Monday, June 8

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Sex, Drugs And TikTok: Keeping Young People Safe Needs A Mature Response
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Sex, Drugs And TikTok: Keeping Young People Safe Needs A Mature Response

Isabelle Volpe, UNSW and Clare Southerton, UNSW You may have read recently that TikTok allegedly “serves up” sex and drug videos to minors. Media reports have described the video-sharing platform, which is designed predominantly for young people, as an “addiction machine” that promotes harmful content. In an investigation, reporters at the Wall Street Journal created 31 bot accounts on TikTok, each programmed to interact only with particular themes of content. Many of the bots were registered as being aged 13-15, including one programmed with an interest in “drugs and drug use”, which was ultimately shown 569 videos related to drugs. The investigation sought to better understand how the app’s algorithm selects videos for users. The workings of these kinds of algorithms are an industry s...
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Several Hours A Day Of Kids On Their Computers Is OK, Study Suggests
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Several Hours A Day Of Kids On Their Computers Is OK, Study Suggests

Katie Paulich, University of Colorado Boulder The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Even when kids spend five hours a day on screen – whether computers, television or text – it doesn’t appear to be harmful. That’s what my colleagues and I at the University of Colorado Boulder discovered after analyzing data taken from nearly 12,000 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study – the largest long-term study of its kind ever in the U.S. The participants included children between the ages of 9 to 10, from diverse backgrounds, income levels and ethnicities. We investigated how screen time was linked to some of the most critical aspects of their lives: sleep, mental health, behavior and friendships. Our results, recently published...
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Designer Babies – Soon To Be The Norm In Reproductive Healthcare
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Designer Babies – Soon To Be The Norm In Reproductive Healthcare

When human desires and wants are quantified as unalienable rights, then, ethics and morals become easily compromised, and a disaster often awaits. Designer babies will soon be the norm in reproductive healthcare, a reflection of desire passed off as an individual right. Soon, a couple will be able to walk in a reproductive healthcare facility and select all the features that they would prefer their child to have or not have. If permitted from clinical trials to practical applications, couples will have the freedom and right, depending on affordability, to decide the features that their child will have, in the process creating a child that they want. Therefore, based on their preference, a couple can decide to have a child with green eyes, less chances of becoming obese, high probability o...
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What Trans Moms Worry About When Things Go Back To ‘Normal’ And Discuss Their Unique Parenting Challenges During The Pandemic
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What Trans Moms Worry About When Things Go Back To ‘Normal’ And Discuss Their Unique Parenting Challenges During The Pandemic

Between 25% and 50% of transgender adults in the U.S. have children. Some have kids before coming out as trans, others adopt or foster, and some use egg or sperm cells they’ve frozen – usually before starting hormone replacement therapy. As a sociologist who studies inequality and reproduction, I noticed that there are few discussions of how trans people – particularly trans women – experience parenthood. So in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I interviewed 50 transgender women – both current and prospective parents – from across the country and from diverse racial and class backgrounds. Some obstacles brought on by the pandemic affect transgender and cisgender – or nontrans – parents alike. For example, many struggle to balance child care and employment or have designed new parenting...
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4 Essential Reads – How Do You Talk To Your Child About Violence?
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4 Essential Reads – How Do You Talk To Your Child About Violence?

Children are exposed to images of violence almost every day, whether through the media or in real life. Consumption of violent imagery can take a harmful toll on a child’s mental and emotional well-being, research shows. Parents, especially those with young children, may be asking themselves how to talk about violence with their kids. Here are four articles from The Conversation U.S. that offer insight into how to have hard conversations with children about violence. 1. Teach children to be resilient Vanessa LoBlue, an assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University-Newark, writes about ways parents can foster a supportive environment to help children develop resilience in stressful situations. Genuinely listening to children talk about how they feel not only shows care and acc...
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Youth: A Critical Stage In Life
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Youth: A Critical Stage In Life

I enjoy writing to young people like myself not because our old folks know better and do not need the information (which of course they do, and in fact should read it), but because a youthful psyche is one which is easily and readily flexible to both the positive influence (principles, knowledge, truths) about life or the negative appeals in our society. The youthful life is the period where characters are materialized, values are developed and choices are made. The choices and decisions that would transform our lives and even forthcoming generations, in spite of our present dilemma, will be taken during this phase of life. Steven Covey, who was an author and great teacher wrote, "I am not a product of my circumstance. I am a product of my decisions." Hence, the need for enlightenment and...
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By Conquering Their Own Fears, Following Their Child’s Lead And Tolerating Ambiguity – Parents Can Support A Child Who Comes Out As Trans
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By Conquering Their Own Fears, Following Their Child’s Lead And Tolerating Ambiguity – Parents Can Support A Child Who Comes Out As Trans

Young transgender, or trans, people face high rates of anxiety, depression and suicide. These elevated mental health risks largely stem from external factors such as discrimination, victimization and – most especially – family rejection rather than from being trans. Em Matsuno, a research fellow at Palo Alto University, is currently developing and testing an online training program called the Parent Support Program to help parents better understand and support trans youth. They talked with The Conversation U.S. about their findings and how parents can be better advocates – and avoid common missteps – when a child identifies as trans or nonbinary. What are common challenges parents with trans kids face? A big one is fear. Parents fear for their child’s safety. For example, they fear their ...
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Gaming, Is It Good For Kids?
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Gaming, Is It Good For Kids?

Gamers, have you ever noticed that you’re the first person to spot animals at the zoo? Or if someone drops candy on the ground, you know exactly where every piece landed? That may be because you play video games. Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. My parents are always saying there’s so much bad stuff about video games, but is there any good stuff? – Ethan B., age 12, Geneva, Ohio Research has shown people who play video games like Fortnite or Rocket League have higher visual acuity, meaning they can keep track of multiple moving objects at once – or even see things in the fog or rain that others cannot. It’s one of the many benefits researchers like me have discover...
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Parents Can Help Kids By Playing With Them – Gaming Has Benefits And Perils
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Parents Can Help Kids By Playing With Them – Gaming Has Benefits And Perils

As the pandemic forced many Americans to hunker down at home, the video game industry saw record spending and profits in 2020. Interacting with other people through gaming became, for some players, essential for social connection. As an education researcher and professor of digital literacy, I study the education benefits and perils of digital gaming. These range from providing opportunities for collaborative problem-solving to displaying content that perpetuates racism and sexism. Connection and collaboration Digital games can provide a forum for a diverse group of people to come together. That’s especially important now, while our physical locations are restricted. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, undergraduates have shared with me the vital importance of digital games for the...
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More Young Adults Are Living With Their Parents – Is That Necessarily A Bad Thing?
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More Young Adults Are Living With Their Parents – Is That Necessarily A Bad Thing?

When the Pew Research Center recently reported that the proportion of 18-to-29-year-old Americans who live with their parents has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps you saw some of the breathless headlines hyping how it’s higher than at any time since the Great Depression. From my perspective, the real story here is less alarming than you might think. And it’s actually quite a bit more interesting than the sound bite summary. For 30 years I’ve been studying 18-to-29-year-olds, an age group I call “emerging adults” to describe their in-between status as no longer adolescents, but not fully adult. Even 30 years ago, adulthood – typically marked by a stable job, a long-term partnership and financial independence – was coming later than it had in the past. Yes, a lot of emergi...
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