Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
Colin Ward – "Pioneer of Mutualism" – Has Passed Away

The author and activist passed away died on February 11, at the age of 86.

For those who don’t know of the man, Stuart White has written a wonderful remembrance of him at the Next Left political blog; he was particularly well known in Britain for his work in the Anarchist movement, but readers here may be most interested in his profoundly influential book on children’s street culture, “The Child in the City”. It’s one of the most important books of its kind, ever.

Feb 16, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , , :: #

"Strange Stuff in the Microwave"

Lordy, this is such a fun book. (Have you bought it yet?)

Feb 03, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

Play More, Get Bullied Less?

There’s a certain intuitive sense to it, really: studies found that one of the prime reasons kids get bullied or rejected socially is that they don’t have as good of social skills – more specifically, “factors involve a child’s inability to pick up on and respond to nonverbal cues from their pals.”

What’s one of the best ways for kids (and adults, for that matter) to learn to better read nonverbal cues? Play. Unstructured play, without an adult or authority-figure present, allows children to experience and experiment with the “relationship styles” they’ll later encounter in life.

I hope to comment more about the studies – in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology – soon, but wanted to put this out there.

Feb 02, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , , :: #

Teenagers Speak Up on Salinger

It’s pieces like this – when kids and youth themselves get a chance to offer their voices about issues – that make me indelibly happy. Here’s one teenager’s response to the adults’ debate last week about whether J.D. Salinger’s writings still resonate with youth today:

“Well, I am sixteen and find it shocking how cynical all of you adults are about our generation. We just read this book a few months ago and each and everyone of us loved it and felt a deep connection between ourselves and Holden. Times have not changed as much as you think. We are not as shallow as you think. Salinger’s novel is as universal as it is timeless. But I’m beginning to think that maybe Holden was right about all of you.” – maliabadi

You know what? The kids are alright today, I think. The kids are alright.

Feb 02, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , :: #

Donald Goerke, SpaghettiOs Creator, Dies at 83

Wow. It feels like a part of my childhood has just been ripped from me.

Jan 15, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

19th Century Maps by Children

David Rumsey (and “cartography associates”) have been a very special feature – really positively riveting, actually – on 19th century maps that were drawn by children:

In the 18th and 19th centuries, children were taught geography by making their own maps, usually copies of maps available to them in books and atlases at their schools or homes. Below is a group of maps and geographical diagrams made by children in the 19th century; and some of the school atlases, geographies, and wall maps that may have been their sources. These old maps made by children were hand drawn and colored, one-of-a-kind productions, and it is amazing that any have survived down to our time. That they have is due to luck and the efforts of families to preserve the history of their children. These maps have a special poignancy today in the way that they reflect the optimism of youth from another time.

I’m looking at all of these brilliant child-drawn maps, though, and just have to wonder… where the’s X for buried treasure?

Jan 11, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , :: #

A Decade of Children's Media

Amy Kraft shares what she feels are the past decade’s most groundbreaking products and contributions to children’s media: from Dora the Explorer, Yo Gabba Gabba and They Might Be Giant’s “No!” album – media and cultural artifacts that have become loved by children – to YouTube, the Nintendo Wii and Apple’s iPhone – technological breakthroughs that have changed the very fundamental ways in which children interact with media and culture.

Astonishing to think about how different all of this – kids’ mediated cultures and the ways they contribute to and interact with childhood – was even just ten years ago. A lot can happen in a decade, I guess.

Jan 01, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

How To Screw Up Your Kid For Life

From Cracked.com, a list of seven things “good parents” do that in the end just don’t quite pan out the way they expect. (Includes great classics like “#7. Giving Them a Creative Name,” “#4. Starting Them in School Too Early,” and “#3. Warning Them About Strangers.”)

Absolutely, completely, 100% spot-on. Just fantastic, and with some of the best social science research to back them up.

(Via Free Range Kids.)

Nov 12, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , :: #

Boy Fakes Kidnapping In Order To Lose Bad Report Card

By Daniel Bigler :: Monday September 14, 2009

Here’s a story from Alabama that shows just how industrious kids can be when they take matters into their own hands. A young boy decided to fake his own kidnapping, in order so that he could get away with not bringing home a bad report card.

The Huntsville Times reports:

The Ed White Middle School student claimed a man in a red, beat-up car grabbed him after school at the intersection of Trail Ridge and Grizzard roads and forced him into the vehicle.

“I’m going to take you somewhere and kill you,” the boy claimed the man said. The boy also said the man had a pistol.

The boy then claimed to have jumped from the vehicle – without his bookbag, which contained the report card – and ran to his grandparents’ house.

He later confessed to the incident, and his grandfather called the police to explain. The police, meanwhile, say the boy faces no charges at this time. But the last sentence is my favorite part of the article:

The whereabouts of the bookbag and report card are unknown.

I might be glib, rebellious and unfit for parenting by saying this, but this young man’s act impresses me so much. It’s a perfect example of the precious few ways kids can gain power as individuals in society, and the lad showed a great resourcefulness and understanding of adults’ irrational fears and social taboos in choosing to fake his own kidnapping in order to get out of a negative, adult-controlled situation. Hey, if you know the folks aren’t going to be too pleased with a bad report card, why not try to get rid of it in the most impactful way possible?

This is also a powerful but depressing example of how we adults unfortunately too often use Education as a controlling measure over kids. ‘Bad’ report cards are a clear societal ‘faultline’ allowing us to peer into the heart of society and see what we really think of kids. We sadly judge them based on their academic progress, and so much of their inherent self-worth — and worth to others — becomes wrapped up in what grade they got on a test.

“My dog ate it” is, though, one way kids fight back. And I’m delighted to see this kid improve upon the technique in such a creative way.

Good for him, I say.

Tagged under: , , :: #




Life Lessons Through Tinkering

Speaking of the benefits of boredom, Merlin Silk recently reminded me of an old TED Talk that Gever Tulley gave a few years back. Tulley titled his talk “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do,” and it was about exactly that: Tulley shared experiences like building and tearing things apart, playing with fire and using pocket knives, and experimenting and tinkering – experiences that are crucial to children developing aptitude and their own self-competency.

Certainly not welcome things in our risk- and mistake-averse society – but Tulley’s message is made all the more compelling by the fact that he works with actual kids to build, make, deconstruct, and tinker during a week-long, not-your-usual summer camp he founded, called “The Tinkering School”. It’s a place, as he says, where “kids can pick up sticks and hammers and other dangerous objects, and be trusted. Trusted not to hurt themselves, and trusted not to hurt others.”

That there is no more convincing evidence in support of his message than the sight of actual kids in action – building, creating, experimenting – is I think the way it should be, and it’s something Tulley is able to share beautifully.

Now Tulley is back with another talk, discussing life lessons learned through tinkering. It’s another fine – and truly captivating – look at the creative processes of children, and the unimaginable possibilities that emerge when they’re given the time and permission to tinker.

I hope you enjoy it.

Jul 08, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , , , , :: #

Michael Chabon and The Wilderness of Childhood

A truly perfect Fourth of July treat from author Michael Chabon:

But the Wilderness of Childhood, as any kid could attest who grew up, like my father, on the streets of Flatbush in the Forties, had nothing to do with trees or nature. I could lose myself on vacant lots and playgrounds, in the alleyway behind the Wawa, in the neighbors’ yards, on the sidewalks. Anywhere, in short, I could reach on my bicycle, a 1970 Schwinn Typhoon, Coke-can red with a banana seat, a sissy bar, and ape-hanger handlebars. On it I covered the neighborhood in a regular route for half a mile in every direction. I knew the locations of all my classmates’ houses, the number of pets and siblings they had, the brand of popsicle they served, the potential dangerousness of their fathers. …

Childhood is, or has been, or ought to be, the great original adventure, a tale of privation, courage, constant vigilance, danger, and sometimes calamity. For the most part the young adventurer sets forth equipped only with the fragmentary map—marked here there be tygers and mean kid with air rifle—that he or she has been able to construct out of a patchwork of personal misfortune, bedtime reading, and the accumulated local lore of the neighborhood children.

Reading this is worth every ounce of the time and attention it asks of you.

(Via the tastily-named Media Macaroni.)

Jul 04, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , , , :: #

Explaining Michael Jackson's Demons

The BBC News has psychologists weigh in on “how the extraordinary childhood experiences of someone such as Michael Jackson might shape a person in later life”…. It’s a terribly fascinating glimpse at the ways in which children internalize their experiences and later might reconcile them in adult life.

What struck me the loudest was this quote, from psychologist Peter Congdon:

“It’s well known that the best preparation for growing up is to live fully as a child. Parents of clever or talented children shouldn’t forget this.”

Jun 29, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #