Home and Family

For Some School Boards, Parents Are the Enemy

This year, California Legislators tried to create new criminal penalties for parents who “harass” school board officials or disrupt school board meetings.

When Government Gets Between a Mother and a Midwife

The birth of a child is a sacred experience in a mother’s life. How and where she chooses to bring her baby into the world is a deeply personal decision that should be free from government interference.

These Parents Did Not Hurt Their Children—But Child Protection Agencies Targeted Them Anyway

Three days earlier, Sarah, a Ph.D. student in Waltham, Massachusetts, had taken her three-month-old baby, Cal, to the emergency room after his fever spiked to 103.6 degrees. At the hospital, doctors ordered x-rays to rule out bronchiolitis and discovered Cal had two partially healed rib fractures. Neither Sarah nor Josh had any idea how the rib fractures happened. When the hospital social worker talked to Sarah about the injury, Sarah was more concerned about Cal’s fever—he did have bronchiolitis, it turned out. The social worker probed the family’s home life, asking Sarah if her husband “often ignored” their children. She didn’t like Sarah’s response.

The Supreme Court Could Fix a 150-Year-Old Mistake

Dana’s son displayed concerning behavior from a very young age. It was a lot for Dana to handle—and she also had two other children. She reached out to services that provide “respite care”: part-time help for parents and other caregivers who need occasional breaks. Respite care is a game changer for parents of special needs children. A good respite caregiver can make a struggling mom feel like she’s not alone.

St. Louis Mom Battles Race-Conscious Education Policy

Imagine telling a nine-year-old boy he can’t continue at his elementary school because of the color of his skin. That’s a conversation St. Louis mom La’Shieka White had with her son Edmund Lee.

An Immigrant Goes Up Against a Power-Hungry New Agency

Men and women who grew up under the world’s cruelest governments are different from the rest of us.

GREED: Michigan Officials Steal Families’ Homes to Pad their Budgets

The House of Diamond Lake was estimated to be worth between $3 million and $4 million. It was nestled on the shore with other multimillion-dollar houses in the postcard-perfect Michigan setting. “Diamond is a very appropriate name for this beautiful lake,” one visitor to the area reports on TripAdvisor. “The water is crystal clear and sparkles when the sunlight dances on its surface. Water sports and fishing are a constant presence. You will see sailboats whenever the wind picks up a bit.” It’s no wonder Cass County officials were so excited.

SLOTH: California Takes Three Years to Approve Wheelchair-Friendly Home for Stroke Victim

They were trapped. David Tibbitts’ debilitating stroke in 2018 left him confined to a wheelchair. Stephanie, his wife, was having trouble moving David around the narrow hallways of their cramped 1930s-era home on the California coast.

Grading Butter

Beloved American Chef Julia Child learned to cook in France, where butter is indispensable. When she taught her recipes to American audiences in the 1960s, she had a favorite mantra: “With enough butter, anything is good.”

Thomas Jefferson High School Becomes an Arena for the Battle Between Parents and Policy

The large auditorium was mostly empty when the Fairfax County School Board held its public hearing in May.

Two Films that Understand the Many Meanings of Home

There aren't many positive depictions of property rights in our culture.

America Is the Real ‛Fixer Upper’

The worrisome decline in US home ownership hasn’t killed the dream of having a place of one’s own.

Families Struggle with Government-Forced, Race-Based Education

Lashawn Robinson's oldest son, Jarod, has missed out on Hartford, Connecticut’s public magnet school lottery year after year, even though the school has the space to take him. Once a student who loved school and excelled at it, years of bullying and poor education at his neighborhood school have slowly drained the boy’s academic vigor. The reason? He’s black.