame Street” may have a negative impact on language development, the AAP says. 

"There's a great developmental digital divide," Dr. Ari Brown, a pediatrician in Austin, Texas, and lead author of the new policy statement, said at a news conference. Studies show that children under 1¹/² years old have the same reaction to a TV program regardless of whether it's going forward or backward, Brown said. In contrast, older children prefer to watch the program forward.

All in all, instead of spending time in front of the TV, young kids are likely better off spending that time engaged in unstructured play, which promotes creative thinking, problem solving and reasoning skills.

Setting limits

If parents choose to let their young kids watch TV, they should set limits, the AAP says. They should also avoid placing a TV in the child's bedroom

Parent should be aware TV programs may affect their child's development, even if the child cannot understand the program. They should turn the TV off if no one is watching it and try to watch their adult programs when the kids are not around, Brown said.

If parents cannot play with their kids directly, even having the children play with toys by themselves can be beneficial, the AAP says.

The AAP also recommends further research in this area to examine the long-term effects of early TV viewing on toddlers’ development.

The new policy statement will be published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

10 Ways to Promote Kids' Healthy Eating Habits

11 Facts Every Parent Should Know About Their Baby's Brain

5 Ways to Foster Self-Compassion in Your Child

Steve Kalning

The Not-Its rock out for their pint-sized fans at a Seattle show.

Sarah Shannon remembers her first gig with The Not-Its this way: It was broad daylight, half the audience was under 10 and she was very pregnant. The show, a fundraiser for the Global Breast Milk Initiative, coincided with her due date.

It was a far cry from the days Shannon spent fronting Velocity Girl, an alternative band known for its hit song “Sorry Again.” But The Not-Its are a “kindie” music band, playing energetic pop-punk that sounds a little like The Go-Go’s crossed with Weezer. Except this band sings about school, freeze tag and camping.

Groups like The Not-Its are part of a growing trend of contemporary kids music that aims to appeal not only to the little ones, but to the grownups stuck in a minivan with them.  Many of the artists making the music are parents themselves – and many, like Shannon, are veterans of the grownup music scene.

Justin Roberts, one of kindie’s pioneer artists and also one of its most successful, was a preschool teacher by day, indie rocker by night when he, quite by accident, began writing exclusively for kids.

“I found it was kind of natural and fun, and gave me a sort of freedom that I didn’t have when I was writing for adults,” said the Chicago-based Roberts. “Any subject can fit into a kids song, it’s really just finding the right metaphor.”

Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley and Jewel are just some of the big-name rock stars that have crossed over into kid’s music. And a handful of acts – Roberts, Laurie Berkner and Dan Zanes(former frontman for the Del Fuegos) have found success in the kindie space.

But it takes more than good musicianship and clever marketing to connect with audiences, said Bill Childs, who co-hosts a kid’s music radio show called “Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child” on 93.9 FM in Northampton, Mass. “There’s this genuineness, where it feel like (the artists) are doing the only thing that they could possibly be doing,” he said.

Mike Belleme

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo entertains a crowd of kids with his brand of "kid hop."

In kindie music, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo has “found a place where I feel right at home.” The Asheville, N.C. rapper had spent a decade sharing the stage with acts such as Mos Def and Run DMC. But he found himself increasingly frustrated with the first-person braggadocio template of modern rap music.

So in 2007, he put out “Underground Playground,” an album that married the complex beats of hip-hop with the magical world of kids. His daughter, Saki (aka MC Fireworks) performs on the album, and his wife is now part of the act, as well.

In the grownup music world, said Skidoo, the “better you do, the worse your family’s doing. Not that my family comes to every show, but it’s really great to combine the success of my music and the success of my family. We’re lucky.”

Still, performing for kids can be tougher than performing for adults.  “If kids don’t like what you’re doing, they’ll just get up and walk away,” Childs pointed out.

The Verve Pipe

Verve Pipe guitarist Lou Musa (left), Brian Vander Ark and drummer Donny Brown perform at the Grand Rapids Public Library.

And sometimes, your audience can get a little confused – particularly if you do both kids music and adult music, like The Verve Pipe. The East Lansing, Mich.-based band scored a hit with “The Freshman” in 1997, and that’s what some people expect when they turn up to a show.

“We play all these festivals, and sometimes people don’t get it, and we’ve gotten booed before for not playing ‘The Freshman,’ from people who don’t realize that it’s going to be a kids' show,” said lead singer Brian Vander Ark.

After two albums that were “the classic sophomore efforts that failed,” the band went to a “really dark place,” and broke up for a few years, said Vander Ark. When they were asked to contribute to a kid’s compilation album, the band decided to take a crack at the genre.

The result, 2009’s “A Family Album,”is a marked departure from the band’s moody songs of a decade earlier, pairing Vander Ark’s strong vocals with catchy, cleverly written songs about stuff that kids care about: super awesome birthday parties and breakfast cereal.

“We had no idea what we were doing, we just knew that we could do whatever we wanted to do on a kid’s record,” said Vander Ark, himself the father of two young girls. “You can’t really put an oboe on a rock album, but with kids music, there’s no holds barred, no limitations.”

Who is your favorite "kindie" music band?

"Like" TODAY Moms on Facebook, and follow us @TodayMoms

BabyCenter

We know that kids days are expensive these days. Recent government figures show it costs an average $227,000 to raise a child from birth to age 17.

Now a new survey finds that the expense moms are most likely to be worried about is education.

About two-thirds of current or expecting moms surveyed by parenting website BabyCenter said they are concerned about paying for their kids’ school or college education. That was far more than the No. 2 concern, the cost of housing, which was cited by nearly half of those surveyed.

Other basic living expenses including the cost of child care, health care and food, also were listed by more than four in 10 moms in the survey of 1,300 BabyCenter users.

Parents also are worried about financing family fun: More than 4 in 10 moms said vacations were a big financial worry.

The survey, which was conducted in June, also found that about 4 in 10 moms waited to start or expand their families until they felt financially stable. That’s in keeping with other data showing that some parents have been delaying children because of the weak economy.

TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky, also a BabyCenter.com contributor, discussed the findings on the show Tuesday.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Designer Gwen Stefani and her son, Kingston, walk the runway at her L.A.M.B. Fall/Winter 2011 collection in New York.

Parents who emulate Kingston and Zuma's looks for their own tots are in luck: The mom of those super cool kids, Gwen Stefani, is designing a line for Target.

Called Harajuku Mini (after Harajuku Lovers, her accessories and fragrance collection with a Japanese anime twist), Stefani's latest project will include clothing and accessories for babies, children and tweens, reported Women's Wear Daily. 

“Harajuku Mini is a dream come true,” Stefani told the fashion trade publication. “I’ve always wanted to do a cool children’s fashion line inspired by the super cute and playful kid’s clothing you find in Japan." 

If the style Kingston, 5, and Zuma, 2, rock every day is any indication, this is going to be one kiddie-chic collection (come on -- Kingston's clothes are more awesome than most adults'). 

Designer duds for the tiny set are having a moment. But the potentially sky-high prices of the upcoming Versace and Lanvin children's lines will likely give sticker shock. Starting at $3.99, nothing's over $29.99 in Harajuku Mini. Shoppers eager to snap up Stefani's pieces can find them in stores (and at Target.com) starting in November; the second installment will hit both venues in January 2012. 

Who's your fashion mom-spiration? Will you seek out Stefani's kids' clothes in November?

The Olsen twins' new $39,000 backpack

Hats off to the royals: Designer headgear turns affordable 

CARL COURT / AFP - Getty Images

Starting June 1, American Airlines will no longer gate-check large strollers. However, passengers will still be able to gate-check a collapsible or umbrella-style stroller under 20 pounds.

Parents who consider strollers essential tools for moving kids, diaper bags, car seats and assorted kid-related stuff through the long corridors and slow-moving security lines at the airport should brace themselves: Beginning June 1, 2011, American Airlines will no longer gate-check certain strollers.

In order to get to the gate with stroller in hand, travelers flying American will need to bring a collapsible or umbrella-style stroller under 20 pounds.  Under the new policy, large, jogging and non-collapsible strollers will also be checked at the ticket counter.

The good news is that checked strollers will travel fee-free.

The bad news is that families who don’t want to haul everything (kid included) on their backs will have to travel with a lighter, secondary stroller.

“It is simply a matter of many strollers these days being very large and not being collapsible and easily handled at the gate and on the jet bridge,” said American Airlines’ spokesperson Tim Smith.

United also requires passengers to check big strollers at the ticket counter, but Alaska, Delta, Southwest and several other airlines allow strollers of any kind to be checked at the gate. “We know that traveling with little ones can be a challenge,” said Southwest spokesperson Laurel Moffat. “We want to make that travel experience as easy as possible.”

Other stories you might like:

• Ariel set to make a splash at California Adventure
• Falling ticket prices may yield refunds for fliers
• Wife takes over plane when husband can't fly

Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.

Sauvie Island Center

I recently learned of an educational program in Portland, Ore., that takes school kids, mostly from underserved districts, to a small but bustling organic vegetable farm, and teaches them the beauty of raising and eating (mostly eating) vegetables. The program is a runaway success, and could very well be a better grassroots way to stimulate positive dietary practices than any of the more sensational approaches, from Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" documentary to Jamie Oliver's school-lunch makeover TV crusade.

School trips to farms aren't new. I grew up in Indiana, surrounded by cows, corn and combines. Where else were we going to go on a field trip? I remember a chicken farm. Not the sights or the sounds, though. The smell. Walking into the great hall where the hens laid their eggs, I was instantly caught in the embrace of a musky yet astringent cloud of malodor. Gripping at my nose with both hands, I still couldn't keep it out. Sweat poured from my face, tears ran from my eyes. My trip to the chicken farm didn't make me appreciate chickens more, and grossed me out on the eggs I had previously savored. It was something from which I had to recover.

But kids who visit the Sauvie Island Center don't leave reeling with the horrors of kale and tomato and turnip. No, having harvested it themselves, and used their haul to prepare a field lunch that could involve anything from salads to pesto dips to quesadillas, these kids are suddenly realizing that the vegetables on their dinner plates all their lives are actually quite tasty.

Sauvie Island Center

"The Jamie Oliver shows are a little extreme, but many of the kids who come out there have never been to a vegetable farm," Sauvie Island Center executive director Anna Goldrich told me. "Lots of kids don't think they like vegetables." 

When the field trip arrives, they go around a circle asking each child what their favorite vegetable is. "A lot of kids couldn't think of a vegetable that they liked." Goldrich said that this is not a socioeconomic thing either. She sees the same fear of vegetables — "lachanophobia," according to the Internet — in kids from the highest-income school districts.

But good things happen when you take these kids out of their environment, Goldrich said. By giving them a treasure hunt to locate a vegetable growing in the middle of a field, letting them pick it and then eat it, rather than getting it served to them, overcooked, on a plate by their parents, they generally respond with enthusiasm.

"They'll try almost anything if they can pick it out of the field and pop it in their mouth," said Goldrich. "They almost always try it, and they'll like most things, if not everything."

The Center is a nonprofit that works in collaboration with Portland's regional government, known as Metro, and the Sauvie Island Organics farm, located on 16 acres of a 120-acre park.

Back in 2005, the farm's owner teamed with James Beard Award-winning chef Cory Schreiber, founder of Portland's renowned Wildwood restaurant. Together they worked with public school teachers to create a curriculum, and began raising funds — including a grant from Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen — to achieve the vision of a quality educational experience for school kids.

Sauvie Island Center

In 2008, the farm hosted 300 kids throughout the year. By last year, the number had jumped to 1,100. Thanks to the outside funding, 60 percent of the trips to the farm bring kids from lower-income schools, where the cost of bus and staffing are covered.

The farm serves local restaurants and about 500 families who subscribe to get a box of assorted veggies every week. "Each week the farm will tell us where we can eat," said Goldrich. "Fall is awesome; everything is there … kale, turnips, carrots, tomatoes."

But because of the weird weather of late, there isn't always a bountiful harvest awaiting the school kids. Not long ago, the farm, lacking other options, directed the visitors to some brussels sprouts and collard greens that had lasted through the winter, instead of having been cut down. As luck would have it, the extra time in the field made the collards sweeter than usual. Instead of being grossed out by the bitterness, the kids couldn't get enough of them — raw. (Ordinarily they're only good when cooked for ages.)

Getting kids to eat their greens. That's a tough assignment for Mr. T, let alone a one-day school field trip program. But the results Goldrich sees give her reason for optimism. "We hope the experience will open their mind to eating more vegetables in the future," she said. "Maybe they'll be at the farmer's market, and say, 'Hey, that's kale, like we tried on the farm.' "

And no, the farm doesn't have any chickens. I checked.

Find out more about the Sauvie Island Center on its website (there's even a link for donations, if you want to help out). You can also follow it on Facebook.

Previously from Wilson Rothman:

• Man meets meat: Joining the butchering trend, knife-first
• Adventures in babyfooding: How I learned from failure
• A survival guide for royal wedding widowers

Wilson is the deputy tech and science editor for msnbc.com and TODAY.com. You can catch up with him on Twitter at @wjrothman.

Since last Sunday, when President Barack Obama announced the death of Osamabin Laden at the hands of military forces, parents have grappled with how to explain the news to kids.

Certainly, blowing off any kind of conversation doesn't mean kids aren't going to hear about it and have ideas. Even if they weren't yet born on Sept. 11, 2001, their lives are affected by the terrorist attacks brought on by the al-Qaida leader, as this special edition of the Fine Brothers Kids React series shows.

It's a departure for the YouTube film makers.Their usually fun (and always informative) Kids React series reveals to grown-ups how a key YouTube demographic (kids) thinks about Internet memes such as Keyboard Cat and pop culture phenomena such as Charlie Sheen. Here, the Kids React cast of 6 to 14 -year-olds talk about President Obama's speech on the death of bin Laden.

Megan, 8, watches a video of President Obama addressing the nation.

"We find it is important to take pause when historical events occur and to reflect on how the next generation views the actions of our ever changing world," reads the Fine Brothers video introduction. " Though this is a more serious subject than our usual episodes, it is valuable to learn from the insights of more innocent eyes than our own."

"While the topic can be dicey, it’s important to tailor your words to your child's maturity level," writes Amy McCready, TODAY Moms contributor and Positive Parenting Solutions founder writes. 

As William concedes in the video, "I mean, I don't know if this is correct, I'm 10,"

Then again, this Kids React video shows, the maturity level of children is not that different from those of some adults.

If you're tempted to believe these kids are only spouting the words they've heard from adults, note how 10-year-old twins Megan and Shannon argue over very differing points of view.

via The Fine Brothers

Related:

• How are you talking to your kids about bin Laden's death?
• So, the U.S. is like Spider-Man and bin Laden's the Green Goblin? Explaining justice and revenge to kids
• Bin Laden's death unites Internet town square
• Kids on Charlie Sheen: 'I think he's coco bananas'
• Kids on Rebecca Black's 'Friday': 'Dessert with a pig on top'
• YouTube's No. 1 star talks fast, confuses kids

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Join her on Twitter and Facebook, won't you?

Don't panic, but it seems that your kids might be sneaking looks at porn while in school. At least that's the impression an incident at a Queens elementary school is giving us.

The NY Daily News reports that a group of third-graders at Public School 85 in Queens, New York recently managed to circumvent their city's antiquated Internet filtering software and view "inappropriate" images — almost without genuinely even trying:

"It wasn't porn," said [Principal Ann Gordon-Chang], who learned what happened last month after a parent complained. "The kids typed in 'hot girls' and pictures came up."

Administrators are reasonably certain that it's quite possible that children at other schools managed to do similar things and — despite performing significant upgrades to their filtering software — don't appear overly confident that something similar won't happen again:

James Cox, a computer and information science professor at Brooklyn College, said that no filter is 100% effective.

"There are billions of Web pages," he said. And "sites could cleverly disguise their content so they might not initially appear to be inappropriate."

But he added that the city's filter wasn't very good if a group of third-graders were able to circumvent it.

"However, if any of the kids is clever and has a 14-year-old sibling at home that knows how to hack, there's probably no system that would be secure," he said.

So what's the solution if filtering software won't do the trick? According to Sonya Hampton, Parent Teacher Association president of PS 149 in Harlem, it's to pay more attention to students — in theory, more monitoring and supervision could eliminate a lot of incidents such as the one which occurred in Queens. Unfortunately we doubt that many schools have enough wiggle room in their budgets to allow for that additional supervision. 

That means that for now, you should probably have a talk with your kids about what's appropriate and not appropriate on the Internet. And don't forget to stay informed about what precautions their school takes to prevent indecent material from appearing before young eyes.

Related stories:

• Missing boy found thanks to Twitter
• Survey confirms that teens love Apple products
• Student earns $50,000/year by unlocking iPhones

Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's a bit obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook.