The top 8 parenting controversies of 2012

Sexy photos, ugly babies, free condoms at middle school — parents had plenty to argue about this year

Lexxa Ridley strikes the classic car-babe pose in a photo posted on her Dad's eBay listing for his 1977 Datsun.
(Image credit: eBay)

Go to Amazon, do a search for "parenting" books, and you'll get about 118,039 results. Desperate moms and dads can find advice on raising healthy, happy, successful kids with a well-timed spank... or an avalanche of hugs. There are books on Grace-based Parenting, and something called Duct-tape Parenting, apparently an alternative to helicopter parenting. Caregivers, it seems, can never agree on how to do the job, and 2012 proved it. Here, a list of eight parenting controversies that heated up dinner-table conversations over the past year:

1. The dad who used pics of his scantily clad daughter to sell a car

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.