This week’s family-related news coverage included a look at the importance our “next door family,” a story about Gallaudet’s first deaf female president, an online way to support struggling friends, an interview with an author who has dual identities, a mother’s appreciation of the difficult work of teachers, a touching photographic essay on transgender youth, a look at why parents need to take care of themselves, a glimpse at the under-studied world of why women leave their jobs, and finally research on why girls do not see themselves as “smart enough.”
Finding Family, Right Next Door Melissa DePino and Elizabeth Laban, The New York Times, January 13, 2017 As young mothers, each with two kids, we both knew that our traditional support networks were vital, if not indispensable — spouses, helpful grandparents, lifelong girlfriends … but husbands weren’t always available, grandparents became sick or lived too far away, and lifelong girlfriends, well, they had their own lives with their own families. So luckily, we found our lifelines in our next-door family…We became each other’s grown-up wing women… we found friends who would become family where and when we needed them most.
Gallaudet President Navigates from World of Hearing to Sound Leadership of the Deaf Parth Shah, NPR, January 21, 2017 Gallaudet is a liberal arts university devoted to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. In its 152-year history, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. never had a deaf female president — until a year ago. This story is an inspiring look at Roberta Cordano, the first deaf woman to lead the school.
Can an Online Game Help You Learn to Help Struggling Friends? Angus Chen, NPR, January 21, 2017 Since it can be difficult to know what to say when a friend is struggling, a video game has been created to help people learn how to recognize signs of psychological distress like depression, anxiety and substance abuse, and get them professional help to those in need.
A Failed Revolution and a Failed Marriage In Dark At The Crossing NPR Staff, January 21, 2017 Excerpt from NPR’s Scott Simon interview of Elliot Ackerman, a former Marine living in Istanbul and author: “…a marriage is … a tiny revolution in and of itself. We give ourselves entirely to another person, we upend our world for whatever that nascent love is we feel. But when a marriage falls apart, there is a real reckoning with how you make a life again in the wreckage. And so I could see that type of parallel emotional journey.”
The Letter I Had to Write to My Child’s Teacher Kim Mower, The Washington Post, January 24, 2017 I think many parents … have no clue what the day is like in their child’s classroom, the moving parts of coordinating children of varying levels of ability with varying levels of opinions and responsiveness. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to participate in their child’s classroom to do so. See and feel what it is like to be in a classroom.
7 Young People on Their Views of Gender Annie Tritt, The New York Times, January 23, 2017 About two years ago, I began photographing transgender and “gender-expansive” children and young adults in the United States and Europe. I wanted to ask this question: “Who are we beyond ideas tied to our gender?” The answer is critical not only to the transgender community, I believe, but to everyone.
Why Self-Care Is an Important Part of Parenting, and How to Make Time for It Lindsey Roberts, The Washington Post, January 24, 2017 Studies show that the anticipation of vacation can bring just as much psychological reward as the actual vacation. Shane Lopez, a Gallup senior scientist and author of Making Hope Happen, calls this “nexting.” Knowing that relief and rest are coming keeps parents energized for today’s puppet shows and snack times, tumbles and sibling tussles.
Why Women Quit Working: It’s Not for the Reasons Men Do Patricia Cohen, The New York Times, January 24, 2017 Men have been the focus of much of the concern about those disappearing from the work force. But in the United States, unlike other industrialized countries, women are also part of the trend. And their stories are entangled with what is happening to their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers.”
Why Young Girls Don’t Think They Are Smart Enough Andrei Cimpian and Sarah-Jane Leslie, The New York Times, January 26,2017 In our research, published in the journal Science, we’ve found that girls as young as 6 start to believe that specific activities are “not for them” simply because they think they’re not smart enough. Our research suggests that American children are picking up on cultural stereotypes about brilliance at an early age. Unfortunately, these stereotypes suggest that girls aren’t as smart as boys.”
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