Joanne Jacobs
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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Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 30
- 2 min
Teaching fragility: 1/5 of undergrads are 'disabled'
Colleges are disabling students, teaching them that they need not show up in class, complete assignments on time or give an oral...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 15
- 2 min
'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
- 2 min
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
- Jun 8
- 1 min
Should I go to college? Class of '23 worries about costs, feels less prepared
The Class of '23 missed the last part of ninth grade, and many missed chunks of 10th and 11th grade as well. Forty-two percent say...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 24
- 2 min
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 13
- 1 min
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
- Apr 29
- 2 min
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...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 9
- 2 min
You are not enough: Love thy neighbor too
"You are enough" is a popular saying, writes Katherine Boyle on The Free Press. But it's not true. Americans have lost their sense of...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 8
- 3 min
The politics of parenting
Permissive parenting -- known as "gentle" or "mindful" or "intentional" parenting -- is spreading among left-of-center parents, writes...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 12
- 2 min
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
- Mar 11
- 2 min
Anxious teens: Are they working too hard in school?
Dropping SAT/ACT requirements at elite colleges could make ambitious teenagers even more anxious, writes Derek Thompson in The Atlantic. ...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 5
- 2 min
TikTok sets limits for teens as mental health worries grow
Social media is a major cause of the mental illness epidemic in teen girls, argues social psychologist Jon Haidt. Fifty-seven percent of...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 4
- 2 min
Young, liberal and depressed: Doomers are not OK
Liberals are the most depressed among the growing number of sad teenagers, writes Matthew Yglesias on Slow Boring. Teenage girls are...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 18
- 1 min
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 12
- 2 min
Don't risk freedom, privacy to protect kids from social media
In their zeal to protect children from social media, Utah legislators are debating legislation that would usurp parents' rights and...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 11
- 1 min
What parents worry about
Depression and anxiety are the top worries of parents, according to a Pew Research Center survey, report Rachel Minkin and Juliana...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 28
- 2 min
Happy days: Connect, care about others, cope
Happy people are kind to others and to themselves, says Laurie Santos. The Yale psychology professor is offering a free, six-week course,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 20
- 1 min
Generation Doom: Show students a path forward
Teachers should encourage young people to believe in the future, writes Alice Dominguez on EdSurge. The Doomer Generation needs a sense...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 9
- 1 min
Move it and lose the blues
Exercise and sports -- at least one hour three times a week -- are a natural anti-depressant for teenagers, according to an analysis of...
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