Despite considerable research to the contrary, "Generation Y's collective personality, if such a thing exists, is not likely to be much different from other generations'," reports Benedict Carey in the New York Times (8/3/10). Much of the current research on those born after 1970 says Gen Y, or the Millennials, are "low on greatness and high on traits like entitlement and narcissism." One recent study reports that the Millennials are "more likely than previous generations to see themselves as 'an important person.'"

But some psychologists are now challenging such characterizations, in some cases attacking the way past research was conducted or interpreted. Some say that the samples are skewed because they typically include only college students. Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Cult of Personality Testing, says the tests are inherently flawed: "We should keep in mind that personality tests are themselves cultural documents, idiosyncratic products of particular individuals that say more about their creators than the people who take them," she says.

A pair of university professors, M. Brent Donnellan and Kali H. Trzesniewski, meanwhile say that narcissism peaks in young adulthood generally, and isn't specific to Millennials. However, "a widely used questionnaire called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory," finds that scores related to self-importance have "gone up significantly, at least in some college samples." Dr. Jean M. Twenge, author of Generation Me, says the most dramatic increases are among women. And then there's the question of whether the increase is necessarily good or bad, because self-importance makes some people pompous, but others purposeful.

Growing numbers of parents are looking for ways to teach their babies to learn a second or third language, reports Jenny Anderson in the New York Times (8/19/10). Some are hiring foreign-language babysitters (-: while others are investing in products like Spanish in a Basket :-). In some cases, it's because it's easier to learn foreign languages at a younger age. In others, it's because the parents have some kind of connection to other languages. It's also because they think it will make their children smarter, although there's some debate over that.

"Once you are trilingual, your brain can break down new languages that make it so much easier to learn your fourth, fifth and sixth languages," says Simona D'Souza, whose three kids speak German, Spanish and English. Research does indeed show "that learning a second language makes it easier to learn additional languages." But psychologist Ellen Bialystok says that doesn't necessarily mean being multilingual makes you smarter. "There are documented cognitive developments," she says, "but whatever smarter means, it isn't true."

Ellen's own research finds that multilingual kids "tend to have smaller vocabularies in English than their monolingual counterparts," and that they "have to work harder to access the right word in the right language which can slow them down" -- if only by milliseconds. But research also shows that "bilingual children do better at complex tasks like isolating information presented in confusing ways," and some believe this flexibility can be helpful in science and math. "We view it as a gift we are giving him," says Nir Liberboim, who "hired a Peruvian nanny to speak only Spanish" with his 18-month-old son.

"The history of junk food is a largely American tale," reports Manny Fernandez in the New York Times (8/8/10). "I look at it as an incredible phenomenon that's changed America, for better or worse," says Andrew F. Smith, author of the Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food." Andrew says that Cracker Jack -- created by Frederick and Louis Rueckheim at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair -- is "America's first junk food." Others include the Tootsie Roll, which is noteworthy for being "the first penny candy to be individually wrapped."

The Tootsie Roll was introduced in 1905, the same year that 11-year-old Frank W. Epperson "accidentally left a powdered-soda soft drink he had made for himself on the porch with the stirring stick still in the cup." It froze overnight, and young Frank was intrigued, but it wasn't until 1923 that he patented the process, calling his product the Epsicle:, but his kids called it Pop's 'sicles." Today, Unilever sells two billion Popsicles in the United States each year.

James A. Dewar came up with the idea for Twinkies in 1930 while trying to think of uses for shortcake pans when strawberries were off-season. Originally, he filled the cakes with banana cream, but when bananas were rationed during World War II, switched to vanilla. Finally, Walter E. Diemer created the formula for Dubble Bubble chewing gum in 1928 while working as an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Co. He earned no royalties from his invention, but his widow said he was "terrifically proud of it ... He would say to me: I've done something with my life. I've made kids happy around the world."

General Mills creates a "we" brand, one box top at a time.  By Dori Molitor. (more)

One would think that giving every child a laptop would provide tremendous educational benefit, but the evidence suggests otherwise, reports Randall Stross in the New York Times (7/11/10). In fact, the effect often is just the opposite: "We found a negative effect on academic achievement," says Ofer Malamud of the University of Chicago, who co-authored "a study that investigated educational outcomes after low-income families received vouchers to help them buy computers." Ofer says he was surprised by this, but other studies report similar findings.

A pair of Duke University professors, in a report called "Scaling the Digital Divide," studied "the arrival of broadband service in North Carolina between 2000 and 2005 and its effect on middle school test scores during that period." Math scores dropped significantly after the first provider appeared, and reading dropped "when the number of broadband providers passed four." The decline "was largely confined to lower-income households, in which, the authors hypothesized, parental supervision might be spottier."

In Texas, a four-year, $20 million experiment in "technology immersion" used federal money to distribute laptops to 21 middle schools (link). The kids were allowed to bring the laptops home. Another 21 schools that didn't get the laptops were the control. In this case, results were mixed, with test scores in some subjects improving "slightly," but results "included lower scores for writing" among the laptopped kids. The machines blocked "email, chat, games" as well as objectionable keyword searches -- but only in English, not Spanish. So, at least one educational benefit was teaching themselves how to circumvent the blocks, or maybe learning some Spanish.

It's not a homecoming or a field day but a fashion show that raises the school spirit at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, reports Jenny Andersen in the New York Times (5/13/10). But it's not just any fashion show. At Fieldston, students are required "to create an outfit made of anything but fabric." The concept was cooked up seven years ago by Nancy Fried, who teaches sculpture at the school, as "a way to get attention for the work of her 12 seniors."

As Nancy saw it, "drama students had their plays, the music students had their concerts, and the athletes had their games." Seven years later, not only do her sculpture students participate, but so do about 25 other students -- and the show itself attracts "more than 1,000 students, teachers, parents and grandparents." This year, the runway featured creations including a dress made of Tic Tacs "in the design of a Campbell's tomato soup can (image)."

Isabel Cohen came up with a halter top made of metal washers, matched with "a flowing, floor-length skirt made of attic insulation (image)" There were dresses made of newspapers (image), Post-it notes and Orbit gum wrappers, and even a dog "wearing an outfit ... made from Newman's Own dog food bags." Students say the challenge is not unlike "thinking up a college-application essay." No prizes are awarded, however, and no judgments rendered. "I give them all A's," says Nancy.

Of the 1,600 Mother's Day cards Hallmark makes, "there's no card from a child poking fun at how imperfect mom is," reports Stephanie Simon in the Wall Street Journal (5/6/10). Most of the Hallmark cards "share a reverential attitude toward mom -- lots of flowers, hearts and gratitude." (It's a different story for dad, by the way, whom Hallmark routinely mocks for "napping, playing golf or refusing to ask for directions.") It's also a different story when kids are writing the messages.

It's not that kids intend to make fun of their moms, but rather that the truth has a tendency to come out. One mom says she was insulted when her kid said she was special because her tummy is "soft, like a big pillow." Another was mortified when her child praised her for making hot dogs, wrapped in paper towel, in the microwave. Ironically, such honesty probably would have pleased Anna Jarvis, "who dreamed up Mother's Day a century ago." Anna, who was never married and had no children herself, "envisioned a somber day marked by the wearing of carnations."

But no sooner was the day declared a national holiday, by Woodrow Wilson in 1914, than it became a commercial juggernaut. Anna was so horrified by this she campaigned to have the holiday repealed: "Any mother would rather have a line of the worst scribble from her son or daughter than any fancy greeting card," she once wrote. Maybe so, but "Americans buy some 140 million cards for Mother's Day," making the holiday the " third-most-popular occasion for buying greeting cards (after Christmas and Valentine's Day)."

If you're the parent of a middle-school child, you might want to ask him or her about Formspring, suggests Tamar Lewin in the New York Times (5/6/10). That is, if your child hasn't already come crying to you about it. Formspring is a website that enables users to ask questions of friends, anonymously or not. These could be innocent or purely informational questions, but usually they are not -- they are hyper-personal or just plain mean.

Questions typically center on how you look, dress or behave. You do have the option to refuse anonymous questions and nothing is posted publicly unless you choose to answer the question. Why anyone would choose to answer -- and make public -- a question that's hurtful might be puzzling to parents, but not to Ariane Barrie-Stern, a high-school freshman. "I think it's interesting to find out what people really think that they don't have the guts to say to you," she says.

Formspring "recently raised $2.5 million" in venture capital, and claims that "more than three million questions have been asked and answered on the site." Its co-founder, Ade Olonoh, says the company doesn't know how many of its users are teens. This is more than a little unsettling to one mom, whose daughter came to her sobbing after receiving nasty questions about her teeth and body. "...I don't think I could take away her internet access," she says. "But I do think this whole online social media thing is a huge experiment on our children."

The notion that kids today are somehow different because they grew up with digital tools may be overblown, reports the Economist (3/6/10). Sue Bennett of the University of Wollongong, writing in the British Journal of Education, argues that there could be "as much variation within the digital native generation as between the generations." She says such generational generalizations "fail to recognize cognitive differences in young people of different ages, and variations within age groups."

The point is that digital natives "do not really have different kinds of brains that require new approaches to school and work." Michael Wesch, a new-media pioneer and cultural anthropology prof at Kansas State agrees that many of his students "have only a superficial familiarity with ... digital tools."His view is diametrically opposed to professors who suggest moving "classroom discussions to Facebook," for instance, or management gurus who want employers to shift from "command-and-control" cultures to more collaborative environments.

It may also upend the idea that "digital natives will grow up to be more responsible citizens" and use their digital prowess "to campaign on social issues and exercise closer scrutiny over their government." Again, "there may simply be too much economic, geographic, and demographic disparity to make meaningful generalizations ... There is also a feeling of superficiality about much online youth activism." Joining an activist Facebook group is one thing, but a Pew Research Center study "found that internet users aged 18-24 were the least likely of all age groups to email a public official or make an online political donation."

Disney Stores president Jim Fielding casts magic on retail as media. An exclusive Q&A interview by Tim Manners. (more)