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Joanne Jacobs
Jan 272 min read
Covid school closings hurt kids' learning, health and happiness -- for nothing
Reopening schools didn't increase Covid cases, hospitalizations or deaths in five countries. But kids learned more.
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20242 min read
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...
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 10, 20242 min read
Watching Nemo: Movies replace outdoor play, say parents
Young kids need to play outside -- not sit inside watching a movie, say parents.
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 21, 20241 min read
Covid stress hurt memory, 'flexible thinking' for kids and teachers, says study
Students -- and teachers -- lost reasoning, memory and executive-function skills during the pandemic. Stress? Long Covid? Screens?
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 8, 20241 min read
A la carte learning in Florida
Alicia Garcia was a part-time cooking teacher before the pandemic closed Florida schools, writes Ron Matus on Next Steps. Now the former...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jul 13, 20242 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...
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Joanne Jacobs
May 28, 20242 min read
UCLA med school puts 'diversity' first, sees failure rates soar
UCLA has become a"failed medical school" because it "cut corners" to achieve racial diversity, a former admissions staffer says. Failure...
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Joanne Jacobs
May 17, 20242 min read
Schools in England will teach 'biological sex' -- not 'gender spectrum'
Schools in England will not teach students about "gender identity," under a new government draft guidance, reports Andrew McDonald for...
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Joanne Jacobs
Apr 15, 20243 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...
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Joanne Jacobs
Mar 22, 20242 min read
Four years after 'two weeks to flatten the curve' ...
Four years ago, schools across the country closed their doors. It was supposed to be for two weeks or three or . . . Most schools stayed...
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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 17, 20241 min read
Parents get a new message: Slightly sick kids should be in class
Worried about a nationwide epidemic of absenteeism, more schools are telling parents to send slightly sick children to school, reports...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20232 min read
Pro-trans parents won't get custody edge in California
Mom wants to start "Oliver" on puberty blockers. Dad thinks "Olivia" should go through puberty before deciding whether to be male, female...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jul 20, 20231 min read
The path to nursing starts in 9th grade
Girls from lower-income families all want to be nurses, the community college dean told me. Few make it. They fail the science and math...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jun 14, 20231 min read
Less schooling, less learning
“The Longer Students Were Out of School, the Less They Learned,” concludes Harry Anthony Patrinos, an education economist for the World...
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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...
9 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Apr 29, 20232 min read
Teens don't want to work, drive, have sex with a real-life person
Not long ago, teen-age boys dreamed of buying a car and "roaring away from school during lunch period, with a girl riding shotgun, on our...
11 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 18, 20231 min read
Science says: Masking didn't help stop Covid spread
The value of masking during the pandemic was "approximately zero," according to a Cochrane review of high-quality research, reports John...
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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 17, 20232 min read
There's no such thing as accurate school lunch data
School lunch data was an inaccurate measure of student poverty, even before the shift to universal eligibility, write Ishtiaque Fazlul,...
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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 15, 20231 min read
Unvaccinated NYC teachers reported to FBI: Is this true?
New York City teachers were reported to the FBI for refusing to be vaccinated, charges a lawyer for teachers who were fired due to the...
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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 4, 20232 min read
Obese kids: Are drugs, surgery the answer?
Nearly 20 percent of U.S. children and teenagers were obese by the start of the pandemic, a rate that's quadrupled since the 1960's....
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