Special Essay Magazine

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Guide to navigating social media parenting groups

Nicole Bridges

Nicole Bridges, Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Director of Academic Program — Communication, Creative Industries, Screen Media, Western Sydney University

Social media groups offer useful support to new parents. Here’s how to tell if there’s marketing involved

For new parents struggling with challenges such as breastfeeding and sleep deprivation, social media can be […]

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Encourage kids to talk back 5 tips to teach them critical thinking skills

Heidi Matisonn

Heidi Matisonn is senior lecturer in bioethics, The EthicsLab, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town

Whenever school holidays loom, many parents find themselves caught in an emotional tug-of-war. On the one hand, relief at bidding farewell to homework battles, bedtime struggles, […]

Parent shaming damages children

Frank Furedi

Frank Furedi is Emeritus Professor of sociology, University of Kent, UK

Intensive parenting has become the latest target of parent shaming. Having been instructed to constantly supervise their children, parents are now being lectured about the dangers of doing just that.

Those who “over-parent” their offspring are being denounced for producing spoiled children, […]

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Do you lie to your children? Think twice…

Rebecca Brown

Rebecca Brown is senior research fellow at the Uehiro Oxford Institute, University of Oxford, UK

Parents lie to children all the time – but they should think twice about doing so

Parents frequently lie to their children. “No, you can’t have any chocolate – it’s all gone,” when there’s a jumbo bar […]

Expecting again? Tips to help your first-born child thrive with a new sibling

Sheri Madigan

Marissa Nivison

(Marissa Nivison is postdoctoral research fellow, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary and Sheri Madigan is Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary)

Helping your older child or children navigate having a new sibling […]

How parents can promote positive sibling relationships

Sheri Madigan

Marissa Nivison

Marissa Nivison is postdoctoral research fellow, department of psychology, University of Calgary & Sheri Madigan is professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary.

In childhood, parents play important roles to set the stage for […]

Praise children the right way

Amanda Niland

By -Amanda Niland, lecturer in early childhood, University of Sydney

Parents say ‘good girl’ and ‘good boy’ all the time. Here’s why you should try and say something else

Good girl! Good boy! Parents, relatives and teachers say these phrases all the time and mean them positively.

They may use it when a child […]

Developing healthy social media habits

Barbara Spears

Carmel Taddeo

What can you do if you think your teen already has unhealthy social media habits?

Many parents worry about how much their children use social media and what content they might encounter while using it.

Amid proposals to ban teenagers under 16 years from social media and calls to […]

Key to raising secure children

Audrey – Ann Deneault

Sheri Madigan

Why parental sensitivity matters for fathers and mothers

Have you ever heard of children’s attachment or attachment theory? If you are a parent, caregiver or an educator, chances are that it rings a bell. Children’s attachment refers to a strong emotional bond that children develop toward […]

Talking to teens about sex

Ayobami Precious Adekola

Advice for parents on when, how, what to say and why it’s so important

The “birds and the bees”. The “facts of life”. Whatever you call it, most parents dread discussing sex and sexuality with their teens. They tend to be embarrassed, worried that they don’t understand some concepts. In some countries, […]

How to safely introduce children to bad news & current affairs

Elise Waghorn

While much attention is drawn to the detrimental impact of violent video games on children’s developing brains, there has been relatively little discussion regarding the negative effects of news and current affairs to which children are exposed.

When people consume news and current affairs, it’s hard to escape tragic events, from natural disasters, […]

Requiem for a global citizenship visionary

Geeta Gandhi

Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, founder-manager of the City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow, who passed away in January 2024 at age 89 is mourned by thousands of school leaders, teachers and students countrywide whose lives he touched. The major legacy he has left behind is 65 years of relentless effort to promote global citizenship […]

Ways to build children’s resilience

Mandie Shean

Protecting children from failure isn’t helpful. Better to build their resilience

In recent years there has been a concerted effort to protect children from failure to safeguard their fragile self-esteem. This seems logical — failure is unpleasant. It tends to make them look bad, and have negative feelings of disappointment and frustration. And […]

What makes a good parent?

Craig Stanbury

Craig Stanbury is a Ph D candidate, Monash University, Australia)

(This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license)

Is acting on climate change as important as love and bedtime stories?

What makes a good parent? Most would say a good parent loves and nurtures her children with the ultimate aim of […]

Adult ADHD: 7 practical tips for parenting success

Research has found that ADHD symptoms in parents are associated with harsher parenting behaviour and more lax parenting practices. However, parents’ ADHD symptoms do not appear to impact their ability to be warm, caring, and loving.

Sheri Madigan

André Plamondon

Joanne Park

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often goes undiagnosed in adults — […]

3 things parents should teach their kids about AI

Kathy Mills

Christian Moro

It is almost a year since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, fuelling great excitement as well as concern about what it might mean for education.

The changes keep coming. Earlier in the year, MyAI was embedded into social media platform Snapchat. This is a chatbot powered by ChatGPT, which encourages […]

Smart ways to organise children’s spaces

Experts share suggestions on how to organise messy children’s rooms into clutter-free spaces writes, Nasrin Modak Siddiqi

Kopal Dhir

A common complaint of most parents is that organising children’s rooms including their books, toys and clothes — at any age — is daunting, laborious and exhausting. The satisfaction of keeping a room tidy and clean […]

Why are my kids good around other people but badly behaved with me?

Trevor Mazzucchelli

Parents may be familiar with this scenario: a child is well behaved at school and polite to their teachers but has a meltdown at home in the afternoon.

Or they say please and thank you at a friend’s house but are rude within the family. They follow the rules if they visit a neighbour but […]

Secure attachment to both parents boosts children’s development

Imagine a sudden rustle in tall grass. A ripple of alarm would pass through the group of early humans living together amid ancient, rugged terrain. In the center of the encampment, a three-year-old child — let’s call her Raina — stumbles and falls, her eyes wide with fear.

Without hesitation, her mother sweeps her up into […]

Can I take my child out of school to go on a holiday?

As the school term stretches on, many parents might be tempted to take their children out of school. Perhaps they want to beat the crowds at the snow or enjoy off-season prices at the coast. Maybe they just need a break.

As parents, we have certainly experienced this dilemma.

But what are the rules around taking your […]

Why staying connected with your teenager is tricky but important

Do not let your idea of adolescent independence stop you from engaging with the young people in your life. They value staying connected with family, even if they do not always show it , writes Elise Woodman

Parenting teenagers can feel daunting. With high rates of youth mental health diagnoses and persistent messages about adolescents’ desire […]

Nurturing dads raise emotionally intelligent kids

Kids are better regulated emotionally, more resilient and more open-minded when their fathers are involved in their education and socialisation. Nurturing dads raise emotionally intelligent children — making society more respectful and equitable, writes Kevin Shafer

When my oldest son was born in July of 2008, I thought I could easily balance my career and my […]

Parental alienation should give way to SHARED PARENTING

…Say alienated parents who organised a two-week campaign to mark April 25, observed as ‘Parental Alienation Awareness Day’ worldwide, writes Aruna Raghuram

April 25 was observed as ‘Parental Alienation Awareness Day’ around the world. On this day, parents’ groups organise programmes to raise awareness about parental alienation — defined as when one parent’s relationship with his […]

Parenting an angry child

With mental health professionals reporting a steady increase in the number of adults facing anger management issues, it’s unsurprising that a growing number of children are also struggling to keep this emotion in check, writes Aruna Raghuram

Described by Merriam Webster dictionary as “a strong feeling of displeasure and antagonism” and “a fit of violent wrath”, […]

Over-parenting dangers

Over-parenting teaches children to be entitled – let them fail and learn to be resilient instead, writes Ana Aznar

During the last couple of decades, new types of parents have emerged. From the anxiously involved helicopter parents to the pushy tiger mums, these differing styles all have one thing in common: they tend to involve over-parenting. […]

Kids and money: 5 ways to start the conversation

Children feel empowered to learn about money and financial independence when they understand basic concepts, writes Bomikai Zeka and Abdul Lateef Alhassan

When it comes to teaching young children about the world, parents may feel that some topics — like politics and religion — are too tough to broach. Money is another. Parents may not feel […]

Should I post photos of my children online? Here’s what new parents need to know about sharenting

Over 40 percent of UK parents put photos or videos of their children online. It’s an indicator of how prevalent online sharing is, that last June a new word “sharenting”, meaning when a parent shares news, images and videos of their children on social media, entered the Oxford English Dictionary.

Parents engage in sharenting for many […]

Effective financial management in hard times

It’s equally important to examine financial challenges confronting India’s private schools because 48 percent of the country’s children — and all middle-class children — are enroled in them

THE 82-WEEK LOCKDOWN OF SCHOOLS countrywide during the Covid-19 pandemic accentuated the fragility and brittleness of India’s K-12 education system. Questions have arisen not just about how education […]

How parents’ internet addiction can fuel their children’s & what to do about it

Teenagers are often accused of being addicted to their mobile devices, but new research shows they’re often just modelling their parents’ behaviour.

Of course, we all use digital devices for work, for fun, and for socialising – but too much screen time can be harmful. There is such a thing as “digital addiction” and it’s characterised […]

‘Screen time’ for kids is an outdated concept, so let’s ditch it and focus on quality instead

Kate Highfield

It is school holidays in Australia and, in many parts of the country, it’s also raining and bitterly cold. This means many children are stuck indoors and parents will be grappling with how much “screen time” their kids are having.

As as early childhood researcher and parent to a fouryear-old, this is a question I […]

What is gentle parenting? An expert explains

Stephen Scott

In the past decade, the concept of “gentle” or “respectful” parenting has gained considerable traction. The foundation of the idea is in being parents who are emotionally attuned to their children, and try to understand the reasons behind their behaviour.

There is great value in this, but it isn’t the whole story. Children also […]

Smacking children: What the research says

The question of whether it is ever acceptable to smack a child — hitting her with the flat inside of the hand with the aim of achieving compliance — is still highly controversial. In England, this controversy was recently reignited by the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, who has said that “the discipline of children should […]

‘You’re the best!’ Belief in your child’s academic ability can actually improve her grades

We have all met the parent who thinks their kid is the next Picasso or Einstein regardless of the evidence. But it’s hard to ascertain if these beliefs are helpful or harmful.

Overly optimistic parents could reduce their children’s drive to work harder and give them a false idea of the opportunities available to them. Or […]

Worrying about being a perfect mother makes it harder to be a good parent

Even armed with a Ph D in developmental psychology, I remember the frightening first moments after bringing my newborn daughter home from the hospital. I wasn’t sure what to do — and not at all confident that I was capable of being the parent she needed me to be. Every little decision about feeding and […]

10 parenting strategies to reduce children’s pandemic stress

Parents are dealing with huge demands on their time and energy. Children may not be attending school or involved in regular activities. As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on families, routines have collapsed, patience is wearing thin and self-care is a distant memory.

Decades of research have taught us that adversity during childhood has damaging […]

Stressful times are an opportunity to teach children resilience

Between the global Covid-19 pandemic, the associated economic downturn and widespread protests over racism, it’s difficult for everyone. Many people are struggling, consumed with anxiety and stress, finding ourselves unable to sleep or focus.

As a developmental psychologist and researcher on anxiety and fear in infants and young children, I have been particularly concerned about the […]

Helicopter parents could be raising anxious, narcissistic children

Marilyn Campbell

The Age newspaper recently highlighted the issue of “helicopter parenting” at universities. The report talked of parents contacting lecturers to ask about their adult children’s grades, sitting in on meetings with course coordinators and repeatedly phoning academics to inquire about students’ progress.

Over-parenting involves parents using developmentally inappropriate tactics that far exceed the actual needs […]

How parents can prevent and deal with bullying

Parents need to know what to do in situations where their child is bullying others or being bullied, says Sheryl Hemphill in this special essay

Parents are one of the most influential factors when talking about bullying — in that they are the most likely to be able to prevent it. The way parents model appropriate […]

Pros and cons of popular parenting styles

In this special essay, Rebecca English, lecturer at the Queensland Institute of Technology (Australia), highlights the pros and cons of various parenting styles — tiger, helicopter, snowplough and free range

What’s the best way to raise your child? It’s a question that has provoked the publication of numerous books, and seen authors race to coin the […]

China’s successful VET revolution

As one of seven national strategies for building a prosperous China, the Central government has been strongly supporting general education. For several decades, annual expenditure on education averaged a modest 2.5 percent of GDP. But in the new millennium it has steadily increased and in 2018-19, has risen to 4.4 percent of GDP which itself […]