The Patcheak family (from the left) Keshav, 6, Vishnu, 10, Sheetal, and Madhav, 1, inspires other families to take action for environmental change in their schools. (not pictured: Dad, Terry Patcheak)

Sheetal is concerned about engine idling both as a health threat to our children and an environmental scourge. She points out that according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statistics, “One minute of idling emits more carbon monoxide than three packs of cigarettes. Now, we are all aware of smoking. We don’t even want people smoking in front of the buildings anymore, but we don’t even think twice about idling! There are 40 toxic pollutants [in engine exhaust].”

Schoolchildren are especially vulnerable to this type of air pollution. “[Exhaust] is known to cause asthma, allergies, lung problems, and cancer. The exhaust pipe is right where kids are standing at the dismissal line. They sit on the cement waiting to be picked up,” says Sheetal.

On weekday mornings and afternoons Sheetal ferries her sons, Vishnu, 10, and Keshav, 6, to and from East Arbor Charter Academy in Ypsilanti, with baby Madhav tucked in his car seat. “Idling is even worse if you have babies in the car, because the toxins circulate inside,” she says. “There are so many moms that have babies in the car...and they want to be first in the line so that they can leave quickly... It’s not just a half-hour pick-up, it’s hours.”

Sheetal would like the loading areas at her boys’ school and at schools across Washtenaw County to become “Idle Free Zones,” where parents and bus drivers turn off their engines while waiting.

Curbing vehicle emissions from carpools will improve the air quality at schools, but school bus emissions must also be reduced. Chronic inhalation of diesel exhaust can lead to health problems, especially for children with asthma or other respiratory sensitivities. In the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) yellow school buses make 700 diesel-fueled runs and traverse 13,000 miles every school day according to Thomas Moore, director of transportation for WISD.

After the buses depart from the schools, the danger does not evaporate. A Yale University study revealed that an invisible cloud of carcinogenic diesel particulates lingers, tainting the circumambient air around the school.

The toy gun that launched a conversation about Newtown in our house.

Jenn McKee | AnnArbor.com

Sitting in her chair, wearing white tights and a white dress with blue polka dots, Lily declared, “I’m taking it to preschool.”

Parents worry about what their kids do online and use parental controls to limit what their kids see and do. But do teens have secret online lives anyway?

The facts are startling. The McAfee company, which sells security software for computers, regularly commissions the Harris Poll to report on “The Secret Online Lives of Teens.” Waves of this McAfee-Harris study were widely reported in 2008 and 2010; then this year McAfee commissioned a report on internet use by teens in India.

Are you worried about your teenager’s online presence? Teens today are members of the digital generation. The Internet, social media, smart phones and computers are as natural to them as the dial telephone was to their parents.

Parents — typically members of the analog generation — are often a step behind their kids when it comes to online knowledge and experience. And many worry about their kids online.

What's your biggest concern?

Ricky's first turkey.

I recently wrote about the internal struggle that every parent grapples with. Is Ricky emotionally ready to hunt? Does he truly understand what he’s doing in taking the life of another living creature?”

I also wrote that Ricky has seen what happens after the deer is killed. He’s seen the gutting, skinning and butchering of wild animals. He’s also seen and looked forward to the end result on the dinner plate.

Is Ricky ready to hunt, I ask myself? Yes, he is.

I took Ricky to the archery range with a crossbow, and Ricky did a masterful job of putting the bolts (crossbow arrows) in the bullseyes at varying distances up to 40 yards away.

Kids influence over $1 trillion dollars in family spending each year, making them targets for sophisticated advertising and marketing efforts. This week we’ve discussed how parents are consumer role models, whether there’s such a thing as “good” marketing to kids, commercial advertising at schools, and a recent case of invasion of kids’ online privacy.

Do we need tougher laws to protect our children from the onslaught?

Ever notice the ads on the white plastic trays we use at airport security lines? The ones that make me chuckle are the ads for Zappos, the online shoe and apparel store. It’s a little ironic to place my shoes on top of them.

How about ads in schools? It’s a great place for ads—if you focus on the marketing potential. Kids are there five days a week, cooped up in one place for the better part of each day. Cash-starved schools can get a cut of the advertising dollars. Sounds good, right?

Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control

Children who do not have insurance coverage for vaccines may receive them through the VFC (Vaccines for Children) federal program, distributed at the local level by the health department.

School districts receive certain state funds only if at least 95 percent of their children show either proof of vaccination or a signed waiver for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. In Washtenaw County last year, about 9 percent of the children presented waivers instead of getting vaccinated. So in order to reach 95 percent compliance for the state, the school district only needed to get 86 percent of their children vaccinated. This still takes marked time and effort by local public health, as well as the school administrators.

In the 2011/2012 school year, 13,300 schoolchildren’s immunization records were assessed. Only four schools in the county have “exclusion dates,” days by which children will be sent home if they do not have the proof of vaccination, or a waiver.

Preschools and private schools do not have the same financial incentive to vaccinate their children, and have a significantly lower compliance rate. Immunization rates are tracked for kindergarten, sixth graders and all students who are new to a district. Currently, 90 percent of kindergarteners, 83 percent of sixth graders and 88 percent of new students to the school district are fully protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.

This week, Dr. Wayne Baker welcomes world-traveler, communicator and educator Gayle Campbell to share five world-changing truths. That’s Gayle with students gathered around her in the photo, above. And, here is Gayle’s third column…

Many headlines in the U.S. recently have been about political schemes to break teachers’ unions and, in general, “get tough” about reducing teachers’ resources. In fact, Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie crowed about his confrontational efforts against teacher unions.

People warned him not to tackle teachers, Christie told the RNC, “They were just too powerful.” He did it anyway and wound up beating the teachers’ unions, he boasted.

Teachers are an easy target when times are tough and people are out of work. But should we really be de-funding and devaluing those on the front lines of engaging and listening to young people? After a year in the classroom, I’ll tell you why I think we should be investing in teachers just as much as our kids.

Growing up, I thought of teaching as an easy profession — they have the best hours, get the best vacations, and all they have to do is hang out with kids every day! All the lesson planning, grading, test making, disciplining and administering seemed like a snap to me, if I thought of those challenges at all.

When I accepted a position teaching fifth grade in Honduras, I was excited to try a job where my hours were 7:20 a.m.-2:40 p.m., and I couldn’t believe the number of vacations I got.

Was I was in for a rude surprise!