Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A physician who specializes in treating children and their disorders from birth through adolescence. (If a newborn has special medical problems, such as being premature or of low birth weight, a specialist called a neonatologist may care for the baby during the first month of life, as in a neonatal intensive care unit.) Pediatricians advise…

Abnormally long pauses in breathing, as can occur during sleep apnea.  

A legal action to identify the father of a child, especially one born outside marriage; also called a parentage action. Often brought in order to require the father to provide child support, many paternity suits are filed under the Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program, by mothers who otherwise risk losing welfare money.…

A congenital condition resulting from a chromosomal abnormality in which a child has three copies (trisomy) of chromosome 13. Infants with Patau’s syndrome have severe mental retardation and often numerous defects, such as myelomeningocele and cleft lip and palate, and brain deformities, such as failure of the brain to divide properly. Less than one in…

Someone who, while not actively abusive, fails to intervene to stop child abuse and neglect by another person, in the home or other institution.  

A grading system in which students receive no letter or numerical grades and therefore nothing that indicates differences in their level of performance or their relative ranking. They are given only one of two evaluations: pass, for which credit is granted, or fail, with no credit allowed. This grading system is sometimes called credit-no credit.…

The legal rights of parents, in the United States protected under the Constitution, to have custody and supervision of their own minor children, including making decisions about their medical care. Running alongside these rights are parents’ responsibilities, legal duties to care for minors and some handicapped adult children. Parents can lose these rights under certain…

The legal duty of parents to take care of their minor children, a duty running alongside their parents’ rights; part of a wider (though in the law less clear) concept of people’s responsibilities to take care of family members, including handicapped adults. Parents are responsible for providing the basic necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter, and…

An evening or a weekend day when parents are invited to visit their child’s school, meet the teachers, and see work of the students, such as art displays or plays. Most schools hold parents’ nights at least once a year, some more often. They are not, however, an effective substitute for a parent-teacher conference.  

A parent’s obligation for damage caused by a minor child, whether through criminal acts, intention, or negligence. State laws vary as to the extent and nature of parental liability. Most states hold parents responsible for willful or malicious property damage caused by their children; more than half hold parents liable for willful or malicious personal…