A fascinating article in The Huffington Post debunks the myth, so dearly held by so many, that birth order impacts personality. Two recent large-scale, international studies (here and here) found no relationship between birth order and five primary personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). In fact, the only known effect that birth order [...]
Please be prepared. I'm going to go on a bit of rant now. I just can't hold it in any longer. I see parents doing this constantly and it's killing me because they know not what they do and they are actually hurting their children's personal and athletic development. What am I referring to? It's [...]
I was recently interviewed by the Toronto Sun about a remarkable statistic: 26% of parents believe their children will be professional athletes. Remarkable because, as the article notes, the chances are actually infinitesimal.
According to a recent article titled, “Pediatricians to tweak ‘outdated’ screen time recommendations for kids,” the American Academy of Pediatrics, that esteemed organization charged with protecting the health and well-being of children, has decided that their recommendations of limited screen time—basically no screen time for children under 2 years old and only two hours a [...]
Setting expectations for your young ski racer is an essential responsibility of parenting. Expectations tell your children what’s important to you and establish a standard toward which they can strive. But expectations can be double-edged swords. They can be a tremendous benefit to your children’s development as both ski racers and people or they can [...]
As the author of Your Children are Under Attack, I'm no fan of popular culture. Its aim is not to support healthy development of young people, but rather to profit from selling kids junk and attitudes wrapped in "it'll make you happy" vibes. Well, recent research from the UK provides painful support for my views. [...]
As you may know, I'm pretty darned outspoken about parents of young athletes who are seduced by our hypercompetitive youth sports culture in which parents become overly invested (in terms of time, $$, and ego) in their children's sports participation. But nothing I have ever written is as brutally honest as this article written by [...]
See a fascinating infographic from onlinecoursereport.com (read the basic findings below) that describes how the Internet is changing the way our brain works (for both good and bad). Distracted? 7 Ways the Internet is Changing Our Brains The Internet is a marvelous thing. Games, vast information, shopping, friends, medical advice: all at our fingertips. [...]
Here's a shocking bit of news (note ironic tone) reported in the Huffington Post today: A substantial number of tweens and teens wake up in the middle of the night to either check or post on their social media. Researchers indicated that this habit, found in more than 20% of young people surveyed, disrupted sleep, increased fatigue, [...]
If you’re reading this article, I’m guessing you’re pretty serious about your ski racing. I’m also assuming that, despite being serious about your racing, you do it because it’s big-time fun. Improving, the competition, hanging with your friends, travel, achieving your goals, and, yes, even getting on the podium, all make ski racing a fun [...]