Joanne Jacobs
Anxious about math? Learn your times tables and it won't seem so scary
Memorizing times tables has returned to Virginia's Standards of Learning, after a six-year exile, writes Todd Truitt. But he fears...
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Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 15
- 3 min
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
- Jun 30
- 1 min
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
- Jun 23
- 2 min
No phones, no Moms, just kids playing in the park
Parents should band together to "say 'no' to smart phones and social," writes Laura Yuen in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. She dreams of...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 4
- 2 min
Digital addiction starts early: 30% of K-2 kids use TikTok
Young children are becoming digital addicts, hooked on fast-paced scrolling, swiping and mini-rewards designed into platforms such as...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 14
- 2 min
How to succeed at college: Try doing the work
Anxious about their children's anxiety, parents are going into crisis mode when their 18-year-olds face the normal challenges of college...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 1
- 2 min
Maybe the cure to math anxiety is to teach kids math
Timed tests cause math anxiety, according to Jo Boaler, a Stanford math education professor who's been charged with "reckless disregard...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 24
- 3 min
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
- Mar 22
- 2 min
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...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 13
- 2 min
Teens love their smartphones -- but some say it's 'peaceful' to be phone-free
Seventy-two percent of teenagers say they often or sometimes feel "peaceful" when they're without their smartphones, according to a Pew...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 29
- 3 min
If you want to climb a mountain, don't go two steps and ask, 'How do I feel?'
Nearly all public schools offer some type of counseling, mental health or "wellness" lessons, writes Abigail Shrier in Free Press. But...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 23, 2023
- 2 min
Ban phones in school: The experiment with kids' minds has failed
Smart phones are making students less smart, writes Derek Thompson in The Atlantic. Student achievement has been falling around the world...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 16, 2023
- 2 min
Scared and sad: Gen Z fears the world
The world is a dangerous place, teenagers and young adults believe. Members of Gen Z -- those born from the late 1990s to the early 2010s...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 19, 2023
- 1 min
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
- Nov 12, 2023
- 2 min
Tutors for toddlers: Crazy parents will raise crazy kids
"The race to the Ivy League starts early," writes Asia Grace in the New York Post. Affluent parents are hiring tutors for their toddlers...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 11, 2023
- 2 min
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
- Oct 20, 2023
- 1 min
'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
- Oct 19, 2023
- 2 min
Teens spend 4.8 hours a day on social media, says Gallup
U.S. teenagers average 4.8 hours a day on social media apps such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter),...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 29, 2023
- 1 min
The case for quizzes: Students learn more -- and feel less anxious
Timed tests are unpopular with progressive educators, writes Hechinger's Jill Barshay. They think they're stressful and reward the...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 9, 2023
- 2 min
For failing students, lockdown was freedom, school is 'prison'
School is "like being in prison," says 14-year-old Kieran, who has dyslexia and ADHD. He prefers doing physical labor with his father....
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