Tagchildren
The Sound of Freedom: Social Media and Human Trafficking
Robert J. Marks and Charlie Crockett continue their conversation on the sad reality of human trafficking. In this episode, they focus particularly on how social media has become a place where predators will search and highlight children’s vulnerabilities — which so many young people share online. Marks and Crockett encourage parents to develop relationships of trust with their children and Read More ›
How a Toddler in a Toy Store Refutes Materialism
This everyday observation yields insight into a fundamental truthI’m a magnet for materialists. I often get into discussions with people who tell me that the universe is nothing but matter and energy. These folks believe in materialism. They say I’m nutty and wrong to think there is anything else. Something like: “Silly theist! Gods are for kids!” Let’s follow that thought. A grandparent of 11 humans, I’ve journeyed with their parents through the young ones’ toddlerhood many times. There’s a lot to learn about reality from toddlers’ learning and growing. It leads to understanding Toddler Truth. Take a toddler to a game arcade, a toy store, or another kid’s house to play. There’s one thing you can count on hearing: “I want that!” We parents start tuning out Read More ›
When Disaster Strikes Through the TV
News cycles that profit off constant, sensationalized negativity aren't helpingA hundred years ago it would have been unimaginable to watch a tragedy unfold on the other side of the world. Such news might get peddled via newspaper, or later through radio, but the access we now enjoy to the rest of the world is unprecedented. How is that affecting us? According to this study, covered in an article from The Conversation, televised disaster and tragedy can severely affect the mental health of children to varying degrees. The authors write, Our latest research uses brain scans to show how simply watching news coverage of disasters can raise children’s anxiety and trigger responses in their brains that put them at risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms. It also explores why some children are more Read More ›
Talk More, Tech Less
Dawn Wible, founder of the digital wellness organization “Talk More Tech Less,” talks with Robert J. Marks about her advocacy for healthy screen time among children and young adults. Phone usage has dramatically increased in the last decade, especially during COVID-19. How can we be healthy and whole in a society so saturated with digital media? Additional Resources
Social Media’s Role in Human Trafficking
Robert J. Marks and Charlie Crockett continue their conversation on the sad reality of human trafficking. In this episode, they focus particularly on how social media has become a place where predators will search and highlight children’s vulnerabilities — which so many young people share online. Marks and Crockett encourage parents to develop relationships of trust with their children and Read More ›
Psychologist: Children Use Reason, not Gut, for Moral Problems
Audun Dahlis thinks that the case against moral reasoning has begun to unravelA psychology prof (pictured) at University of California, Santa Cruz offers us a surprising message about children: They do not rely merely on feelings, but rather reason, when making moral choices: For decades, research on children – unlike research on adults – has overwhelmingly concluded that participants do reason about moral issues. (Strangely, psychological research often portrays children more favourably than it does adults.) In one classic study from the 1980s, researchers interviewed six- to 10-year-old children in the United States. They asked about several fictional moral violations: for instance, a child who pushed another child off the top of a slide. When asked why pushing was wrong, children typically explained that it could hurt the victim. Accordingly, most children Read More ›
Are Infants Born Kind? New Research Says Yes
The trouble is, the research is haunted by conflicting definitions of altruismIf human infants show apparent intellectual qualities like compassion earlier than we might have expected but chimpanzees don’t, we must accept that humans are fundamentally different from chimpanzees. Conflicting definitions of altruism cloud the picture.
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Tell Kids the Robot Is “It,” Not “He”
Teaching children to understand AI and robotics is part of a good education todayWe are not truly likely to be ruled by AI overlords (as opposed to powerful people using AI. But even doubtful predictions may be self-fulfilling if enough impressionable people come to believe them. Children, for example. We adults are aware of the limitations of AI. But if we talk about AI devices as if they were people, children—who often imbue even stuffed toys with complex personalities—may be easily confused. Sue Shellenbarger, Work & Family columnist at The Wall Street Journal, warns that already, “Many children think robots are smarter than humans or imbue them with magical powers.” While she admits that the “long-term consequences” are still unclear, “an expanding body of research” suggests we need to train children to draw Read More ›
Research: Kids’ Phones Steal Sleep
How important might 21 minutes less sleep a night be to a child?If sleep is lost, what will make up for it?
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Does Social Ability Distinguish Human Intelligence from That of Apes?
Not altogether, of course, but it plays a bigger role than we sometimes assumeIn Becoming Human: A Theory of Ontogeny, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Michael Tomasello tries to understand, from his two decades of research, what makes humans unique. He says that it is not intelligence as such but social intelligence, our “ultra social ability”: One of our most important studies was a huge study we did with over 100 human children and over 100 chimpanzees. We gave them a big battery of tests – a big IQ test if you will. It covered understanding of space, causality, quantities, as well as social learning, communication, reading the intentions of others. We found that 2-year-old children – before they can read or do anything mathematical – look just like the apes on physical Read More ›
Children are watching much less TV
But what we learned from children’s TV is coming back to haunt us
Will AI triumph?
Will that phone end up smarter than your kid?