Petal’s Weekly Picks for Top Parenting Stories: Happiness, Pollution and Social Media

by | Mar 18, 2019 | Picks of the Week | 0 comments

As I prepare to launch my podcast Parenting for the Future, I feel encouraged that so many parents truly want their children to make the world a better place. In this week full of shocking headlines, there are many more stories that bring me hope as a parent and inspire me to do better every day. I enjoy sharing these nightly on my Facebook page, Twitter feedPinterest boards and as a weekly round-up on my blog.

Here are my picks for the top parenting stories this week

Kids From 2009 Predict Jobs of the Future
As we ponder what the future may bring, the voices of the children are key to the discussion. Enjoy this video of these insightful nine-year-olds predicting the jobs of the future. Some of these predictions from 10 years ago are pretty good!

Kids need to fail. And parents need to let them
This essay urges us to help our children help themselves, rather than fixing everything for them. This week, I attended a fantastic talk by Jessica Lahey, who wrote The Gift of Failure, which delves even deeper into this almost counter-intuitive issue.

Youth are changing the game on climate change
Kids know that climate change is going to impact them more than us, and they’re starting to do something about it.

7 ways parents can protect kids from child sexual abuse
The “Leaving Neverland” documentary reminds us that the difficult topic of child sexual abuse remains one that we should discuss with our kids.

Bad news, math-averse parents: It rubs off on your kids
If you have bad attitude toward math, your kids will pick up on it. But embracing math — and math homework — can go a long way. This article offers some great tips, such as playing math-oriented games like Yahtzee as a family.

Why I Put My Dog’s Photo on Social Media, but Not My Son’s
You might think twice about posting photos of your kids on social media after reading this column from the Wall Street Journal.

6 lessons from the world’s happiest people
Parents spend so much time worrying about their children’s happiness that they can forget to focus on their own. These strategies from the happiest people in the world can be useful when we think about how we want our children to live as young— and not so young — adults.

15 million teenagers and 38,000 transgender people: How India’s 2019 elections are different
India’s upcoming elections will look quite different from those in the past, as the world’s largest democracy is rapidly digitizing.

No, Americans Will Not Need a Visa to Travel to Europe
Spring break is here — what you need to know about traveling to Europe with your family.

What it’s like to raise children in the world’s most polluted capital
The environmental woes that we fear for the future are already affecting the quality of life — and preventing kids from attending school — in the world’s most polluted capital city.

22 Diverse Book Choices for All Grade Levels
This is a terrific list of books from Edutopia with characters and authors from a wide range of cultures.