Lauren McKeithen – FamilyToday https://www.familytoday.com Here today, better tomorrow. Thu, 16 May 2024 17:12:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.3 https://wp-media.familytoday.com/2020/03/favicon.ico Lauren McKeithen – FamilyToday https://www.familytoday.com 32 32 Reese Witherspoon’s Daughter Ava Calls Out Body Shamers https://www.familytoday.com/family/reese-witherspoons-daughter-ava-calls-out-body-shamers/ Thu, 16 May 2024 18:03:10 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=66767 The young star described the hate over her appearance as "toxic."

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Reese Witherspoon’s daughter, Ava Phillippe, recently shut down the internet trolls who criticized her appearance. Ava, the oldest child of Witherspoon and fellow actor and ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, shared a video on TikTok to address the drama. Her message reads as she starts applying red lipstick in front of a mirror, “NBD, but I just achieved a major milestone as a woman online.”

She wrote, censoring the name of Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has become well-known for weight loss, “I saw 2 different strangers commenting on my body. The first said I should get Oz*mpic because I’m too fat. The second accused me of starving myself because I’m too thin. My weight did not change in the time period between their comments. (& it wouldn’t be any of their business if it did!)” Then, she smeared the red lipstick across her cheek while rolling her eyes, adding, “It’s such [expletive].” Ava captioned the post, “Pretty is as pretty does, babes & body shaming is simply toxic behavior.”

She also clarified that body shaming isn’t limited to one gender. She explained, “P.S. I put ‘woman’ because I see this type of thing happening disproportionately to young girls & women, but let me be clear; body shaming is toxic no matter who the subject is. We all deserve to feel safe & at peace in the vessel we live in.” Ava’s Oscar-winning mom took to the comments to co-sign her daughter’s message, writing, “Yes to all of this.” Other TikTok followers also supported her reaction in the comments. One person wrote, “I have never understood why people think they need to make comments about other people’s bodies; it’s so unnecessary. Love you, and this message.”

Another person commented, “I wish I would have heard this message as a young woman. I am so impressed with your wisdom and compassion.” Someone else said, “This!!!! We, as women, do not need any of this toxicity/negativity. We should be building each other up, not tearing each other down. By the way, you are a light in this world and absolutely gorgeous.” Ava doubled down on her public service announcement about body shaming in her Instagram stories. According to People Magazine, she wrote, along with a picture of herself and her dog, Benji, “Body shaming is toxic behavior. (Asked Benji, and he agrees.) So maybe just don’t do that??”

This isn’t the first time Ava has spoken out about online invasive questions. In 2022, she clapped back at commenters who she said made “hateful” and “bigoted” remarks towards her only days after she responded to a fan during an Instagram Q&A when asked about her sexuality. The fan asked, “Do you like boys or girls?” Ava casually responded, “I’m attracted to people! (Gender is whatever).” In December 2021, she spoke with “E! News” about her approach to social media, sharing that she considers different criteria when sharing posts, especially what it could mean to her followers.

Ava shared that she was aware that she had a platform and wanted to be conscious of what she was posting. She added that she might not always get it right, but she’ll try her best to put good out there.

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Author Says Parents Are Overtreating Children With Therapy, Creating a Helpless Generation https://www.familytoday.com/family/author-says-parents-are-overtreating-children-with-therapy-creating-a-helpless-generation/ Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:18:53 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=65495 Abigail Shrier joined 'The Brian Kilmeade Show' to discuss her latest book, "Bad Therapy: Why Kids Aren't Growing Up.'

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One author is ringing the alarm for parents against being overly reliant on therapy, arguing that the increasing dependence is creating a generation of helpless kids and is counterproductive to improving their mental health. Abigail Shrier, author of Bad Therapy: Why Kids Aren’t Growing Up, recently joined ‘The Brian Kilmeade Show’ to talk about the risks linked with showering kids with unnecessary therapy and how that affects them in the long run.

Shrier told Brian Kilmeade that no one has gotten more therapy than the rising generation. She added that no one has had more psych meds, and no one’s had more discussions about feelings, therapeutic parenting, therapeutic intervention in school, or social-emotional learning, saying all of this isn’t doing kids any good. In fact, she argues that it’s counterproductive and is making them worse. Shrier stressed that the number of people suffering from disorders and other struggles hasn’t declined despite more access to therapy.

This is why Shier says that although they’re well-intentioned, mental health professionals aren’t actually helping the mental health crises among America’s youth. She said, “The mental health experts are claiming, ‘Oh, we’re just the firemen. We’re just responding to the fire.’ Not true.” She called mental health experts the arsonists, claiming that they’ve been doing preventative mental health care for a generation now, flooding children with therapeutic methods and techniques and mindfulness and wellness techniques. According to Shrier, no one is getting better, and instead, more diagnoses have been made, with 42 percent of them having a mental health diagnosis.

She continued, “They’ve been in treatment now for a generation, and you know what? The self-focused, the feelings-focus and the dependence on mental health experts that parents have to raise their kids. It’s not helping.” Ultimately, Shrier believes that the children who get the most necessary mental health treatment are less likely to want to take risks because they don’t have the same type of independence that other kids have. When Kilmeade asked what the surge in mental health resources is robbing children of, Shrier responded, “Efficacy. Feeling like I can do this. I can figure it out. I can take a risk.”

Shrier continued, “They’re so afraid of trauma. They think they can’t. They think they’ve been bullied. They think they’ve been traumatized. These kids think they have PTSD if they get dumped.” As a result, the situation has created children who have everything from “PTSD” to “menu anxiety” as a result of the over-saturation. She emphasized the importance of kids being able to take risks and learn responsibility, which can be etched in them through things like chores and empowering them to make decisions for themselves.

According to Shrier, society has let kids become so frantic and worried. Then, we bring in these mental health experts, who are supposedly the solution. They’re not the solution. They’re worry-makers, and they’re creating the problem. She emphasized that psychiatric medication and therapy are necessary in some cases for kids but cautioned parents about the risks. Shrier concluded, “What I want parents to know is not that therapy is never appropriate, not that psych meds are never appropriate, but every medical intervention and every drug comes with risk, and therapy does too.”

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Is it Okay to Touch a Pregnant Woman’s Belly? https://www.familytoday.com/family/is-it-okay-to-touch-a-pregnant-womans-belly/ Tue, 30 Jan 2024 17:06:24 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=64716 Some women are okay with it, while others prefer you keep your hands to yourself.

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For most women, a pregnant belly is something to celebrate, but not necessarily an open invitation for strangers’ hands. Almost every expecting mother has been on the receiving end of a well-meaning touch to her tummy, but is this socially acceptable? Are belly rubbers crossing a boundary? Two mothers with different viewpoints and multiple etiquette experts weighed in on the topic.

Jamila Musayeva, a coach and certified international etiquette expert, believes that touching a woman’s belly without her inviting you to do so is unacceptable. She told Fox News Digital that touching a woman’s belly is being in her personal space, a space meant for siblings, parents, partners, or those we deem close to us. She added that a colleague or acquaintance touching isn’t acceptable, let alone a complete stranger. However, Musayeva noted that there’s no universal protocol regarding touching a woman’s belly, as it depends on the person’s cultural, religious, and personal beliefs and values.

Michelle McMullen, owner of MGM Etiquette, agreed that discretion is necessary when it comes to touching pregnant bellies. She told Fox News Digital that the belly of a pregnant woman might seem irresistible to touch, but you must resist. She added that the idea of new life may spark joy for many, but the emotions of pregnancy can be challenging for the mother because protectiveness and vulnerability are common. McMullen advised that if you’re close to the woman, you should ask permission to touch her. When it comes to strangers, a ‘congratulations’ and a warm smile are more appropriate to express your sentiments.

South Lebanon, Ohio, mom Megan Elizabeth Guist said she was very protective of her belly during her pregnancy. She shared that she had multiple pregnancy losses and was told she would never be able to carry full term, then got pregnant with her miracle baby. She added that she loved rubbing her belly and talking to her baby but didn’t like people outside of her inner circle or family touching her belly. Guist said she feels that, too often, people are okay with invading a pregnant woman’s space. However, she said that if someone were to ask permission to touch her belly, she would likely have allowed it.

Another Ohio mom, Karen James-Hall, shared a different perspective on people touching her belly when she was pregnant with her daughter 39 years ago. Hall told Fox News Digital that she loved every belly touch or rub that she got. She said she felt like the person who rubbed or touched her belly was getting to know her daughter before she got here. She added that she believes all of this gave her the happiest baby once she was born, and her daughter was so loved from her first breath outside the womb.

Touching a pregnant woman’s belly is clearly a sensitive topic and depends on the person. The next time you see a pregnant belly in public that you want to rub, consider how that would make the pregnant woman feel and perhaps offer your ‘congratulations’ instead. However, if you’re in her immediate circle, consider asking permission before giving her belly a rub or touch.

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Why Have Americans Lost Faith in the Value of College? https://www.familytoday.com/family/why-have-americans-lost-faith-in-the-value-of-college/ Fri, 26 Jan 2024 17:50:08 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=64599 Most families now look for alternatives.

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The political unrest that rocked two universities over the past three months and led to the resignations of two Ivy League presidents has landed like an unwelcome thud on institutions that are already struggling to maintain the American public’s trust. For three generations, the national ambition of “college for all” shaped America’s culture and economy, as most high-school graduates took it for granted that they would earn a degree.

That consensus is now collapsing in the face of massive student debt, underemployed degree-holders and political intolerance on campus. In the past 10 years, the percentage of Americans who expressed confidence in higher education fell from 57 percent to 36 percent, according to Gallup. A decrease in undergraduate enrollment since 2011 has translated into 3 million fewer students on campus. Almost half of parents say they’d prefer not to send their kids to a four-year college after high school, even if there weren’t any obstacles, financial or otherwise. Two-thirds of high school students believe they’ll be fine without a college degree.

The pandemic confirmed a sobering realization for a lot of middle-class American families: “College for all” is damaged for most. Arthur Levine, president emeritus of Columbia Teachers College, compares this moment in post-secondary education to the colossal change that came after the Industrial Revolution. That 19th-century wave of disruption washed over schools designed to meet the needs of a religious, agricultural society and changed higher education into a system of community colleges, land-grant universities and graduate schools. The dilemma of today’s high school students is that while a similarly massive economic disruption has arrived, new educational alternatives haven’t. Levine says of Generation Z that whatever comes next for them, it’s not going to come soon enough.

So how did one of the crown jewels of American society blow so much confidence so quickly? If the pandemic marked the time the “college for all” model finally cracked, 1965 marked its beginnings. As the baby boomers came of age, the government made loans available to any college-bound 18-year-old with a high school diploma to maintain the most educated workforce in the world. High schools got rid of vocational education programs in favor of college prep classes. Prestige and cash saturated college campuses while alternatives like technical and vocational schools faded away.

Between 1965 and 2011, university enrollment increased almost fourfold to 21 million as the earning differential between high school and college graduates expanded. However, embedded in the infrastructure of universities were hairline fractures and misaligned incentives that led to the system’s failure. University governance was designed for an analog era. Decisions are filtered through a slow, deliberative process until faculty, administrators, and trustees reach a consensus. The genius of the system is that it escapes the criticisms of top-down control and protects academic freedom against political interference. The weakness is that it’s a recipe for a lack of progress.

The digital revolution demanded a quick realignment of the academy so that students could learn a quickly emerging set of skills to meet changing labor-market demands. However, instead of adapting, campus interest groups protected their turf. Instead of a degree, some employers are adopting skills-based hiring, looking at what students know instead of what credentials they hold.

Most children are taught that they have to have a college degree to be successful, but in today’s world, that’s not the case. There are plenty of other avenues to success besides a four-year education, and it seems that mindset is here to stay.

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Celebrities Discuss Their Strained Relationships With Their Parents: ‘Dad Was a Narcissist’ https://www.familytoday.com/family/celebrities-discuss-their-strained-relationships-with-their-parents-dad-was-a-narcissist/ Fri, 19 Jan 2024 02:44:49 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=64332 Sometimes you have to cut people out of your life, even your parents.

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Hollywood stars are sharing more information about their complicated relationships with their parents. Stars like Tori Spelling and Angelina Jolie are two of many celebrities who have had public disputes with their parents.

Some have been able to reconcile with their father or mother, but others have decided to cut ties forever. Here are some stars who’ve spoken out about their broken relationships with their parents.

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie and her father, Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight, have always had a complex relationship. Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand and Voight divorced when Jolie was 5 years old, leaving her mother to raise Jolie and her brother, Jamie, by herself. Jolie and her mother remained close, with Voight making periodic appearances in her life. After a brief reconciliation while working together on “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” the two once again went their separate ways in 2002 when Voigh told “Access Hollywood” that Jolie needed help for her “mental problems.”

This statement especially angered Jolie as she felt it would interfere with the adoption of her son, Maddox. At the time, Jolie said that she didn’t want to publicly discuss why she had a bad relationship with her father, but she and her brother would’ve loved to have had a loving and warm relationship with him. However, she determined that it wasn’t healthy for her to be around her father, especially since she had children. In 2010, the two reconciled for a few years and then again after Jolie’s divorce from Brad Pitt in 2017.

Tori Spelling

Tori Spelling had a great relationship with her dad, Aaron Spelling. In 2014, she told “Access Hollywood” that she was a daddy’s girl. However, things changed when Tori divorced her first husband, Charlie Shanian, in 2006 after an affair with Dean McDermott, a move that her parents didn’t approve of. Luckily, she reconciled with her father before his death in June 2006, but it took longer to fix her relationship with her mother, Candy Spelling. Over the next few years, the mother and daughter would attack each other through statements in the media, with Candy once saying Tori caused Aaron’s death by not speaking to him.

Fortunately, Candy and Tori’s relationship appears to have improved, with Tori telling Jeff Lewis on his Sirius XM show that they had a good relationship at the time, but now, it was next-level.

Kristin Cavallari

On a December 2023 episode of her podcast, “Let’s Be Honest,” Kristen Cavallari discussed her decision to cut her father, Dennis Cavallari, out of her life two years prior with her guest, psychologist Dr. Sherri Campbell. The two were discussing narcissism when the former “Laguna Beach” star said her father’s narcissism is the reason she felt she had to cut him off, calling it the best thing she’s ever done. Cavallari explained that she didn’t realize her father was a narcissist until she was an adult but remembered not feeling comfortable around him as a child, saying he would only compliment her when it benefited him and constantly put her down.

Cole and Dylan Sprouse

Cole Sprouse has publicly discussed his relationship with his mother, Melanie Wright. He and his twin brother, Dylan, started working when they were a year old, and their parents divorced the following year. When the twins were 10 years old, their father took over full physical custody. However, according to People Magazine, before that, their mother had allegedly spent almost all the money the twins earned from their early acting jobs. On the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in March 2023, Cole told Alex Cooper that his mother was wonderful and artistic but financially irresponsible.

In a separate interview on the “Diary of a CEO podcast,” Cole said his father was an incredible guy, but looking back, he now sees that his father was a person who dealt with drug abuse, mental illness, and narcissism. He also described his mother as the tortured artist type, saying that she found self-identity in being a mother and tried to turn it into a profitable business.

These celebrities have shown that sometimes you have to cut people out of your life, even your parents. However, there’s always room for reconciliation if both parties are willing to work it out.

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New Study Suggests That Men Are More Likely to Get Married After 45 https://www.familytoday.com/relationships/new-study-suggests-that-men-are-more-likely-to-get-married-after-45/ Sat, 23 Dec 2023 14:40:45 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=63767 Unfortunately, that's when women lose interest in marriage.

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Marriage among men seems to be more prevalent after age 45, but it’s also the age when women’s interest in marriage starts to decrease, according to a recent analysis of national marriage and divorce data by the law firm Koth, Gregory & Nieminski.

The analysis of “National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends for 2000-2021” and “Divorce Rates by State: 1990, 1995, and 1999-2021” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that as they get older, more men marry, but women marry earlier and divorce sooner than men. This trend is seen in statistics showing that while more than 68.7 percent of men who are 65 and older are married, less than 50 percent of women in the same age group are married.

While less than 14.2 percent of men are divorced at 65 or older, some 17.9 percent of men are divorced at this age. Women and men younger than 34 were less likely to be married in 2021 and beyond compared to ten years ago; significantly more women in this group, 32.3 percent, were found to be married compared with 25.4 percent of men. The analysis noted that this imbalance continues until 45 to 54, when marriage rates are higher for men at 65.3 percent, overtaking 62.9 percent for women.

The data shows that between 2011 and 2021, the never-married population among men increased across all age groups. In 2011, the never-married category among men aged 20 to 34 was 67 percent, but by 2021, that number increased to 72 percent for men. Among women in this age group, the never-married population increased from 57 percent to 63 percent. A 2020 report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows marriage rates reached their lowest point in more than 100 years because of changing norms and economic insecurity.

The report by statisticians Paul D. Sutton and Sally Curtin noted that while adults have been increasingly putting off marriage, a record number of young adults and youth are projected to go without marriage altogether. The federal government has been collecting marriage data since 1867, but the report focused on the marriage rate per 1,000 people from 1900 through 2018. From 2017 to 2018, the rate decreased by six percent from 6.9 per 1,000 population to 6.5, which is the lowest marriage rate on record for the period studied.

Curtin, who is the lead author of the report, told The Wall Street Journal in 2020 that although millennials are in peak marriage years in their 20s and 30s, the marriage rate is still dropping, which is historic. Recent research emphasized how various economic factors have resulted in marriage increasingly becoming a status symbol of wealth. Many successful women were also being forced to choose to remain unmarried or settle for men who earn less than $53,00 and lack a college degree, according to researchers in Mismatchers in the Marriage Market.

Philip Cohen, author of The Coming Divorce Decline and University of Maryland sociology professor, noted in an earlier report that today, marriage is becoming more of a status achievement for those who choose it, adding that the United States is moving toward a system where marriage is rarer and more stable than it was in the past.

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Joe Rogan Says Women Want a ‘Provider’ in Relationships: ‘Taylor Swift Won’t Marry a Bartender’ https://www.familytoday.com/relationships/podcast-host-joe-rogan-says-women-want-a-provider-in-relationships/ Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:07:55 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=62219 Rogan also discussed how social media impacts relationships.

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Podcast host Joe Rogan recently explained in “sexist terms” how women want a man to be the provider in their relationship while speaking with UFC fighter Sean O’Malley. A topic during their discussion included how social media impacts modern relationships.

Rogan and O’Malley criticized how platforms like Instagram devalue the dating experience, while Rogan added how much more complicated a woman can have to find a stable partner. Rogan said, “To be sexist and to talk in sexist terms, women, they go to a man as a provider. She’s going to want a guy who can keep it together, right? You’re going to want a guy you’re going to have children.”

He continued, “You’re going to want a guy who’s going to keep it together, financially stable, be disciplined, do all the things that he’s going to do, not fall apart, not become a drug addict, not do something stupid like lose his job and not give up because of that and then everybody gets on welfare. You have to count on someone unless you want to work yourself. There’s like this evolutionary aspect.”

Rogan added that, in contrast, men don’t care whether a woman can provide for them. He joked, “No one cares. Are you nice? Are you cool? Are you fun to be with? Do I enjoy spending time with you? Then, who cares? But a woman like Taylor Swift is not going to marry a bartender. I sell out stadiums; what do you do? You make drinks?” Earlier in the discussion, Rogan referenced a clip he saw that described Instagram as an “infidelity accelerating machine.” He agreed with the description based on the pages of some wives “sticking their buttocks out.”

The podcast host commented, “You know they’re getting bombed on the DMs constantly, and if something goes wrong in the marriage, they have so many options. Pro-athletes are DM’ing them; who knows?” Rogan added, “How much are you going to be invested in trying to figure somebody out if you got like 100 people that you swiped on that are also ready to go? And you can just leave, like, ‘this date sucks.’”

In a recent Fox News Digital interview, University of Virginia sociologist and professor Brad Wilcox urged men to become “more intentional” about their relationships to be good potential partners for women. He said, “One of the things that I encounter here at the University of Virginia is that a lot of young women feel like they don’t have good prospects for dating, that there aren’t guys out there who are worthy of marriage, or worthy of investing in a serious relationship. And so I think encouraging men to take high school, take college, take their early jobs more seriously, and to become more intentional about their relationships as well, would be part of the answer here.”

Societal standards have dictated that men are supposed to be the providers in the relationship, so naturally, that’s what women will seek in men. However, some couples prefer to split expenses, so it truly depends on what works for your relationship.

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New Survey Says Students Headed For College Are Worried About How They’ll Pay https://www.familytoday.com/family/new-survey-says-students-headed-for-college-are-worried-about-how-theyll-pay/ Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:11:58 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=62018 The majority of students are unsure of how to afford their degree.

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Fall semesters have kicked off at universities across the nation. Still, a recent survey said most students are uncertain about how to afford their degree. A survey from ScholarshipOwl revealed that almost all students, 92 percent, worried they wouldn’t have enough money to pay for their tuition, and many planned to use a combination of debt-free ways to pay for their education.

For example, according to the survey, 91 percent said they applied for scholarships in the summer to help fill funding gaps. Among the other debt-free ways that students plan to use to pay their tuition are on-campus or near-campus part-time job income and summer job savings. Almost one-third plan to get a side hustle, like driving for a ride-sharing app or food delivery service, dog walking, freelancing, or handy person tasks to generate income to help pay college expenses.

Simultaneously, 26 percent plan to ask their parents or family for financial assistance. However, some students plan to take on debt to pay for school. Thirty-three percent said they’ll use federal student loans, and 21 percent said they’ll use private student loans. Almost 12 percent said their parents would take out loans to cover their college expenses. ScholarshipOwl said, “The survey results indicate that Gen Z students are aware of the multiple avenues they can access to be able to cover college costs.”

They continued, “The good news is that they’re primarily focused on sources that don’t have to be repaid (federal and state grants, scholarships, income from employment). That said, over one-third of them plan to take out student loans, even if they also have non-loan funding sources.” Relying on student loans comes as the landscape for student loan forgiveness constantly shifts. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court shot down President Biden’s plan to forgive up to $10,000 in federal loans per borrower making less than $125,000 a year.

Following this decision, the Department of Education announced changes to its income-driven repayment plans that could forgive up to $39 billion in federal student loan debt. According to a statement from the White House, under the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE plan, borrowers could see monthly payments lowered to zero dollars, monthly costs cut in half, and those who make payments could save almost $1,000 a year. According to the Department of Education, the plan calculates the monthly payment amount based on a borrower’s family size and income.

That means that for those earning $32,800 a year or less, translating to roughly $15 an hour, their monthly payment would immediately drop to $0. Additionally, borrowers with an original balance of $12,000 or less will receive forgiveness for any remaining balance after making 10 years of payments, with the maximum repayment period before forgiveness rising by one year for every additional $1,000 borrowed. Students going to college could also see how much money they receive in Pell Grants increase and their spending on loan interest payments decreases if a recently proposed bill passes.

The Student Loan Interest Elimination Act, introduced by Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, would refinance the interest rate of all existing federal student loans to zero percent and cap interest rates for future borrowers. Students may be worried about how they’ll pay for their education, but at least there are some non-loan ways to pay for college.

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Heidi Klum Shares Why She Doesn’t Give Her Kids Love Advice https://www.familytoday.com/family/heidi-klum-shares-why-she-doesnt-give-her-kids-love-advice/ Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:11:21 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=62009 The former model says her kids should figure it out on their own.

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"America's Got Talent" judge Heidi Klum is a proud mom to her four children. However, she lets her kids figure it out by themselves when it comes to dating advice. Klum jokingly told Fox News Digital on the "America's Got Talent" red carpet, "I feel like I have not given them advice on love. No one has really come to me and asked too much about advice, to be honest with you."

Klum continued, "I mean my daughter has her boyfriend, I want to say four years already. I feel like she's doing pretty good. She's happy, and that's the most important thing." Klum's oldest daughter, 19-year-old Leni, has been dating Aris Rachevsky, the son of Los Angeles talent agent Rhea Rachevsky and supposedly enrolled at Harvard. They were spotted making their couple's debut at Milan Fashion Week in 2022. Leni has also shared candid pictures of the two on social media.

Klum concluded, "There's nothing more sad than when you see your children sad. So, I hope it stays that way." Leni was born in 2004 to Klum and her ex, Flavio Briatore, an Italian businessman. Klum and Briatore's relationship ended while Klum was still pregnant, and she started dating singer Seal shortly after. According to People Magazine, the model and singer married a year after Leni was born, and Seal legally adopted her when she was 5.

Leni had a moment in the spotlight before she was even born. In an Instagram post for her 17th birthday, Klum shared that she was four months pregnant with Leni when she walked in the 2003 Victoria's Secret runway show. In the post, Klum told her daughter she loved her before she was born and she will love her long after she closes her eyes forever. These days, Leni is a model herself, which Klum made her wait until she was 16 to pursue.

Klum and Seal had three more children together: Henry, 18, Johan, 16, and their youngest daughter, Lou, 13, before divorcing in 2014. Klum has been married to musician Tom Kaulitz since 2019. With all of Klum's success, she's a fiercely protective and devoted mother to her children, even admitting to being a helicopter parent who wants to keep her kids little for as long as she can. She limits their TV watching and doesn't let her younger children post on social media. She rarely shows her children's faces; when she does, they're typically covered with emojis or show their backs. Klum described herself as an old-school parent who thinks children should be outside, not glued to screens.

Meanwhile, "AGT" Season 18 is in full swing, with many talented performers competing for the grand prize of $1 million. Klum shared her favorite performances of the night with Fox News Digital. She referred to the Ramadhani Brothers, saying, "The balancing guys. Seeing a human being balanced on someone else's head, climbing up and down stairs for me, was a no-brainer."

The Ramadhani Brothers performed a jaw-dropping act as they attempted a head-balancing routine for the audience. The duo included Fadhili and Ibrahim Jobu from Tanzania. Heidi Klum may be a successful model who’s transitioned into other entertainment sectors, but her favorite job is being a mother to her kids.

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Is it Time to Consider Banning Child Acting? https://www.familytoday.com/family/is-it-time-to-consider-banning-child-acting/ Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:19:49 +0000 https://www.familytoday.com/?p=61649 Former child actors are sharing their horrific experiences.

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When Alex Nikolas was a 12-year-old child actor on Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101,” she felt uncomfortable around Dan Schneider, the show’s creator. She said she remembered not liking being around him and not feeling safe around him. One of the core memories was that Schneider was typically on the other side of the curtain during her wardrobe fittings, where she would wear short skirts and clothing she felt were too revealing for her age.

Nikolas said Schneider kept Polaroid photos that the wardrobe staff took of her in these outfits. At the time, it wasn’t a red flag for her, but after moving on from the show and working on sets of different television shows, she realized Schneider’s behavior was abnormal. Nikolas is part of a new generation of former child actors who are speaking out about the lack of agency they felt they had as working children.

They argue that the current laws can’t protect young actors from the emotional, mental, and physical stress of working or being oppressed by parents or other adults in the industry. This harm can affect them for the rest of their lives. Sally Gaglini, an entertainment lawyer and author based in Massachusetts, believes that putting a child in front of a camera is a huge deal, adding that it’s not comparable to other extracurricular activities.

She says one example is that children are minors, so they can’t give legal consent to work, meaning it’s up to their parents to decide if being a working child is right for them, and the nature of entertainment contracts is binding. In several states, including New York and California, productions can get employment contracts involving court-appointed child actors, making them more challenging for a child to get out of. Companies that hire children will typically get parents to sign an agreement to cover costs if their child refuses or fails to perform, according to Gaglini.

Still, a more fundamental question is involved: Can a child and their guardians make a fully informed decision about working and what that will mean for the rest of the child’s life? Gaglini brought up the example that a patient can ask their doctor about possible risks before going into surgery. However, children depend on their parents to make the right choice for the child’s capacity for a productive life. American federal labor laws see most jobs as too oppressive for children. If you’re under 16 in the United States, the federal child labor terms in the Fair Labor Standards Act ban you from working “oppressive child labor,” defined as the employment of children under 16 in most jobs.

As a child under 16, you can’t work in transportation, construction, or manufacturing. You can’t unload goods off a truck or repair equipment, but you can work in entertainment. Legislators in the late 1930s didn’t consider child acting oppressive, but should it be now, considering the adverse effects of this underage labor that fuels billion-dollar industries? Some child actors have positive experiences, but is it worth the risk for those who don’t? For child performers, working in the spotlight while young often comes at an immense cost to themselves, not to mention the sacrifice of a normal childhood.

In her recent memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” former child star Jennette McCurdy of Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” recalled the miserable aspects of being a child actor, from drinking Gatorade while feverish so she could perform to dealing with a lewd authority figure on set that she calls “The Creator,” assumed to be Schneider. In her memoir, McCurdy shares that The Creator gave her an unwanted massage and was pressured to wear a bikini because it was what he wanted.

After reading “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” what becomes more apparent is that there are child actors who think that early-in-life wealth and fame come at a steep cost, a price the general public doesn’t realize kids pay. As 1980s teen star Wil Wheaton of “Stand By Me” put in “Showbiz Kids” about negative reviews he received as a teen, people don’t realize they’re talking about a child who’s giving up their childhood to be in this thing you’re reviewing. So the next time you watch a child actor on screen, ask yourself, “Do they want to be there? Are they getting enough sleep? Is anyone asking how they’re feeling?”

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