A new bill, passed by the Florida Legislature and awaiting the governor's signature, bans adoption agencies from inquiring about potential parents' gun possessions, The Miami Herald reports.

Only two lawmakers voted against the bill in the Senate: Frederica Wilson (D-Miami), a longtime gun opponent, and Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton), who discussed the state's discrimination against gay couples' rights to adopt.

This is just one of many recent victories for the National Rifle Association (NRA) in improving the right to own firearms in Florida. The group also backed a bill that would stop legislators from raiding a special trust fund that pays for concealed weapons permit regulations, which the governor plans to approve.

As a court considers on Monday a lesbian teen's petition to have her prom reinstated, here's an idea that could keep everyone in the same boat without canceling the party: Ban all dating at prom.

And, no, I'm not kidding. Call it hyped-up teen anxiety, but back when I was in high school in Mississippi, there was almost nothing that scared me as much as the thought of a school dance. I wanted to attend, but there was considerable pressure to go with a date. And not being an experienced dating sort, this looming expectation led to all kinds of stress from the implied romantic nature of what should've simply been a fun school event.

Back then, here were our choices: If you didn't have a special someone in your life, you (1) Went without a date and envisioned those big L's over your forehead; (2) Attended with a sort of manufactured date and risked unwanted hand-holding and the dreaded possibility of a very awkward slow dance; or (3) Skipped the prom altogether. A lot of kids didn't go because of that reason, plain and simple.

With the movie version of Jeff Kinney's best selling "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" hitting theaters today, we have to ask: Which would you rather have -- a popular kid or a wimpy one?

In many ways, we don't get to choose. Some of the characteristics that allow a child to climb to the top of the school social ladder are physical, such as athletic ability or great hair. As parents, we try not to be overly concerned with such trivialities because we're all grown up now and realize how inconsequential it all is.

Still, for our kids' sake, it helps to remember how it felt to be told that every seat in the cafeteria is "saved," to recall the daily torture that is P.E. (particularly for those of us who might be lacking in the musculature department) and the never-ending quest for social identity.

Posing for a photograph, which then becomes the subject of a "sext," is not a criminal offense, according to the federal court of appeals.

The court finalized its first ruling concerning "sexting" earlier this week, The New York Times reports. This decision allows parents to block the prosecution of their children on child pornography charges for posing in photographs found on classmates' cell phones.

"Sexting," the sharing of sexual explicit material via text message, is a fairly new craze among teens and preteens, and has been causing controversy across numerous school districts.

The case that called for the new ruling, Miller v. Mitchell, began in 2008 in a Pennsylvania school, The Times reports. School officials found nude and semi-nude pictures of girls as young as 12 on students' cell phones. The officials took the phones and gave them to the Wyoming County District Attorney's Office.

1991, the Wiggles released their first album and the monochromatic Aussie quartet became that decade's megastars of children's music. Almost two decades later, they're still at it, having just put out their, oh, let's say 300th CD, Hot Poppin' Popcorn. But children's music has changed a whole lot in the past 20 years -- assuming that success back then will lead to success today is like assuming Alta Vista is still a go-to search engine. Let's see how the new Wiggles album sounds and compare it to some other new releases (a couple of which are fantastic).


The Wiggles: Hot Poppin' Popcorn
If you're anything like me, you find calliope-style organ tooting to be one of the most grating sounds capable of being presented in tune form. And there's a lot of it on this circus-themed album. The organ overload may not be typical of all Wiggles music. Still, it actually manages to make Hot Poppin' Popcorn sound even more traditional than the Wiggles usually do. Among those old-school songs, though, there are a couple of (non-organ) gems, like "Murray's Guitar Saved the World," which is a great, way more modern tune. But the Wiggles are more than just musicians -- they're characters; they don't just record CDs--they put together production number-studded shows. And when you play the disc for a three-year-old (which I did), you see that kid dance with a big smile on his face. So while the Wiggles may not excite today's hip music-savvy parents, they still know how to reach kids. More power to 'em.
Where are they in relation to everyone else: Let's put the Wiggles squarely in the middle of the modern kids' music spectrum, with bands to the left being more traditional (think "Wheels on the Bus") and bands to the right being more hip and contemporary.

Working moms' feelings of accomplishment diminish as societal norms change and dads engage in bigger roles at home with the kids, Live Science reports.

New research, to be published in the journal, "Personal Relationships," finds that while more women enter the workforce and have less time for care-giving and at-home tasks, more men begin helping out with the kids and household chores. This can lower women's self-esteem as they lose pride in their motherly duties.

In the study, researchers interviewed 78 couples in the United States, with 8-month-old infants.The findings revealed that women spent nearly three times as much time taking care of the babies by themselves than their husbands, and husbands rated their wives' parenting skills well above what women rated their husbands' skills.

However, women said their husbands were good parents even if they helped with normal care-giving like feeding and changing diapers. Husbands, on the other hand, didn't think these tasks contributed to making their wives good parents, most likely because they expect women to do this.

Who would steal a Girl Scout's cookie dough?

A man in Tacoma, Wash., made off with $460, the proceeds from the sale of more than 100 boxes of the popular, iconic treats.



Beverly Reed, 16, was selling cookies outside a Safeway store when a man grabbed her money and ran.

"I think it's reached an all-time low in this case. It was approximately $400 but the reality is it's the principle of the matter," Detective Gretchen Aguirre of the Tacoma Police Department tells "Good Morning America."

Here is a look at what's new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: She's Out of My League
A movie about valuing a person for what's on the inside, "She's Out of My League" spends most of its time doing just the opposite. As a nerdy guy with a dead-end job tries to win the heart of a gorgeous girl, everyone learns a valuable lesson about honesty and being true to oneself. Vulgar humor and sexual situations make it inappropriate for kids. Rated R, Iffy for Kids 15-17


DVD: Bandslam
A more realistic take on the high school musical, "Bandslam" deals with mature themes including bullying, absent and ill parents and the quest for acceptance. The story follows three very different kids as they forge unlikely friendships on the way to a high school music competition. With mild language and very little flirting, it's an appropriate pick for tweens as well as teens. Rated PG, OK for Kids 10+

TV: Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty
"Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty" is a VH1 reality series that explores the beauty secrets of women around the world. Simpson, her best friend and her hair stylist travel the globe to get an up-close look at how different cultures define what is attractive. The information is interesting but ultimately works to perpetuate the idea that beauty is only skin deep. Rated TV-PG, OK for Kids 12+