“A bag of Doritos, that’s all Princess wanted.
Her mom calls her Princess, but her real name is Lindsey. She’s 17 and lives with her mom, Sandra, a nurse, outside of Atlanta. On May 17, 2020, a Sunday, Lindsey decided she didn’t want breakfast; she wanted Doritos. So she left home and walked to Family Dollar, taking her pants off on the way, while her mom followed on the phone with police.”
“Starting on April 6, a bearded and earnest neuroscientist at the University of Oregon named Philip Fisher began to send a digital questionnaire — at first weekly, and then, beginning in August, biweekly — to a representative group of a thousand American families with young children. He’s curious about how they and their kids are doing. They aren’t doing so well.”
“After six weeks of lockdown due to Covid-19, Cari Marshall was getting concerned about her 11-year-old daughter Chloe. The child missed seeing her friends in person and was becoming frustrated communicating with them solely via FaceTime, TikTok and the gaming app Roblox.”
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“Toxic masculinity” is a trending topic that’s made it to the front page of the news too many times this year, and for good reason. Manhood in society has traditionally meant being stoic and straight-faced—emotions might as well not exist if you’re male.
We’re in the midst of a historical first. The first generation of children raised entirely on smartphones, the iGeneration, is facing a skyrocketing mental illness rate, and studies suggest that too much screen time is to blame. In fact, suicide in teenage girls is the highest that it’s been in over 40 years. What can we do to protect our children?
After decades, social and emotional learning (SEL) is finally getting the attention it deserves from parents and teachers who recognize that a child’s emotional health is as important as his physical health. Unfortunately, getting SEL programs into school has proven difficult, as school boards and directors resist adding yet another program to underfunded schools.
Chronic stress in childhood is a major concern for parents everywhere. Whether your child is overcoming a problem at school or dealing with a recent trauma, it’s important for parents to find ways to relieve stress where they can. That’s why understanding chronic stress is just as important as finding ways to ease it.
Depression and anxiety are significant mental health concerns for children. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), more than a quarter of teens (ages 13-18) suffer from anxiety disorders and almost 6 percent battle with a “severe form” of the disorder. The NIMH also reports that “in 2015, an estimated 3 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.”
The book series turned popular Netflix drama “Thirteen Reasons Why” thrust the topic of teenage suicide back in the top issues plaguing the minds and hearts of school administrators and parents. Not only did the series propel suicide back into the conversation, it also brought attention to the rising number of teens contemplating—and committing—suicide.
Many perceive academic success as being solely dependent on a child’s intellectual abilities. While a strong intellect and high IQ do benefit children in the classroom, their emotional intelligence or EQ is just as important to their academic achievement. Across the country schools are embracing a wider approach to student success in the classroom, and Social Emotional Learning programs are at the heart of the education revolution.
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EQuip Our Kids! is a national nonprofit campaign raising awareness about EQ life skills, especially among parents and businesses. Our goal is comprehensive EQ life skills instruction in every preK -12 classroom in the US by 2030.
