Published: October 21, 2011
Missing out on what happens at school is just one more price that children who live with smokers have to pay. In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the October Pediatrics, a group of Boston-based researchers have concluded that tobacco smoke exposure has significant consequences for children and families above and beyond child morbidity, including academic disadvantage and financial burden. Absenteeism among children aged 6 to 11 years living with smokers could be reduced 24 to 34 percent by eliminating smoking in their homes. Caregivers’ lost wages and time due to child absenteeism was valued at $227 million a year.
If you need another good reason to quit smoking nicotine dependence has emerged as a risk factor for suicide attempts.read more
Source:Psychiatric News
Published: October 12, 2011
Image Credit: istockphoto
Surveyed boys who used email at home were brighter and more popular than boys who did not – according to a recent study by an educational psychologist from Curtin University.
The study* by School of Education Senior Lecturer Genevieve Johnson analysed responses by 51 boys and 44 girls at a Canadian primary school.
Dr Johnson likened the situation of boys who did not use email to that of boys from a generation or two before who did not watch TV.
“Think back to when you were a little kid if one of your friends didn’t have a lunch box with the latest cartoon characters on it – because they didn’t watch TV – they were almost socially isolated because they didn’t know what was going on,” Dr Johnson told Curtin News.
“So when we say that children who use the internet under certain circumstances are more popular – that’s true.”
The girls surveyed by Dr Johnson were more likely than the boys to use email at home, but at school the girls and boys reported very similar use.
The similarity between boys’ and girls’ email use suggested internet teaching at school may be closing the technology gender gap. [continue reading…]
Published: August 16, 2011
Researchers think that brains are sensitive to the quality of child care, according to a study that was directed by Dr. Sonia Lupien and her colleagues from the University of Montreal published August 15,2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists worked with ten year old children whose mothers exhibited symptoms of depression throughout their lives, and discovered that the children’s amygdala, a part of the brain linked to emotional responses, was enlarged.
Similar changes, but of greater magnitude, have been found in the brains of adoptees initially raised in orphanages. Personalized attention to children’s needs may be the key factor. “Other studies have shown that mothers feeling depressed were less sensitive to their children’s needs and were more withdrawn and disengaged,” explained Drs. Sophie Parent and Jean Séguin of the University of Montreal’s, who followed the children over the years. [continue reading…]
Published: August 10, 2011
Over at BigThink Dominic Basulto gives us food for thought in his article about the current generation of toddlers who are embracing digital technology at an astounding pace.
According to a recent survey from BlogHer/Parenting, nearly 25% of toddlers will have used a smartphone by age 2. Not only that, nearly one-third of toddlers will have used a laptop or digital camera by the time they enter pre-school. Thanks to their Generation Y moms, these toddlers will be the first generation that grew up completely digital. Now that the early development of our children will be increasingly measured by digital milestones (my baby’s first text message!), what does that mean for the future of K-12 education?
When toddlers are using iPads instead of children’s books to learn how to read, when pre-schoolers are using smart phones as the default way to stay in touch with their busy parents, the U.S. educational system needs to grow and evolve so that it reflects our children’s new developmental patterns.
Read more: BigThink
Source: BigThink
