Perhaps Piaget was predicting the future when he asked, "Are we forming children who are only capable of learning what is already known? Or should we try to develop creative and innovative minds, capable of discovery from the preschool age on, throughout life?" While today's kids are smarter, what if in our attempt to insure that no child is left behind, we forget to teach them to figure things out on their own?

Eric Hoffer observed, "In times of change learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

The U.S. Census Bureau released a current population report that focuses on household and family characteristics for today's kids. The good news - children's quality of life is on the rise. More kids at grade level and on track academically. More kids taking after-school or weekend lessons. More kids (under six years old) eating breakfast with at least one parent. And even more parents placing limits on TV viewing.

The bad news is that the study also found that between 14.7 and 48.1 percent of kids under 18 (depending on where they live) are kept in their homes as much as possible because of perceived danger in their neighborhood? Sure some of those perceptions of danger are valid, yet some parents in relatively low crime neighborhoods were also more inclined to keep their kids from playing outside. Wonder how those percentages compare to childhood obesity trends? Thomas Lasley, School of Education Dean at the University of Dayton says: "I personally don't think kids are any more at risk today than they were 50, 60, 70 or 100 years ago. We live in a society that has played off fear in a more pronounced way than was evidenced in the past."

Really?! Can parents just blame increasing waistlines on the perceived condition of their neighborhood? Remember what they say: "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."