For nearly a decade I’ve been writing about the role of purpose in boys’ lives, but what about girls? Are they as lost as so many young men seem to be? What are the key differences with respect to living…
Dr. Adam Cox
Connecting people with ideas for learning and living well. Helping to build purposeful lives.
Blog Archives
Girls and Freedom
Posted in Girls Tagged with: Creativity, Education, Girls, Life Narratives, Parenting, Purpose, Youth
One Child at a Time
In my career I’ve worked on two fronts: one has to do with advocating for broader, social change, and the other has to do with working to help craft the selfhood of young people, one at a time. These days…
Important Meditation on Space
Readers of this blog know that they can expect perspectives of youth not found elsewhere. I’m really hoping to connect with kindred spirits about topics that can change the lives of kids for the better. Recently, I’ve discovered a book…
Posted in Boys, Child Psychology, Childhood, Early Childhood, Education, Girls, Parenting, Play, Psychology of Youth Tagged with: Amy Fusselman, Art, Book, Boys, child psychology, Creativity, Education, Exploration, Girls, Learning, Life Narratives, Parenting, Play, Preschool, School Architecture, Teaching, Youth
How to Reduce Drama, Improve Grades
There is only so much emotion to go around during the course of the school day. If all of it gets invested in grades, relatively less is available for the important stuff, like discussion, debate and sustained attention. So, how…
Posted in Adolescence, Communicating with Kids, Education, Executive Functions, Professional Development, School Tagged with: anxiety, Boys, Education, Executive Functions, Girls, grades, Humanities, Reading, Teachers, Teaching
Searching for Authenticity
For two decades I’ve been wrestling with the challenges of youth, trying to address the most pressing issues in constructive and novel ways. The landscape of child and adolescent psychology is not flat. Specifically, not all issues or challenges are…
Posted in Adolescence, Brain, College, Parenting, Psychology of Youth, Society & Culture Tagged with: Adolescence, Authenticity, Boys, College, Education, Girls, Life Narratives, On Purpose Before Twenty, Parker Palmer, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Purpose, Self-knowledge, Values, Wendell Berry
Best School Video Ever!
Must see video from one of my favorite schools! Isn’t this how we want all students to feel about school…I think so!
Play is the Work of Children
Play occupies life before work does, and is in ways a primer for work. As cleverly observed by philosopher Alain de Botton, children gravitate toward characters who are “shopkeepers, builders, cooks or farmers – people whose labor can easily be…
Posted in Boys, Brain, Child Psychology, Childhood, Early Childhood, Education, Girls, Parenting, Play, Psychology of Youth, Social Communication, Society & Culture Tagged with: Allain de Botton, Boys, child psychology, Creativity, Girls, Kindergarten, Philosophy, Play, Preschool, Pretend, Purpose, Students, Teaching, Work, Youth
“Monstrous Children”
Modern children face an unfortunate fact. For all the love and attention we lavish on them, hardly a soul takes them seriously. Further, despite abundant indulgence and protection provided to middle-class children, in particular, few are given anything significant to…
Posted in Child Psychology, Childhood, Communicating with Kids, Early Childhood, Parenting, Psychology of Youth, Social Communication, Society & Culture Tagged with: Behavior, Boys, Childhood, Civility, Discipline, Executive Functions, Girls, Monstrous Children, Parenting, Respect, Social Communication, Society, Speech
Do Manners Make Kids Dull?
I came across this thoughtful piece on manners during childhood in The Guardian. Nice analysis of how a person’s socioeconomic class can make manners feel “suffocating.” Do others feel the same? Not sure. I know that I was raised…
