【推荐2】As Connie took the plates away, I noticed a stack of newspapers that had obviously been read before I got there.

“You bother keeping up with the news?” I asked.

“Yes,” Morrie said. “Do you think that’s strange? Do you think because I’m dying, I shouldn’t care what happens in this world?”

Maybe.

He sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I shouldn’t care. After all, I won’t be around to see how it all turns out. But it’s hard to explain, Mitch. Now that I’m suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer than I ever did before. The other night, on TV, I saw people in Bosnia running across the street, getting fired upon, killed, innocent victims…and I just started to cry. I feel their anguish as if it were my own. I don’t know any of these people. But—how can I put this?—I’m almost…drawn to them.”

His eyes got moist, and I tried to change the subject, but he dabbed his face and waved me off.

“I cry all the time now,” he said. “Never mind.”

“Amazing,” I thought. I worked in the news business. I covered stories where people died. I interviewed sad family members. I even attended the funerals. I never cried. Morrie, for the suffering of people half a world away, was shedding tears. “Is this what comes at the end?” I wondered. Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make strangers cry for one another.

Morrie honked loudly into the tissue. “This is okay with you, isn’t it? Men crying?”

“Sure,” I said, too quickly.

He grinned. “Ah, Mitch, I’m gonna loosen you up. One day, I’m gonna show you it’s okay to cry.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said.

We laughed because he used to say the same thing nearly twenty years earlier. Mostly on Tuesdays. In fact, Tuesday had always been our day together. Most of my courses with Morrie were on Tuesdays. He had office hours on Tuesdays, and when I wrote my senior thesis(论文)which was pretty much Morrie’s suggestion, right from the start—it was on Tuesdays that we sat together, by his desk, or in the cafeteria, or on the steps of Pearlman Hall, going over the work.

So it seemed only fitting that we were back together on a Tuesday, here in the house with the Japanese maple out front. As I readied to go, I mentioned this to Morrie.

“We’re Tuesday people,” he said.

“Tuesday people,” I repeated.

Morrie smiled.

“Mitch, you asked about caring for people I don’t even know. But can I tell you the thing I’m learning most with this disease?”

“What’s that?”

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love; we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said, ‘Love is the only rational(理性的)act.”

He repeated it carefully, pausing for effect. “Love is the only rational act.”

I nodded, like a good student, and he exhaled weakly. I leaned over to give him a hug. And then, although it is not really like me, I kissed him on the cheek. I felt his weakened hands on my arms, the thin stubble of his whiskers brushing my face.

“So you will come back next Tuesday?” he whispered.

【推荐3】We thought we had it all---a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way, two cars, a couple of four-wheelers for entertainment---and we loved it. Then, the market turned and my husband’s job at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for good.

We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren't any to be found. With each passing day we were getting increasingly worried and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of admiration for my husband that I hadn't felt in years.

That's why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.

Finally, one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children. That's what's important. That makes you a rich man.”

“But what if we lose the house? They'll hate me-you'll hate me,” he replied.

I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye. “No matter where we live I will be happy--as long as I have you.” I smiled again. In all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do”.

I could see his shoulders and neck relaxed. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn't for quite some time. It was a turning point for us as a couple and a family.

We are still struggling for our better life, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can't buy and no one can take away from us.

【推荐1】In the ongoing battle between Tiger Moms, French Mamas, and everyone else who wants to know what is the best way to raise their kids, a new study adds evidence that the extreme Tiger-style may do more harm than good. Authoritarian parents are more likely to end up with disrespectful children with violent behaviors, the study found, compared to parents who listen to their kids with the goal of gaining trust.

It was the first study to look at how parenting styles affect the way teens view their parents and, in turn, how they behave. The study considered three general styles of parenting. Authoritative parents are demanding and controlling while also being warm and sensitive to their children’s needs. Authoritarian parents, on the contrary, are demanding and controlling without the appearance of caring, attachment and receptiveness. They take a “my way or the highway” approach to their kids. Permissive parents, the third group, have warm and receptive qualities, but they set few boundaries and carry out few rules.

Using data on early 600 kids from an ongoing study of middle school and high school students in New Hampshire, researchers from the University of New Hampshire were able to find “my way or the highway” parenting with more violent behaviors like robbery, drug-taking, and attacking someone else with the intention of hurting or killing. Firm but loving parenting, on the other hand, led to fewer lawbreakers. Permissive parenting, surprisingly, didn’t seem to make much of a difference either.

To explain the rink between parenting style and behavior in kids, the researchers suggested that what matters most is how reasonable kids think their parents’ power is. This sense comes when kids trust that their parents are making the best decisions for them and believe that they need to do what their parents say even if they don’t always like how their parents are treating them. When kids respect the power of their parents, the researchers reported in the journal ofAdolescence, their behavior is better. Previous research has also linked firm but caring parenting with kids who have more self-control and independence.

“When children consider their parents to be the reliable figure, they trust the parents and feel that they have a duty to do what their parents tell them to do,” said lead researcher Pick Trinkner. “This is very important as the parent doesn’t have to rely on a system of rewards and punishments to control behavior and the child is more likely to follow the rules when the parent is not physically present.”

【推荐3】Do Cyber Schools Make the Grade?

Students in Caldwell, Idaho, can attend class in their pajamas!

At Vallivue Virtual Academy, courses are taught online. Students work at home with parents, who serve as learning coaches. A certified teacher oversees the students' progress.

The cyber school was launched as a free option for students in kindergarten through grade 8 who have trouble succeeding in the district's traditional public school. Supporters of the program say that virtual learning can help students work at their own pace. If students struggle with subjects, they can take those courses online and spend more time on them. Valerie VanSelous, a teacher from Hopewell Township, N.J・，agrees. "Teachers, students, and parents need to accept new technology and not be afraid of it. Offering different teaching aids just might be the key to unlocking a student' s potential. "

Some also believe that attending virtual school can prepare students for college and for work after graduation. "We need to be responsible for working on our own,” says Angela Goscilo, a senior from Pound Ridge, N.Y. "We need to develop technology skills that will help us in whatever we do. Getting an early start is a good idea."

Not everyone gives cyber schools a passing grade， however. Some educators argue that online learning makes it hard for students to make friends. Payton Mcdonough, 13, a seventh grader from Glencoe, m., agrees. " I don't know how I could sit at a computer all day without actually interacting with my peers and teachers," he says.

In addition, virtual schools don’t have enough structure. Students who take online courses can set their own schedules, which will cause problems for students who have trouble staying motivated.

Many parents also feel that cyber schools put unrealistic time demands on them because they have to oversee their kids' daily work. Many of them have full-time jobs. How are they going to run their children's education, excel in their jobs, and take care of their other responsibilities at home?

【推荐1】Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends—532, actually, if you count up both her Instagram followers and Facebook friends, And she spends a lot of time with them.

But is it possible that Kaylee’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.

Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually means spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not Words With Friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.

Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of his time is spent on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friend ships stronger, “There’s definitely positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie, co-author of the App Generation.

Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual worlds, we will have little time for our real world friendships.” says Rosen, a professor at California State University.

Rosen also worries that today s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you didn’t need someone to like your picture or share your tweet. You needed someone who would keep your secrets and hold you hand. You would like to talk face to face.

【推荐2】Social media is one of the fastest-growing industries in today’s world. A study conducted by the US think tank (智囊团) Pew Research Center showed that 92 percent of teenagers go online daily.

The wide spread of social media has changed nearly all parts of teenagers’ lives.

High school student Elly Cooper from Illinois said social media often reduces face-to-face communication.

“It makes in-person relationships harder because people give attention to their phones instead of their boyfriends or girlfriends,” Cooper said.

There’s also a greater possibility of things getting lost in translation over social media.

“If half of your relationship is over social media, you don’t really know how the other person is reacting,” Sienna Schulte, a junior student from Illinois, said.

Yet, some people believe social media has made it easier to start relationships with anyone from anywhere. Beth Kaplan from Illinois met her long-distance friend through social media. He currently lives in Scotland, but they’re still able to frequently communicate with one another.

“I can feel close to someone that I’m talking to via (通过) FaceTime,” Kaplan said.

The rise of social media has changed the way teenagers see themselves.

The 19-year-old Essena O’Neill announced on the social networking service Instagram that she was quitting social media because it made her obsessed (痴迷) with appearing perfect online.

Negative comments also can do great damage to a teenager’s self-esteem (自尊).

In particular, anonymous (匿名的) social media apps such as Yik Yak may provide opportunities for cyber bullying (网络欺凌).

The app allows users within 5 miles (8 km) to create and add comments to everything. Teenagers who get negative comments on these sites can’t help but feel hurt.

However, Armin Korsos, a student from Illinois, takes advantage of the comments he receives over social media to improve his videos on the social networking site Youtube.

“Social media can help people show themselves and their talents to the world in a way that was never possible before,” Korsos said.

But Korsos recognizes that social media has become a distraction (让人分心的事). “Social media, though it helps people connect with their friends and stay updated, is not all necessary.”