“Thank goodness I have a five-year-old, I don’t have to deal with TikTok yet!” a parent recently shared. “Agreed!” chimed in another. A third parent, however, observed, “Yeah… but who knows what social media platforms will be the rage when our kids get to high school…the metaverse?” The group quieted, clearly sobered by the prospect. … Read More →
Unlike this time last year, many of us are moving into this winter with our core routines modified but intact. Most kids are back in school, work expectations are back on full tilt, and we are more likely to be participating in activities and community events. In other words, we are back, in the words… Read More →
“How do you think you might respond if this happened at school?” I asked my youngest. We were reading the part of a picture book where a student’s classmates tease him about what he wears to school because it is too “girly.” To be honest, I was kind of excited to hear my child’s response. I… Read More →
I walked into my kids’ room last week looking for my youngest. My oldest was curled up in bed. “Are you alone in here?” I asked. “No,” he answered. “I’m reading.” It took me a second to realize his answer didn’t mean that both of my kids were snuggled under the blankets. Instead, his answer… Read More →
We can’t just hand kids a book or download a podcast titled, “Get Empathy.” Nope. But well crafted stories do allow kids to get lost in characters whose lives both mirror and diverge from their own.
“Whoever tells the stories, defines the culture.” My oldest son and his friends have been watching a lot of The Who Was? Show on Netflix. The series explores the lives of famous people from history. Before dinner recently he excitedly listed all the people he had learned about. After reciting the names he made this… Read More →
“My 3-year-old doesn’t seem very empathetic – does this mean something is wrong?” or “Someone told me that kids can’t “do” empathy until age 9. Is that true?” These are examples of the types of questions parents often send us. There is a good reason for confusion around the topic of empathy. While it is… Read More →
“I’d like you to close your eyes,” I often say at workshops that I facilitate across the country. “Now visualize the kind of adults you hope your children become.” I add that I am not interested in them conjuring up logistical visions, for example, where they hope their children go to school or the kind… Read More →
Researchers at Harvard’s Making Caring Common project released a report this past fall that holds up an uncomfortable mirror for us parents about teaching empathy to kids. The team surveyed youth and asked them to rank by importance achieving at a high level, feeling good, or helping others. Nearly 80% of youth ranked achievement and… Read More →
A growing body of research is piling up that begs us to question the firm line we’ve drawn between the playground and the classroom.
