This semester I’m teaching a course in the Psychology of Human Sexuality. I’ve discovered that very few of my students know anything about the basics and biology of sex. So, we start with a comprehensive course in sex education. From the very beginning, I point out that there is a difference between sex and gender, … Read more
Around a decade ago, I visited a friend whose grandchildren were staying with her for a couple of weeks in the summer. The children were young, one was two and the other almost five, and they had been there for over a week. When we sat down for lunch, the older child leaned over and … Read more
Why force a child to share their toys? Better to teach your child to share their ideas and their words, but not necessarily their toys. Here’s why.
Perception becomes reality if boys are told “boys don’t do as well as girls in school.” Here’s how to shift that perception.
There’s a move to teach boys civility in school, but focusing on only boys’ behavior is only half the story. Here’s my take.
In the past few weeks, the news has been full of reports about women who are reporting sexual harassment from men in positions of power and authority. The question I’m getting asked is whether there is something that can be done to make sure that young boys are taught that this behavior is unacceptable. There … Read more
This semester, I’ve been teaching a university level class in human growth and development to a bright bunch of high school students. One class requirement was to observe a child between the ages of 1 and 6 and report how that child’s behavior was reflected in the theories we were studying in class. First, my … Read more
Last year the World Health Organization released a study of the health and happiness of European adolescents. You can find the study entitled Growing Up Unequal by clicking this link. In essence, the report found that boys reported that they had greater life satisfaction than did girls, but noted that boys were more likely to be … Read more
When I first went to university (a long time ago), I started in the nursing school. Nurses are amazing people and I totally respect what it takes to be a good nurse, but it wasn’t for me. So I switched my major to education, and became a science teacher. At that time, the medical students at … Read more
Several years ago, Ann-Marie Slaughter wrote an article for The Atlantic magazine entitled Why Women Still Can’t Have it All . She tells the story of what happened after she became the first woman director of policy planning at the State Department. She “had it all” as the saying goes. She was happily married, the mother … Read more