Today I’m working to assist children and teens with school-based anxiety. This problem seems to be far more prevalent than most us might think. For older kids, especially, there is lots of effort spent trying to look “okay” and “together,”…
Dr. Adam Cox
Connecting people with ideas for learning and living well. Helping to build purposeful lives.
Blog Archives
School Anxiety
Posted in Psychology of Youth Tagged with: Competition, Depression, Executive Functions, Parenting, Youth
More Level Playing Field
Really happy to see this article in the New York Times about the United States’ most selective universities – including all the Ivy’s – working together to provide guidance to 9th and 10th grade students about what it takes to…
Posted in Adolescence, College, Education, Parenting, Teaching Tagged with: College, College Admission, Competition, Education, Fairness, Ivy League, Parenting, Planning, Selective, Students, University
College Admissions Drama 101
If I were a high school junior or senior, I’d throw in the towel. How many opposing perspectives do we expect kids to comprehend when it comes to college admissions? Many, if not most teens, are subject to years of…
Posted in Adolescence, College, Communicating with Kids, Parenting, Psychology of Youth, School Tagged with: Admissions, College, College Admission, Competition, Education, Fairness, Frank Bruni, Life Narratives, Parenting, Purpose, Status
Skill is Counterintuitive
For more than a decade new perspectives of skill have been the focus of books on achievement, education, sports, and the arts. Malcom Gladwell’s books are some of the best known examples. Another very useful contribution is Daniel Coyle’s, The…
Posted in Adolescence, Child Psychology, Education, Executive Functions, Parenting, Teaching Tagged with: Book, Brain, Competition, counterintuitive, Creativity, Daniel Coyle, Education, myelination, Skill, Sports, Talent
What Do I Tell My Son about Tom Brady?
Like all New Englanders I currently feel under siege. The hate for the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady is at epic levels. Of course this has been going on for years. People are bored with the Patriots’…
Posted in Adolescence, Boys, Child Psychology, Communicating with Kids, Parenting, Psychology of Youth, Society & Culture, Sports Tagged with: Athletics, Civility, Competition, Consciousness, Culture, Education, Media, New England, Parenting, Patriots, Sports, Tom Brady, Truth
Our Weird, Loopy Understanding of Gaming Addiction
Our era is largely defined by fascination with games. All kinds of games. Sports enjoy high status as entertainment. The vast majority have multiple games on handheld devices, and boys crave time on gaming platforms or laptops which can…
Posted in Adolescence, Boys, Brain, College, Psychology of Youth, Society & Culture, Teaching Tagged with: Addiction, Brain, Competition, Depression, Gaming, Gaming Addiction, Life Purpose, Neuroscience, Online communication, Parenting, Purpose, Work
America’s Meritocracy Primes Unrelenting School Competition
First, a confession. I am an idealist when it comes to education. I believe school is more than a means to an end, because I believe learning is one of life’s great privileges. Having said that, I have to take…
Posted in College, Communicating with Kids, Education, Parenting, Professional Development, Psychology of Youth, School, Society & Culture, Teaching Tagged with: Competition, Education, Exams, grades, Meritocracy, Parenting, School, Schools, Teachers, Teaching
