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Dear Annie: Mom worried about bad influence at kid’s camp

Dear Annie: My 13-year-old daughter recently came home from two weeks at sleepaway camp, where she became very close to another girl in her bunk. At first, I was thrilled. My daughter has always been a little shy, and she came home talking nonstop about how funny, confident and “grown-up” this new friend seemed. A few days later, I learned that the girl had been encouraging my daughter to kiss boys during evening activities and had tried to convince her to sneak alcohol from an older camper’s bag. My daughter insists that she did not drink anything, but she admitted that she ...

Looking toward the future of vaccines for Lyme disease

DEAR DR. ROACH: I understand a vaccine to prevent Lyme disease is in the works, but I wonder when it’ll be available. We’ve had multiple tick bites in our family, with some that resulted in Lyme disease. While I appreciate that our dog receives a vaccine and monthly anti-tick prevention, we’re long overdue for prevention for humans. Your thoughts are appreciated. — K.L. ANSWER: Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, which is spread mostly by deer ticks in the United States. The only Lyme disease vaccine (Lymerix) was voluntarily removed from the ...

AI bots are busting loose. Have we seen this movie before?

As an old-school newshound — meaning I can remember typewriters — I am familiar with the old newsroom saying, “If you don’t like the news, just wait a few minutes.” Lately, I find myself waiting more than a few minutes for another shoe to drop in a present-day saga widely referred to as the “Hugging Face” breach. Or perhaps you’ve heard it referred to as the “rogue” OpenAI agent, although I still have questions about just how rogue it was, since it seems to have been doing only what it was designed to do, like it or not. The story began July 21, when tech giant ...

Dear Annie: Neighbor’s barking dog keeps baby awake

Dear Annie: My husband and I recently welcomed our first baby, and we are exhausted but overjoyed. We live in an apartment building, and after weeks of trial and error, we finally started getting our daughter onto a somewhat predictable sleep schedule. The problem is our next-door neighbor’s dog. It barks at everything: people in the hallway, delivery workers, car doors and even the elevator bell. Just when I get the baby down for a nap, the barking starts and wakes her up. Then she becomes overtired, cries for hours and has trouble sleeping at night. I understand that apartment ...

Doctors leave stroke patient without a single treatment option

DEAR DR. ROACH: A dear friend of ours was diagnosed with lung cancer and subsequently had a stroke. Since then, he was told that he had disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and that there wasn’t any treatment for it. The doctors don’t want to do surgery for the cancer because they’re afraid that he might have another stroke, so he’s been left without options. They told him that he could spend his time going from doctor to doctor or go home and be with his family for whatever time he has left. Does all this sound reasonable to you? Any light you can shed on this would be ...

AI can make life easier. But it can’t build character.

This summer, my son learned to tread water in the deep end, worked through awkward guitar chords and chased pickleballs that sailed just beyond his reach. Watching him fail, grapple with frustration, try again and improve made me realize something. Technology still can’t build character; you need lived experience for that. As artificial intelligence grows more capable of writing, researching, calculating and creating, the question parents should be asking is: What experiences still require my child to struggle, adapt and grow? It’s the learning spaces that matter. Sure, I have ...