Panelists include American Idol favorite, Bo Bice; co-founder of Invisible Children, Jason Russell; author Steve Almond; NHL player and center for the Anaheim Ducks, Todd Marchant; and founder of The Dad Network, Matt McAffee.

Visit the New Face of Fatherhood panel each week, as they take on a different topic.

Question of the Week

Would you ever use a Nannycam?

Steve Almond: No. I'm not sure we'd ever even use a nanny. But the idea of putting a nanny under surveillance strikes me as paranoid. If you're that worried, you should look after the child yourself.

Jason Russell: Yes, every day. I have about 45 in different places around the house. There is nowhere they can go unseen. Hah. But seriously, I don't think my wife and I would use one, because I think it perpetuates needless paranoia - but most of all because we would not hire a nanny that we don't know or that we would not trust 100% with our children.

Matt McAffee: Absolutely, in fact I would strongly recommend it. Not only to catch an abusive nanny and stop her from doing it to other children, but for your own peace of mind.

Todd Marchant: No.

Bo Bice: We have several cameras that monitor what goes on throughout the house for the safety of our family. These are not nannycams, but they do serve that purpose when someone else is alone in our house. If we have a sitter, we always let them know that cameras are on and the cameras are in plain view. But I do feel that the cameras help provide peace of mind for us, not paranoia.

Previous Questions

Would you have another child at age 50?

Jason Russell: If my wife became pregnant at that age, I would welcome the chance for another child. Depending on where we are in our lives at that point, I would even consider adopting another child. I mean 50 is the new 40 - although I do hope to be slowing down by then: surfing the world or tasting some delicious Chianti in Florence. Alone. With my wife.

Steve Almond: There's a small chance. Like: one in a million. But I got to the parenthood party late as it is, and I hate the thought that I might not be around to see my kids into adulthood and to spoil a grandkid or two. Plus, it'd be kind of dispiriting to show up at my child's college graduation in a wheelchair.

Matt McAffee: No. Coming close to retirement, the last thing I'd want to have to deal with is a teenager.

Todd Marchant: No.

At what age do you feel you should speak with your child about sex education?

Steve Almond: No idea, but I'm hoping it's something our daughter will tell us, in a sense. Given the, uh, adult content of some of my books, we know it's going to come up. But we don't want to make sex some big, fraught subject, anymore than it already is. The big thing is that we want to raise our daughter in such a way that she respects herself enough not to make self-destructive decisions. Yeah, I realize how naive this sounds. Check back with me in twelve years.

Jason Russell: Because each child reaches mental and physical maturity at a different age I think it is very important to look at that individual child as to when it would be appropriate. However, I think 13 is a pretty average age to bring up the subject. When I was 13 my parents took me on a weekender and we had some deep talks about sex, marriage, puberty, all that awkward stuff. But because they were intentional about the subject it was surprisingly un-awkward. My wife and I have talked about wanting to take my parents idea to the next level. We thought it would be great to do a month long trip when they turned 13 anywhere in the world they choose. This would hopefully let them explore the world, while growing as a young adult, and spending much needed bonding time with their hopefully still wise parentals.

Matt McAffee: If you would have asked me this question 15 years ago, I would have said 13. But these days, I'm thinking the best age would probably be 10 or 11.

Bo Bice: It's not like when my dad sat me down at 13 and told me about the birds and the bees. My children, even with the best parental censorship, will still be exposed to more than I was. This generation has become desensitized to a lot of sexual subject matter. I'm not blaming television for this, but I think my children will end up asking about sex before I bring it up with them.

Would you want to know before your baby was born if s/he had Down's Syndrome or any other disorder?

Steve Almond: Yes, we wound up having an amniocentesis done, because some of the blood work raised red flags. That was a scary couple of weeks, but we agreed that we wanted to know about the baby's health. As to what we would have done if we'd been told there was a problem, Down's Syndrome or otherwise, I have no idea. This is the great irony about all the advances in pre-natal care: parents have so much more information and so much more anxiety.

Bo Bice: Yes, I would like to know if my child had any physical or mental disorder so that I would be better equipped to provide the child with the most normal life possible. Educating yourself and adapting to certain situations are just part of parenthood. There is no book, DVD, or class that fully prepares you for anything as a parent, but knowing as much as you can about a situation can help you plan for what lies ahead.

Todd Marchant: Yes.

Jason Russell: My wife and I were asked that very question at one of our doctor's appointments before Gavin was born. We had discussed it and realized we would want to know, just in case we needed to be educated and prepared on the issue. However both of us would never dream of terminating the pregnancy, had the results been positive. Having a baby with Down's Syndrome would definitely be more work, but my best friend's brother has Down's Syndrome and he has taught their family how to love in such a unique way. We wanted to know ahead of time as to prepare as much as possible.