Category: Youth

A recent report by UNICEF, which analyzed data from 41 high-income countries, found that children in the Netherlands had the highest sense of well-being, followed by Denmark and Norway.  At the bottom? Chile, Bulgaria, and yes, the United States.  Anita Cleare, author of “The Working Parent’s Survival Guide,” told CNBC regarding the report, “I think that growing up in a culture where everyone’s unique gifts are celebrated, and children feel like they can be who they want to be, and they’re not being judged, is likely to make friendships more positive, playground culture more positive, and is going to help children’s happiness levels.”  But here in the United States, we don’t live in a society where everyone’s unique gifts are celebrated or worry about our children’s highest sense of well-being. Instead, parents force…

Growing up, I used to love playing video games. My next-door neighbor and I would spend hours camped out in my basement for our daily competition to see who would go farther on Super Mario Bros. I also used to love digging in the dirt with my toy backhoe and dump trump, playing pretend with my Transformer action figures, and making mud meatballs out of the clay soil in the back of my garage. Ah to be young with nothing but idle time on your hands. I used to do a lot of things when I was younger - things that wouldn’t seem very appropriate if you found me doing them at 46 years old. Could you imagine what the neighbors would say if they saw me playing with my…