Four-month-old Indigo might not know how to walk or talk yet. But she's already a formidable weapon in the fight against bullying.On this day, as she makes her way into Denyse Stewart's third-grade classroom in Toronto, the students beam with excitement.For the next 30 minutes, Indigo is the teacher, helping these students learn about emotion and how to read another person's feelings -- namely, her own.The baby's visit is the heart of a program called Roots of Empathy -- a course that is proving to be an effective tool in reducing aggression in schoolchildren."The real importance of understanding how you feel and others feel really helps children navigate every social relationship in their lives," said Mary Gordon, founder of Roots of Empathy.Indigo and her parents will make nine visits over the course of the year. A facilitator will visit a total of 27 times to reinforce the lessons, in which understanding and spotting feelings are key. [Read the full article]

The story of Katie Goldman is one that young and (ahem) older "girls" all over the country can relate to.Teased for bringing her "Star Wars" Thermos to school, the first-grader opted instead to shield her love of the series from public scrutiny and asked her mom for a pink Thermos instead.At the tender age of 7, the boys in her class had a hard time accepting that she could like light sabers and Jedi knights just as much as they did. It would be easier for Katie to be what people expected her to be, even if it meant hiding part of who she really was. The more times change, the more sci-fi stereotypes stay the same.The evolution of science-fiction and fantasy started decades ago, but sad to say, as Katie's experience shows, it's still not there yet. Part of the reason could be that many of us, um ... shall we say, "older" fans have also shielded our love of the great imaginative stories that sci-fi delivers from public view. [Read the full article]

While millions may be running to the malls this holiday season, there are some people running away from the buying frenzy.Several online movements have inspired thousands of people to attempt to spend little or no cash on holiday presents. Followers are avoiding shopping malls and opting to save their money, make their own presents or provide free services like baby-sitting or massages as gifts."The holiday season is about sharing time with loved ones, not going into debt," said Cat Ellis, a Facebook "Buy Nothing Christmas" follower. "It is entirely unnecessary to spend money in order to show others that you care."In addition to the Facebook page that Ellis and some 1,700 people follow, websites called buynothingchristmas, buynothingday and revbilly are encouraging people to stop spending a lot of cash on gifts and reduce holiday consumerism. [Read the full article]

Noelle Strong, like most 17-year-olds, is looking forward to graduation day. The day is special to her not only because it's the culmination of her high school career, but also because it's when her father, Army Lt. Col. Noah Strong, returns from his deployment to Kuwait."It's kind of hard for me with him being there during my senior year because he's missing things like me applying for colleges, but I talk to him almost every night over the internet so that really helps a lot," she said.Noelle, along with her mother, Wilma, and her younger brother, Evan, visited the HLN newsroom recently to learn about a new way they can keep in touch with her dad and show appreciation for the sacrifice he is making for the family.HLN's Robin Meade met the family to show them how to create a personalized message to Noah Strong. [Read the full article]