With obesity rates rising among the young -- along with related health problems -- new attention is being paid to how well schools are meeting students’ need for healthy levels of physical activity. Meanwhile, recess is on the endangered list in many districts, and daily gym classes are a rarity. Join us for a July 12th Talktime Live! online chat with three experts on the important role schools can play in developing lifelong healthy habits, and on the challenges involved in getting kids moving in school.

Young men and women who have first-hand experience of foster care are an under-utilized resource in our efforts to understand and improve a system that has more than 500,000 children in its care. What can recent graduates of “the system” teach us about how to make it better? On May 24th in recognition of Foster Care Month, Connect for Kids hosted a Talktime Live! online chat with Foster Club alums Theresa Moy and Schylar Canfield.

Thousands of students who came to the U.S. as children of immigrant families finish high school and are ready to pursue higher education. But they may face barriers due to their legal status.

On March 22 Connect for Kids hosted a Talktime Live! online chat with experts and a student on education issues faced by immigrants, focusing on the “DREAM Act,” and the opportunities this legislation may provide.

Every day in America, almost 2,500 babies are born into poverty and for the fourth year in a row, children’s poverty has increased. But sometimes it takes a dramatic event, like the hurricanes in the Gulf, to turn our attention to the challenges facing families who barely get by.

On January 18 Connect for Kids will host a Talktime Live! online chat with poverty experts and practitioners who have dedicated their lives to improving the conditions of impoverished children, in the aftermath of a natural disaster as well as those, especially families of color, who live their lives everyday in unsparing poverty.

For kids – both those directly and indirectly affected by the storm – there is still much coping left to do and a lot of support still needed. How can adults help children through this stressful time? For the latest ConnectforKids.org free online chat on September 21 at 1 p.m. ET, we’re connecting our audience with two experts who will answer questions on a variety of coping and support strategies for children, youth and families.

For this online chat, CFK will pull two expert video gamers away from their joysticks long enough to take your questions and comments regarding kids’ gaming habits and how new advances might actually be healthy for them. Ben Sawyer, Co-Director of GamesforHealth.org, and Dr. Kurt Squire, Co-Founder of Joystick101.org will lead the discussion. Submit your pre-questions today!

Young people in the foster care system will discuss their concerns, challenges and aspirations – and answer questions.

Experts will take your questions on teaching science to today's kids. What does a good science curriculum look like for different age groups? How should controversial subjects, like evolution, be covered in class? What are some challenges that science educators face -- and how can they overcome them?

My friend and colleague Jack Levine, of Voices for Florida's Children, says the world runs on relationships. If you want power to change policies, work on your relationships -- make sure you get on a first-name basis with your local reporters and your state representatives.

The nation’s obesity epidemic is no secret. By now, we’re all aware that Americans are fatter than ever, and growing ever fatter. We know that kids are not exempt, and that excess weight threatens kids’ health, academic achievement, social development, and more.