Before the 1980s, clinicians actually performed surgery on newborns without giving them anaesthetics or pain medications.

Race-based conflicts and prejudices are common. The persistence of such attitudes has led some to ask whether we are naturally inclined to like those who are like us and dislike those who are different. One way to investigate that is to do experiments with babies and young children.

The UK department of health recommends that young people (aged five to 18) should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. But not enough teenagers actually do.

Medical and surgical intervention during birth continues to rise in much of the world.

Millions of people all over the world are experiencing mental health problems. And though the causes vary, we know that half of all these illnesses will have started in childhood or the teenage years.

Therapy dogs can decrease anxiety and stress in students, while getting them more excited about classroom activities.

Certainly, in our role as parents, teachers, or care-givers, we watch as our children are shaken up by the inescapable barrage of scary news involving death, bombs, enemies, and the like. They are frightened and confused...

As parents, our desire and role is to have children who have a positive sense of self, feel fulfilled and can lead a positive life with the ability to thrive on their own after leaving the nest. We want to give them necessary tools to move easily through challenges in life and create the best life they can.

The hype surrounding “Black Panther” has been as hyperbolic as any feat its characters might perform, with the film being praised for its layered story and what’s been described as its “Afrofuturist” cast.

While current interventions offer broad protocols for children and young people, specific guidelines for teenage girls are missing.

Every day, we have to remember intentions to perform specific tasks in the future. We may need to remember to buy milk on the way home from work, to return a book to the library next week, or take a certain pill at 8am every day. Psychologists call this “prospective memory”.

In a typical classroom of 25 to 30 students, eight to 10 children — a third of the class — have been cyberbullied at some point in their lifetime. About three or four students are likely to have bullied others online.

For decades, researchers have demonstrated the numerous ways in which parents can positively influence their children’s development.

Johnny is five years old. He watches his friend Mark being teased by other kids, and then he sees Mark start to cry. As a parent, or caregiver, what do you hope Johnny will do?

When parents and teachers adapt their own behaviours based on what a child is thinking, they help stimulate that child’s brain development.

It is possible to eliminate war and destruction, if we start with our youth, educating them to understand the conditioning that teaches them to hate those different from themselves. If we teach our children to understand the barriers to peace and the skills to resolve conflict, we have invested in our future. We've invested in a peaceful world. We need to start somewhere. We can begin in our homes and our schools. Plant the seed, nurture it and watch it grow.

Parent behavior may affect how well children with certain behavioral problems like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, perform in school, a new study suggests.

From getting beyond drunk at a friend’s party, to some seriously questionable outfit choices, teenagers often do things that seem outlandishly stupid. But we now know why...

How do you help your child achieve a positive sense of worth? By teaching him how to appreciate himself. Do this by: 1. First, no matter how your child is behaving, find something within him to value and be grateful for. 2. Then, point out to your child the specific quality or action you are appreciating about him.

Being bilingual may make it easier for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to switch gears from one task to another, according to a new study.

A new campaign from Public Health England is urging parents to limit snacks for children to two a day, and 100 calories a piece. The aim is to reduce kids’ sugar consumption.

Children as young as five may have already formed distinct emotional reactions to spending and saving money, a new study suggests.

There is a new "breed" of humans among us and they are here to usher in the new age of peace. These powerful and intuitive people have little tolerance for dishonesty. They are on Earth so that they can teach others about the importance of speaking truthfully and living in harmony.

Schools in England are legally required to promote the moral development of pupils. Unfortunately though, there is little agreement on what this involves.

If you grew up in a home where you were either neglected or constantly on the losing end of a win-lose situation, you will be trying to build responsiveness and responsibility in yourself at the same time that you try to maintain it in your household -- not an easy task by any means, but one you can handle.

For centuries, most children’s books reinforced messages that children are unimportant, incompetent and powerless. Children need to shape up and adopt adults’ values. Children must change to fit into an adult world.

Developmental psychology suggests that fantastical beliefs in children are associated with positive developmental outcomes. And parents need not worry, children will bust the Santa myth themselves, when the time is right.

Knowing how to navigate the online social networking world is crucial for parents and teens. Being educated and talking about online experiences can help reduce any negative impacts on youth mental health and well-being.

What happens in the early years of a person’s life has a profound effect on how they fare later on. Thousands of research papers have shown that children who get a poor start in life are much more likely to experience difficulties as adults...

Parents and teachers are painfully aware that it’s nearly impossible to get a teenager to focus on what you think is important. Even offering them a bribe or issuing a stern warning will typically fail. There may be many reasons for that...

In any culture, children hit by a natural disaster will see family members undergo huge amounts of stress and worry. They may be forced to live in temporary accommodation, and experience many changes to their usual routines and social circles.

Research has consistently shown that white individuals display implicit bias favouring white people over black people – and that this bias emerges early in life and remains stable as a child grows up. But research also suggests that...

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in media reports about postnatal depression and other maternal mental illnesses, and campaigns have led to greater understanding about the need for more specialist services.

Parents are repeatedly told to watch what they are feeding their children, but they must also keep a keen eye on how much of it they are serving. Child portion control has become so much of a problem that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared families’ healthy food portions critical to childhood weight management.

There is no research evidence that spanking improves child behavior. On the contrary, spanking is associated with aggression, antisocial behavior, mental health problems and negative relationships with parents. 

Do you take away your teenager’s phone to manage their behavior? Maybe when they arrive home late from a party or receive a bad report card?

Newborn babies have a remarkable amount of power. Though there are few things they can do for themselves, they can manipulate the world around them by summoning help with a simple wail. 

A recent World Health Organisation report revealed that the number of obese children and adolescents – aged five to 19 years – worldwide has risen tenfold in the past four decades.

Sleep experts agree that teens need at least nine hours of sleep a night. But by 2015, 43 percent of teens reported sleeping less than seven hours a night on most nights – meaning almost half of U.S. teens are significantly sleep-deprived.

New data on almost 13 million people, from 200 countries around the world, points to a tenfold increase in rates of obesity among children and adolescents over the last four decades.

Here’s an experiment to try next time you meet a baby, try holding a normal conversation. It is very difficult, isn’t it? Yes it is! Oh, yes it is!

The animal rights charity PETA recently made a link between autism and drinking cow’s milk. The article on its website discussed research that linked a dairy-free diet with a reduction in symptoms of autism in children. 

Young children have a lot to fit into each school day. So making the best use of the little time allocated to learning a foreign language is paramount.

In parenting, there aren’t often straightforward answers, and sleep tends to be contentious. There are questions about whether we are overstating children’s sleep problems.

A toddler with birthday cake smeared across his face, grins delightedly at his mother. Minutes later, the image appears on Facebook. 

The teen pregnancy rate has reached an all-time low. Fewer teens are drinking alcohol, having sex or working part-time jobs.

The developing brain is not merely a downsized version of that of an adult, but is uniquely designed to prepare itself for the external world. It has structures and functions whose sole role is to set up the basic circuits required for life after birth

Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017 is Grandparents Day. Many grandparents will receive loving cards, calls and emails from their grandchildren. However, so-called “custodial grandparents” have primary responsibility for raising one or more of their grandchildren. 

As community makerspaces begin to take root in Ontario’s elementary schools, students are behaving better. They are also getting higher grades. What are makerspaces? They’re creative spaces where students can gather to explore, tinker, discover and create, and they’re making students more enthusiastic about school.

Before babies start saying words, it is hard for parents to know whether their little one actually understands the things that they say to them.

"Clean eating” is the perfect buzz term for parents who are faced with supermarket shelves full of baby and toddler food which is high in sugar content and low in nutritional value.But while some clean eating plans are focused on a balanced diet, others are extreme.

Concerned parents can often be heard urging safety when children are at play. Recent research suggests this may be over-protective and that kids need more opportunities for risky play outdoors.

The fear of getting caught is a constant source of anxiety, and when it happens, the damage to one’s reputation can be lasting.

Our indigo kids' are deeply committed to be who they came here to be, and that is likely different from anything that has come before them. It may challenge us as parents, teachers, counselors, and adults, but it is our work to help them find their way in this world. Of course, I would be lying if I...

Research suggests that not only are newborn babies having “social” experiences, but they are learning from them almost as soon as they are born.

Girls in primary school are just as physically capable as their male classmates, according to our research, taking the sting out of the insult “you play like a girl”.

When many middle-aged people think back to their childhood, they remember roaming the streets with their friends during long, hot summers.

University of Sussex Psychologist Sigmund Freud famously proposed that our personal development is pretty much determined by events in our early childhood.

The question of whether mothers should work or stay at home in their children’s early years has always been a hot potato in the media, provoking strong emotions and headlines...

It’s the first day of kindergarten for your child, and you’re not sure who’s more anxious. Excitement, trepidation, anticipation. Starting school can be a stressful time.

What parents say, how they behave and the messages they send to their teenagers can help delay when their teenage kids start drinking, which is critical if they are to avoid the harmful and life-long effects of alcohol on the developing brain.

A good sense of humor is a highly valued personality trait. We like to laugh and for others to laugh with (not usually at) us.

Shape-shifting bodies. Cracking voices. Hairs sprouting in new places. Puberty marks a dramatic period of change for young people. Now new research shows children who grow up in poor homes enter puberty early.

Teenagers, teenagers, teenagers!! Oh how we rack our brains trying to be the best possible parents. And no matter what we do, it seems we can never get it quite right!

Unlike the childhood experiences of so many of us in the “baby boom” generation, who were raised, at best, to ignore our telepathic abilities and our spiritual, non-physical perceptions–or, at worst, to fear them–there are children now all over the world, including in western cultures, who are being raised consciously.

Whose advice do you trust when it comes to raising children? For many, the answer is to ask health professionals who can draw on years of experience, and who have access to, and can make sense of, research.

All children need to see inspiring, courageous characters–who look like them–in literature.

The American family is evolving. Fifty years ago, a nuclear family of two biological parents and children was the norm.

These days, the idea of the hard-working, emotionally distant and frequently absent father figure seems like a caricature from the past.

We all do our best to protect our kids from harm, but the adventures of childhood usually come with at least a few injuries.

With advances in prenatal testing it’s now possible to find out whether a pregnancy will result in a male or female baby as early as eight weeks’ gestation.

In the month of June, we celebrate Father’s Day, which provides me another opportunity to reflect on my own role as a parent. Of all my roles—daughter, sister, wife, friend, professor—the most profound for me has been parenthood. It has been my greatest gift...

Kentucky family court judge W. Mitchell Nance says he refuses to hold hearings on same-sex couples’ adoptions “as a matter of conscience.”

Adults whose parents separated during their childhood have an increased risk for poorer health, but experts haven’t understood why.

Deciding when and how to introduce babies to solid foods can be overwhelming for parents. But aside from timing and amount, could how babies are introduced to solid foods also make a difference to their health?

I believe it is important for every parent to keep in their heart the possibility that their child might one day “come out” to them. Barry and I were totally surprised when our son came out to us when he was nineteen. We had no idea.

“Lucy,” a shy, intelligent six-year-old, missed three days of school because she had stomachaches.

I can remember like yesterday sitting at the dinner table as a child with my parents and siblings and feeling like the world was going to end. My parents would openly discuss current events. I thought to myself what will be in this world? How will I be safe? What can the future look like when these terrible things are happening all the time?

The term “midwife” can conjure up images of a stern matron, or, in the more modern era, a back-rubbing, hand-holding, motivational cheerleader who can make or break the birthing experience. Midwives are so much more than those two stereotypes.

In most families, mothers and fathers both work hard. Pew Research recently reported that moms and dads in the U.S. work essentially equal hours when paid work hours are combined with household chores and child care hours.

You haven’t showered in a few days, and you haven’t brushed your teeth yet this morning.

Getting half of American 8- to 11-year-olds into 25 minutes of physical activity three times a week would save $21.9 billion in medical costs and lost wages over their lifetimes, new research suggests.

Try a pun or some sarcasm on a toddler and you’re likely to draw a blank stare. Babies can be even harder to impress – ignoring your best clown impressions while laughing at some completely random event.

Personal narrative is a common stumbling block for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Fortunately, parents of children with ASD can help them improve these skills, becoming better storytellers and helping them make sense of the world around them.

Children under a certain age don’t have the perceptual judgment and motor skills to cross a busy road consistently without putting themselves in danger, report researchers.

Few people would disagree that children have a right to participate in matters that affect them.

We are often quick to make judgements on what we perceive to be happening when children behave in a way that draws attention – but when a young person with autism is struggling to cope with the world, the last thing they need is our criticism.

“Why do I have to learn this?” is a common question among young adults. New research suggests an answer from their peers has more weight than one from their teachers.

There are 7,099 known languages in the world today. Choosing which of these to teach our children as a second language is an important decision

Touch underpins our social world and, evidence suggests, it may even help to reduce anxiety and provide pain relief.

Whenever we react to a person’s behavior--particularly a child’s--we can do it in either of two primary ways. One addresses the individual’s personhood and ties it to his behavior, and the other addresses his personhood and disconnects it from his behavior. This is a critical distinction.

Until a few decades ago, scholars believed that young children know very little, if anything, about what others are thinking.

Issues around children learning to read are rarely out of the news. Which is hardly surprising

In our study done in Kenya, we set out to look at whether adolescents get information about sex from television programmes.

Teachers routinely inform students that if they are being bullied at school they should seek help from a trusted adult, such as a teacher or school counselor.

This Greek tale is concerned with one of the great mysteries of the family: Where do our gifts and talents come from? It suggests that the misuse of inherited gifts can end in disaster, and that it is up to us to use our talents to serve rather than control life. 

Much is said about today’s children not getting enough sleep, a problem blamed on lax bedtimes, and excessive evening computer and mobile phone use.

Given the lack of quality sex and relationship education in British schools, and that sexual and reproductive health has traditionally been seen as the domain of females

There is a common perception that children are more likely to read if it is on a device such as an iPad or Kindles.