tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/children-10/articlesChildren – The Conversation2024-03-10T13:17:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242382024-03-10T13:17:33Z2024-03-10T13:17:33ZCanada is falling behind other countries in meeting the needs of former youth in care<p>Can we do better in Canada to meet the needs of former youth in care?</p>
<p>Young adults across Canada continue to struggle with the <a href="https://leger360.com/surveys/2023-youth-study-report-millennials-and-gen-zs-employment-finances-and-future/">high cost of living</a>. Statistics Canada highlights a 20-year trend <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220713/g-a005-eng.htm">of Canadians aged 20-34 remaining in their familial home with at least one parent</a>. </p>
<p>In contrast, young adults aging out of government care (those with lived experience in child welfare systems) are expected to rapidly transition to adulthood much earlier, many <a href="https://rcybc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/relationships_matter_research_report_fall_2018_final_0.pdf">without the support of their families</a>.</p>
<h2>OECD data</h2>
<p>While Canada is among 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) working toward developing policy standards in relation to economic development, Canada is failing to meet the social, educational and economic realities facing people with lived experience in child welfare systems. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/1939a9ec-en">OECD data indicate that</a> people who have had experience in care as children have worse mental health, greater levels of homelessness, higher incarceration rates and higher rates of suicide. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/health-of-former-youth-in-care-could-be-bolstered-by-stronger-tuition-waiver-programs-189056">Health of former youth in care could be bolstered by stronger tuition waiver programs</a>
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<p>Collectively, these indicators suggest the need for greater attention to youth leaving care. In particular, we need to do better at evaluating which types of interventions provide for positive long-term effects on youth’s education, mental health and employment after they leave care. </p>
<p>Available data suggest Canada is falling behind other countries in terms of meeting the unique needs of former youth in care. </p>
<p>This has direct implications for the individuals, their communities and the economy, and yet we continue to see a patchwork approach taken by the federal and provincial governments. </p>
<h2>Patchwork approaches</h2>
<p>Existing aging-out-of-care policies continue to have very real consequences for youth, including barriers <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2023_e13bef63-en">to access to education</a>, employment and housing — all of which are <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html">key determinants of health</a>.</p>
<p>The consequences of continued inaction will inevitably result in worse health, social, economic and other life outcomes for thousands of people. </p>
<p>These consequences <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/46-28-0001/2023001/article/00004-eng.htm">will be felt for generations</a>, with many former youth in care experiencing continued cycles of poverty. </p>
<h2>Worse labour market outcomes</h2>
<p>We know that many former youth in care have intersecting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2013.767370">experiences and identities</a>. Many face adversity or oppression related to class, gender identity, sexual orientation or racism that can limit their life chances and attainment in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2017.1347551">terms of education, employment</a> and health outcomes. </p>
<p>Former youth in care are more likely to be from groups that have worse educational and labour market outcomes to begin with, and youth who are <a href="https://42bf8e9c-2414-4457-bac7-f47eccf53bff.filesusr.com/ugd/6548f4_7ba391d9a4b54e7a972c1314de2cefca.pdf">from Black, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ populations remain over-represented</a> in care systems. </p>
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<img alt="People seen walking on a campus path." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579318/original/file-20240301-51556-jndcqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Access to education, employment and housing are all key determinants of health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Perhaps not surprisingly, given these disadvantages and lack of opportunities afforded to youth with experience in care, former youth in care are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.08.027">be involved in criminal activity</a>, particularly for those placed by agencies <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/socjs-esjp/en/Youth/yij">in group care settings</a>. </p>
<p>Given that individuals with criminal records, particularly women and Indigenous applicants, can find it almost impossible to find work, this can lead <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2021-r002/index-en.aspx#sA">to a life of economic dependence on social welfare services</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/high-school-dropouts-cost-countries-a-staggering-amount-of-money-115396">High school dropouts cost countries a staggering amount of money</a>
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<h2>Quality education?</h2>
<p>In terms of Canada’s standing in relation to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), <a href="https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals/quality-education">particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education)</a>, SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 3 (good health and well-being) is also at issue.</p>
<p>The UNSDG data indicates that education is widely regarded as a key factor in mitigating the impacts of experiences in care as well as other related childhood traumas. </p>
<p>Our recently published review of research about barriers to post-secondary education among former youth in care found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2023.100303">that more attention is needed in the intersecting system-level factors that impact access to education</a>. These barriers include poverty, as well as adverse health and well-being. Many <a href="https://bit.ly/3InfGdn">of these circumstances</a> begin in care, and well before high school or post-secondary studies. </p>
<h2>Barriers to post-secondary study</h2>
<p>Of the 58 studies that met our inclusion criteria, the majority cite issues of highly variable requirements for funding supports for post-secondary education. These variables include: </p>
<ul>
<li>differing provincial and institutional age caps;</li>
<li>verification processes to determine who is eligible;</li>
<li>limitations on program duration;</li>
<li>eligible program types and level of study.</li>
</ul>
<p>These varied requirements limit financial supports, and can result in financial gaps. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Mural of a hand holding a growing plant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579316/original/file-20240301-51515-hsbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A focus on trauma-informed policy approaches is needed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Noemi Macavei Katocz/Unsplash)</span></span>
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<p>Many studies noted the need for greater attention to how existing policies may inadvertently exclude former youth in care. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-taking-a-trauma-and-violence-informed-approach-can-make-sport-safer-and-more-equitable-213349">focus on trauma-informed</a> policy approaches, including a greater level of psycho-social supports in higher education, is urgently needed. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.cwlc.ca/post/equitable-standards-for-transitions-to-adulthood-for-youth-in-care-evaluation-model">noted in research we covered</a>, once youth age out of care, they are expected to find their way in an adult world that often renders them invisible. </p>
<h2>Need to track and monitor youth</h2>
<p>To fully understand and address the interconnected and systemic issues facing former youth in care, Canada needs to focus on tracking, monitoring and evaluating the economic, health and social outcomes of these youth. This is the case especially as they transition from government care into adulthood. </p>
<p>As it now stands, Canada’s national statistics agency and most provincial agencies do not provide the longitudinal data needed to systematically track after-care outcomes like education, employment, income and health among people with experience in child welfare systems.</p>
<p>This in turn makes it highly challenging to know which types of policies, programs and supports are truly meeting the needs of former youth in care. It also makes it difficult to know which are helping Canada achieve its <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">commitments to the SDGs</a> and the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/national-child-day/united-nations-convention-rights-of-the-child.html">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>.</p>
<p><em>Sue McWilliam, Trauma Informed Care Research and Evaluation Lead in Mental Health and Addictions at IWK Health co-authored this story.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacquie Gahagan receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and Research Nova Scotia (RNS). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dale Kirby receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Smith receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Mitacs, and Research Nova Scotia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristyn Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada needs to focus on tracking, monitoring and evaluating the economic, health and social outcomes of former youth in care, especially as they transition from government care.Jacquie Gahagan, Full Professor and Associate Vice-President, Research, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityDale Kirby, Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandKristyn Anderson, PhD candidate (health), Dalhousie UniversitySteven Smith, Professor of Psychology, Saint Mary’s UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250352024-03-08T16:20:15Z2024-03-08T16:20:15ZImaginary: I research imaginary friends – here’s what the horror film gets right<p>I was hesitant to watch Imaginary. Not only because horror movies are often too scary for me, but also because, for the better part of my adult life, I’ve researched and studied the way children invent imaginary friends and there is widespread misunderstanding of what is perfectly normal play behaviour. </p>
<p>These misunderstanding sometimes lead people to think imaginary friends have supernatural explanations – especially when the typical play involves seeing and talking to things that are inanimate. But I was pleased to find that overall, the film is unusually well informed.</p>
<p>The movie’s main focus is an imaginary friend. He turns up unexpectedly after a family moves into the step mum’s childhood home – but soon after this, things start to get scary. </p>
<p>The film features a little-known form of imaginary companion – toys or dolls. In my own lectures I often ask for a show of hands for those who had imaginary friends as children. Typically, only a few students will raise their hand. But after explaining that the definition also includes dolls or toys imbued with personality the lecture hall usually gets louder and many more hands shoot up. </p>
<p>Both completely invisible beings and personified objects fall under the umbrella of imaginary companions. This is because creating invisible and personified companions involves creating, and interacting with, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.046">another mind</a>.</p>
<p>Another accurate element of the film is the adult experience of imaginary companions. One of the adult characters (who I can’t name without spoiling the plot) had an imaginary companion in the past, but did not remember them until they were reminded later on in the movie. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for Imaginary.</span></figcaption>
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<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.046">Age affects the memory</a> of our childhood imagination. The older we get, the more likely we are to forget. Even the organisers of studies of children sometimes consult parents or guardians to determine if there was an imaginary companion that children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.349">do not recall</a> immediately. </p>
<p>Women and only or first-born children are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.046">more likely</a> to create imaginary beings in childhood – and the film follows this pattern. </p>
<p>The presence of a companion in and of itself has been found to influence later adult life. Those that had imaginary companions in childhood are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2466/02.04.10.PR0.107.4.163-172">have creative jobs</a> in adulthood. There are also accounts of imaginary companions beyond childhood. One large study of adults found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01665">7% of their respondents</a> reported still having these imaginary beings in their lives.</p>
<h2>When imaginary friends seem sinister</h2>
<p>Something else Imaginary gets right is that invisible friends can easily be interpreted as eerie or supernatural. The reason that we scientists call imaginary friends by another name, imaginary companions, is because they are not always friends. </p>
<p>Some children have companions that are disobedient or even mean. This type of imaginary creature is not an indication of having a mental health issue, or any other problem. But the relationships between children and their imaginary companions fall on a continuum where some are quite agreeable and likeable while others are not.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.046">Research indicates</a> that the more that children play and interact with imaginary companions the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2190/FTG3-Q9T0-7U26-5Q5X">more autonomous</a> they may be becoming in their minds. This phenomenon is called the “illusion of independent agency”, and it applies to imaginary beings that are mean and vengeful, as well as ones that are compassionate and caring. </p>
<p>For a child, this might feel as if they are not in control of the companion’s actions or words. It could also feel like the being could surprise them, or even have an ability to learn things that the child doesn’t yet know. For example, in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/icd.2390">one of my studies</a>, a child explained that when her parents are not looking, her imaginary companion teaches her maths. In some situations where a companion might be mean to a child, it could be upsetting. </p>
<p>But in reality, the child is still controlling the companion, they’re just not realising that the companion is not its own person. According to cognitive scientist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.046">Jim Davies</a>, this should only happen when the imagined character is played with over time and understood by their creator, but would not be likely in a new creation. </p>
<h2>Imaginary friends in the film</h2>
<p>There are some scenes in Imaginary where the young girl, Alice (Pyper Braun), is talking to her imaginary companion and making responses as well. She is completely alone and doesn’t know anyone else is watching her. </p>
<p>Although it may look a bit creepy, this is actually a very accurate portrayal of companion play. The type of speech that Alice is engaging in when they are talking to and fro in conversation with their imaginary being is called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1655-8_10">“private speech”</a>. </p>
<p>Private speech is thought to be imperative in the formation of our verbal thoughts and links our inner dialogue to words that we use in our social world. In <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-33227-002">one of my own studies</a>, we found that children with imaginary companions not only showed more private speech than their peers, but their private speech was developmentally more sophisticated. </p>
<p>Of course as the film goes on there are much less realistic and accurate portrayals of imaginary companions – but that makes sense for a horror film. In the real world, children’s imaginary friends are usually nothing to be afraid of. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paige Davis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some children have companions that are disobedient or even mean.Paige Davis, Lecturer in Psychology, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219392024-03-08T13:38:13Z2024-03-08T13:38:13ZTeenagers often know when their parents are having money problems − and that knowledge is linked to mental health challenges, new research finds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576103/original/file-20240216-28-neuioj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=120%2C77%2C5609%2C3736&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teens are more clued in to family finances than many people think.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/single-working-mother-and-her-teenage-girl-talking-royalty-free-image/1457103190">Olga Rolenko/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When parents try to shield their kids from financial hardship, they may be doing them a favor: Teens’ views about their families’ economic challenges are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001451">connected to their mental health and behavior</a>.</p>
<p>That’s the main finding of a study into household income and child development that I recently conducted with my colleagues.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&oi=ao&user=--zcHSQAAAAJ">professor of psychology</a>, I know there’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01210-4">a good deal of research</a> showing that young people who experience more household economic hardship <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00833-y">tend to have more behavioral problems</a>.</p>
<p>But most studies on this issue rely heavily on caregiver reports – that is, what adults say about their kids. Fewer researchers have asked young people themselves. </p>
<p>To fill this gap, my colleagues and I asked more than 100 Pittsburgh-area teenagers, as well as their parents, about their family income, their views about their financial challenges, and their mental health. We checked in with them multiple times over nine months. </p>
<p>Doing this, we found a few important things. First, we found that many families’ economic situations varied over time – they were doing fine with money in some months and struggling during others. And second, we found that when teenagers said they and their family were experiencing hardship, those teens had more behavioral problems.</p>
<p>For example, many teens said that they couldn’t afford school supplies or that their caregivers worried because they lacked money for necessities. In the months when teens reported experiencing these hardships, they were more likely to feel depressed and get in trouble at school.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Other researchers have found that economic hardship is related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00986.x">differences in parenting</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children9070981">academic achievement</a> and many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106400">other developmental outcomes</a> – but prior studies haven’t always captured the complexities and challenges that struggling families face. </p>
<p>For example, researchers studying links between economic hardship and youth behavioral development have historically looked at family income on a yearly basis. But bills come due weekly or monthly. Our work shows that looking at the annual data alone risks missing an important part of the story: Many families experience brief spells of financial instability.</p>
<p>Our work also shows that teens are acutely affected by economic conditions in their daily lives and understand their families’ circumstances. This has important implications for research. Given that adolescence is a time of major emotional and cognitive changes, our team believes that researchers should center on the perspectives of young people directly affected by economic challenges. For example, we have previously found that how young people view stress and support in their lives may have <a href="https://theconversation.com/positive-parenting-can-help-protect-against-the-effects-of-stress-in-childhood-and-adolescence-new-study-shows-208268">implications for their brain development</a>.</p>
<p>This work also has important implications for public policy. For example, lawmakers assume that economic hardship is fairly stable and set anti-poverty policies accordingly. Our research offers fresh evidence that many people see <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/31/business/31-volatility.html">large income swings throughout the year</a>. This kind of economic instability has been found to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0181-5">affect child development</a>, especially when families <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419001494">lose large amounts of income</a>. To lessen the impact of poverty, policymakers may need to think about economic hardship more dynamically.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Our research team wants to continue putting young people’s voices front and center. We’re also interested in more complex ways to make sense of socioeconomic status. While we know that income matters for families, we’re increasingly focused on household wealth, which is a household’s assets minus its debts. Wealth may influence child development in ways that are different from income. We’re just starting to collect data for a new project examining how both of these factors <a href="https://sanford.duke.edu/story/nichd-awards-grant-sanford-partnership-focused-adolescent-wellness-factors/">affect teen mental health</a>.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take on interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Hanson and his colleagues receive funding from the National Institutes of Health. Hanson is also a board member of the Pittsburgh Non-Profit, Project Destiny.</span></em></p>A study of more than 100 teens and their caregivers showed a unique link between hardship and behavior problems.Jamie Hanson, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2224652024-03-03T14:27:50Z2024-03-03T14:27:50ZNavigating special education labels is complex, and it matters for education equity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578488/original/file-20240228-24-s7p4c5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C87%2C3631%2C2583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Racialized immigrant parents in a study had to find ways to navigate the education system as newcomers, while also addressing intended and unintended effects of special education programs for their children.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Mche Lee/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Ontario Ministry of Education’s <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/edu-special-education-policy-resource-guide-en-2022-05-30.pdf">special education policy and resource guide</a> provides instructions <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/special-education-ontario-policy-and-resource-guide-kindergarten-grade-12">to school boards and schools</a> on administering special education programs. </p>
<p>It also emphasizes the importance of education equity, and involving parents in special education designations. </p>
<p>As researchers, we explored the rights of Latin American and Black Caribbean youth when it comes to special education in our project: the <a href="https://rcypartnership.org/en/">Rights for Children and Youth Partnership</a>. </p>
<p>To better understand newcomer experiences, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2023.2255837">we interviewed</a> 32 parents, 12 of whom indicated having a first-hand experience with special education in Ontario schools.</p>
<p>We learned that despite the special education policy’s commitment to involving parents, many parents felt excluded from decision-making processes surrounding assessments for their child’s learning needs, and faced language barriers. </p>
<h2>Identifying need for special education</h2>
<p>In Ontario, students presenting learning needs may be identified as exceptional within one or more special education categories. These categories are intended to address conditions affecting their learning. </p>
<p>Special education can benefit students to ensure an equitable educational experience. However, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1277996.pdf">researchers have also raised concerns</a> about the efficacy of special education programs for equitable learning because of how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1248821">social factors such as racism and classism result in discriminatory framings of disability and the perception of special needs</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/too-busy-for-the-pta-but-working-class-parents-care-104386">Too busy for the PTA, but working-class parents care</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>In Ontario’s largest school boards, Black and Latin American youth have been disproportionately <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/research/docs/reports/Intersection%20of%20Disability%20Achievement%20and%20Equity.pdf">placed in special education programs</a>, compared to students in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904818813303">other racial-ethnic groupings</a>. </p>
<p>Research from the Peel District School board, serving the western Greater Toronto Area, reports <a href="https://www.peelschools.org/documents/16.2b_Directive9-EquityAccountabilityReportCard-UnderstandingtheEquityGapinSpecialEducation.pdf/16.2b_Directive9-EquityAccountabilityReportCard-UnderstandingtheEquityGapinSpecialEducation.pdf">Black students are three times more likely to be identified with a behavioural exceptionality</a> and streamed into special education programming. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/i-was-very-isolated-report-documents-hispanic-students-alienation-in-ontario/article_21d6d9fd-1b13-57c3-8f26-94d545a80556.html">Latin American youth have reported arbitrarily being placed in English as a Second Language courses</a> and labelled with communicational exceptionalities, despite proficiency in English. These labels carry <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904818812772">long-lasting impacts on their educational journey</a>.</p>
<h2>Complex special education processes</h2>
<p>In Ontario, the special education placement process is complex and can include many parties (like teachers, principals, special education staff, school board officers, parents or guardians and, if requested, interpreters).</p>
<p>These parties engage in consultations to evaluate the student’s learning needs. Assessments are then reviewed by a board’s <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/identifying-students-special-education-needs">Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC)</a>, consisting of at least three members, one of whom must be a principal or supervisory officer of the school board.</p>
<p>According to the guide, educators should encourage and invite parents to participate throughout this evaluation process and the IPRC meeting, though their attendance isn’t required. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blurred person seen in a corridor of file folders and records on shelves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574794/original/file-20240211-26-iklod6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Special education labels and categorizations are documented in student records.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Redd F)</span></span>
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<h2>Lack of required parental input</h2>
<p>Parents are, however, required to sign and agree to the IPRC’s statement of decision. They have a right to appeal the findings, and are given 30 days. If parents don’t appeal, the board instructs the principal to implement the committee’s decision, including <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/individual-education-plans">individual education plans (IEP)</a>. </p>
<p>The child’s provincial student record documents the outcomes of the decision, including the various labels, or “exceptionalities” identified, and the IEP. These records follow students throughout primary and secondary education.</p>
<p>Lack of required parental input throughout the process indicates that early on, educators alone can make decisions involving a child. </p>
<h2>Language barriers</h2>
<p>In our study, one parent, Mariela, described the challenges of learning a new educational system. This was compounded by the technical language educators used: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The language that is used is very strategic. It’s language that doesn’t welcome parents’ feedback [and] parents don’t know they have the option to say no. […] It’s like, ‘This is what happens; this is what we do. We need you to sign this.’ And that’s the language; it isn’t welcoming for parents to ask [questions].”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Specialized language</h2>
<p>Parents also recognized that a sense of pressure to accept educators’ decisions was discriminatory based on their limited abilities to keep up with the discourse and to have input in decision-making. Scarlett described feeling intimidated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It was always so traumatic and intimidating dealing with the school; it would be me and five school officials, you know? […] It’s like, you’re coming into this space, and decisions may already have been made.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scarlett’s son was identified as having behavioural issues as early as Grade 2. She insisted her son be tested for gifted learning, recognizing that he was experiencing behaviour difficulties because he was bored and not being academically challenged. </p>
<p>Her son was not placed in a gifted class until Grade 7. During what she called “lost time,” the school involved the police in instances when he was “acting out,” and recommended her son be sent to a treatment facility for high-risk youth.</p>
<h2>Pressure to accept decisions</h2>
<p>Special education meetings also illuminated imbalances we observed in our study between parents who understood they had the right to ask for an interpreter or bring a representative — and parents who were unaware of this. </p>
<p>Claudia voiced concern about a special education label for her son in elementary school, saying educators had mistaken his speech difficulties for low intelligence. She was told her son’s speech delay would impact his ability to go to college or university.</p>
<p>She later recalled learning about her right to bring someone with her to IPRC meetings. She detailed the impact of having her son’s daycare supervisor there with her, saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I wanted to bring that person to support [me], probably for emotional support, for the English support, for the systematic barrier that I knew that I could face.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>With the support of someone who educators also considered an “expert,” Claudia withdrew her son from special education programs — and instead sought additional support outside the school system.</p>
<p>Notably, only a few parents mentioned knowing their right to bring someone to the meetings, and all said the information came from sources outside the education system.</p>
<h2>Lack of guidance</h2>
<p>The Toronto District School Board has made the effort to increase access to parents’ rights to special education, offering the <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Learning-Equity-and-Well-Being/Special-Education-and-Inclusion/Parent-Guides-to-Special-Education-and-Inclusion"><em>Guide to Special Education and Inclusion for Parents/Caregivers/Guardians</em></a> in various languages.</p>
<p>However, for immigrant parents in our study who had no prior experience in Ontario’s schooling system, the lack of concrete information about their rights was a barrier to them being true participants in decision-making. </p>
<p>System accountability is needed to ensure immigrant racialized students and families are effectively provided support and understand the special education process. This support must be tailored to better address the needs of parents, so that their children are equitably positioned for successful academic pathways.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Henry Parada: This study received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC- 895-2015-1014). Toronto Metropolitan University Ethics Committee approved this study (2018-200).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Perez Gonzalez and Veronica Escobar Olivo do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study of newcomer Latin American and Black Caribbean parents in Ontario schools found many parents felt excluded from processes surrounding assessments for their child’s learning needs.Laura Perez Gonzalez, Research Assistant, School of Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityHenry Parada, Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Social Work and the Immigration and Settlement (ISS) Graduate Program and Graduate Program Director, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityVeronica Escobar Olivo, Research Associate, School of Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222922024-03-01T17:24:49Z2024-03-01T17:24:49ZYoung people are losing sleep over energy drinks – but a ban won’t be enough to protect them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578725/original/file-20240228-24-66bbn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C31%2C5187%2C3489&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-boy-drinking-caffeine-energy-drink-1571400820">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/27/prime-energy-drinks-teenagers-alarm-marketing">no calming the buzz</a> around energy drinks. And it’s not just because of their notoriously <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-long-do-energy-drinks-last">high caffeine content</a>. </p>
<p>In the first few weeks of 2024, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/10/labour-considers-banning-sale-of-energy-drinks-to-children">UK Labour party proposed</a> including a ban on energy drinks for under-16s in their election manifesto due to concerns about their health impact. Soldiers belonging to the <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/blues-and-royals-royal-horse-guards-and-1st-dragoons">Blues & Royals</a> – part of the king’s ceremonial bodyguards, the Household Cavalry – have also been <a href="https://www.forces.net/services/army/british-army-regiment-cans-red-bull-relentless-and-monster-energy-drinks-ban#:%7E:text=Soldiers%20belonging%20to%20the%20Blues,they%20break%20the%20new%20rules.">ordered to stop consuming energy drinks</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, one of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/dwayne-johnson/">Hollywood’s highest paid</a> actors, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zoa-energy-and-dwayne-the-rock-johnson-launch-new-campaign-packed-with-bde-big-dwayne-energy-302063746.html">launched a new campaign</a> for his “healthy” energy drink brand, Zoa. No doubt Johnson is hoping to capitalise on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-64145389">thirst for energy drinks that helped Prime</a>, a brand promoted by popular but controversial <a href="https://theconversation.com/prime-a-youtuber-expert-explains-how-logan-paul-and-ksis-drink-became-so-popular-201792">YouTube personalities KSI and Logan Paul</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/feb/18/how-the-world-got-hopped-up-on-energy-drinks-prime-logan-paul-ksi">achieve cult status</a> among school-aged children, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/logan-paul-ksi-energy-drink-prime-secret-to-success-2023-pmslz25dw">especially boys</a>. </p>
<p>But young people’s consumption of energy drinks isn’t likely to be completely driven by influencer trends. If we want to help young people suffering the health consequences of consuming energy drinks too often, regulation is no doubt part of the picture. But we also need to examine the root causes of young people’s attraction to energy drinks.</p>
<p>Recent evidence suggests that in the UK up to <a href="https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/up-to-half-of-kids-worldwide-and-up-to-third-of-uk-kids-consume-energy-drinks-weekly/">a third of children and young adults</a> consume energy drinks regularly. <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e010380">A 2016 systemic review</a> of energy drink consumption by children and young people found boys are more likely to consume higher amounts than girls. </p>
<p>Energy drinks can contain as much as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10535526/">505mg of caffeine per serving</a> (equivalent to over <a href="https://www.ukactive.com/blog/energy-drinks-and-young-people/">fourteen cans of cola</a>), with <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/prime-energy-caffeine-children-aYYmC0M1DTCe">most containing around 160mg per can</a>. For comparison, <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-long-do-energy-drinks-last">a typical 250ml cup of coffee</a> contains about 90-140mg.</p>
<p>Owing to this high caffeine content, the consumption of energy drinks has been <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/2/e072951">linked to poor sleep quality</a>. Research has found that the drinks may also contribute to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350623003189?via%3Dihub">mental health</a> issues among young people, including anxiety, stress, irritability, and depression. All of which are almost certainly linked to disrupted sleep patterns.</p>
<p>So why are young people so keen on energy drinks? Academic research shows that reasons for consumption include <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e010380">enjoying the taste</a>, as a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6166148/">measure to deal with fatigue</a> and boost mood – and to improve mental and <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e010380">sporting performance</a>.</p>
<p>Another common use for energy drink is as a mixer. Energy drinks are often <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/caffeine-and-alcohol.htm">combined with alcohol and consumed at parties</a> to give an extra buzz. The energy drink <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/caffeine-and-alcohol.htm">counteracts the depressive effect</a> of the alcohol so the drinker feels more alert than they might otherwise. </p>
<p>But this trend also has its dangers. People can end up drinking more alcohol than they realise because its effects are suppressed by the energy drinks. </p>
<p>Branding, marketing and peer influence encourage their use among young people, many of whom <a href="https://research.uhs.nhs.uk/news/energy-drink-intake-rising-among-teens-in-deprived-areas-amid-widening-inequality">are unaware of possible harms</a> of energy drink usage. <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/2/e047746">A UK study conducted in 2022</a> found that only about half of children knew that energy drinks contained caffeine. </p>
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<h2>Young people lacking in sleep</h2>
<p>Though some academic <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9502542/">studies have</a> reported a link between young people’s use of energy drinks and a <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-12972-w">lack of sleep</a>, the exact relationship between the two isn’t clear.</p>
<p>Numerous factors such as <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/screen-time-affecting-sleep-mental-health/">night-time screen use and social media scrolling</a>, academic pressures, and mismatches between school start times and natural sleep-wake rhythms conspire to see many of the world’s <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019014/">young people falling short</a> of recommended sleep targets. </p>
<p>Whetever the cause of young people’s lack of sleep, energy drinks offer a fast and convenient way to counteract the effects of poor sleep on mood and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19482732/#:%7E:text=Conclusions%3A%20Many%20adolescents%20used%20multiple,impaired%20by%20excessive%20daytime%20sleepiness.">day-to-day functioning</a>. It’s possible, then, that young people can become trapped in vicious cycles of energy drink use, poor sleep, and deteriorating mental health. </p>
<p>Energy drink use has also been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (<a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jcr.2015.0018">ADHD</a>). However, while some acute effects of energy drinks, such as increased activity, resemble ADHD symptoms, it is currently unclear whether there is any long term increased risk of developing ADHD as a result of energy drink consumption. </p>
<p>Young people with ADHD symptoms might also be more likely to use energy drinks as a form of “self-medication” or because they enjoy the feeling or lower impulse control. As young people with ADHD are already more likely to experience sleep difficulties, they might also be an especially vulnerable group for whom energy drink use could exacerbate pre-existing sleep issues. </p>
<h2>Bans and regulation are only part of the answer</h2>
<p>In light of the accumulating evidence for the harms of energy drinks, several countries have started to regulate or outright ban their sale minors. In <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2024/01/energydrinksandchildrensmentalhealth/">Lithuania and Turkey</a>, for example, sales of energy drinks to under 18s is not allowed. </p>
<p>In the UK, a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jamie-oliver-energy-drink-ban-chef-urges-government-a8142516.html">2018 social media campaign</a> spearheaded by <a href="https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/energy-drinks-are-not-for-children/">celebrity chef Jamie Oliver</a> led to many supermarkets implementing a voluntary ban on sales to under-16s. The following year, the UK government said they would <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67962147">ban energy drinks for under-16s</a> in England. But the ban has not been implemented.</p>
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<p>Bans and regulation can help to change behaviour, but they are usually not enough on their own. Equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to manage their sleep and energy cycles will play a crucial role in tackling the global shortage of sleep among young people. </p>
<p>Most crucial of all, we need to listen to young people and understand their motivations for using energy drinks so that we can design effective strategies to support them to reduce their consumption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Energy drinks are a growing worldwide trend for young people and, for the sake of their health, we must understand whyAja Murray, Reader in Psychology, The University of EdinburghIngrid Obsuth, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242342024-02-29T22:55:50Z2024-02-29T22:55:50ZBeyond the cafeteria: The economic case for investing in school meals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578771/original/file-20240228-18-mnuihk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=66%2C8%2C5492%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An investment in a national school food program today is an investment in a stronger Canada tomorrow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The return on investing in universal school meals is clear. According to our new report, universal free school meals (breakfast and lunch for students regardless of income) have <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">2.5 to seven times the return</a> in human health and economic benefits in comparable high-income countries. </p>
<p>The quality of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2017-0125">student diets in Canada across all socio-economic backgrounds is poor</a>, with only a small fraction meeting <a href="https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/">Canada’s Food Guide recommendations</a>. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that school-provided meals offer higher nutritional quality compared to home-packed lunches in many countries, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980012000699">Canada</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1941406411399124">United States</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114510001601">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2018.29">Denmark</a>. </p>
<p>A national school food program would join <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/child-care.html">Canada’s universal child care program</a> and the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit-overview.html">Canada child benefit</a> as a crucial social support, bringing immediate relief to families while also delivering several short to long-term economic and social benefits. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic titled 'the missing piece in existing social policies: national school food program'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universal free school meals have 2.5 to seven times the return in human health and economic benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Immediate relief to household budgets</h2>
<p>Healthy food has become unaffordable for many Canadian families. In 2023, Canadians <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf">spent less on food</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inflation-is-down-overall-so-why-are-my-grocery-bills-still-going-up-210122">despite rampant cost increases</a>, and this is only predicted to get worse.</p>
<p>The 2024 Canada’s Food Price Report anticipates <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN_CANADA%27S%20FOOD%20PRICE%20REPORT%202024.pdf">an annual increase of $701 in food costs</a> per four-person household, which means Canadian families can expect to spend $16,297 on groceries this year.</p>
<p>Universal school meals could <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">save families between $129 and $189 per child per month on grocery bills</a>, according to our report. </p>
<p>Universal school meals would put more money back into the pockets of Canadians, helping them keep up with the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/the-grind-submissions-1.7043269">increased cost of living</a> and allowing them to afford healthy meals when their children are not in school.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universal school meals could save families between $129 and $189 per child per month on grocery bills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Sweden, one study found that participation in a universal free school lunch program led to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdab028">permanent household income increase of 2.6 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, this permanent increase was not attributed to reduced household food expenditures, meaning school meals can help increase affordability in the short-term and increase household incomes in the mid-term. </p>
<h2>Supporting women in the workforce</h2>
<p>Preparing healthy school lunches is tough when parents work long hours. Universal free school meals support parents — particularly <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209763245/globally-women-are-cooking-twice-as-many-meals-as-men">women, who often spend more time making meals</a> — <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030911">by saving money and time, reducing financial stress, and guaranteeing kids eat well at school</a>. </p>
<p>This allows women to focus better at work, reduces interruptions and helps them achieve a healthier work-life balance, leading to increased productivity and career advancement opportunities.</p>
<p>In fact, the same Swedish study that was previously mentioned found that access to a universal free school lunch program increased mothers’ labour market participation by five per cent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic that lists the benefits of universal food programs on housholds and families" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School food programs support families and especially women, who often spend more time making meals than men do.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In China, the introduction of school lunches led to a <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11956/185233">nine to 14 per cent increase in mothers’ working hours per week</a>, with the greatest increases among low-income mothers and mothers in rural communities.</p>
<p>Overall, this means that in addition to increasing household income, universal free school meals can increase women’s workforce participation, thereby supporting gender equality, individual economic prosperity and national economic growth. </p>
<h2>Increasing earnings, reducing inequality</h2>
<p>In the long-term, universal free school lunches can also improve children’s health, academic performance and subsequent economic outcomes throughout life. </p>
<p>The previously mentioned Swedish study found that students exposed to a school lunch program throughout the entirety of primary school had <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdab028">three per cent higher lifetime earnings</a> compared to students that did not participate due to improved nutritional health and education outcomes. </p>
<p>Among children from households in the lowest income bracket, access to free school lunches led to a six per cent increase in lifetime earnings. The program had the greatest positive impact on students from low-income households, showcasing the role school meals can play in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in adulthood.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic of a bar graph demonstrating that students’ lifetime earnings when they have access to a universal school food program" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Sweden, access to universal free lunch increased students’ lifetime earnings, creating more equitable societies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Growing Canada’s agri-food economy</h2>
<p>Universal school meals can also support the Canadian agri-food sector. A national program has the potential to stimulate the <a href="https://sciencepolicy.ca/posts/national-school-food-program-a-short-term-opportunity-for-jobs-creation-and-economic-growth-2/">creation of as many as 207,700 jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Investments in school meal programs in <a href="https://www.choicesmagazine.org/UserFiles/file/cmsarticle_565.pdf">the U.S.</a> have led to the creation of jobs in food service, agriculture and nutrition and program administration, fuelling economic growth while curbing unemployment. </p>
<p>Furthermore, by adopting a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2012.0023">farm-to-school approach similar to that in the U.S.</a>, Canada could support local farmers and suppliers. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, every dollar allocated to such programs generates an additional <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.338161">$1.30 to $2.60 in local economic activity</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, in British Columbia, every dollar allocated to procuring provincially grown food for public institutions yields a <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/growbc-feedbc-buybc/feed-bc-and-the-bc-food-hub-network#">twofold return to the economy</a>, showcasing the significant economic benefits of supporting local agriculture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic of a school with a farmer on one side and a vegetable stand on the other, with arrows leading from the school to both" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School food programs can support local farmers and food businesses and contribute to Canada’s agrifood sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>School food programs are recognized internationally as <a href="https://executiveboard.wfp.org/document_download/WFP-0000038526">one of the most successful drivers of health and education among schoolchildren and increased productivity</a> when they become working adults, as reported by the World Food Programme. </p>
<p>Our new research summarizes the <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">strong economic rationale for investing in school meal programs</a> in Canada. Universal school meals can not only provide immediate relief to families, but also build a legacy of improved public health and economic prosperity for generations to come. </p>
<p>An investment in a national school food program today is an investment in a stronger Canada tomorrow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amberley T. Ruetz receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Arrell Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flora Zhang receives funding from the Arrell Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabrielle Edwards receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Arrell Family Foundation. </span></em></p>From reducing families’ grocery bills to boosting the economy, school meals offer far-reaching benefits, fostering both immediate well-being and long-term economic prosperity.Amberley T. Ruetz, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of SaskatchewanFlora Zhang, Master of Public Health Student, University of TorontoGabrielle Edwards, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Food and Nutrition and Sport Science, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230372024-02-27T16:31:23Z2024-02-27T16:31:23ZChildren get arthitis too, with life-changing effects – but exercise can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576156/original/file-20240216-22-hvocoq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C23%2C5184%2C3422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rheumatoid-arthritis-xray-both-child-hands-228508336">Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Arthritis is usually associated with older people but kids can suffer too. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common type of arthritis in children. It affects about about 1 in 1,000 kids under 16 in the UK <a href="https://www.jarproject.org/about-jia">(roughly 15,000 children)</a>, and causes joint pain and inflammation in the hands, knees, ankles, elbows and wrists – although it can affect other body parts, too.</p>
<p>There’s no cure for JIA. Pain can be managed through treatments to ease symptoms, reduce pain and swelling, and prevent joint damage. Medications such as <a href="https://versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/methotrexate/">immunosuppressant methotrexate</a> and <a href="https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/etanercept/">biological medicine etanercept</a> are widely used. But these treatments can have side effects, such as decreasing ability to fight infection.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9015041/">Physical activity is essential</a> for kids with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, but sometimes there’s worry it might make their symptoms worse. This condition can cause joint pain, stiffness, and weak muscles, which might stop children from being active. Yet even with these challenges, exercise is beneficial for children with JIA. </p>
<p>JIA isn’t just a physical issue. It affects <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6406228/">social connections</a> and future independence, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6830373/">requiring more than medical care</a>. <a href="https://advancesinrheumatology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42358-020-00138-4">Teens with JIA struggle</a> more than their peers, bringing extra difficulties with <a href="https://ped-rheum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12969-017-0172-2">school, career choices</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9015041/">staying active</a>, and social development. </p>
<h2>How arthritis leaves kids isolated</h2>
<p>In particular, JIA students struggle with <a href="https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2431-13-2">attendance and participation</a>. They may need to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13674935221083167?icid=int.sj-challenge-page.citing-articles.1045">avoid some physical activities</a>, which can leave them <a href="https://jia.org.uk/resource/emotions-and-mental-health/">feeling isolated</a> and impact their studies.</p>
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<p>Schools can support them with <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(18)30311-0/fulltext">tailored programs</a> that address their needs, helping them manage their illness and stay engaged in school. This <a href="https://www.versusarthritis.org/media/25560/supporting-a-young-person-information-booklet-may2023.pdf">support is vital</a> for their educational success and future career prospects, but missing school and activities can still hinder their achievements.</p>
<p>If the teenage years are not handled well, it can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28503954/">affect their work life later on</a>. They might find themselves missing work often, struggling to focus while at work, or facing disabilities that make working difficult. </p>
<p>JIA changes over time, which can also make work more difficult. Some people might see their symptoms improve and go into remission, while others might deal with ongoing disability. This uncertainty makes planning for the future and finding the right job even more challenging.</p>
<p>It’s essential, then, to help these young people manage their illness and support their mental and social needs at an early stage.</p>
<h2>Physical Activity</h2>
<p>One thing that can make a difference is enabling them to take part in physical activity. Lack of activity can lead to weak bones and a lower quality of life whereas appropriate exercise can help make children’s bones stronger, build muscle, improve their ability to exercise, and make them feel better overall. Experts suggest children with JIA should try to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9015041/#:%7E:text=Physical%20activity%20(PA)%20and%20exercise,children%20including%20children%20with%20JIA.&text=Current%20PA%20recommendations%20for%20children,least%203%20days%20per%20week.">active for 60 minutes a day</a> in a way that suits their health and symptoms. </p>
<p>JIA doesn’t have to <a href="https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/physical-activity/getting-started/sports-safety-for-kids-with-arthritis">preclude taking part in sports</a>, as demonstrated by professional golfer <a href="https://curearthritis.org/scientists/kristy-mcpherson/">Kristy McPherson</a> and American football star <a href="https://youtu.be/_3F5KaI5EfU?feature=shared">Charcandrick West</a> who forged careers as elite athletes despite the challenges of their condition.</p>
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<p>Yet, kids with this condition <a href="https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/patients-with-juvenile-idiopathic-arthritis-less-physically-active-than-controls">often do less exercise</a> than their peers, illustrating the need for clear, tailored advice on how children with JIA can exercise safely. This advice should be part of a bigger plan that includes their medical treatment and regular, suitable exercise to help improve their health and avoid future problems.</p>
<p>The problem is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38328475/#:%7E:text=Only%2019%25%20of%20respondents%20were,incorrect%20assumptions%20to%20be%20true.">low awareness about arthritis</a> in young people can prevent them from getting the support they need to thrive. So it’s crucial for adults in influential roles, like teachers and policymakers – such as politicians and healthcare commissioners – to understand these challenges to improve support for young people with JIA.</p>
<p>Research is underway at the University of Manchester to <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/juvenile-onset-rheumatic-diseases-education-vocational-readiness-employment">better understand the impact</a> of various juvenile rheumatic diseases, including JIA, on adolescents and young adults. Our research aims to address some of the unique challenges faced by young people with JIA by informing the development of evidence-based policies that can be implemented by schools, in the work place and government policy to help support the needs of young people with arthritis.</p>
<p>JIA may not always be visible, yet its profound impact on young lives extends far beyond childhood, influencing education, social connections, and future employment. Recognising the full scope of JIA’s effects, alongside ensuring comprehensive support that encompasses both medical and social care, is essential for empowering affected children to navigate their challenges more effectively and lead fulfilling lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ash Cox receives funding from Nuffield Foundation. </span></em></p>Low awareness of how arthritis affects young people leaves thousands of children without appropriate support.Ash Cox, Postdoctoral research associate, Division of Musculoskeletal & Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238242024-02-26T20:01:36Z2024-02-26T20:01:36ZPink Shirt Day must become a call to meaningful action against bullying<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577459/original/file-20240222-20-4iqxbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C5000%2C3270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The calls to action haven’t resulted in much change. We need to do better. The stakes are enormous.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the last few days of February draw near, we will soon be called to think about bullying on <a href="https://www.pinkshirtday.ca/">Pink Shirt Day</a> on the last Wednesday of the month. Pink Shirt Day was started by Grade 12 Nova Scotia students David Shepherd and Travis Price who wanted to show their solidarity for a victim of bullying who was targeted, in part, for wearing a pink shirt.</p>
<p>This initial show of solidarity has been a recognized day of action in Canada since 2007, and was adopted in New Zealand in 2009.</p>
<p>This means that we’ve had over 15 Pink Shirt Days. What have they done beyond raising awareness? Sadly, the answer is not much. Research shows that <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/science-research-data/youth-findings-health-behaviour-school-aged-children-study.html#ch10">the number of youth who report being a victim of bullying hasn’t changed at all</a>. The calls to action haven’t resulted in much change. We need to do better. The stakes are enormous.</p>
<h2>Impacts of bullying</h2>
<p>First the bad news: Bullying is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05083-1">notoriously difficult to prevent or reduce</a>. Bullying is too often viewed as a rite of passage — the ability to overcome harassment and bad peer interactions. And it’s true that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/016502598384388">some stress is helpful in forging stronger social and emotional skills</a>. </p>
<p>The same thing is true for bones that benefit from stressful exercise. But too much stress causes a bone to break, leaving behind a permanent weakness. The same is true for too much social and emotional stress. </p>
<p>Children are suffering decades-long negative <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323641111">physical</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22270">mental health</a> outcomes because of stress caused by bullying. It changes the way the body reads its own <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2017.08.025">DNA in response</a> to stress <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715000653">well into one’s 50s</a>. </p>
<p>These effects are actually worse for children in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001384">classes that otherwise have low levels of bullying</a>. Those lone victims heartbreakingly feel even more isolated and to blame for their sole victimization. And for some, it can tragically result in <a href="https://www.amandatoddlegacy.org/">taking their own lives</a>. </p>
<h2>Why people bully</h2>
<p>Bullying, appears to be, at least in part, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09703-3">an evolutionary adaptation</a> that can offer its users important benefits. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21418">First up</a> are material benefits like the best spot on the playground, lunch money or a coveted scholarship. Even more appealing are the strong, consistent, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9759-3">longitudinal</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025416679743">cross-cultural ties</a> between bullying and popularity. Bullying leads to gains in popularity and, sadly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2020.1850462https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2020.1850462">popularity tends to lead to bullying</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps most salient of all, for both boys and girls, and both younger and older adolescents, bullying is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704915613909">increased dating and sexual opportunities</a>. Material benefits, popularity and sex are difficult motives to fight against. It gets even harder when we recognize that bullies are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09703-3">not socially unintelligent, they do not have lower self-esteem and they may not even lack emotional empathy</a>. </p>
<p>They are often simply <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00182-4">individuals who willingly choose to use power for their own benefit and to the detriment of others</a>. And unfortunately, they get plenty of examples from adults about how bullying can <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/vladimir-putin-is-a-classic-schoolyard-bully-who-must-be-stopped-not-appeased/article_4a333027-003d-5b2e-b070-199dbbc9ce06.html">get you what you want with few consequences</a> so long as you’re powerful, rich or famous.</p>
<p>So if bullying is really so awful why has Pink Shirt Day not led to meaningful change?</p>
<h2>Tackling bullying</h2>
<p>Bullying is a facultative adaptation — that means it depends on the costs and benefits an environment affords. So even if it has a biological basis, its expression depends on the environmental context. And we know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-5413-9">different cultures</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9949-7">different classrooms</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2021.1926231">different peers</a> can all change the equation of bullying so that its costs start to outweigh its benefits. </p>
<p>Critically, while data indicates bullies gain popularity and dominance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2023.101073">the same data shows that they lose out on being liked</a> and on being sought out as a friend. People respect and fear a bully’s ability to violently wield power, but they don’t like it. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/082957359801300205">While bullying is hard to catch and harder to punish</a>, we can look at changing the carrot instead of the stick. If <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025411407457">peers stop rewarding bullies</a>, and if adults create environments that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12243">foster prosocial co-operation rather than selfish competition</a>, we can make bullying less appealing.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bullying-wont-be-curbed-until-we-figure-out-what-fuels-it-128031">Bullying won't be curbed until we figure out what fuels it</a>
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<p>Doing so is hard. It requires real work from youth, teachers, schools, parents, governments and the general public. We can’t expect youth to stop rewarding bullying if we continue to reward bullies as adults. We can’t expect youth to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2013.10.004">stand up to the most popular kids on their own</a>. </p>
<p>We need to find the right ways to encourage the positive uses of power. Bullying may be an evolutionary adaptation, but it’s not genetically determined, so we should not accept it as an inevitable rite of passage. </p>
<p>This Pink Shirt Day, do more than just think about bullying. Think about how you can get involved and make a positive difference. Talk to your children, talk to their schools, talk to teachers that you know, stand up to bullies in your workplace. Pink Shirt Day started as a gesture of solidarity, as a means of taking back some of the power from bullies. </p>
<p>If we can view Pink Shirt Day as a call to action, instead of just another reminder, we can start changing things so that bullying becomes associated with another evolutionary term — extinction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Volk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada has marked Pink Shirt Day since 2007, but meaningful progress in tackling bullying requires solidarity from youth, teachers, schools, parents, governments and the general public.Tony Volk, Professor, Child and Youth Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223922024-02-26T00:35:18Z2024-02-26T00:35:18ZFrom viral social media ‘pranks’ to hooning, what makes teens behave so badly?<p>Two teens were arrested in Melbourne last month after horrific <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/south-east/calls-for-teens-to-be-locked-up-after-pushing-man-79-off-pier/news-story/1d837321ac8e6a99959251825ac7410f">video footage</a> of them pushing an unsuspecting elderly fisherman off a pier went viral.</p>
<p>The “prank” appeared to have been undertaken and filmed for the purpose of social media content. The man had to be rescued by good samaritans and the teens have been charged. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="TiktokEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@9newsmelbourne/video/7324857167754923265"}"></div></p>
<p>Soon after this, a schoolboy made headlines after being filmed on a footbridge pouring a whole <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/milk-prankster-escapes-serious-action-from-police/news-story/533d6a87c84f968455cb20cdd901f7d3">bottle of milk</a> on women enjoying a boat ride on Melbourne’s Yarra River.</p>
<p>It is easy to explain this behaviour away as poor parenting, problem children or with the old rationale that “kids will be kids”. But we can better explain human behaviour by considering biological, psychological and social influences. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-young-children-sometimes-steal-and-what-should-parents-do-about-it-200906">Why do young children sometimes steal? And what should parents do about it?</a>
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<h2>Invisible risks, invisible consequences</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most important factor to consider is the development of a young person’s brain. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499919/#:%7E:text=One%20of%20the%20last%20places,and%20then%20react%20to%20them">The evidence</a> is clear that a person’s brain does not fully mature until they are well into their 20s. </p>
<p>The prefrontal cortex of the brain is the last part to develop fully. The function of the prefrontal cortex is higher-order tasks such as decision-making and emotional regulation. Importantly, this is the part of the brain that considers information that is not immediately obvious.</p>
<p>So when a child rides their bike on a footpath, the adult behind them might tell them to slow down just in case a car reverses from a driveway. But the child doesn’t foresee this risk because there is no car to be seen. The <em>potential</em> risk is clear to the adult but, as it isn’t immediately identifiable, it is <em>invisible</em> to the child. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575239/original/file-20240213-16-q8f5ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If risks aren’t immediate to children, parents’ warnings about them can fall flat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happiness-mother-son-on-bicycles-funning-288735896">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Humans have a self-preservation instinct: when we understand the risk of death, we avoid it. When a usually sensible young man drives his car too fast, he is not consciously taking a risk. He is simply enjoying the rush of going fast. The risk is not tangible or visible, and therefore not present in his decision-making. </p>
<p>For the teenaged boys in the viral videos, they’re in the same prank-like mindset of an annoying older brother. It is not that they are <em>choosing</em> to ignore potential consequences, it’s just that not all the consequences are visible to them. They might be driven by the immediate attention of laughs or internet notoriety, but harm to others, police charges and potential school expulsion are probably not in their thought process.</p>
<h2>Personalities formed through nature and nurture</h2>
<p>Some people have a larger appetite for risk. One child will dive head-first into an ocean and another won’t get their feet wet. </p>
<p>This is likely due to a combination of environmental and biological factors: some people are more comfortable with the feeling of fear, whereas some may have had parents who were overprotective, or perhaps an early life experience of trouble near water that has left a legacy. </p>
<p>These factors all contribute to a person’s psychology. A person who is risk-averse is more likely to be “scared” of pranks or unsafe behaviour. This is not necessarily because they are cognitively more able to think through the potential outcomes, but because they are acting on their fear of new or unknown environments. A new situation elicits fear and, in turn, cautionary behaviour. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young boy hugs the leg of his dad" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576086/original/file-20240215-16-6wvf33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Some children have a higher capacity for fear than others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-son-hugging-his-dad-near-307192661">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>A young person who is less fearful will be less reluctant in new environments. So it’s not a coincidence that the “good” child who appears not to make “reckless” decisions is often the same child who struggles more with adapting to life changes, such as starting school. Similarly, the “naughty” toddler or the “class clown” might be the most adaptable and open to new environments. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-real-to-them-so-adults-should-listen-what-children-want-you-to-know-to-help-them-feel-safe-113834">'It's real to them, so adults should listen': what children want you to know to help them feel safe</a>
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<h2>The urge to fit in</h2>
<p>Finally, our behaviour is influenced by those around us. When we are in a group we behave differently from when we are alone. We are all driven by a desire to fit in, to be liked, and sometimes we might do things we would not normally to be included. </p>
<p>For young people today, this is amplified through social media. Their audience is not only those right near them, but those who are in their wider digital circle. There is an instant reinforcement of a behaviour when there is a large, online audience.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of teenagers sit outside and use their smartphones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577220/original/file-20240222-22-vthtyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Young people are often driven by a desire to fit in, especially on social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teens-using-phones-outdoors-concept-youth-2154896429">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Frequently, we see prankster behaviour when young people are on school holidays. They are bored and looking for entertainment. </p>
<p>There are few spaces that are welcoming for groups of teenagers to simply “hang out”, and there are many that are actively hostile to groups of youths. <a href="https://youthlaw.asn.au/learn-about-the-law/orders-to-move-on-and-stay-away/#:%7E:text=or%20stay%20away%3F-,A%20police%20officer%20or%20a%20PSO%20can%20order%20you%20to,likely%20to%20breach%20the%20peace">Move-on laws</a> for example, were designed with the intention of being able to prohibit young people from gathering. </p>
<p>Finally, a crucial factor is the construction of gender, where boys’ larrikinism can be seen as hyper-masculine and cool, making these types of behaviours more likely to be socially endorsed. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, not a lot. You cannot expedite the development of a brain and you can’t do much about someone’s psychology. School programs might be understood by some young people but not by others, and are expensive to deliver. Nationwide organisations like <a href="https://www.lifeedvic.org.au/schools/pricing">Life Education</a>, which offers a program of health education to primary school students, and <a href="https://www.elephanted.com.au/">Elephant Ed</a>, which is increasingly used by schools to deliver sex education, are provided at cost to the school.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teenage-brain-matures-with-onset-of-puberty-6210">Teenage brain matures with onset of puberty</a>
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<hr>
<p>However, social influences can be changed, albeit slowly. </p>
<p>If we can provide young people with social places to be where they are engaged, they will then be less bored. The <a href="https://www.youthaodtoolbox.org.au/adolescent-community-reinforcement-approach">Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach</a> (an intervention developed to reduce “antisocial” behaviours by connecting people to their communities) is based on the premise that behaviour change shouldn’t be focused on stopping a problem behaviour. </p>
<p>Instead, it should provide young people with opportunity for positive “prosocial activity”. So for example, offering more access to free basketball courts for young people interested in basketball gives them a positive way to spend their time. </p>
<p>When we continue to see young people as wild criminals who have no respect, we create a greater divide between young people and ourselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Daley has received funding from FARE Australia and Melbourne City Mission. She is a member of the Women's Correctional Services Advisory Committee. She was formerly a youth worker at the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS).</span></em></p>In the wake of a series of viral ‘pranks’, many are wondering why teens do such bad things. It’s not as simple as you think.Kathryn Daley, Senior Lecturer, Youth Work & Youth Studies, Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2156552024-02-23T13:49:12Z2024-02-23T13:49:12ZMaking the moral of the story stick − a media psychologist explains the research behind ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘Arthur’ and other children’s TV<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576031/original/file-20240215-28-p8bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3776%2C2832&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children's TV shows are typically designed to improve their viewers' cognitive, social and moral development.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/14380434613/in/photolist-nUKucP">U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Saldukas/Released via Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To adult viewers, educational media content for children, such as “<a href="https://www.sesamestreet.org/">Sesame Street</a>” or “<a href="https://pbskids.org/daniel/">Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood</a>,” may seem rather simplistic. The pacing is slow, key themes are often repeated and the visual aspects tend to be plain. </p>
<p>However, many people might be surprised to learn about the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2017.1361841">sheer amount</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2010.486127">of research</a> that goes into the design choices many contemporary programs use. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AEe_00wAAAAJ&hl=en">more than a decade</a>, I have studied just that: how to design media to support children’s learning, particularly in moral development. My research, along with the work of many others, shows that children can learn important developmental and social skills through media.</p>
<h2>History of research on children’s media</h2>
<p>Research on how to design children’s media to support learning is not new. </p>
<p>When “Sesame Street” debuted in November 1969, it began a decadeslong practice of <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410605252-5/varied-role-formative-research-case-studies-30-years-rosemarie-truglio-valeria-lovelace-ivelisse-segu%C3%AD-susan-scheiner">testing its content before airing it</a> to ensure children learned the intended messages of each episode and enjoyed watching it. Some episodes included messages notoriously difficult to teach to young children, including lessons about death, divorce and racism. </p>
<p>Researchers at the <a href="https://sesameworkshop.org/our-work/research-and-insights/">Sesame Workshop</a> hold focus groups at local preschools where participating children watch or interact with Sesame content. They test the children on whether they are engaged with, pay attention to and learn the intended message of the content. If the episode passes the test, then it moves on to the next stage of production. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Puppeteer holding muppet Abby Cadabby out for a child to engage with" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576035/original/file-20240215-20-3m1u5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sesame Workshop uses muppets to teach children about difficult topics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SesameStreetinCommunities/d2ddd365cd8e43998a6143daa30391f8">AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If children do not learn the intended message, or are not engaged and attentive, then the episode goes back for editing. In some cases, such as a <a href="https://lostmediawiki.com/Sesame_Street_%22Snuffy%27s_Parents_Get_a_Divorce%22_(partially_found_episode_of_children%27s_puppetry_TV_series;_1992)">1992 program</a> designed to teach children about divorce, the entire episode is scrapped. In this case, children misunderstood some key information about divorce. “Sesame Street” did not include divorce in its content until 2012.</p>
<h2>Designing children’s media</h2>
<p>With help from the pioneering research of “Sesame Street,” along with research from other children’s television shows both in the industry and in academia, the past few decades have seen many new insights on how best to design media to promote children’s learning. These strategies are still shaping children’s shows today.</p>
<p>For example, you may have noticed that some children’s television characters speak directly to the camera and pause for the child viewer at home to yell out an answer to their question. This design strategy, known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2014.932288">participatory cues</a>, is famously used by the shows “Blue’s Clues” and “Dora the Explorer.” Researchers found that participatory cues in TV are linked to increased <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2017.1361841">vocabulary learning and content comprehension</a> among young children. They also increase children’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0202_4">engagement with the educational content</a> of the show over time, particularly as they learn the intended lesson and can give the character the correct answer.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K-HGAwM4aDA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Participatory cues are a prominent feature of children’s shows like ‘Blues Clues.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You may have also noticed that children’s media often features jokes that seem to be aimed more at adults. These are often commentary about popular culture that require context children might not be aware of or involve more complex language that children might not understand. This is because children are more likely to learn when a supportive adult or older sibling is watching the show alongside them and helping explain or connect it to the child’s life. Known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2016.1203806">active mediation</a>, research has shown that talking about the goals, emotions and behaviors of media characters can help children learn from them and even improve aspects of their own emotional and social development.</p>
<p>Programs have also incorporated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650217733846">concrete examples of desired behaviors</a>, such as treating a neurodiverse character fairly, rather than discussing the behaviors more abstractly. This is because children younger than about age 7 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260802204355">struggle with abstract thinking</a> and may have difficulty generalizing content they learned from media and applying it to their own lives.</p>
<p>Research on an <a href="https://youtu.be/zDRYoINqPQY">episode of “Arthur”</a> found that a concrete example of a main character experiencing life through the eyes of another character with Asperger’s syndrome improved the ability of child viewers to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650217733846">take another person’s perspective</a>. It also increased the nuance of their moral judgments and moral reasoning. Just a single viewing of that one episode can positively influence several aspects of a child’s cognitive and moral development.</p>
<h2>Teaching inclusion through media</h2>
<p>One skill that has proven difficult to teach children through media is inclusivity. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260802204355">Multiple studies have</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2017.1378111">shown that children</a> are more likely to exclude others from their social group after viewing an episode explicitly designed to promote inclusion. </p>
<p>For example, an <a href="https://pbskids.org/video/clifford-big-red-dog/1483974629">episode of “Clifford the Big Red Dog”</a> involved Clifford and his family moving to a new town. The townspeople initially did not want to include Clifford because he was too big, but they eventually learned the importance of getting to know others before making judgments about them. However, watching this episode <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2017.1378111">did not make</a> children more likely to play with or view disabled or overweight children favorably.</p>
<p>Based on my own work, I argue that one reason inclusivity can be difficult to teach in children’s TV may be due to how narratives are structured. For example, many shows actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260903052265">model antisocial behaviors</a> during the first three-quarters of the episode before finally modeling prosocial behaviors at the end. This may inadvertently teach the wrong message, because children tend to focus on the behaviors modeled for the majority of the program. </p>
<p>My team and I conducted a recent study showing that including a 30-second clip prior to the episode that explains the inclusive message to children before they view the content can help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1601570">increase prosocial behaviors and decrease stigmatization</a>. Although this practice might not be common in children’s TV at the moment, adult viewers can also fill this role by explaining the intended message of inclusivity to children before watching the episode. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Smiling parent sitting with two children watching TV together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576034/original/file-20240215-30-janko5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adult viewers watching TV alongside children can help kids apply the lessons the shows teach to their own lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-mother-and-her-boy-and-a-girl-spending-royalty-free-image/1339901480">miniseries/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Parenting with media</h2>
<p>Children’s media is more complex than many people think. Although there is certainly a lot of media out there that may not use study-informed design practices, many shows do use research to ensure children have the best chance to learn from what they watch.</p>
<p>It can be difficult to be a parent or a child in a media-saturated world, particularly in deciding when children should begin to watch media and which media they should watch. But there are relatively simple strategies parents and supportive adults can use to leverage media to support their child’s healthy development and future.</p>
<p>Parents and other adults can help children learn from media by watching alongside them and answering their questions. They can also read <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/">reviews of media</a> to determine its quality and age appropriateness. Doing so can help children consume media in a healthy way. </p>
<p>We live in a media-saturated world, and restricting young children’s media use is difficult for most families. With just a little effort, parents can model healthy ways to use media for their children and select research-informed media that promotes healthy development and well-being among the next generation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allyson Snyder was a Sesame Workshop intern in 2018.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Drew Cingel, Jane Shawcroft, and Samantha Vigil do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many children’s educational shows undergo pre-screening to make sure each episode delivers its intended message. Adult viewers watching alongside kids can help ensure the lessons are well received.Drew Cingel, Associate Professor of Communication, University of California, DavisAllyson Snyder, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, University of California, DavisJane Shawcroft, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, University of California, DavisSamantha Vigil, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2186822024-02-21T13:19:25Z2024-02-21T13:19:25ZMarriage is not as effective an anti-poverty strategy as you’ve been led to believe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575664/original/file-20240214-26-6cr98q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite the popular guidance, marriage can be an economic risk for single parents with unstable partners.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/divorce-process-royalty-free-image/1329914655">simarik/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Brides.com predicts that 2024 will be the “<a href="https://www.brides.com/marriage-proposal-boom-2024-8358024">year of the proposal</a>” as engagements tick back up after a pandemic-driven slowdown.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, support for marriage has found new grist in recent books, including <a href="https://sociology.as.virginia.edu/people/w-bradford-wilcox">sociologist</a> Brad Wilcox’s “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Get-Married-Americans-Families-Civilization/dp/0063210851">Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization</a>” and economist Melissa Kearney’s “<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo205550079.html">The Two-Parent Privilege</a>.”</p>
<p>Kearney’s book was <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/review-of-the-two-parent-privilege-by-melissa-kearney">hailed by economist Tyler Cowen</a> as possibly “the most important economics and policy book of this year.” This is not because it treads new ground but because, as author <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/review-of-the-two-parent-privilege-by-melissa-kearney">Kay Hymowitz writes</a>, it breaks the supposed “taboo about an honest accounting of family decline.” </p>
<p>These developments are good news for the marriage promotion movement, which <a href="https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/webid-moynihan">for decades</a> has claimed that marriage supports children’s well-being and combats poverty. The movement dates back at least to the U.S. Department of Labor’s <a href="https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/webid-moynihan">Moynihan Report of 1965</a>, which argued that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-moynihan-report-an-annotated-edition/404632/">family structure aggravated Black poverty</a>.</p>
<p>Forty years after the Moynihan Report, George W. Bush-era programs such as the <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/policy-guidance/csbg-im-no-89-healthy-marriage-initiative">Healthy Marriage Initiative</a> sought to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4624797">enlist churches</a> and other community groups in an effort to channel childbearing back into marriage. These initiatives continue today, with the federally subsidized <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/programs/healthy-marriage-responsible-fatherhood">Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood programs</a>.</p>
<p>Still, nearly <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/single-parent-day.html">30% of U.S. children</a> live in single-parent homes today, compared with 10% in 1965.</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gCJEShUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">law professors</a> who have written extensively about <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0BBCYNAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">family structure</a> and <a href="https://www.fordham.edu/school-of-law/faculty/directory/full-time/eleanor-brown/">poverty</a>. We, and others, have found that there is almost no evidence that federal programs that promote marriage <a href="https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/FP-14-02_HMIInitiative.pdf">have made a difference</a> in encouraging two-parent households. That’s in large part because they forgo effective solutions that directly address poverty for measures that embrace the culture wars. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Child hangs upside down on playground equipment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575989/original/file-20240215-28-q3xgpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having a parent who has a college degree makes kids less likely to live in poverty than having parents who are married.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/girl-upside-down-on-the-jungle-gym-royalty-free-image/1127705002">Mayur Kakade/Moment Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Marriage and social class</h2>
<p>Today’s marriage promoters claim that <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-benefits-of-marriage-shouldnt-only-be-for-elites">marriage should not be just for elites</a>. The emergence of marriage as a marker of class, they believe, is a sign of societal dysfunction.</p>
<p>According to census data released in 2021, 9.5% of children living with two parents – and 7.5% with married parents – <a href="https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/statistical-briefing-book/population/faqs/qa01203#:%7E:text=In%202021%2C%209.5%25%20of%20children,17.4%25">lived below the poverty level</a>, compared with 31.7% of children living with a single parent.</p>
<p>Kearney’s argument comes down to: 1 + 1 = 2. Two parents have more resources, including money and time to spend with children, than one. She marshals extensive research designed to show that children from married couple families are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-063016-103749">more likely to graduate</a> from high school, complete college and earn <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-063016-103749">higher incomes as adults</a> than the children of single parents.</p>
<p>It is undoubtedly true that two parents – that is, two nonviolent parents with reliable incomes and cooperative behavior – have <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/cohabiting-parents-differ-from-married-ones-in-three-big-ways/">more resources for their children</a> than one parent who has to work two jobs to pay the rent. However, this equation <a href="https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/pmyhj">does not address causation</a>. In other words, parents who have stable incomes and behaviors are more likely to stay together than parents who don’t.</p>
<p>Ethnographic studies indicate, for example, that the most common reasons unmarried women are no longer with the fathers of their children are the men’s <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3841832">violent behavior, infidelity</a> and <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520335233/essential-dads">substance abuse</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, income volatility disproportionately affects parents who don’t go to college. So while they may have more money to invest in children together than apart, when one of these parents experiences a substantial drop in income, the other parent may have to decide whether to <a href="https://elibrary.law.psu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1455&context=fac_works">support the partner or the children</a> on what is often a meager income.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/having-a-single-parent-doesnt-determine-your-life-chances-the-data-shows-poverty-is-far-more-important-217841">impact of having single parents</a> also plays out differently by race and class. As sociologist and researcher <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/opinion/two-parent-family.html">Christina Cross explains</a>, “Living apart from a biological parent does not carry the same cost for Black youths as for their white peers, and being raised in a two-parent family is not equally beneficial.” </p>
<p>For example, Cross found that living in a single-mother family is less likely to affect high school completion rates for Black children than for white children. Also, Black families tend to be more embedded in extended family than white families, and this additional support system may help protect children from negative outcomes associated with single-parent households.</p>
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<h2>Making men more ‘marriageable’</h2>
<p>Kearney, to her credit, does note that economic insecurity largely explains what is happening to working-class families, and that no parent should have to tolerate violence or substance abuse. But she doubles down on the need to restore a norm of two-parent families.</p>
<p>Many of her policy prescriptions are sensible. She advocates for better opportunities for low-income men – to make them, in the words of <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo13375722.html">sociologist William Julius Wilson</a>, “marriageable.” Such policies would include wage subsidies to improve their job opportunities, investment in community colleges that provide skills training, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-the-box-would-help-people-released-from-prison-rebuild-their-lives-45539">removal of questions about criminal histories</a> from job applications, so that candidates who have previously been incarcerated are not immediately disqualified.</p>
<h2>A new marriage model</h2>
<p>What marriage promotion efforts overlook, however, are the underlying changes in what marriage has become – both legally and practically. </p>
<p>The new marriage model rests on three premises.</p>
<p>The first is a moral command: Have sex if you want to, but don’t have children until you are ready. While the shotgun marriage once served as the primary response to unplanned pregnancy, such marriages today often derail education and careers and are <a href="https://today.duke.edu/2016/11/shotgun-marriage-dead#:%7E:text=After%20a%20decade%2C%2030%20percent,prior%20to%20a%20child's%20conception.">more likely to result in divorce</a> than other marriages. Research shows that lower-income women’s pregnancies are much <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/factsheet/fb-unintended-pregnancy-us_0_4.pdf">more likely to be unplanned</a>. </p>
<p>The second is the ability to pick a partner who will support you and assume joint responsibility for parenting. As women have attained more economic independence, they are less in need of men to raise children, particularly if their partners are insensitive or abusive. With healthy relationships, couples pick partners based on trust, commitment and equal respect. This is more difficult to do in communities with high rates of incarceration and few opportunities for stable employment. </p>
<p>And the third is economic and behavioral stability. Instability undermines even committed unions. Parents who wait until they find the right partner and have stable lives bring a lot more to parenting, whether they marry or not.</p>
<p>We believe that creating opportunities for low-income parents to reach this middle-class model is likely to be the most effective marriage promotion policy.</p>
<h2>Economic support is key</h2>
<p>In relationships that fall outside of these premises, 1 + 1 often becomes 1 + -1, which equals 0.</p>
<p>Being committed to a partner who can’t pay speeding tickets, runs up credit card bills, comes home drunk or can’t be relied on to pick up the children after school is not a recipe for success. </p>
<p>Economic principles suggest that businesses with more volatile income streams need a stronger capital base to withstand the downturns. Working-class couples who face economic insecurity see commitment as similarly misguided; without a capital base, a downturn for one partner can wipe out the other.</p>
<p>The Biden administration’s child tax credit expansion included in the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-02-08/the-child-tax-credit-bill-seems-destined-for-defeat-in-the-senate?embedded-checkout=true">American Rescue Plan Act of 2021</a> helped cut the child poverty rate – after accounting for government assistance – <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/governments-pandemic-response-turned-a-would-be-poverty-surge-into">to a record low</a> that year. It did more to address child poverty than <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140106094155.htm">marriage promotion efforts have ever done</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers have described such income-support policies as the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-020-09782-0">ultimate multipurpose policy instrument</a>.” They improve the economic circumstances of single-parent families and, in doing so, may also provide greater support for two-parent relationships. </p>
<p>Policymakers know how to solve child poverty – and these measures are far more effective than efforts to put two married parents in every household.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218682/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Marriage on its own won’t do away with child poverty, and in fact it can create even more instability for low-income families.Eleanor Brown, Professor of Law, Fordham UniversityJune Carbone, Professor of Law, University of MinnesotaNaomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of VirginiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2218502024-02-19T13:43:19Z2024-02-19T13:43:19ZHow having conversations with children builds their language — and strengthens family connections<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576189/original/file-20240216-16-eufedv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7321%2C3396&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Intentionally integrating vocabulary into conversations from topics children are curious about helps grow children's language skills. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents and caregivers of school-aged children are all too familiar with the after-school conversation that sounds a little something like: </p>
<p>“How was school?” </p>
<p>“Fine.” </p>
<p>“What did you learn?” </p>
<p>“Nothing.”</p>
<p>Conversations between children of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-study-of-warlpiri-language-shows-how-baby-talk-helps-little-kids-learn-to-speak-207835">all ages</a> and attentive, caring adults <a href="https://www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/power-turn-taking.aspx">offer strong benefits</a> in all domains of children’s <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/parenting/helping-kids">well-being</a>.</p>
<p>When these conversations are purposeful and strategic, they can even strengthen skills that contribute to <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/vocabulary/articles/talking-counts#">stronger literacy and language development</a>.</p>
<h2>More than information exchange</h2>
<p>When we engage in quality conversations with children, we are doing more than finding out how their day was at school. </p>
<p>Talking with children <a href="https://decoda.ca/talking-is-teaching/">teaches them about their world</a>, <a href="https://www.lena.org/new-research-links-early-vocabulary-skills-to-teacher-child-interaction-in-preschool-classrooms/">enhances their vocabulary</a>, <a href="https://www.integrativemind.com/blog/strengthening-parent-child-communication-building-trust-and-understanding">strengthens trust and relationships</a> and models formal <a href="https://thesixshifts.com/2021/08/2035/">language structures</a> — how an arrangement and order of <a href="https://surreyschoolsone.ca/teachers/literacy/elementary/reading-essentials/language-structures/#">words in the context of specific sentences yields meaning</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and girl seated at different ends of a couch with mugs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576070/original/file-20240215-22-te0oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Quality conversations have multiple benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The power of conversations between children and adults even has the potential to affect connectivity in select regions of the brain. </p>
<p>In a recent study in the <em>Journal of Neuroscience</em>, conversational “turns” — where there is a back-and-forth conversational exchange between children and attentive adults — were linked to increased strength of white matter connections between regions of the brain <a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1034-22.2023">related to speech and comprehension of written and spoken language.</a> </p>
<h2>Sparking language-building conversations</h2>
<p>The list below details some ways parents or caregivers can spark language-building conversations that accelerate children’s literacy and family relationships:</p>
<p><strong>Actively listen.</strong> <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parents/essentials/toddlersandpreschoolers/communication/activelistening.html#">Active listening</a> involves showing an authentic interest in what children have to say. Active listening looks like minimizing distractions, making eye contact, stopping other things you are doing, lowering yourself to their physical level (by sitting or bending down, for instance) and reflecting or repeating back what they are saying and what they may be feeling to make sure you understand. </p>
<p><strong>Ask open-ended questions.</strong> Open-ended questions encourage children to <a href="https://decoda.ca/talking-is-teaching/">pause, think and reflect</a> instead of simply responding “yes” or “no” or “nothing.” Open-ended questions typically begin with the following words and phrases: </p>
<ul>
<li>Why, how, describe … </li>
<li>Tell me about …</li>
<li>What do you think about … </li>
<li>I wonder (if / why / how) …</li>
<li>What do you notice about … </li>
<li>Tell me more about …</li>
<li>What else do you want me to know about that? </li>
</ul>
<p>Open-ended questions can also be used as follow-ups to other questions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two adults sitting on a porch with a child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576190/original/file-20240216-24-pejfg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asking children what they notice is one way to guide an open-ended conversation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Try the “Strive-for-Five” framework.</strong> “Strive-for-Five” is a conversational framework pioneered by educators David Dickinson and Ann B. Morse and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2266">recently adapted by</a> educational researchers Sonia Q. Cabell and Tricia A. Zucker. This <a href="https://coursemedia.erikson.edu/eriksononline/CPC/2014_2015/Module1/Documents/Purposeful_Talk/Strive_for_Five_Experience.pdf">framework is intended</a> to enhance conversations by encouraging parents, caregivers and educators to strive for <em>five</em> conversational turns with children instead of the typical three in order to foster foundational language skill development. To try this, respond to children in a way that challenges their thinking and encourages using language. Rather than stopping short at the third conversational point, attempt to continue the conversation by asking fun, <a href="https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/advice/questions-every-parent-should-ask-their-kid/">open-ended follow-up questions</a> or share another thought to try to extend the exchange.</p>
<p><strong>Embed conversations in everyday routines.</strong> If you find it difficult to actively listen and engage in purposeful conversations during certain times of the day, try to schedule time where active listening may be more feasible, like during <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/spending-quality-time-with-your-child#:%7E:text=Create%20a%20special%20ritual%20for,how%20she%20makes%20you%20feel">everyday routines</a> or when <a href="https://laughplayread.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/strive-for-five/">reading aloud</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Scaffold the conversation.</strong> Scaffolding is a strategy used to support learning by building on skills children already have and gradually reducing the support provided. Scaffolding conversations with children might include:</p>
<ul>
<li>repeating words or phrases so they are used correctly;</li>
<li>integrating vocabulary from topics they are learning about or are curious about;</li>
<li>providing sentence starters that invite them to finish the sentence;</li>
<li>asking questions that challenge their thinking to move a conversation past the third talking turn.<br></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rVaRdVt6Ihw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video from Parent Lab discusses how scaffolding conversations with children strengthens language-building skills, autonomy, confidence and connections.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Engaging in frequent, meaningful conversations with children of all ages helps strengthen their <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/about-reading/articles/simple-view-reading">language comprehension</a>, and in turn, reading comprehension. </p>
<p>Elevating the quality of conversations by using any or all of these suggestions has the potential to enhance the fundamental components of language comprehension, while simultaneously building and maintaining family connections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Hillier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Engaging in purposeful, meaningful and strategic conversations with children can directly support children’s language comprehension, an important component of reading.Kimberly Hillier, Instructor, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223182024-02-15T20:17:51Z2024-02-15T20:17:51ZTrauma-informed approaches to discipline matter for equitable and safe schooling<p>Schools across North America are increasingly implementing policies and practices to reduce suspensions and expulsions. </p>
<p>Yet the disproportionate application of school discipline for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-adversity-impacts-the-disproportionate-suspensions-of-black-and-indigenous-students-177676">Black and Indigenous students</a> remains a significant concern. </p>
<p>Trauma and adversity <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.021">can have a significant and negative impact on student outcomes</a>. Due to systemic inequity, trauma and adversity also <a href="http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0749379715003190">disproportionately affects</a> Black and Indigenous students.</p>
<p>We wanted to understand what is already known about the contribution, role or prevalence of trauma and early childhood adversity for students who are disciplined at school. We found there is very little <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.021">research on the relationship between childhood adversities and school discipline</a>. </p>
<p>Without research on students’ experiences of adversity in school discipline, it is difficult for educators to recognize, understand and support students who are coping with adversity. Additional research — particularly from Canada — would provide schools with the knowledge necessary for evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally attuned approaches to school discipline.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen on a landing overlooking a foyer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575100/original/file-20240212-28-tilkmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educators need to understand how to support students coping with adversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Norma Mortenson)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lack of attention to adversity, trauma</h2>
<p>Trauma is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X231226396">negative impact that can happen when exposed to adversity, while adversity is a potentially traumatizing event or the absence of healthy stimulus</a>. While trauma and adversity are related, adversity does not always lead to trauma. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8">Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104641">with negative health outcomes, even early death</a>. There have been calls to expand our understanding of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26296440">adversity</a> to include <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/trm0000425">school and community violence, racism and poverty</a>, noting the disproportionate impact of these. </p>
<p>Our research suggests that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231203674">disproportionate exposure to adversity may contribute to students experiencing school discipline</a>. However, how exactly this happens is not clear. </p>
<h2>Disproportion in school discipline</h2>
<p>Research shows that school discipline is disproportionately applied to students <a href="https://edu.yorku.ca/files/2017/04/Towards-Race-Equity-in-Education-April-2017.pdf">who are Black, Indigenous</a>, <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/Caring%20and%20Safe%20Schools%20Report%202017-18%2C%20TDSB%2C%20Final_April%202019.pdf">male</a>, have <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/school-suspensions-and-expulsions#section-10">identified special education needs</a> or live <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/closing-the-school-discipline-gap-9780807756133">in lower-resourced areas</a>. These students are more likely to be suspended, suspended for longer or expelled.</p>
<p>Considerable research about the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-exclusionary-school-discipline.pdf">disproportionate use of discipline</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-girls-are-4-19-times-more-likely-to-get-suspended-than-white-girls-and-hiring-more-teachers-of-color-is-only-part-of-the-solution-188139">affecting Black</a> communities exists from the United States, with less attention to Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>There is very little Canadian research in this area, and yet existing research suggests the rate of disproportion to be on par with the U.S. </p>
<p>The 2017 report <em>Towards Race Equity In Education: The Schooling of Black Students in the Greater Toronto Area</em> documented <a href="https://edu.yorku.ca/files/2017/04/Towards-Race-Equity-in-Education-April-2017.pdf">discipline disparities affecting Black and Indigenous youth</a>. Researchers in other regions have documented <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-contributes-to-poor-attendance-of-indigenous-students-in-alberta-schools-new-study-141922">how racism against Indigenous</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-fairer-education-system-get-the-police-out-of-schools-141552">and Black students</a> affects students’ school engagement or attendance. </p>
<h2>Discipline affects opportunities</h2>
<p>This disproportion is <a href="https://doi.org/10.17105/spr-14-0008.1">one of the factors contributing to a</a> <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-49290-001">documented gap in educational achievement</a> and an over-representation of Black and Indigenous people within the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.04.002">criminal justice system</a>. </p>
<p>Time away <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED515443">from school</a> through out-of-school discipline is a barrier to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spv026">academic success</a>. This <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/19/09/school-discipline-linked-later-consequences">affects opportunities</a> for post-secondary education and ultimately <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027184">who has access to power, money and resources</a>. Therefore, there are grave implications of disproportionate discipline.</p>
<h2>Research on adversity or trauma and discipline</h2>
<p>In our article “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231203674">Exposure to Adversity and Trauma Among Students Who Experience School Discipline: A Scoping Review</a>” we detail how we searched for and analyzed articles about school discipline and trauma or adversity. We found only 49 peer-reviewed articles that met our inclusion criteria. </p>
<p>Of these 49 articles, 14 detailed original research on the relationship between adversity and school discipline. This research showed experiences of adversity or trauma play a significant and potentially contributing role in school discipline, including suspension and expulsion. </p>
<p>However, 14 studies is insufficient. It is even more concerning <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231203674">that there was only one article from Canada and few others from outside of the U.S.</a></p>
<h2>Canadian research matters</h2>
<p>Context matters when studying school discipline. In Ontario, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-agrees-to-end-zero-tolerance-school-policy-1.671464">Zero-Tolerance legislation was</a> removed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904812453994">in 2008</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/s06028">This followed the province’s 2006 legislation that students remain in school to age 18</a>. Related policies include “restorative practices” (emphasizing accountability for actions <a href="https://www.future-ed.org/restorative-practices-for-school-discipline-explained/">in a context of sustaining and repairing interpersonal and community relationships</a>) and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14623730.2015.1088681">school-based mental health</a>.</p>
<p>In Ontario, <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/school-suspensions-and-expulsions">the rate of suspension decreased</a> from <a href="https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/suspension-rates-by-school-board">4.32 per cent of students in 2007/08 to 2.23 per cent in 2022. Expulsion decreased from 0.05 per cent, to 0.01 per cent</a>. The five-year graduation rate increased from 68 per cent to <a href="https://www.app.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/bpr/allBoards.asp?chosenIndicator=11">89.1 per cent in 2022</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An adult seen behind children at computers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575409/original/file-20240213-22-j7ta76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sustaining interpersonal and community relationships matters for students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Safe and Caring Schools’</h2>
<p>In contrast, the suspension rate in the U.S. <a href="https://doi.org/10.54300/235.277">was five per cent in 2017-18</a>. Zero-Tolerance policies are still active across many U.S. school districts. </p>
<p>Ontario students on long-term suspension or expulsion are now offered <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09481-3">programs run through “Safe and Caring Schools” in every school board</a>. </p>
<p>While not explicitly trauma-informed, these programs provide significant support, including dedicated child and youth workers and social workers and a high staff-to-student ratio. These supports enable <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X231226396">connection with students and a different approach with students who appear to be coping with trauma</a>. </p>
<h2>Expulsions still disproportionate</h2>
<p>Yet the 2017 report, <em>Towards Race Equity In Education</em>, found Black students were <a href="https://edu.yorku.ca/files/2017/04/Towards-Race-Equity-in-Education-April-2017.pdf">expelled at four times their representation and Indigenous students at over three times</a>. </p>
<p>To understand this disproportion and to develop effective policy and practice it is critical for educators in Canada to have more contextual knowledge. </p>
<p>People respond to situations <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/constructing-grounded-theory/book235960">based on how they understand them</a>. Educators who have not <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211056724">experienced or been educated about adversity may not account for or recognize students who are coping with adversity</a>. </p>
<p>When discipline is <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/soc9010003">the response to trauma, it is likely to increase a student’s stress and anxiety and alienate them from necessary resources</a>.</p>
<p>This is particularly concerning in a social context of historical and ongoing systemic racism negatively impacting Black and Indigenous students <a href="https://theconversation.com/egerton-ryerson-racist-philosophy-of-residential-schools-also-shaped-public-education-143039">that was maintained through both anti-Black public schooling models and residential schools</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student seen on a swing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575099/original/file-20240212-18-l41gm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When discipline responds to trauma, it is likely to alienate students from necessary resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Acknowledging adversity</h2>
<p>Expanded adversities were less often included in papers that detailed <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231203674">original research and only seven papers overall included indicators of racism, discrimination and structural inequity</a>. </p>
<p>This is noteworthy given research identifying the disproportionate application of school discipline <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12384;%20https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124516644053">among non-white students, and the school-to-prison pipeline</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ontario-can-close-students-access-and-opportunity-gaps-with-community-led-projects-184301">Ontario can close students’ access and opportunity gaps with community-led projects</a>
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<p>When researchers don’t identify expanded forms of adversity <a href="https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789463005852/BP000004.xml">like racism and poverty</a>, they are less likely to be recognized.</p>
<p>It is important that researchers <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-i-could-change-one-thing-in-education-community-school-partnerships-would-be-top-priority-188189">collaborating with educators and communities</a> generate Canadian-based knowledge to guide policy and practice.</p>
<p>We hope to foster acknowledgement of hidden and unaddressed trauma among students being disproportionally disciplined. We hope this can lead to a greater understanding of student lives — and evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally attuned discipline.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222318/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Additional research and attention is needed — particularly in Canada — to provide schools with evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally attuned approaches to school discipline.Jane E. Sanders, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, King's University College, Western UniversityAndrea Joseph-McCatty, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of TennesseeMichael Massey, Assistant Professor, National Catholic School of Social Service, Catholic University of AmericaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1766622024-02-15T13:53:50Z2024-02-15T13:53:50ZChildren are expensive – not just for parents, but the environment – so how many is too many?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573356/original/file-20240205-19-6s8ovc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C6%2C2120%2C1390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protecting the planet for future children might mean having fewer children.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/people-with-placards-and-posters-on-global-strike-royalty-free-image/1181043800?phrase=climate+protest+kid&adppopup=true">Halfpoint/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People born in the future stand to inherit a planet in the midst of a global ecological crisis. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201106093027.htm">Natural habitats are being decimated</a>, the world <a href="https://theconversation.com/arctic-report-card-2023-from-wildfires-to-melting-sea-ice-the-warmest-summer-on-record-had-cascading-impacts-across-the-arctic-218872">is growing hotter</a>, and scientists fear we are experiencing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09678">the sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s history</a>. </p>
<p>Under such circumstances, is it reasonable to bring a child into the world?</p>
<p><a href="https://philosophy.arizona.edu/person/trevor-hedberg">My philosophical research</a> deals with environmental and procreative ethics – the ethics of choosing how many children to have or whether to have them at all. Recently, my work has explored <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Environmental-Impact-of-Overpopulation-The-Ethics-of-Procreation/Hedberg/p/book/9781032236766">questions where these two fields intersect</a>, such as how climate change should affect <a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/eip/content/eip_2019_0020_0001_0042_0065">decision-making about having a family</a>.</p>
<p>Procreation is often viewed as a personal or private choice that should not be scrutinized. However, it is a choice that affects others: the parents, the children themselves and the people who will inhabit the world alongside those children in the future. Thus, it is an appropriate topic for moral reflection.</p>
<h2>A lifelong footprint</h2>
<p>Let’s start by thinking about why it might be wrong to have a large family.</p>
<p>Many people who care about the environment believe they are obligated to try to reduce their impact: driving fuel-efficient vehicles, recycling and purchasing food locally, for example.</p>
<p>But the decision to have a child – to create another person who will most likely adopt a similar lifestyle to your own – vastly outweighs the impact of these activities. Based on the average distance a car travels each year, people in developed countries can save the equivalent of 2.4 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year by living without a vehicle, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541">one literature review</a>. For comparison, having one fewer child saves 58.6 metric tons each year.</p>
<p>So, if you think you are obligated to do other activities to reduce your impact on the environment, you should limit your family size, too.</p>
<p>In response, however, some people may argue that adding a single person to a planet of 8 billion <a href="https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics201133326">cannot make a meaningful difference</a>. According to this argument, one new person would constitute such a tiny percentage of the overall contribution to climate change and other environmental problems that the impact would be morally negligible.</p>
<h2>Crunching the numbers</h2>
<p>Environmental ethicists debate how to quantify an individual’s impact on the environment, especially their lifetime carbon emissions.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://stat.oregonstate.edu/directory/paul-murtaugh">statistician Paul Murtaugh</a> and scientist <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Michael-G-Schlax-5771424">Michael Schlax</a> attempted to <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/pdfs/OSUCarbonStudy.pdf">estimate the “carbon legacy</a>” tied to a couple’s choice to procreate. They estimated the total lifetime emissions of individuals living in the world’s most populous 11 countries. They also assumed a parent was responsible for all emissions tied to their genetic lineage: all of their own emissions, half their children’s emissions, one-quarter of their grandchildren’s emissions, and so on. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A camera in the back of a minivan captures two adults riding in the front seat and two brunette children sitting in the back row." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575665/original/file-20240214-18-llni5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Calculating how many emissions an average person is responsible for is tricky – but for the average American lifestyle, it’s high.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/family-riding-together-in-car-royalty-free-image/103058683?phrase=minivan+kids&adppopup=true">PhotoAlto/Ale Ventura/PhotoAlto Agency RF Collections via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If emissions stayed similar to 2005 levels for several generations, an American couple having one fewer child <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/pdfs/OSUCarbonStudy.pdf">would save 9,441 metric tons of CO2-equivalent</a>, according to their calculations. Driving a more fuel-efficient car, on the other hand – getting 10 more miles to the gallon – would save only 148 metric tons of CO2-equivalent.</p>
<p>Philosopher <a href="https://web.utk.edu/%7Enolt/">John Nolt</a> has attempted to estimate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2011.561584">how much harm</a> the average American causes over their lifetime in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. He found that the average American contributes roughly one two-billionth of the total greenhouse gases that cause climate change. But since climate change may harm billions of people over the next millennium, this person may be responsible for the severe suffering, or even death, of one or two future people.</p>
<h2>Collective toll</h2>
<p>Such estimates are, at best, imprecise. Nevertheless, even if one assumes that each individual child’s impact on the environment is relatively insignificant on the global scale, that does not necessarily mean that procreators are off the moral hook.</p>
<p>One common thought in ethics is that people should avoid participating in enterprises that involve collective wrongdoing. In other words, we should avoid contributing to institutions and practices that cause bad outcomes, even if our own individual contribution to that outcome is tiny. </p>
<p>Suppose someone considers making a small donation to an organization that they learn is engaged in immoral activities, such as polluting a local river. Even if the potential donation is only a few dollars – too small to make any difference to the organization’s operations – that money would express a degree of complicity in that behavior, or perhaps even an endorsement. The morally right thing to do is avoid supporting the organization when possible.</p>
<p>We could reason the same way about procreation: Overpopulation is a collective problem that is <a href="http://www.mlcfoundation.org.in/#assets/ijpd/2023-1/V_3_1_7.pdf">degrading the environment and causing harm</a>, so individuals should <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Environmental-Impact-of-Overpopulation-The-Ethics-of-Procreation/Hedberg/p/book/9781032236766">reduce their contribution to it</a> when they can.</p>
<h2>Moral gray zone</h2>
<p>But perhaps having children warrants an exception. Parenthood is often a crucial part of people’s life plans and makes their lives far more meaningful, even if it does come at a cost to the planet. Some people believe <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691036656/children-of-choice">reproductive freedom is so important</a> that no one should feel moral pressure to restrict the size of their family.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three women, one of whom has white hair, stand smiling around a baby in a blue outfit and a pacifier." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575662/original/file-20240214-28-63i1r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having children feels like an essential part of many people’s life plans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/grandmother-looking-at-her-newborn-grandson-in-the-royalty-free-image/1444230309?phrase=newborn&adppopup=true">Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One point of general consensus among ethicists, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9930.1993.tb00093.x">following the lead</a> of <a href="https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-henry-shue">philosopher Henry Shue</a>, is that there is a moral difference between emissions tied to crucial interests and those that are tied to convenience and luxury. Emissions connected to basic human needs are usually regarded as permissible. It isn’t wrong for me to emit carbon to drive to the grocery store, for example, if I have no other safe or reliable transportation available. Getting to the store is important to my survival and well-being. Driving purely for recreation, in contrast, is harder to justify.</p>
<p>Reproduction occupies the messy conceptual space between these two activities. For most people today, having their own biological children is not essential to health or survival. Yet it is also far more important to most people and their broader life plans than a frivolous joyride. Is there a way to balance the varied and competing moral considerations in play here?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/eip/content/eip_2019_0020_0001_0042_0065">In prior work</a>, I have argued the proper way to balance these competing moral considerations is for each couple to have no more than two biological children. I believe this allows a couple an appropriate amount of reproductive freedom while also recognizing the moral significance of the environmental problems linked to population growth. </p>
<p>Some authors reason about this issue differently, though. Philosopher <a href="https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/sconly/">Sarah Conly</a> argues that it is permissible for couples <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/7760">to have only one biological child</a>. In large part, her position rests on her argument that all the fundamental interests tied to child-rearing can be satisfied with just one child. Bioethicist <a href="https://bioethics.jhu.edu/people/profile/travis-rieder/">Travis Reider</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-33871-2">argues in favor of having a small family</a>, but without a specific numerical limit. It is also possible, as ethicist <a href="https://www.umu.se/en/staff/kalle-grill/">Kalle Grill</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics20238860">has argued</a>, that none of these positions gets the moral calculus exactly right.</p>
<p>Regardless, it is clear that prospective parents should reflect on the moral dimensions of procreation and its importance to their life plans.</p>
<p>For some, adoption may be the best way of experiencing parenthood without creating a new person. And there are many other ways for prospective parents to do their part in mitigating environmental problems. Carbon offsets or donations to environmental organizations, for example, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2023.2223805">hardly perfect substitutes</a> for limiting procreation – but they certainly may be more appealing to many prospective parents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176662/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor Hedberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You can donate to environmental charities and even purchase carbon offsets, but not having an additional child typically has a much greater impact.Trevor Hedberg, Assistant Professor of Practice, W.A. Franke Honors College / Philosophy Department, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225672024-02-15T13:16:03Z2024-02-15T13:16:03ZMost people would be equally satisfied with having one child as with two or three – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575046/original/file-20240212-18-cr3m9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2650%2C1918&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-culture-families-playing-children-on-644803663">Tint Media/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture your ideal family. Do you have children? How many?</p>
<p>It’s fairly well established that when asked about their ideal family, people <a href="https://uk.style.yahoo.com/parents-happiest-with-this-number-of-children-130657574.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALSMoZY_favqh1RLJg3osUVkZY4Rcc-gZ73Db3kMC4q4wHFgjNXJeTMPDGEwWCJfcYMawoqwwsnmEprKNbIpz1qN6Dh3gSvg3SLmTlvez2ll1oiAXxQics4EvK5c5M4Kw73OjCf2ADaZ_uO3NxJkkhniFfs20KNzuUuLll_4-5Mi">tend to say</a> that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-families-ideal-number-of-kids-cost-raising-child-expensive-2023-11?r=US&IR=T">two children</a> is the best number to have. But this regularity has come about from asking the simple question: “Ideally, how many children would you like to have?”. </p>
<p>But if two children really was the best number to have, surely most people would have two – but they don’t. In South Korea, the average number of children is less than one per woman. In the US it’s 1.64. </p>
<p>A huge number of studies have tried to figure out why this is – why there’s a gap between the number of children people say they want, and how many they have. But it turns out we may have been asking the wrong questions. </p>
<p>When you take a different approach and ask people to rate different options of family life, you get a far more accurate idea of what people are happy with. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311847121">My research</a> with colleagues has done just this. I found that people still valued parenthood. But they valued having one child just as highly as having two or three. </p>
<h2>Family values</h2>
<p>A family isn’t just about the number of children. There are a whole range of other things to consider when thinking about what your ideal family might look like. Are you married, cohabiting, or a single parent? Who does the washing up and changes the nappies? What does the work-life balance in your family look like? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Family of three in kitchen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We found that number of children mattered less than you might expect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-young-family-three-home-kitchen-45888763">michaeljung/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When you bring in factors like this, the ideal number of children starts to change. </p>
<p>We carried out research with around 10,000 people in a range of countries: the US, Norway, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore. We showed each person in the study six scenarios with descriptions of different families. Half of the respondents were shown scenarios that included families with no children as well as with children, and the other half saw scenarios that included families with one, two or three children. </p>
<p>These scenarios had further varying factors, such as traditional or egalitarian gender roles and the amount of contact with extended family. In some, family members communicated well, and not in others. We asked the people in our study to rate these different scenarios on a scale from one to ten.</p>
<p>The findings are clear. Looking at all the responses, overall people do feel that a family with no children is not ideal. Parenthood still matters. But there is no discernable difference in how people rated the families with one, two or three children. </p>
<p>The only outlier is China, where people viewed having three children somewhat negatively: understandable after decades of policies curbing fertility. Nowhere in our study was having just one child viewed more negatively. </p>
<h2>Importance of communicating</h2>
<p>What does come out very strongly is the role of communication, both within the nuclear family but also with grandparents. This characteristic is the most important feature of the ideal family of today.</p>
<p>If you think about it, this finding is not all too unexpected. Good communication means strong emotional support – and that is what most people would like to receive from a family. If communication breaks down, then why bother with having a family if you can get the necessary support elsewhere through friends and other social networks?</p>
<p>Other features matter too – obviously. Respondents viewed low income negatively (apart from in Norway). More egalitarian gender roles and good work-life balance are important. But our findings, which are remarkably similar across different countries, show that good communication matters the most in people’s vision for good family life – more than the number of children they might have.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arnstein Aassve receives funding from Horizon Europe. </span></em></p>We found no discernable difference in how people rated family scenarios with one, two or three children.Arnstein Aassve, Professor in Demography, Bocconi UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232172024-02-13T16:38:00Z2024-02-13T16:38:00ZDonkeys are unsung heroes in Ethiopia’s humanitarian crisis – and they could do even more with better support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574951/original/file-20240212-28-w82tdy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C2560%2C1686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The front cover of the Norwegian Refugee Council's Annual Report on Ethiopia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/nrc-ethiopia-annual-report-2020/assets/8XbNZwavN5/dsc_6544-web-2560x1707.jpeg">Tinbit Amare Dejene / Norwegian Refugee Council</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conflict and drought in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has triggered a humanitarian crisis. The Ethiopian government says <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68198484">16 million people</a> across the country are facing food shortages, with almost half of those suffering emergency or severe levels of food insecurity. </p>
<p>In response to the crisis, the UK has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-announces-100-million-of-new-aid-for-over-three-million-vulnerable-people-in-ethiopia-as-humanitarian-crisis-deepens">announced</a> £100 million in overseas development aid for essential healthcare services. More than 3 million Ethiopians, including vulnerable women and children, will receive lifesaving help through the programme.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-ramps-deliveries-vital-food-assistance-drought-and-conflict-affected-areas-ethiopia#:%7E:text=The%20Government%20of%20Ethiopia's%20most,insecurity%20and%20need%20emergency%20assistance.">overseas aid</a> to be deployed most effectively (reaching the goal of supporting the lives of women and children), it should be extended to support the care of donkeys. </p>
<p>In Ethiopia, donkeys are unrecognised humanitarian workers who provide vital support through their labour to ensure the survival of people, especially vulnerable women and children. But donkeys in Ethiopia are often overlooked, poorly cared for and overworked because of poverty and a constant reliance on their labour.</p>
<p>The strains of poverty, subsistence work and the effects of conflict are clearly not only experienced by humans. Animals <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-beasts-of-burden-how-to-reward-our-animals-for-their-work-92713">work for and with people</a> living in these circumstances and risk their lives in doing so.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-beasts-of-burden-how-to-reward-our-animals-for-their-work-92713">Beyond beasts of burden: How to reward our animals for their work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A female donkey standing beside her foal in a rural village." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A jenny (female donkey) and her foal stand nearby a group of homes in a rural village in central Ethiopia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martha Geiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why donkeys matter</h2>
<p>The war formally ended in November 2022. But the Tigray region remains in ruins and 1 million people have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/05/we-must-act-on-ethiopia-food-crisis-says-uk-minister">displaced</a> from northern Ethiopia. Donkeys are key providers of aid to displaced families by enabling access to water, foodstuffs and firewood that people would otherwise not be able to reach on foot. </p>
<p>But many donkeys in Ethiopia die prematurely due to a lack of food and water, and because of the enormous strain their labour places on their bodies. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Endale-Teshome/publication/335201996_Study_on_the_Health_and_Welfare_of_Working_Donkeys_in_Mirab_Abaya_District_Southern_Ethiopia/links/5d565108a6fdccb7dc3fad01/Study-on-the-Health-and-Welfare-of-Working-Donkeys-in-Mirab-Abaya-District-Southern-Ethiopia.pdf">Research</a> from 2016 found that donkeys have a working life of only four to six years in Ethiopia. In contrast, donkeys can have working lives of up to 30 years where welfare standards are higher. </p>
<p>When a donkey dies, their human co-workers are left in need and without support. My <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/soan/aop/article-10.1163-15685306-bja10134/article-10.1163-15685306-bja10134.xml">own research</a>, which was published in July 2023, has shown that women in rural areas of Ethiopia (where <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10503176/#CR22">80% of the country’s population</a> live) are dependent upon and most affected by the loss of a donkey. </p>
<p>Women in central Ethiopia report that an enormous physical burden falls on them to carry livelihood materials on their backs and shoulders for long distances if they don’t have donkeys to work with. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a rural village walks with her donkeys who are carrying water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4265%2C2845&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman in a rural village in central Ethiopia walks with her donkeys who are carrying water to her family’s homestead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martha Geiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Low status</h2>
<p>My more <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13607804231213559">recent research</a> has revealed that donkeys, along with their women co-workers, are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Donkeys are associated with drudgery and women’s work, so a socio-cultural norm holds that the two groups are “the same”. </p>
<p>In fact, there are numerous common Ethiopian proverbs that compare women with donkeys. According to one proverb: “Women are commonly beaten by their husbands, but they are staying with their husbands to raise their children. And donkeys are often beaten by their owners, but they will not run away from their owners.” </p>
<p>Another is that: “The least of animals is the donkey, and the least of human beings is a woman. They are doing as they have been told by men.” This equivalency reinforces the marginalisation and subjugation of both groups, manifesting in domestic violence towards them.</p>
<p>A huge number of Ethiopian women have suffered physical and mental injuries during the war and the crisis that has followed. Health experts <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/7/e010270">estimate</a> that between 40% and 45% of women have suffered gender-based violence during the conflict. </p>
<p>Other studies <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10362876/">report</a> that more than one-third of women in Ethiopia experience gender-based violence in their lifetime. In reality, these figures are probably even higher owing to under-reporting because of a lack of access to healthcare services and the fear of stigmatisation.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/article/comparison-of-the-socioeconomic-value-and-welfare-of-working-donkeys-in-rural-and-urban-ethiopia/1220694C5411787FA25CD9B2286461AF">research</a> on the welfare of donkeys in Ethiopia has also recorded instances of donkeys being hit by their human co-workers while working. The majority of donkey owners reported feeling justified in hitting their donkeys if they refuse to move forward or comply with human requests of them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A rural woman standing next to her donkey in a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rural woman standing with her donkey co-worker as she prepares for the working day ahead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martha Geiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recognising their work</h2>
<p>In light of my findings, and amid reports of <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/statements-and-news/refugees-international-alarmed-by-humanitarian-crisis-in-tigray-effects-of-conflict-related-sexual-violence/">escalating violence</a> against women in the region, humanitarian programmes aimed at enhancing the status of women and dismantling oppressive systems should also include wellbeing support to their donkeys.</p>
<p>Addressing the needs of both women and donkeys through protection, healthcare and aid can help combat the normalisation of violence against both groups. This will convey the importance of both women and donkeys to Ethiopian society. </p>
<p>By ignoring the humanitarian labour of donkeys and their contribution to human wellbeing, we risk further exploiting and marginalising both donkeys and the millions of women and children who depend upon them for basic subsistence support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martha Geiger has received funding from the Donkey Sanctuary UK for her data collection in Ethiopia. </span></em></p>Donkeys provide vital support to women but their lives are often cut short.Martha Geiger, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232482024-02-13T15:20:48Z2024-02-13T15:20:48ZHow to help children and the family dog stay safe when they play together<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575295/original/file-20240213-28-rl6h25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C37%2C5034%2C3328&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dog-ball-running-child-playing-catch-596137544">alexei_tm/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s no wonder owning a family dog <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/6/1072">is popular</a> in the UK – research shows that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2016.1152721?casa_token=0RjI6Y1Cr5sAAAAA:6StzU9JXuiAK3V1BpK-ym6L2wHfLg65_sKZ-zjfGA7D0IQ-d26jD1vZf4jF0IEqL0Mf39wl5o76Neg">our wellbeing</a> can increase with dog ownership, and there’s even evidence that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-020-1007-2">children’s development</a> can benefit if they share their home with a dog. </p>
<p>Unfortunately though, hospital admissions for dog bites are more likely to be <a href="https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000726">children than adults</a>. The majority of bites on children are from a dog <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787817301168">known to them</a>. And many bites happen while <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2017.00130/full">a parent or caregiver is actually present</a>. </p>
<p>Popular representations of dogs as the perfect addition to a family are everywhere, from the 1904 JM Barrie Novel Peter Pan <a href="https://peterpan.fandom.com/wiki/Nana">and Nana</a>, to today’s children’s television. The movie, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5113040/">The Secret Life of Pets 2</a> opens with Max, the charismatic terrier complaining that he doesn’t personally love kids and is grateful for not living with them and being “piled on” by “hordes of children”. Max is soon faced with a new child in the family, Liam, and he laments he doesn’t feel safe in his own home.</p>
<p>Although Max’s predicament is played for laughs, the truth is children can make dogs’ lives difficult and uncomfortable. We certainly don’t want our children to be bitten. But it’s easy to overlook the dog’s perspective. </p>
<h2>Power of play</h2>
<p>Safe play means no shouting or roughness. Fetch, for example, can be great but be mindful if your dog is “guarding” by not relinquishing or snapping for their favourite toys. You and your children should <a href="https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/training/basics/leave-training">teach your dog</a> a leave command by trading toys for treats. Immediately throwing a second toy as soon as they bring the first back can also discourage guarding. My own son finds this game lots of fun with our dog. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman holding a child and shaking a dog's paw" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574919/original/file-20240212-30-nubo36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supervising play is important.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-woman-little-girl-dog-outdoors-29925649">Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During play all four paws <a href="https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/training/outdoors/jumping-up-training">should be on the floor</a>. If your dog becomes over excited during play, for example jumping up or <a href="https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/training/unwanted-behaviours/stop-your-dog-chewing-mouthing#:%7E:text=Dogs%20and%20puppies%20use%20their,chewing%20us%20or%20our%20belongings.">mouthing</a>, it’s better to just ask your child to step away and both have a bit of a time out, than shouting or punishing your dog. </p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean children should be discouraged from playing with the family dog. Play is something children are usually better at <a href="https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-importance-of-play-for-adults">than adults</a>. Parents I interviewed for my research into children’s interactions with a family dog said their kids <a href="https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/hai.2023.0042">don’t tire of throwing</a> a ball or playing tug. And for dogs, play is a natural behaviour that they <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635714002289?casa_token=Am6cWW7sVq4AAAAA:MkFoAt2uCcZ0-PYiPHQ-ToZCvISguCm7yvWSTx3Z06WmYWSiiOt-ZY-gHwbL9LlQO8iuNCCQtN8">don’t grow out of</a>.</p>
<h2>Cuddles aren’t always cute</h2>
<p>While thousands of animal cuddly toys are squished by children the world over, it’s worth remembering that cuddling is a <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/715754">mostly human behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>Research has shown that some dogs can learn to tolerate cuddles, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175303712x13316289505468?casa_token=a1Z8-vDAitUAAAAA:4uFCEi_Pq2jI0eoNJ_mup7gU66tWjQW6oVen-hgGeaUiaOWrvCkedVZKAFA_fUPrJczVyu1h2SQjQg">some even enjoy them</a>. But they are not something that dogs innately find enjoyable and research shows that many dogs don’t get an oxytocin (cuddle hormone) <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/10/792">response to it</a>. </p>
<p>Close physical contact between children and the family dog is <a href="https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/hai.2023.0042">a common reason</a> dogs show aggression towards a child. So children should be discouraged from putting their arms around a dog, leaning on, or picking them up, in favour of other ways of showing affection in which the dog has more freedom of choice. </p>
<h2>A dog needs freedom of choice</h2>
<p>It’s impossible to allow dogs to do whatever they like all the time. Their behaviour has to fit into what we are willing to accept as their human owners after all. Nonetheless dogs living with children can react aggressively if children <a href="https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/hai.2023.0042">restrict their ability</a> to choose what they want to do, for example physically restrictive cuddles, or interrupting them when they are in the middle of resting, eating or playing alone.</p>
<p>It isn’t difficult to allow your dog some choice in affectionate interactions from children. Simply encouraging the kids to call the dog over to them where they are sitting, rather than approaching the dog themselves, can make a difference. And remind children not to follow the dog if he or she moves away from them. <a href="https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/hai.2023.0042">In my recent study</a> parents also found that their dogs were more likely to value their space from the kids at night time or when they were tired. </p>
<h2>Don’t expect children to read dogs</h2>
<p>Dogs can’t talk. Imagine if they could. Perhaps then we’d be better at understanding their needs. Instead, they mostly use their bodies to communicate. </p>
<p>Research has shown that young children are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2019.1598656">generally not good at</a> recognising dog body language or facial expressions. My 2023 study of UK families showed that even if they could recognise their dog was unhappy about an interaction, it didn’t make the child <a href="https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/hai.2023.0042">stop it</a>. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2016.1228750?casa_token=Q7kmHelju5YAAAAA:xo3Iez6cAIp3piNnWSgTzxGK9dxtI_qg1zQWd7DtYkUELGbFi-bpe_6DBuAOnaL8fOzl5Ha3_jOt5Q">And a 2016 study found</a> that parents who owned a dog didn’t notice common signs of anxiety, such as a dog licking their lips or nose, wide eyes, yawning out of context or leaning away from the child. </p>
<p>If your child can learn how to spot how dogs show certain emotions that’s great. There’s lots of <a href="https://www.bluecross.org.uk/advice/dog/behaviour-and-training/be-safe-with-dogs#:%7E:text=Relaxed%3A%20My%20body%20is%20relaxed,jaw%20and%20a%20hanging%20tongue.">resources available online</a> . But don’t expect that alone to be a panacea of all interaction problems or risks.</p>
<p>The fact that dogs have emotions too means there is always a possibility an interaction might not go well. Which is why it is not just supervision, but involved supervision that will help your dog and kids become best of friends.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Baatz receives funding from Dogs Trust Canine Welfare Grants. </span></em></p>People often think about how it’s good for children to have a pet dog around. But what about the dog?Anna Baatz, PhD Candidate and Associate Lecturer in human-animal interactions, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2228462024-02-12T19:04:31Z2024-02-12T19:04:31ZChanges are coming to Ontario’s kindergarten program — what parents and caregivers need to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574435/original/file-20240208-24-5pusnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C592%2C4927%2C2697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Back to basics' language used by the government distracts from the importance of continuously updating and revising curriculum. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce recently announced Ontario’s full-day kindergarten program is undergoing an <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-announces-overhaul-of-kindergarten-curriculum-1.6738400">“overhaul” which will help “to create more systemic approaches to reading instruction and the introduction, in a very basic way, of mathematical skills and numeracy skills</a>.”</p>
<p>What do these proposed changes mean for educators, parents and children? </p>
<p>The proposed revisions must be considered and understood in the context of 1) <a href="https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum/kindergarten">the current full-day play-based kindergarten curriculum</a>, and 2) <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report">recommendations and research that emerged from Ontario’s Right to Read report</a>, released in February 2022, stemming from an inquiry of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC). </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/Right%20to%20Read%20Executive%20Summary_OHRC%20English_0.pdf">Right to Read inquiry</a> revealed Ontario’s public education system was not using evidence-based approaches to teach children with reading disabilities (and others) how to read. The education minister also said curricular updates are in keeping with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/right-to-read-inquiry-report-literacy-ontario-1.6378408">the Right to Read report’s recommendations</a>.</p>
<p>While the province says kindergarten updates will be <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004097/ontario-unveils-a-back-to-basics-kindergarten-curriculum">combined with “hands-on and play-based learning</a>” there are concerns that play-based aspects of the curriculum — also grounded in <a href="https://theconversation.com/full-day-kindergarten-the-best-of-what-we-imagined-is-happening-in-classrooms-112602">evidence-based approaches to child development</a> — could be impacted by curricular revisions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child seen holding a book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Curricular updates are in keeping with the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Right to Read report recommendations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Teaching reading isn’t basic</h2>
<p>The “back to basics” language used in the province’s kindergarten announcement is intentionally and strategically tied to Premier Doug Ford’s promise in his <a href="https://ontariopc.ca/">election campaign</a> and is a slogan that Ford (and his team) have <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/premier-doug-ford-says-education-is-going-back-to-the-basics/article_50d11e2c-871b-5818-9c8d-c4aa33b6bc47.html">continued to use since becoming premier</a>. </p>
<p>It is not surprising that this political strategy is being used to market updates to the kindergarten program. </p>
<p>However, this language distracts from the importance of continuously updating and revising curriculum across the kindergarten to Grade 12 education sector. </p>
<p>It’s also important to note that the phrase “basics” is contradictory to what we know about the science of reading: teaching reading is anything but basic and <a href="https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2020/moats">involves understanding reading psychology and development, understanding language structure, applying evidence-based practices and using validated and reliable assessments to inform teaching</a>. </p>
<h2>Ontario’s full-day play-based kindergarten</h2>
<p>The current kindergarten curriculum has been in effect following a 2010 public policy shift. <a href="https://childcarecanada.org/resources/issue-files/resources/issue-files/resources/issue-files/resources/issue-files/resources">Based on recommendations from Ontario’s special advisor on early learning</a>, <a href="https://www.hdsb.ca/Documents/FDK-Parent-Fact-Sheet.pdf">in 2010 Ontario</a> began phasing in full-day play-based kindergarten for all four- and five-year old children. </p>
<p>This shift was also informed by <a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/home/sites/default/files/2023-10/6-2014_-_ontario_s_full-day_kindergarten_a_bold_public_policy_initiative.pdf">interviews, focus groups and published scientific research on early learning</a>.</p>
<p>Essential to the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016">revised kindergarten program</a> was the play-based structure of the full-day program. So was the delivery of the model by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-team-approach-makes-full-day-kindergarten-a-success-113339">teaching team</a> of an Ontario certified teacher and a registered early childhood educator. </p>
<p>Decisions to revise the earlier half-day kindergarten program acknowledged and leveraged research on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kindergarten-scrapbooks-arent-just-your-childs-keepsake-theyre-central-to-learning-117066">value of play</a> and its role in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3097">supporting academic, social and emotional development</a>. </p>
<p>It is important to note that <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/books/edu_the_kindergarten_program_english_aoda_web_oct7.pdf">misconceptions exist about play-based learning</a>, including the belief that play-based learning means letting children do whatever they want. Evidence-based play-based learning <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/books/edu_the_kindergarten_program_english_aoda_web_oct7.pdf">“…involves educators being deliberate and purposeful in creating play-based learning environments</a>.” </p>
<p>Furthermore, play is a basic human right of all children as recognized in the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. The revised play-based model in Ontario had (and continues to have) both empirical and philosophical grounds.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An educator seen at a table with children with musical instruments." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educators are involved in the purposeful creation of play-based learning environments.‘</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The OHRC Right to Read report</h2>
<p>Changes to the above model are now being made in response to recommendations from the Right to Read inquiry. </p>
<p>The inquiry’s report includes 157 recommendations directly tied to addressing systemic issues affecting children’s right to read. These <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report/appendix-1-list-recommendations">involve changes to curriculum, instruction and interventions and screening and assessments</a> related to reading. The recommendations for curriculum and instruction focus on the need for evidence-based direct and explicit instruction. </p>
<p>These recommendations were made based on the <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report/executive-summary">most up-to-date research on reading, lived experiences of students, families and educators and informed by expertise in the area of human rights</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-disabilities-are-a-human-rights-issue-saskatchewan-joins-calls-to-address-barriers-214129">Reading disabilities are a human rights issue — Saskatchewan joins calls to address barriers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Right to Read report states: “Implementing the OHRC’s recommendations will ensure more equitable opportunities and outcomes for students in Ontario’s public education system.”</p>
<p>In keeping with prior revisions to the Ontario Kindergarten program, current plans to update kindergarten curriculum are being made based on empirical and philosophical grounds.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iney0cEpx24?wmode=transparent&start=13" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video from the Right to Read inquiry.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not an either/or conversation</h2>
<p>As revisions to Ontario’s kindergarten curriculum unfold, stakeholders need to ensure the best scientific research in both play-based learning and early reading are leveraged to ensure the success of all young children. </p>
<p>The beauty is that play-based learning is not an all-or-nothing approach. Drawing on the benefits of playful learning and using these strategies in combination with evidence-based direct instructional practices in kindergarten will be essential to successfully integrating proposed revisions. </p>
<p>There are many educators in Ontario who already offer meaningful play-based learning opportunities and direct and systematic instruction in their classrooms. </p>
<p>This is evidenced in research published in 2016 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1220771">by early childhood researchers Angela Pyle and Erica Danniels</a> and also in follow-up research by Pyle and colleagues in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0852-Z">2018</a> which focused on how play and literacy interface in full-day kindergarten classrooms. </p>
<p>My current research in kindergarten classrooms, to be published later this year, examines how educators use a range of approaches (including teacher-directed play) to support children’s literacy and self-regulation outcomes. This research has, to date, also documented kindergarten educators using systematic instruction in combination with play-based learning.</p>
<h2>Educators need development, resources</h2>
<p>What’s needed is to ensure kindergarten educators are being provided with training and professional development to effectively lead classrooms utilizing both play-based learning and systematic instruction in reading, writing and math. This task is anything from basic — but is 100 per cent possible and necessary. </p>
<p>As curricular revisions are made, we must ask: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Who are the stakeholders that are being invited to make the revisions to the curriculum? </p></li>
<li><p>Who is missing from the conversations? </p></li>
<li><p>What research is being used? </p></li>
<li><p>What type of training will be provided to educators? </p></li>
<li><p>Will this training include a focus on what it means to teach in evidence-based ways — and how to do so? </p></li>
<li><p>Will policymakers consider class size and sufficient resourcing for teachers so all students have the classroom supports required to ensure these changes will have real impact?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In updating a curriculum, we cannot merely add additional content for educators to cover each day. </p>
<p>Instead, we need to consider what these changes mean and how we can best support educators in successfully supporting children’s learning — through both play-based learning and direct instruction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristy Timmons received funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Queen's University, an Ontario Certified Teacher, and a Registered Early Childhood Educator. </span></em></p>We need to ensure the best scientific research in play-based learning and early reading is leveraged, and teachers receive supports to meet children’s developmental and academic needs.Kristy Timmons, Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2202072024-02-06T21:56:31Z2024-02-06T21:56:31ZThe motherhood pay gap: Why women’s earnings decline after having children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572551/original/file-20240131-19-fg2aeg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=760%2C416%2C7407%2C5003&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The birth of children results in large earnings losses that are not equally distributed within heterosexual couples.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Inequalities between men and women persist in many areas, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/4ead40c7-en">women still earning less than men on average</a>. An even more striking difference is the “motherhood pay gap” that happens when women have children. Also known as the “family gap” or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20180010">child penalties</a>, women’s earnings plummet after the birth of a child, while men’s barely budge.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.12.1.137">Many studies</a> have investigated the causes of gender inequalities and concluded that women have been unable to catch up to the earnings level of men in part <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/684851">because of parenting responsibilities</a>. </p>
<p>Why does this happen? Children have a negative effect on women’s productivity in the labour market by substantially reducing their <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/human-capital">human capital</a>, which translates into a significant <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/260293">decrease in their earnings</a>. </p>
<p>After the birth of children, mothers tend to turn towards part-time jobs, roles with flexible working hours or positions that offer work conditions more favourable to family life — all of which tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/23.5.543">pay lower wages</a>.</p>
<p>Employers, in return, may see part-time employees as less committed and productive, especially when relying on <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/heuristics">heuristics</a> — mental shortcuts for solving problems — to judge worker quality, as opposed to actual information about their performance. This can result in <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2911397">fewer bonuses and promotions</a> for these employees. </p>
<h2>The effects of parenthood</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20180010">Evidence from Denmark</a>, one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, points to a long-term child penalty of around 20 per cent in earnings. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2023-015">Our research</a> reveals a similar situation in Canada. We used data from Statistics Canada’s Longitudinal and International Study of Adults coupled with historical administrative records from 1982 to 2018. </p>
<p>We compared what happened to men’s and women’s earnings after the birth of their first child for Canadians who had their first child between 1987 and 2009. Using an event study methodology, we followed individuals’ employment income over a period of five years before the birth of the child to 10 years after.</p>
<p>We observed large and persistent negative effects of parenthood for mothers, but not fathers. Mothers’ earnings decrease by 49 per cent the year of birth, with a penalty of 34.3 per cent 10 years after. Fathers’ earnings appear largely unaffected.</p>
<h2>Unequal effects of children</h2>
<p>The birth of children results in large earnings losses that are not equally distributed within heterosexual couples. Fathers stay on the same earnings track, while women experience penalties that persist over the years. This is especially true for <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2023-015">mothers of multiple children or those with a lower education level</a>. </p>
<p>This impoverishment triggered by the birth of a child can have significant economic impacts <a href="https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/13576">should the couple separate</a>. In Canada, nearly <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/3910005101-eng">one-third of marriages</a> end in divorce. </p>
<p>Women are typically <a href="https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2016.35.50">financially disadvantaged</a> following a separation. This disadvantage may be attributable to pre-separation factors, such as the unequal division of labour during the marriage and lower earnings for women, but also to women’s prolonged absences from the labour force due to family responsibilities.</p>
<h2>Equal pay for equal work</h2>
<p>In this context, it’s crucial to ask ourselves if there are measures that could eliminate, or at least reduce, the economic impact associated with family responsibilities on mothers’ earnings and employment. </p>
<p>We investigated the role of family policies, since they were in part designed to encourage maternal employment and promote more equal sharing of parenting responsibilities between partners. </p>
<p>Specifically, we focused on the extension of parental leaves in Canada and the introduction of <a href="https://www.mfa.gouv.qc.ca/en/services-de-garde/programme-contribution-reduite/Pages/index.aspx">reduced contribution child-care services for families in Québec</a>. We found suggestive evidence that these policies can help reduce child penalties. </p>
<p>“Equal pay for equal work” policies, such as the federal government’s <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/human-rights/overview-pay-equity-act.html">Pay Equity Act</a>, also have the potential to make a substantial difference. These policies can raise the fairness and attractiveness of the labour market for women and reduce the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20160995">potentially negative impact of experience-based pay</a> for mothers. </p>
<h2>More benefits down the line</h2>
<p>In addition to having a positive effect on the economic situation of women, encouraging employment for mothers could help eliminate the stigma around the division of labour within couples by exposing children to a more symmetrical model of remunerated and unpaid work. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018760167">recent study</a> using data from 29 countries showed that employed mothers were more likely to transmit egalitarian values to their children both at work and at home. Girls with employed mothers ended up working more themselves: they worked more hours, were better paid and held supervisory positions more often than girls with stay-at-home mothers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A toddler sits on the lap of a women, presumably her mother, in front of a desk. She is smiling and touching a laptop while her mother smiles down at her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573140/original/file-20240202-17-6ybyzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employed mothers are more likely to transmit egalitarian values to their children both at work and at home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The result was not observed in boys. However, boys who grew up with employed mothers were more involved in family and domestic responsibilities as adults than men whose mothers were not in the labour market. The girls also spent less time doing household chores. </p>
<p>Working mothers appear to have an intergenerational impact favouring gender equality, both within the family and in the labour market.</p>
<p>We all know raising children is time-consuming. Children, of course, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/675070">benefit from this parental time investment</a>. But bringing up children is also costly. Our research quantified one kind of cost: the lower earnings trajectory. Knowing how these costs are shared among the two parents is key to enable better decision making, for policymakers, but ultimately, for parents, future parents and their children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220207/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Connolly received funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture and CIRANO. The analysis in this article was conducted at the Quebec Inter-university Centre for Social Statistics, which is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Statistics Canada, the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture, the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé and Québec universities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Haeck received funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture and CIRANO. The analysis in this article was conducted at the Quebec Inter-university Centre for Social Statistics, which is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Statistics Canada, the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture, the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé and Québec universities.</span></em></p>New research shows that women’s earnings are negatively impacted by having children, while men’s aren’t. The effects can be long-lasting and contribute to the gender pay gap.Marie Connolly, Professor of Economics, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Catherine Haeck, Full Professor, Economics Department, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2218192024-02-06T15:56:29Z2024-02-06T15:56:29ZTurkey earthquakes one year on: the devastation has exposed deep societal scars and women are bearing the brunt<p>In the early hours of February 6 2023, the south-eastern region of Turkey was rocked by a series of powerful earthquakes. One year on, large parts of Hatay, the worst-affected province, remain in ruins. In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6jxgqvi4xY">vlog</a> from Hatay on January 24, journalist Cüneyt Özdemir remarked: “The city is like a construction site mostly under rubble.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jllz/executive">first earthquake</a>, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck near the border with Syria, killing at least 1,500 people as they slept. This was followed by a <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jlqa/executive">7.5-magnitude quake</a> nine hours later, located around 59 miles (95km) to the south-west. Hatay, already in ruins, was shaken again by a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/20/turkey-new-6-point-4-magnitude-earthquake-hatay">6.4-magnitude tremor</a> two weeks later.</p>
<p>The disaster resulted in the <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/turkiye/devastating-earthquakes-southern-turkiye-and-northern-syria-december-15th-2023-situation-report-30-entr">deaths</a> of more than 50,000 people while injuring a further 107,000. A total of 9 million people have been affected, including 1.7 million refugees who had fled the civil war in Syria. </p>
<p>One year on, the region’s economy and society remain shaken. The devastation has exposed deep societal scars, and the task of rebuilding is still immense.</p>
<h2>Economic ramifications</h2>
<p>The affected areas represented <a href="https://www.tobb.org.tr/Sayfalar/Eng/Detay.php?rid=29752&lst=MansetListesi">13.3%</a> of Turkey’s total employment before the earthquakes. The quakes rendered around 220,000 workplaces <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---ilo-ankara/documents/publication/wcms_873893.pdf">unusable</a>, leading to a 16% reduction in working hours. Particularly hard-hit provinces such as Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya lost <a href="https://www.tobb.org.tr/BilgiErisimMudurlugu/Sayfalar/sanayi-kapasite-raporu-istatistikleri.php">more than 10%</a> of their combined industrial capacity.</p>
<p>A year on, unemployment remains a dire problem in these areas. Over 230,000 people in the region applied for <a href="https://media.iskur.gov.tr/79379/12-aralik-2023-aylik-istatistik-tablolari.xlsx">unemployment benefits</a> throughout 2023, but less than 40% of these applications met the necessary criteria. </p>
<p>The Turkish government has recently launched a <a href="https://www.ekonomim.com/ekonomi/gunluk-850-lira-odenecek-deprem-bolgesinde-istihdama-donus-programi-baslatildi-haberi-725793">programme</a> to help people return to employment in the region. But <a href="https://www.evrensel.net/haber/508685/deprem-bolgesinde-istihdama-donus-programi-patronlara-bedava-depremzede-isci">labour unions</a> view this as a way of providing cheap labour to employers, and have asked the government to focus more on satisfying the urgent needs of workers, such as housing.</p>
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<img alt="A group of people standing in front of crumbled buildings with a cloud of smoke overhead." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hatay was devastated by last February’s earthquakes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hatay-iskenderun-turkey-february-7th-2023-2260847503">Doga Ayberk Demir/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Fractured society</h2>
<p>The earthquakes shattered not only the region’s economy but the very fabric of society. More than 850,000 buildings collapsed in the initial quakes and the thousands of aftershocks that followed. This exposed <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/64568826">inadequacies</a> in construction practices and a widespread lack of compliance with building regulations. </p>
<p>The government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-issues-earthquake-rebuilding-rules-after-millions-left-homeless-2023-02-24/">pledged</a> to rebuild 650,000 homes within a year – but progress has been slow. A mere <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/fear-uncertainty-and-grief-year-after-turkey-s-quake-3bd85540">15%</a> of these new homes have been built, and hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced. Today, more than <a href="https://sheltercluster.org/turkiye-earthquake-2023/documents/20240118-shelter-sector-turkiye-earthquake">670,000 people</a> are still living in small, temporary, metal container homes.</p>
<p>The earthquakes also had a profound impact on education in the region. Damage to schools and other educational facilities disrupted the in-class teaching of around <a href="https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3091756">7 million</a> students. </p>
<p>On January 2 2024, Turkey’s minister of education, Yusuf Tekin, <a href="https://basinmus.meb.gov.tr/www/bakan-tekin-haberturk-canli-yayininda-egitim-gundemini-degerlendirdi/icerik/105">admitted</a> that only a quarter of the educational facilities that were destroyed by the quakes have been rebuilt. During the most recent school term (mid-September to mid-January), students were taught mostly in <a href="https://www.egitimis.org.tr/guncel/sendika-haberleri/2023-2024-egitim-ogretim-yili-1-yariyil-degerlendirmesi-4360/">sites under construction</a>.</p>
<h2>Roadmap for recovery</h2>
<p>Turkey’s government claims to be focusing on <a href="https://time.com/6255896/turkey-rebuild-earthquake-climate-resilience/">“building back better”</a>. Its stated aim is to construct cities and communities that are more resilient to any such shocks in the future. This is commendable (provided it does in fact happen), but it’s crucial that efforts to recover go beyond mere reconstruction. </p>
<p>The government’s response to the disaster has, for example, largely <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/building-back-better-gender-mind-centering-turkeys-women-and-girls-earthquake-recovery#:%7E:text=Recommendations%20for%20building%20back%20better&text=More%20must%20be%20done%20to,rights%2Dbased%20disaster%20management%20framework.">failed</a> women and girls. Following the quakes, women and girls have <a href="https://eca.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/UN%20Women%20Brief%20on%20Earthquake%20in%20Turkiye%20Gendered%20impacts%20and%20response.pdf">faced</a> heightened care and domestic work responsibilities, health challenges (particularly related to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10084526/">pregnancy</a>), and an increased susceptibility to violence.</p>
<p>On top of this, they grapple with enduring poverty. A <a href="https://ekmekvegul.net/gundem/deprem-bolgesinde-kadinlarin-ucreti-asgarinin-altinda">recent report</a> which surveyed 60 women in the affected region revealed that most are earning what is called a “women’s daily wage”. This wage has emerged in the region in the aftermath of the quakes and falls below the national minimum wage, further worsening <a href="https://turkiye.unfpa.org/en/gender-equality#:%7E:text=Labor%20force%20participation%20rate%20of,the%20rest%20of%20the%20world">existing gender inequality</a> in the country.</p>
<p>According to the same report, wages below the minimum wage have become the norm for women in the region – including those women in white-collar jobs.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-turkey-women-are-feeling-the-worst-aftershocks-of-the-earthquake-disaster-this-disparity-may-lead-to-dwindling-trust-in-government-200801">In Turkey, women are feeling the worst aftershocks of the earthquake disaster – this disparity may lead to dwindling trust in government</a>
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<p>While the Turkish government’s response to last February’s earthquakes has been widely criticised, it still enjoyed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/26/turkey-quake-zone-voters-backing-erdogan-in-runoff">strong support</a> in the national election in the summer of 2023. Turkey’s current government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and its alliance came out on top in ten of the 11 earthquake-affected provinces.</p>
<p>Turkey is now gearing up for local elections this spring. The <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/elections/turkiyes-ak-party-eyes-another-victory-in-municipal-elections">current political rhetoric</a> is dominated by a focus on replacing old buildings not resistant to major disasters with new ones. But it is clear the affected regions need solutions that include all members of society – which will only be possible with the help of the national government.</p>
<p>Yet, in a <a href="https://www.dw.com/tr/erdo%C4%9Fandan-hataya-yerel-se%C3%A7im-mesaj%C4%B1/a-68167503">speech</a> on February 3 2024, Erdoğan hinted there would be a sustained absence of assistance in the disaster-stricken areas if central government and local administration “do not join hands and are not in solidarity”. However, the nature of this alignment – whether the president meant cooperation or political ideology – remains unclear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ufuk Gunes Bebek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It has been one year since Turkey’s deadly earthquakes – the road ahead remains daunting.Ufuk Gunes Bebek, Assistant Professor in Economics, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226052024-02-05T19:09:57Z2024-02-05T19:09:57ZNo more BMI, diets or ‘bad’ foods: why changing how we teach kids about weight and nutrition is long overdue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573335/original/file-20240205-15-7h4xks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6803%2C4419&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-question-group-children-classroom-raise-2337136275">PeopleImages.com - Yuri A/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How many of us recall having to calculate our body-mass index (BMI) as children at school, prompting comparisons of our weight with that of our peers? Or perhaps we remember references to calories and diets in the classroom.</p>
<p>Now, the <a href="https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/teacher-resources/understand-this-curriculum-connection/food-and-wellbeing">Australian curriculum</a> is changing how children and young people are educated about their bodies and what they eat, in a bid to prevent eating disorders. </p>
<p>Hundreds of references to terms including BMI, weight, calories and diets have been <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/diets-bmi-and-bad-foods-axed-eating-disorders-prompt-curriculum-overhaul-20240131-p5f1bp.html">removed from school resources</a> by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, replaced with terminology such as “balanced nutrition”.</p>
<p>As a clinical psychologist specialising in the treatment of children and young people with <a href="https://www.australianacademicpress.com.au/books/details/352/Eating_Disorders_A_Practitioners_Guide_to_Psychological_Care">body image and eating disorders</a>, I welcome these changes. Given what we know about the links between weight stigma and the development of eating disorders, they’re long overdue.</p>
<h2>Weight stigma starts early</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.worldobesity.org/what-we-do/our-policy-priorities/weight-stigma">Weight stigma</a> and <a href="https://butterfly.org.au/diet-culture-101/">diet culture</a> are rife in our society. </p>
<p>People will often use words such as “fat” and “guilt” to cast shame over their own or others’ body size and food choices. On the flip side, the latest diets and other weight loss techniques are regularly hot topics of conversation among friends and colleagues.</p>
<p>Evidence shows this sort of talk around children and young people can be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33079337/">very damaging</a>, in some cases contributing to the development of disordered eating. So in the school environment we need to be especially mindful of the language we use around people’s bodies and food.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-3-factors-predict-a-childs-chance-of-obesity-in-adolescence-and-no-its-not-just-their-weight-124994">These 3 factors predict a child's chance of obesity in adolescence (and no, it's not just their weight)</a>
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<p>Children learn about their bodies and nutrition when they start school, and this can be where a lot of misinformation (such as being fearful of certain foods because they’re deemed to be “bad” for us) and stigma begins. Peer teasing for size, weight and shape is common and <a href="https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/risk-factors/">increases the risk</a> of a child or young person developing an eating disorder. </p>
<p>I treat many adults who have severe <a href="https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/disordered-eating-and-dieting">eating disorders</a> partly as a result of growing up in a society that overvalues thinness, promotes dieting for weight loss, and shames people who are overweight or obese. Much of this appears to have come from the influences of their schooling.</p>
<h2>Fostering positive body image</h2>
<p>We’ve known for a long time that <a href="https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/preventing-eating-disorders/prevention-programs">early intervention</a> through educating our children about well-being and positive mental health strategies is important to reduce the incidence of severe mental health conditions. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-023-00758-3">eating disorders</a> specifically, positive role modelling by adults around how we talk about our own and others’ <a href="https://researchprofiles.canberra.edu.au/en/publications/no-bodys-perfect-a-helpers-guide-to-promoting-positive-body-image">bodies</a> is crucial. </p>
<p>This can include describing people for their interests and qualities rather than their appearance, and teaching children about gratitude and respect towards each other.</p>
<p>Research shows learning about body acceptance and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35878528/">appreciation</a> is important for both males and females in developing a positive body image. Those children and young people who have a positive relationship with their bodies and food are much less likely to develop <a href="https://nedc.com.au/assets/NEDC-Resources/NEDC-Resource-Schools.pdf">eating disorders</a>. </p>
<p>Teachers have an important role in educating our children about body respect and having a healthy relationship with their bodies and eating.</p>
<p>This can be achieved through actions including avoiding comments about <a href="https://edfa.org.au/eating-disorders/how-to-prevent-eating-disorders/">people’s appearances</a>, talking about food for its function in our bodies, and not attaching moral values (such as “good” or “bad”) to the foods we eat. Indeed, the curriculum overhaul warns teachers <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/diets-bmi-and-bad-foods-axed-eating-disorders-prompt-curriculum-overhaul-20240131-p5f1bp.html">against using these descriptors</a>.</p>
<h2>How to talk about food with kids</h2>
<p>Learning about the importance of feeding our bodies and listening to our body’s needs is important for children.</p>
<p>We need to talk about food for its function in our bodies (such as carbohydrates for energy and fats for our brain). We should talk about foods we eat to help us concentrate and fuel our bodies as well as making us strong and helping us feel well. </p>
<p>The curriculum changes appear to be designed to connect nutrition to physical and mental health in these ways.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/using-bmi-to-measure-your-health-is-nonsense-heres-why-180412">Using BMI to measure your health is nonsense. Here's why</a>
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<p>Food should also be presented as an enjoyable and a social activity (for example, sharing food with others).</p>
<p>Everyone’s appetite is different at different times and that’s OK. Helping children understand how to respond to their appetite and knowing when they’re hungry and full is important, as we know this helps with issues such as restrictive and binge eating, two common <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/eating-disorders/what-are-eating-disorders">disordered eating behaviours</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young girl eats vegetables." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573344/original/file-20240205-25-wkdls6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The way we talk to kids about food is important from an early age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-girl-eating-fresh-green-vegetables-1845587296">Maples Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Everyone has a role</h2>
<p>Hopefully we are on the way to saying goodbye to the harm of <a href="https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/weight-stigma">weight stigma</a> and diet talk in schools. </p>
<p>The biggest challenge is that we live in an appearance-obsessed world with a diet culture and many people have a fixed way of thinking about food and bodies that’s hard to shift. As adults we have to work really hard to be better role models. </p>
<p>While teachers play a crucial role, children also need other adults to go to who make them feel understood and accepted. Being a positive role model means listening to children’s concerns, and being be mindful of the way you talk about yours and others’ <a href="https://www.australianacademicpress.com.au/books/details/219/Positive_Bodies_Loving_the_Skin_Youre_In">bodies</a>, as well as the sort of language you use around eating and food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222605/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Vivienne Lewis works for the University of Canberra and runs her own Clinical Psychology practice. </span></em></p>A clinical psychologist who treats young people with eating disorders gives her verdict on changes to the Australian curriculum designed to prevent these mental health conditions developing.Vivienne Lewis, Assistant professor – Psychology, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226512024-02-05T16:57:29Z2024-02-05T16:57:29ZChildren’s high-impact sports can be abuse – experts explain why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573083/original/file-20240202-23-vzvavg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C13%2C4486%2C2977&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/young-players-in-action-during-a-training-session-of-the-news-photo/1585783804?adppopup=true">ANDRE DIAS NOBRE/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries. It was first described as dementia pugilistica and punch drunk syndrome <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/dementia-pugilistica#:%7E:text=CTE%2C%20previously%20termed%20dementia%20pugilistica,et%20al.%2C%202011">almost 100 years ago</a>. CTE continues to be a serious risk associated with high impact sports, such as boxing, American football and rugby. </p>
<p>Although the risks of traumatic brain injuries, <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj.p1375">such as concussion</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995699/#:%7E:text=CTE%20has%20recently%20been%20found,also%20lead%20to%20neurodegenerative%20changes.">longer-term brain degeneration</a> from repetitive hits in impact sports have been known for decades, some sport governing bodies continue to try and cast doubt onto the relationship between impact sports and CTE. However, media attention has begun <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36376056/">to change people’s minds</a>. </p>
<p>This growing awareness is accelerated by the many lawsuits against organising bodies in relation to brain trauma. Former professional and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/19/amateur-players-launch-lawsuit-against-rugby-authorities-over-brain-injuries">amateur players</a> in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/mar/14/landmark-class-action-chases-compensation-for-alleged-long-term-concussion-damage-to-afl-players">sports such as</a> American football, Australian rules football and rugby say their governing bodies failed to prevent harm during their playing careers. </p>
<p>The NFL has paid out <a href="https://www.nflconcussionsettlement.com">almost a million pounds</a> to former players suffering the effects of sport-induced brain trauma. High-profile rugby players are now also taking <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/gavin-henson-and-phil-vickery-among-over-200-ex-rugby-stars-taking-legal-action-over-brain-injuries-13020450">legal action over brain injuries</a>.</p>
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<p>These are not only issues for elite players. Studies into the brains of former players have found CTE in those <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_1012463_en.html#:%7E:text=Importantly%2C%20risk%20of%20CTE%20pathology,to%20influence%20risk%20of%20CTE.">who only played as amateurs</a>. CTE has also been found in the brains of players under the age of 30 and even <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/28/health/cte-younger-athletes/index.html#:%7E:text=The%20youngest%20person%20diagnosed%20with,football%20player%2C%20McKee%20told%20CNN.">those as young as 17</a>. </p>
<p>Each additional year of playing impact sports <a href="https://www.bumc.bu.edu/camed/2019/10/07/cte-risk-more-than-doubles-after-just-three-years-of-playing-football/">raises the risk of CTE</a>, by as much as 30% in American football. </p>
<p>The dangers of high-impact sport aren’t contentious. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.938163/full">Academic evidence</a> and <a href="https://concussionfoundation.org/news/press-release/NIH-CTE-repetitive-traumatic-brain-injuries#:%7E:text=United%20States%20National%20Institutes%20of,brain%20injuries%20%7C%20Concussion%20Legacy%20Foundation">medical professionals</a> now agree that sport-induced brain trauma leads to degenerative brain disease.</p>
<h2>Not suitable for under-18s</h2>
<p>Given this context, our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17511321.2023.2284923">recent paper</a> written with Jack Hardwicke, a senior lecturer in the sociology of sport at Nottingham Trent University, has questioned whether it is right for children to participate in sports that intentionally feature impact, particularly involving the head. We argue that allowing under-18s to take part in high impact sports should be viewed as a form of child abuse – we use the term “child brain abuse” – and that these impact sports should be legally prohibited. </p>
<p>We are not calling for adult versions of impact sports to be banned and our argument does not apply to sports or activities where brain trauma might occur by accident. But in sports where impact is a structured part of the game, like boxing – or sports that create rapid brain movements, as in rugby tackling – collisions are not accidents, they are an inherent part of the sport. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2987636/">claims that sport is safer</a>, there has been rightful concern over childhood <a href="https://theconversation.com/rugby-concussions-and-duty-of-care-why-the-game-is-facing-scrutiny-161773">concussions</a> in these impact sports – and brain injury can occur at very low levels of impact. For example, heading a football can result in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235239641630490X?via%3Dihub">immediate and measurable alterations</a> to brain functioning and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/focus-pfa-university-of-nottingham-studies-fifa-b2354775.html">longer-term brain diseases</a>, such as CTE.</p>
<p>The risk of CTE is <a href="https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2017/09/25/allyson-pollock-and-graham-kirkwood-tackle-and-scrum-should-be-banned-in-school-rugby/">far higher in sports</a> such as American football and rugby. The odds of developing degenerative brain diseases are <a href="https://www.thepfa.com/players/brain-health/field">increased in former players</a> of impact sports than are found in sports without deliberate impacts or the general population. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">What is CTE?</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Staying healthy</h2>
<p>Some sports bodies <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/rugby-played-schools-form-child-abuse-study-b1136563.html#:%7E:text=Rugby%20being%20played%20in%20schools%20is%20a%20form%20of%20child,injuries%20associated%20with%20playing%20rugby.">defend high-impact sports</a> by arguing that sport and physical activity are important for overall health. Teams sports <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9874288/">can reduce isolation</a> and help players to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9180162/">develop a range of social skills</a>. </p>
<p>But these benefits can still be gained from non-impact versions of sports, <a href="https://www.englandrugby.com/participation/playing/ways-to-play/the-touch-union/what-is-touch">such as touch rugby</a>, which can help teach discipline and teamwork without the <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/6/319.abstract">harm from brain trauma</a>. </p>
<p>There are no health benefits of tackling – and there are no health benefits of being struck in the head. The health benefits of impact rugby or boxing are instead gained from the body’s overall movement. </p>
<p>Tag rugby tends to be faster moving than the sport’s full contact version so is better for <a href="https://www.centurion-rugby.com/blogs/rugby/81203265-9-benefits-to-tag-rugby">improving cardiovascular health</a>. Research has shown that incidents of contact during children’s rugby are the cause of cause of <a href="https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/bmjosem/10/1/e001740.full.pdf">87% of known injuries</a>. Tackling, in particular, is responsible for 52% of all injuries - with concussion being the most common injury type. Tagging, rather than tackling, saves children’s brains from harm.</p>
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<h2>Inability to consent</h2>
<p>Our research shows that impact sports should be treated equally with other prohibited activities for children, such as smoking. Children are unable to make informed decisions about the long-term risks of these activities. Parental provision for these activities is also <a href="https://cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/30/2016/08/No.139-Criminal-Law-Consent-in-the-Criminal-Law-A-Consultation-Paper.pdf">socially stigmatised or criminalised</a>. </p>
<p>Our research draws on a number of legal positions that support our argument that neither children nor parents on their behalf can consent to sports that require brain trauma as a necessary component of the sport. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNCRC_summary-1_1.pdf">Article 19</a> of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to which 195 countries are signatories, covers protection from violence, abuse and neglect. <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Our-rights_UNCRC.pdf">It states that</a>: </p>
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<p>Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and bad treatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after them. </p>
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<p>Some commentators <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/rugby-isnt-child-abuse-but-it-is-ghastly/">have agreed</a> that while high-impact sports are dangerous, using the term child abuse is a step too far. </p>
<p>However, the NSPCC, the UK’s leading children’s charity, <a href="https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/neglect/">say that physical neglect</a> is a form of abuse that occurs if a child is not kept safe. Allowing children to participate in impact sports while being aware of the harm they can cause is, our research shows, a failure keep children safe.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/school-rugby-should-not-be-compulsory-and-tackling-needs-to-be-outlawed-heres-the-evidence-196993">School rugby should not be compulsory and tackling needs to be outlawed – here's the evidence</a>
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<p>Opponents of prohibiting children from playing high-impact sports argue that <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13038525/BORIS-JOHNSON-Rugby-doesnt-risk-young-peoples-lives.html">boys are naturally aggressive</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2329496520959300">heavy contact sport</a> helps them to learn how to <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110706195908.htm">control their feelings</a>. </p>
<p>Boys, some argue, need physical activities – they <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/56c8138843034f93feb463bf9e69f96f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=33810">need space and learn through activity</a>. But there is no research showing that boys need to endure brain trauma in order to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-16028-002">grow up to be responsible men</a>.</p>
<p>There is no justifiable health reason for a child to play impact sport over non-impact versions. We are asking that ministers privilege children’s brains over corporate sporting bodies. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-induced-traumatic-brain-injury-families-reveal-the-hell-of-living-with-the-condition-172828">Sport-induced traumatic brain injury: families reveal the 'hell' of living with the condition</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222651/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Parry is affiliated with the Concussion Legacy Foundation (UK). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Anderson and Gary Turner do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The dangers of high-impact sport aren’t contentious. Medical professionals agree that sport-induced brain trauma leads to degenerative brain disease – so why are we still allowing children to play?Eric Anderson, Professor of Masculinities, Sexualities and Sport, University of WinchesterGary Turner, Doctoral researcher in Policy Analysis of Traumatic Brain Injury in UK Combat Sports, University of WinchesterKeith Parry, Head Of Department in Department of Sport & Event Management, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2203632024-02-01T22:06:59Z2024-02-01T22:06:59ZQuébec’s teacher strike offers lessons on the urgent need to support public education<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/quebecs-teacher-strike-offers-lessons-on-the-urgent-need-to-support-public-education" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The doors of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10184999/concerns-mounting-over-childrens-welfare-as-quebec-teachers-strike-drags-on/">around 800</a> Québec public schools were closed due to the strike action of <a href="https://www.lafae.qc.ca/public/file/communique-entente-principe-28dec2023.pdf">the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement</a> (FAE) from Nov. 23 through Jan. 8. </p>
<p>During this strike period, <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/2037932/common-front-and-quebec-reach-tentative-agreement-over-pay-for-public-sector-workers">368,000 students</a> missed 22 days of school while teachers also lost the same number of <a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-do-teachers-get-paid-when-they-go-on-strike-130158">days in pay</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, teachers in unions represented by the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/common-front-voting-begins-1.7083702">Common Front</a> were on strike for 11 days. </p>
<p>The strikes impacted public school teachers, students and parents across Québec at multiple levels including primary, secondary and adult education. </p>
<p>The consequences both in the short- and long-term are potentially devastating. The strike offers lessons about the urgent need to support teachers and address issues in public education. </p>
<p>Failing to do so will continue to negatively affect teacher morale, burnout and attrition. It will also risk further corroding the critical role of public schooling in supporting our communities. </p>
<h2>Understanding demands, uplifting teacher voices</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.lafae.qc.ca/negociation-nationale">demands</a> of the FAE were extended beyond pay, including better recognition (including improved pension plans and parental rights), better family-work-life balance, better class composition, a reduction in the workload, new provisions regarding grievances and arbitration, better treatment of teachers with precarious status and a healthy workplace. </p>
<p>These demands cover finances, classroom practices and teacher well-being.</p>
<p>Given the current social and educational climate, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/end-of-topsy-turvy-school-year-5-education-issues-exposed-by-the-covid-19-pandemic-161145">post-pandemic educational challenges</a>, supporting teachers and policy changes is of the utmost importance. </p>
<p>Mitigating current challenges by accepting teacher demands is crucial because healthy and well-supported teachers are paramount for <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689628">successful student learning</a>. </p>
<p>The role of teacher well-being is particularly critical due to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1797439">continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic</a> in Canada.</p>
<h2>Must change systemic problems</h2>
<p>The lack of resources and support that teachers receive can lead to several consequences, ranging from increased stress and exhaustion to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231151787">burnout</a>.</p>
<p>While teachers are proven to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.006">resilient</a> in the face of these challenges, the concept of resilience itself is a <a href="https://www.toronto.com/opinion/don-t-call-me-resilient----it-covers-up-systemic-racism/article_e79cedf4-c81e-5999-bff6-fee793feacbb.html">contested one</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-dont-call-me-resilient-our-podcast-about-race-149692">Listen to 'Don't Call Me Resilient': Our podcast about race</a>
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<p>Teachers should not need to be resilient because of policies and practices that do not provide a healthy, positive working environment. </p>
<p>Asking teachers to endure sub-optimal working conditions shifts the burden of addressing structural and systemic issues away from governmental responsibility for public education reforms. </p>
<p>It also places an undue strain on the relationships between teachers, students and parents, whose interests should be aligned. There is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsecp.2012.29.4.8">clear relationship</a> between student and teacher well-being. When the well-being of teachers is prioritized, <a href="http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/turner2.pdf">students’ work and learning flourishes</a> in schools.</p>
<h2>Serious attrition rates</h2>
<p>The prolonged strike and the unwillingness of the government to address union demands in a timely manner may have further reduced teacher morale. It may also exacerbate the already high <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2014.900009">teacher attrition</a> rates in Québec. </p>
<p>In fact, it points to the lack of concern for teachers who cite <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2012.696044">psychological and interpersonal reasons</a> for leaving their roles. </p>
<p>Through policy and practice, teachers need to be valued as essential workers in education. Priority needs to be placed on not just bringing new professionals to the field, but keeping them. </p>
<h2>Consequences for students, families</h2>
<p>The prolonged strike will not just impact teacher morale: students will also bear the long-term consequences. </p>
<p>Students will have experienced learning loss, the stalling of academic gains, and social and psychological disruptions. </p>
<p>Although the Québec government has allocated <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-announces-300-million-catch-up-plan-for-students-after-weeks-of-strike-1.6717307">$300 million</a> on a catch-up plan designed to help students who have fallen behind with free tutoring and summer camps for high schoolers who are at risk of dropping out, the reverberations of the strike will last for years to come. </p>
<p>Studies have demonstrated that strike actions impact <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06050-9">educational achievements</a> and even <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/703134#_i37">employment and labour market earnings</a>. </p>
<p>Parents and families, especially mothers, will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102679">impacted financially</a>.</p>
<h2>Uneven effects</h2>
<p>We must also consider larger connections between this educational labour issue and class struggles because the impacts of the strikes are certainly uneven. Hundreds of thousands of students in the public system will be racing to catch up on missed time while students in private schools <a href="https://montreal.citynews.ca/2024/01/07/quebec-teachers-hopeful-after-strikes/">did not miss</a> a day. </p>
<p>These students will compete on the same ministerial examinations and for places at <a href="https://www.cegepsquebec.ca/en/cegeps/presentation/what-is-a-cegep/">CEGEPs — colleges in Québec offering the first level of post-secondary education — which</a> have become increasingly competitive. </p>
<p>During the strike, parents and caregivers were forced to manage child care alongside their own daily responsibilities, and many did not have the financial means for private tutoring or other ways to supplement learning loss. </p>
<p>Teachers from various backgrounds and economic statuses were also unpaid during this time; an unexpected loss of income can drastically influence one’s livelihood.</p>
<h2>Deeper reflection needed</h2>
<p>The strike is indicative of deeply entrenched problems in Québec’s public schools and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/sask-teachers-federation-announces-full-day-rotating-strikes-1.7097861">reverberates with</a> <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10105600/ontario-elementary-teachers-reach-contract-deal/">problems seen across</a> the country.</p>
<p>Now that these strike actions are over, an opening is created for deeper reflection and work on transforming education and restoring the teaching profession to one that is highly valued and respected. </p>
<p>The success of students, the education system and the future of our communities depend on the learning that children receive in schools today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>R. Nanre Nafziger receives funding from Spencer Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation and McGill University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Safeera Jaffer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The success of students, the education system and the future of our communities depend on the learning that children receive in schools today.Safeera Jaffer, Research Assistant, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill UniversityR. Nanre Nafziger, Assistant Professor, African/Black Studies in Education, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2063602024-01-30T20:15:08Z2024-01-30T20:15:08ZSchools have a long way to go to offer equitable learning opportunities, especially in French immersion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537617/original/file-20230716-25-rv538b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C89%2C6000%2C3538&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a research study on the accessibility of French immersion, one parent was told she faced a three-year wait to access reading supports for her child. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Andrew Ebrahim/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/schools-have-a-long-way-to-go-to-offer-equitable-learning-opportunities-especially-in-french-immersion" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report">Right to Read report</a>, published last February, called for changes in the province’s educational system. The commission found shortcomings in how schools support students with special education needs. </p>
<p>We found similar trends in our <a href="https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ottawa/index.php/ILOB-OLBI/article/view/6618/5553">interview-based study</a> on the accessibility of French immersion for students with special education needs from low-income communities in Toronto. We interviewed eight mothers with diverse socio-economic status, home language and immigration backgrounds on their experiences with the French immersion program. </p>
<p>According to the Right to Read report’s <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report/appendix-1-list-recommendations">recommendations</a>, children need accessible, effective learning assessments, as well as evidence-based interventions that occur in a timely manner. </p>
<p>These interventions include explicit, systematic programs that focus on <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/phonics-and-decoding">phonics (teaching the relationships between letters and the sounds of spoken language) and decoding (applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships to written words, or “sounding out”)</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/metalinguistic-awareness">metalinguistic awareness</a> (a larger awareness of language, including an ability to reflect on it) and other skills <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.99">that support reading accuracy and fluency</a>). </p>
<p>Research has highlighted difficulties accessing support for students with special education needs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.20012.kay">in French immersion programs</a>. As we also heard in our study, parents of children with students with special education needs from low-income communities in Toronto faced barriers accessing resources for their children.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-struggles-dont-wait-to-advocate-for-your-child-130986">Reading struggles? Don't wait to advocate for your child</a>
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<img alt="A school building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571939/original/file-20240129-21-apeyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A report published by the TDSB found students without special needs represent 90 per cent of students in French immersion and 78 per cent of students in the board overall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Marginalized students underrepresented</h2>
<p>French immersion programs have become increasingly popular <a href="https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/74139">across Canada</a>, since students who learn both English and French in school may <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/228709/pdf">benefit from increased intercultural awareness</a>, easier travel throughout Canada, better access to bilingual jobs as well as potential <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.63.5.605">developmental and social benefits</a>.</p>
<p>There is a <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4922887/french-immersion-school-canada-demand-teachers/">high demand</a> for French immersion in Canada, and the program is often perceived as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1865988">an elitist system</a>.</p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/french-immersion-and-other-regional-learning-programs-smart-choice-for-your-kids-or-do-they-fuel-inequity-195184">French immersion and other regional learning programs: Smart choice for your kids, or do they fuel inequity?</a>
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<p>In the <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/TDSB%20French%20Programs%20Review%20Mar082019.pdf">Toronto District School board (TDSB) French immersion report released in 2019</a>, marginalized students are underrepresented in its immersion programs. For example, the report — based on registration and census information — noted that in grades 7-8:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>49 per cent of students identify as white in French immersion and 30 per cent in the board overall;</p></li>
<li><p>students without special needs represent 90 per cent of students in French immersion and 78 per cent of students in the board overall;</p></li>
<li><p>Students whose family income is $100,000 and over represent 66 per cent of students in French immersion and 47 per cent of students in the board overall;</p></li>
<li><p>Children from families who speak English at home represent 63 per cent of French immersion classes and 35 per cent of the board overall.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Reading struggles</h2>
<p>Emily (not her real name) is one of the mothers who participated in our study. She has seen the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77cz9iUeDaY&t=82s">high cost of disability in our school systems</a>. With her permission, we have shared her story below to illustrate her family’s experience in a French immersion program.</p>
<p>Emily enrolled all of her three children in a French immersion program. Emily’s eldest child excelled in immersion, and continued to study French into university. However, Emily’s two youngest were struggling to read in French. The teachers assured her that her children would catch up in time and there was no need to worry. </p>
<p>Shockingly for Emily, once her middle child reached Grade 3, she was suddenly informed that her child was reading at a kindergarten level. </p>
<p>However, the wait to be assessed was approximately three years — meaning this child might be in Grade 6 before they received any formal assessment and intervention support. </p>
<p>At the suggestion of the school’s administration, Emily agreed to pay $3,500 for an external evaluation. She said about the experience:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’ll never forget it, having that SST (school support team) meeting. I’m in front of the psychologist and all these different people and I literally lost control. The head of special education, she said, ‘It’s okay.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not crying because my daughter has a learning disability. I’ve come to terms with that.’ I said, ‘I’m crying because I had to pay $3,500 dollars …’… How many kids are falling through the cracks?’ That was very disconcerting for me. I was heartbroken.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A hand writing on French homework." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540522/original/file-20230801-17-ko6dda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools have a long way to go to offer equitable learning opportunities for all students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Insufficient special education support</h2>
<p>Even after spending an exorbitant amount of money, Emily found out the hard way that there wasn’t sufficient special education support in French immersion for her child. She ended up removing her middle child from the immersion program the next year. Emily’s middle child did get the support she needed in the English program.</p>
<p>This is just one example of the stories we heard in our research study on the accessibility of French immersion. </p>
<p>Emily’s question stayed with us throughout our work: How many students are falling through the cracks? </p>
<p>The truth is, we don’t really know. Based on the attrition rates in French immersion from the TDSB, it must be high. According to a <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/TDSB%20French%20Programs%20Review%20Mar082019.pdf">2019 report published by the TDSB,</a> from the early French immersion cohort where students start in senior kindergarten, approximately 70 per cent of the students have left the program by Grade 9.</p>
<h2>Need for early intervention</h2>
<p>In our study, one parent was told that her child couldn’t be assessed until Grade 3, which contradicts <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/importance-early-intervention">evidence-based best practices</a> that call for early assessment and intervention. </p>
<p>Parents also said they often feel pressure to pay for expensive tutors, French summer camps and other language immersion opportunities so their children don’t fall behind. </p>
<p>They reported spending a lot of time supporting their children’s studies despite not speaking the language of instruction, and this ends up becoming an emotional and financial burden.</p>
<h2>Ensuring changes are implemented equitably</h2>
<p>Following the Right to Read inquiry, the Government of Ontario committed to sweeping change such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/right-to-read-inquiry-report-literacy-ontario-1.6378408">mandating early literacy screening</a>. We have also seen a huge amount of <a href="https://www.idaontario.com/effective-reading-instruction/">professional learning</a> for teachers. Ensuring that positive change yielded by these approaches are effective in French immersion programs is critical. </p>
<p>We know that individual resilience and community support networks aren’t enough to combat systemic barriers. </p>
<p>We still have a long way to go if we want our school system to be an equitable learning opportunity for all students — particularly in immersion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana Burchell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Becky Xi Chen receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird has received funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roksana Dobrin-De Grace receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p>Parents in a study about the accessibility of French immersion programs discussed inadequate support for learning to read and feeling pressured to pay for expensive tutors.Diana Burchell, PhD Candidate in Developmental Psychology and Education, University of TorontoBecky Xi Chen, Professor, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of TorontoElizabeth Kay-Raining Bird, Professor Emeritus, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Dalhousie UniversityRoksana Dobrin-De Grace, PhD Student in Developmental Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2203532024-01-14T12:58:47Z2024-01-14T12:58:47ZCanada should not fall behind on implementing safety measures for children online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568485/original/file-20240109-19-9s4t5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6720%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bill S-210, designed to protect minors online from exposure to sexually explicit material, passed a second reading in the House of Commons in December 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-should-not-fall-behind-on-implementing-safety-measures-for-children-online" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Recent legislation about age verification for adult content sites has sparked an interesting scenario in the Canadian parliament. On Dec. 13, <a href="https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/s-210">Bill S-210</a>, An Act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material, passed the second reading in the House of Commons with <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/44/1/609">a vote of 189 to 133</a>. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, most Liberal MPs voted against it, as the government has been working on its own <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/harmful-online-content.html">online harms bill</a>. The online harms bill was first promised in 2019 but has yet to be tabled due to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/online-protection-act-1.7042880">broader complications</a> it is dealing with. </p>
<p>With full support from the Conservatives, NDP, Bloc Québécois and some Liberal MPs, Bill S-210 managed to proceed for a committee review. The bill had successfully passed the Senate in the spring of 2023.</p>
<p>Bill S-210 proposes that, before accessing sites with adult content, all users have to go through a mandatory age verification process to prove they are adults. Age verification has been compulsory for accessing gambling sites and those that sell products like alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. </p>
<h2>Protecting minors</h2>
<p>Similar legislation to Bill S-210 has been successfully passed or implemented in various parts of the world, including <a href="https://euconsent.eu/">the European Union</a>, <a href="https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/uk-age-verification-law-for-pornography-sites-explained-parent-guide/">the United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/business/louisiana-kids-age-porn-law.html">several states</a> in the United States. </p>
<p>Yet Canadian lawmakers have divided opinions on this bill. Critics of Bill S-210 have raised <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/porn-site-age-verification-proposed-bill-1.7060841">strong concerns</a> about privacy and freedom of expression. </p>
<p>My PhD research focuses on anonymous age verification systems to protect users’ privacy. I also voluntarily consult with the Digital Governance Council of Canada to develop <a href="https://dgc-cgn.org/standards/find-a-standard/">technical standards for age-verification technologies</a>.</p>
<p>When discussing privacy and security during online age verification, we need to consider some key factors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a young boy stares at a laptop screen in the dark" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568639/original/file-20240110-27-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Suppporters of Bill S-210 say it will protect children, while critics of the bill have raised strong concerns about privacy and freedom of expression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Online age verification</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://avpassociation.com/avmethods/">different mechanisms</a> exist for online age verification, the more popular methods are ID document matching, facial recognition and third-party verification. </p>
<p>ID document matching is a common method for age verification during in person transactions. For instance, individuals are required to present government-issued ID documents, such as a driver’s licence or health card, when purchasing alcohol from a physical store. Similarly, in online transactions, users can upload an image of their ID. </p>
<p>Then <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/OCR">optical character recognition</a> technology is used to extract data from the document, particularly the date of birth. Additionally, a <a href="https://www.incognia.com/the-authentication-reference/what-is-liveness-detection">liveness check</a> may be conducted by comparing the photo on the document with an instant photo of the user to ensure authenticity.</p>
<p>Users may also verify their age through authorized third parties, such as their credit cards or bank accounts. This method leverages existing relationships and information held by these trusted entities to confirm the user’s age.</p>
<p>Biometric-based age verification has been an emerging field during the last decade, thanks to artificial intelligence. Researchers are exploring <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2020.3044872">different biometrics</a> for estimating age, including <a href="https://www.yoti.com/blog/yoti-myface-liveness-white-paper/">facial images and videos</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ICPCSN58827.2023.00082">speech</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ICACC-202152719.2021.9708286">fingerprints</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/RTSI55261.2022.9905194">heart signals</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1049/ic.2013.0258">irises</a>. </p>
<p>During facial analysis, users are requested to provide a live selfie in the form of an image or video, which is then analyzed by AI-based tools to estimate their ages. This method has been <a href="https://iapp.org/news/a/how-facial-age-estimation-technology-can-help-protect-childrens-privacy-for-coppa-and-beyond/">extensively tested</a> and is now deployed by various entities in different countries, including <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/12/15/google-develops-selfie-scanning-block-children-porn/">Google</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63544332">Meta</a>.</p>
<h2>Less invasive option</h2>
<p>When different options are available, users can choose the options with which they feel most comfortable with. The euCONSENT project is a network founded by the European Commission to protect children online. The network recently ran a <a href="https://euconsent.eu/a-summary-of-the-achievements-and-lessons-learned-of-the-euconsent-project-and-what-comes-next/">comprehensive pilot</a> on online age verification among 2,000 children and adults across five European countries. </p>
<p>Participants’ feedback showed that facial estimation was the top choice, preferred by 68 per cent of the participants. They considered it as an easy, fast and less invasive option. Third-party verification (through credit card) was the least chosen option, preferred by only three per cent of the participants.</p>
<p>Users’ personal data (ID documents, facial images or bank information) needs to be protected by enforcing strict regulations, similar to the EU’s <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/">General Data Protection Regulation</a> policies. </p>
<p>Bill S-210 proposes to implement reliable age verification methods that will collect users’ personal information solely for verification purposes, and the data will be destroyed immediately after verification.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a man's face being scanned by his mobile phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568643/original/file-20240110-17-nwjjlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Facial analysis can be used to determine a user’s age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenges posed by VPNs</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one">Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)</a> are often used to evade age verification. Users route internet traffic through servers in different locations, making it appear as if they are accessing content from a region without age restrictions. </p>
<p>This challenge can be tackled by <a href="https://www.apnic.net/ip-geolocation-service-providers/">IP geolocation services</a>, which compare a user’s claimed location with their actual IP address, helping to identify any discrepancies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-virtual-private-network-vpn-12741">Explainer: what is a virtual private network (VPN)?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Protecting children</h2>
<p>Along with technological readiness, social awareness is also crucial to ensure proper adoption of age-verification measures, which takes us back to the legislative aspects. </p>
<p>The number of online sexual luring cases involving children <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/social-media-online-child-luring-reports-spike-canada-1.6739824">has increased 10-fold</a> in the last five years in Canada. We have experienced tragic incidents of kids dying by suicide after being victimized online. Last October, <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/police-link-suicide-of-12-year-old-prince-george-b-c-boy-to-online-sexual-extortion-1.7041185__;!!MtWvt2UVEQ!DF5HkrmBKV19KkIeKL-ea2wsl0zQDjJXailbkNU8v_hglKA5S_bli3hS-fFnKq-jM1tMU5hhYryCzTQawM4J5fnd%24">a 12-year-old B.C. boy died by suicide</a> after falling victim to online sextortion.</p>
<p>So, the question is: how long do we need to wait before measures are in place to protect children? Canada cannot afford to trail behind any longer. It is now time to move forward and make online space safe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220353/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Azfar Adib received funding from MITACS.</span></em></p>Canada needs to take action immediately to protect children online from exposure to age-inappropriate material. More stringent age verification measures need to be in place.Azfar Adib, Public Scholar & PhD Candidate, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.