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Men, did you know being a good father can lower your testosterone levels? What a bummer.  Just as we get to enjoy our partners pitching in to help with the kids, now they have a reason to stop. All kidding aside, however, a new University of Michigan study found that when men saw their infants in distress, it lowered their testosterone. Yes, when men are nurturing and caring for their children, their "maleness" declines.  While that might not make fathers very happy, I suspect it has to do with the law of the jungle, with male beasts preferring to shelter and protect their young rather than get bloody and torn up in fights with the others in the clan.  (Of course, this doesn't account for the fathers who eat their young.  But that's a story for another day.) But now it looks like men may be decompensated for being a good father. A crying infant can trigger certain emotions that may be accompanied by a corresponding hormonal response: empathy with decreas...

A program to help kids manage their behavior has also had another astounding result.  The kids do better in their academic subjects too.  According to newswise.com, a  program aimed at reducing behavior problems in order to boost academic achievement has improved performance in math and reading among low-income kindergartners and first graders, according to a study by researchers at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. “Supporting young low-income children so they can reach their potential in the classroom and beyond is of vital importance,” the Web site quotes Sandee McClowry, a professor in NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Applied Psychology and the study’s senior author. “Our findings show that learning is enhanced when it also addresses the social and emotional development of children.” Duh.  But how many programs out there do this? "Previous scholarship has shown that growing up in poverty significantly incr...