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'Give yourself a break' is bad advice: Do difficult things!
Young people need to believe they can do difficult things. Don't tell them they're fragile.
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 62 min read
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Climb, jump, spin, fall, learn
"Spinning too fast on the merry-go-round and flying too high on the swings" are healthy for children, according to Angela Hanscom, an...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20242 min read
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Yale liberals: We envy conservatives because they're learning to think and we're not
Yale liberals say they envy conservative classmates who are learning how to understand other points of view and argue for their ideas.
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 23, 20242 min read
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The anti-anxiety experiment: Friends without phones, adult-free camping
British mother persuaded teens to go smartphone-free for a month, then camp out for the weekend on their own.
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 15, 20243 min read
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'For All Mankind' celebrates courage, competence, resilience
I'm a fan of the Apple+ series For All Mankind, which imagines an alternative reality in which the Soviet Union reaches the moon first,...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 29, 20242 min read
1 comment


Teen angst is normal: 'Wellness' may backfire
Mental health doesn't mean feeling good all the time, writes psychologist Lisa Damour in The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 11, 20232 min read
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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
Aug 5, 20232 min read
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Protected kids become anxious adults
In an “Adulting 101” workshop, Kansas State students talk about "conflict" as though "it's this terrible thing," said Brett Mallon, an...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 29, 20222 min read
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