Joanne Jacobs
90% of teachers support cellphone bans
Ninety percent of teachers in a NEA survey want their schools to ban cellphones in class, and 83 percent back all-day bans.
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Joanne Jacobs
Jul 132 min read
US follows the politics -- not the science -- on gender care for kids
Britain's new Labour government plans to continue the ban on puberty blockers ordered by the Tories."We will always put the safety of...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 301 min read
Growing up is hard to do: 'Puberty hits like a wrecking ball'
Pixar's new Inside Out 2 is about dealing with puberty and growing up, writes Emma Camp on Reason. Inside Out, released in 2015, featured...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 153 min read
Evidence is 'shaky' for 'gender affirming care,' says UK report
There's no reliable evidence that puberty blockers, hormones and surgery are the best treatment for children with "gender-related...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 243 min read
Childhood's end
Phone-centered childhood is a disaster, writes Jonathan Haidt in The Atlantic. In the early 2010s, "adolescents in rich countries traded...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 19, 20231 min read
The therapist is online
New York City is offering free online therapy to teenagers 13 to 17 years old, reports Michael Elsen-Rooney on Chalkbeat. Teenagers can...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 20, 20231 min read
'Smartphones are kryptonite for learning'
Schools are going phone free to remove distractions in class and encourage students to socialize in their free time, report Meg Oliver...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 21, 20232 min read
I am a rockgender, I am an autismgender
When Simon and Garfunkel sang "I am a rock, I am an island," they weren't thinking about gender or sexuality. But, nowadays, rock can be...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 8, 20231 min read
Missing persons: Will absentees show up this year?
Chronic absenteeism -- missing 18+ days of a 180-day school year -- is way up, writes Ed Navigator's Tim Daly. Twenty-five percent of...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 1, 20231 min read
Study: School closures 'largely explain' the youth mental health crisis
"School closures largely explain the deterioration of youth mental health" during the first wave of the pandemic, concludes a study in...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 5, 20232 min read
Let the kids play and the teenagers work
Teenagers wouldn't be so anxious, depressed and fragile if they'd spent more time playing outside with friends -- without adult...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 15, 20232 min read
'The Runaway Bunny' goes to college
A "dramatic mental health crisis" is challenging colleges and universities, writes Mary Dana Hinton, president of Hollins University, on...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 25, 20232 min read
Awkward? Anxious? There's a pill for every problem, available online
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, writes Frey India, but it's more like Marketing Pills to Girls Month. She was inundated with...
Joanne Jacobs
May 24, 20232 min read
'At lunch hour, everyone eats alone, scrolling TikTok'
But, Mom, everyone else has a smartphone. Parents are trying to say "no" to smartphones for elementary and middle schoolers, but it's...
Joanne Jacobs
May 24, 20232 min read
Surgeon General: Social media is hazardous for your kids' health
Social media is endangering the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents, warns Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in a 19-page...
Joanne Jacobs
May 20, 20232 min read
Study links early smartphone use with poor mental health
At what age did you get your first smartphone or tablet? The younger the age of getting the first smartphone, the worse the mental...
Joanne Jacobs
May 13, 20231 min read
Sad, sleepy teens: Will starting school later improve mental health?
Worried about the teen mental health crisis, nine states and a number of major cities are considering mandating later start times for...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 12, 20232 min read
Digital danger: Screen time is stealing childhood
Screen time is very bad for kids, argues Michel Desmurget, a French neuroscientist, in Screen Damage: The Dangers of Digital Media for...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 18, 20231 min read
Sad girls: Social isolation predates Covid
Fifty-seven percent of teenage girls felt "persistently sad or hopeless" in 2021, reports the Centers for Disease Control. That's double...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 16, 20231 min read
Emotionally fragile college grads say they're not prepared for work
People who fell apart under pressure were "nervous in the service," my father used, a World War II veteran, used to say. There are a lot...
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