The Missing Social Unit From middle school onward, American children don't belong to a "class" in any stable sense. They move continuously - subject to subject, room to room, teacher to teacher. There's extensive discourse around respect, equity, and inclusion. But there's remarkably little structured attention to the actual social life of any group. Because there isn't really a group.
Oftentimes, within online support groups for parents, questions arise about "treatments" that fall well outside the established evidence base for childhood mental health disorders. These suggestions frequently include supplements and "natural" fixes-zinc, saffron oil, magnesium-or restrictive diets such as gluten-free, casein-free, or "detox" protocols. Posts also commonly promote pseudoscientific interventions like sensory integration therapy, red light therapy, or homeopathy. Parents recommend them to other parents despite little to no scientific support for their effectiveness.
In Becky's* case, her ex-partner had seemed like the best thing since sliced bread when they first met and she was just 18 years old. He would buy her gifts, take her on fancy holidays and encouraged her to move in with him after six months of dating. Given that he had a decent job and had taken control of the household bills, she was unaware that he was avoiding paying council tax and was racking up significant debts in her name.
Everything feels heavier for them. School days are longer. Homework starts earlier. What we now call "free time" is often filled with organized sports, tutoring, or screens. Schedules, routines, and pressure have replaced the easy rhythm of childhood. It has taken a toll on the mental health of our children over the past 50 years. Anxiety, depression, and attention problems have risen sharply.
Whether it's peer relationships, puberty, or family strife, today's children often experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and worry. As a psychologist who works with parents, many moms, dads, and caregivers regularly ask me, "How can I help my kids feel better?" While we can't control what happens in the world, parents can equip their kids with education in emotions, a much-needed life skill. Being able to temper sharp emotions can prevent symptoms of depression, research shows.
How you handle the conversation is less about age and more about what you know of your child and how likely they are to be impacted by the events, Deborah Gilboa, a family doctor and resilience expert, tells TODAY.com. Of course, these discussions depend on whether or not parents know for certain that their child has been exposed to graphic content.
Our research shows that the more times a child is absent from school, the greater the probability that they will experience mental ill health, the authors, from Loughborough university and the ONS, concluded. The study, involving more than a million school-age children in England, found the relationship between absence and mental health was a two-way street, with lengthy absences increasing the likelihood of later hospital treatment.
Over one in four kids isn't allowed to play alone, even in their own front yard. 71% of kids have never used a sharp knife. 45% of kids have never walked alone down the aisle of a store when their parent was in a different aisle. 56% of kids have never talked to a neighbor while alone. 62% have never walked or biked anywhere without an adult. 63% have never built a structure, like a fort or tree house, outside their home.
"Nichole" was 10 when I started seeing her at her school. The school counselor reported that Nicole was talking about wanting to "cut myself in half," prompting concern. During our first session, she reported that she lives with her mom during the week and visits her dad every other weekend. This is common for many kids whom I see, as we live in a time of many diverse examples of family and parenting. In therapy, she began to talk about feeling scared to mention her dad around her mom. When asked why, she shrugged and said, "Because it'll make her mad."
