Talking About Kids

Send us Fan Mail There is a nationwide movement to ban discussions of race or ethnicity from classrooms. Proponents of a ban argue that such discusses compromise learning, undermine white students, and actually promote racism in an environment that should be focused solely on “individuals and merit.” My guest today is Anne Williford. Anne is an Associate Professor and PhD Program Director in the S...

Send us Fan Mail Speak Up Stand Up Save a Life is an annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, that aims to empower middle school students to organize and be changemakers at their home campuses. This year, the conference focused on identifying and overcoming the barriers that prevent kids from accessing mental health or suicide prevention services for themselves or their friends. As one of the confer...

Send us Fan Mail Tim Cavell approached me at the World Anti-Bullying Forum and claimed that his book on parenting and my book on parenting have some things in common. He was being generous. Tim is the co-author of Good Enough Parenting: A Six-Point Plan for a Stronger Relationship with Your Child published by the American Psychological Association. It is a great book, and I am very happy that he a...

Send us Fan Mail Toilet issues are not uncommon in kids. Despite this, there is a growing body of evidence that these conditions are often misunderstood and mistreated. My guest today, Dr. Steve Hodges, is a Professor of Pediatric Urology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. A leading authority childhood toileting, Steve’s work is debunking many of the myths about it. If a kid in your lif...

Send us Fan Mail Suicides and suicide attempts peak in spring and early summer, but research shows that the ideation and mental health issues that precede the acts are at their worst now, in the winter. My guest to discuss what you can do help kids who may be having suicidal thoughts is Carla Allan. Carla is the Chief of the Division of Psychology at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Her insights...

Send us Fan Mail In this third mini Holiday Break episode, I share David Reidman's (K-12 School Shooting Database) analysis of one of the first school shootings of 2024. Links to the research I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com . Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return later in this new year.

Send us Fan Mail In this second mini Holiday Break episode, I revisit the science of why New Year's resolutions fail or succeed, and why, if your resolution is to improve your mental health, you should keep it for the sake of your kid. Links to the research I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com . Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return later in this new year.

Send us Fan Mail In this first mini Holiday Break episode, I explore A Christmas Carol 's central idea, which I argue is empathy. Links to the research I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com . Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return in the new year.

Send us Fan Mail The research is conclusive: how and with what our kids’ clothes are manufactured affects the environment and kids’ health and well-being. As you are about to hear, my guest for this episode, Samantha Gentry, is very passionate about this topic, so much so that she started her own store in the U.S. just to ensure that her own child would have access to safe clothing.   For more inf...

Send us Fan Mail As we navigate the gift giving season and the accompanying onslaught of sales and advertisements, I think it is important to understand the impact that the media and commercials have on the behaviors and, ultimately, the health and well-being of our kids. My guest to discuss this is Susan Linn. Susan is a world-renowned psychologist; the author of Consuming Kids , The Case for Mak...

Send us Fan Mail Kids need sleep. Adequate sleep helps prevent Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, mental health problems, and even injury. My guest today, Blaine Leeds, and his colleagues believe that apnea is to blame for many kids’ sleep issues. Blaine is a dentist, an innovator, the author of What Happens When Your Child Doesn’t Sleep , and a passionate advocate. More information about Blaine, including...

Send us Fan Mail In this mini Thanksgiving episode, I look at the "Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving" from the National Museum of the American Indian and read from the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. Links to the article and the full address are at talkingaboutkids.com . Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (December 4,...

Send us Fan Mail This is the second installment in a new segment in which a colleague and I examine classic and obscure books about kids from the past. We will be looking at what has changed and what has stayed the same to try to uncover universal truths and inspiration that you can use as you care for your own kids. This episode focuses on the introductory chapter of book from 1950 called How to...

Send us Fan Mail In this mini Veterans Day episode, I explore some of the reasons why the schools run by the  Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) are outperforming schools in the rest of the United States. Links to some of the materials I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com . Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (November 20, 2023).

Send us Fan Mail If you want the children and youth in your classroom, in your program, or even in your home to succeed, then you need to understand them, but gaining insights or even engaging them as cocreators of their experience is not always easy. Here to discuss what Rising Youth Theatre does to share decision making and activity leadership with the young people in its organization are two of...

Send us Fan Mail My guest this episode to talk about the importance of a developmental-relational perspective in addressing and preventing bullying is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University, the recipient of the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public or Community Service, and my new friend:  Debra Pepler. Our conversation was...

Send us Fan Mail Lice. We have checked for them, we have been checked for them, and we have worried about the.  But how much do we really know about lice?  In light of some relatively new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, I asked Ilene Steinberg – Founder and CEO of the Center for Lice Control and the so-called “Lice Queen” – to come on the podcast and help me comb through the my...

Send us Fan Mail A couple of weeks ago, the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) held its annual conference. At it, a study from 2015 received some new attention. That study is “Discipline and Participation:  The Long-Term Effects of Suspension and School Security on the Political and Civic Engagement of Youth” from the journal Youth and Society . My guests to talk about the st...

Send us Fan Mail Globally, the rights of indigenous kids are protected, in part, by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. For this mini Indigenous People’s Day episode of Talking About Kids, I briefly examine the adversities indigenous kids face, what the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child asserts about the rights of indigenous kids and all kids, and the Unite...

Send us Fan Mail For as long as there have been kids, people have offered advice on how to care for them. Talking About Kids is introducing a new segment in which a colleague and I examine classic and obscure books about kids from the distant and not-so-distant past. We will be looking at what has changed and what has stayed the same to try to uncover universal truths and inspiration that you can...

Send us Fan Mail Incorporating the arts into education helps students succeed academically and socially. Despite this, art programs continue to face cuts and even elimination. To help counter this, I enlisted the help of Art Roche. If you have been a fan of animation in the last 20 years, it is likely that you have seen Art’s work or work that he supervised. Art created the Cartoon Network series,...

Send us Fan Mail The rising cost of college is in the news once again, as are 529 plans and student loan repayment. As a result, I wanted to revisit the topic of paying for college and how to balance saving for college with saving for retirement. My guest to help unpack these issues is Brad Baldridge. Brad is a College Funding Specialist and the host of the Taming the High Cost of College podcast....

Send us Fan Mail The transition from high school to college can be difficult for some students. Here to talk about that is Amy McGrath. Amy is the Vice President of Educational Outreach and Student Services for Arizona State University and the Managing Director the ASU Preparatory Academy, which is a network of public charter schools sponsored by ASU. Starting now, Talking About Kids will be dedic...

Send us Fan Mail Millions of kids in the U.S. have jobs. For this mini Labor Day Episode of Talking About Kids, I want to examine what we know about the benefits and risks of juvenile employment. Links to some of the research I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com .  Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (September 11, 2023).

Send us Fan Mail Not long ago, Rebecca Sugar, creator of Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe , and I were discussing things that undermine the health and wellbeing of kids. I must have been painting a bleak picture because she suggested that I read Living in a World That Can’t Be Fixed: Reimagining Counterculture Today by Curtis White. I did, and then I immediately delved into his other writings, in...