Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
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: , , , , :: #

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: , , , :: #