Don't mess with Texas, they say, and that's especially true if you're a student in that particular state. The Human Rights Watch and the ACLU recently released a report on corporal punishment in the United States. They found that 25% of the reported 223,190 instances of corporal punishment last year happened in the Lone Star state. An astonishing twenty other states still use this form of physical punishment.

In the South, African-Americans are 1.4 times as likely to be hit than white students, and African-American girls are especially at risk. They're hit twice as often as their white peers. The two human rights groups want to see corporal punishment banned in the United States, saying that hitting kids creates a hostile environment, teaches violence, and creates a barrier to learning. And every now and then, kids get seriously injured. At school. By their educators.

Spanking is a hot topic issue among parents, and no less so here at ParentDish. But beyond my own personal views about spanking, I think that giving another person -- especially another person that you may not know very well -- the right to hit your child at their discretion and outside of your prescence is sheer insanity. I'm grateful this isn't an issue in my own state, where corporal punishment is illegal, and hope that these groups are successful in bringing awareness to this issue. What do you think?

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Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few weeks, you've probably at least heard of Michael Phelps. Even when other swimmers are winning, NBC likes to flash footage of the record-breaking Olympic star. But what people may not realize about 23-year-old swimmer is that he was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.

Debbie Phelps, Michael's mom (who you've probably seen cheering and swooning on TV), recently talked to EverydayHealth about Michael's initial ADHD diagnosis and how the family handled it as a team. Though Michael was on medication early on, he was able to be weaned off of it in middle school, in part because of his heavy participation in swimming. Debbie is a school principal, and she's also an active participant in the ADHD Moms Online Community. There, she has an article with tips for parents of ADHD children who are getting ready to start the school year, including:

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Yesterday, I took my five-year-old for a back-to-school haircut. She'd decided she'd had enough of her long, straight hair and wanted a chin length bob. At home it seemed like a good idea, but when the stylist lifted her scissors to cut off that first length of hair, I nearly had to hang on to the counter to stop myself from snatching her back out of that chair.

That's pretty close to how I feel about the upcoming first day of kindergarten. It's not about the hair, of course, it's about the letting go and letting her grow up. Kindergarten is a huge milestone, but part of me wants to scoop her up and tell the world, "You can't have her yet. She's still all mine."

NYMetroParents has some good advice for parents facing that first day of kindergarten, two that especially stick out for me. The first is that, no matter how ambivalent I might be feeling about school starting next week, my game face is always on for my daughter. We talk frequently about how much fun it's going to be, how exciting it is to start "big girl school," how it'll be great to see her preschool friends again and make new friends as well. Though I'm watching her closely for signs of anxiety or nerves, I keep my personal angst to myself.

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Little kids don't always like to have their teeth brushed. Get through this necessary task with a little creativity.

Ghazala Khamis made history last week when she gave birth to seven apparently healthy babies via c-section, making her only the second mother ever to successfully give birth to septuplets. The children, four girls and three boys, all appear to be doing well and range in weight from 2 pounds to 4 pounds. Khamis recently told the media that she has only seen her children via TV, but that she intends to try and breastfeed them all. (Can you even imagine? Newborns feed up to 12 times a day. Twelve multiplied by seven equals... when do you go to the bathroom?)

Khamis and her farmer husband, who earns only £2 a day, one or two days per week, underwent IVF to conceive the children, in a desperate attempt to have a son. The couple are already parents to three daughters. Now that the babies are here, family members are concerned about how they'll care for them. The government has pledged free diapers and milk for two years, but what the family really needs, says Khamis's brother, is a home.

When I was in labor with our second (and last) child, I teased my husband that if he wanted a son, he was on his own, because two times through labor was enough for me. He reassured me that he was perfectly happy with his mini-brood of two girls. The pressure that women must feel in cultures that revere sons over daughters must be extraordinary. Khamis can breathe easy now that she has three sons, but the risks she had to take to get there had to be overwhelming, as their life will likely be from here on out.

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Poland thinks that they have the answer to their declining population problem, a controversial "baby house" where 37 young women live, prepared to provide babies for infertile couples. Authorities say that 1.5 million couples in Poland are unable to have children, but for 11,000 pounds (about $21,000 U.S.), women at the baby house -- who are screened for health problems and who pledge not to drink or smoke -- will have one for them.

Though it's not entirely clear from reading this article, it appears that these women are not gestational carriers, or women who carry a baby who is not biologically related to them. They are surrogates in the truest sense of the word, carrying their biological children, then giving them up for adoption. This, I think, is one of the most controversial parts of this "baby factory" idea. What if the women change their mind during the pregnancy or after the baby is born? What if they aren't prepared for the emotional part of relinquishing a baby?

The center requires parents to adopt the babies immediately after birth, regardless of whether the child is healthy or not. This may prevent them from being embroiled in a situation like the recent surrogate custody issue in India, but even so, this seems to be a solution that might create more problems than it solves. What do you think?

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Kids may not always be enthusiastic about chores, but making chores kid-friendly can help.

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Matt McConaughey's bongo drums aren't just for show; the man is earthy and he's not afraid to show it. His costars have to learn to put up with his "natural scent," since he refuses to wear deodorant. And after the birth of his son Levi in July, he saved the placenta to plant at a later date.

"It's going to be in the orchards," he told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "And it's going to bear some wonderful fruit." The new dad apparently got the idea from a trip to Australia, where he met a tribe who had a placenta tree where all new babies' placentas are buried.

Honestly, I don't care what people do with their children's placentas. But don't Matt and Levi's mom, Camila Alves live in a motorhome? Where do they keep that thing -- next to the frozen breastmilk in the freezer? I can't be sure, but I'm guessing sharing a home and parenthood with Matthew means never having a dull moment.

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My five-year-old can't wait to go school shopping and drools over the markers, novelty erasers, and pencil boxes each time we go shopping. Now is a good time, with stores pricing things low for the back-to-school season.

But if you're trying to be a little more frugal this year or just like to make use of household items you already have of hand, Reader's Digest has a few suggestions for homemade school supplies. Some of them are a little nonsensical -- making index cards out of paper plates, for one. A pack of paper plates would cost you more than a pack of index cards right now, but the tip might be handy on a Sunday night when your tween announces he needs them for school the next day.

Others, like three-hole punching a ziploc bag and putting it into your child's three-ring binder to hold pencils and erasers might just work. And if you're a recycling family, there are a lot of other unusual uses for household goods that might otherwise be thrown away.

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I think we can all agree that hospital gowns are horrible. They're shapeless, come in terrible colors, and open in the back, forcing you to either wear two gowns or a bathrobe to keep your backside to yourself. During labor and delivery, I felt like I kept getting tangled up in the yards of fabric. And don't get me started on the two-tie system on the neck.

But there's a reason that women give birth in hospital gowns. For one, they're all access. For another, childbirth can be messy and who wants to be concerned about ruining a favorite gown in the middle of pushing out a baby?

The Dar-a-luz challenges the notion that we all need to have our babies in shapeless shifts, however. The "birthing dress," which sells for $98, is made from organic cotton and comes in violet or steel blue. I have to admit, it's pretty cute and looks very comfy. Its sleeveless style is sure to keep a laboring mom cool and would make for easy nursing. I'm not the kind of women who spends $100 on a dress like this, but if I was, I'd save it for lounging around in after the baby was born and I wanted some decent family pictures!

What about you? Would you buy a special gown or birthing dress for giving birth?

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