Play counters the tendency to dominate, in humans and in other mammals. By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn Anthropologists who have trekked to isolated regions of the world to observe hunter-gatherer societies—whether in Africa, Asia, South America or elsewhere—have consistently been impressed by the egalitarian nature of those societies […]
Can free-range parenting laws and city proclamations help restore kids’ freedom? By Peter Gray Ph.D. ‘Freedom to Learn’ Can laws and official public proclamations help to restore children’s rights to be children and parents’ rights to be parents? There is some evidence that they can. This is the third article in […]
Your happiness and self care is more important than anything else right now. Nina Maile Gordon/The Conversation, CC BY-NC-ND On behalf of student here from Hong Kong I am so worried to tell my parents that the work is too much. They want me to study hard and continue at an […]
Hockey contributes a lot to activity levels compared to other sports. from shutterstock.com Teenagers who play organised sport only get seven minutes more physical activity per day, on average, than teenagers who don’t play any sport. Our research, published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, found organised sport […]
Children quickly took to the robot and developed a relationship with it. Screenshot Youtube A cute human-like robot taught students in a small, rural school how to code while also helping them learn their local Aboriginal language. The Maitland Lutheran School is an independent, co-educational primary and middle school in the farming […]
Guidelines advise children under two shouldn’t have any screen time, but most do anyway. Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash Most (80%) Australian parents worry children spend too much time with screens. But what children are doing on and off screen matters more than how much time they’re exposed to screen media. […]
Teachers still sometimes punish a whole class for the behaviour of one student. from shutterstock.com Classroom management is consistently seen as a source of stress for beginning teachers. It’s also one of the main reasons cited for teachers leaving the profession. So, it’s no surprise teachers try to use classroom management strategies that appear […]
This post was originally published on my Patreon in February 2019. While most of my Patreon posts will remain exclusive to financial supporters, occasionally I share an older one over here as well. You know winter is truly over when you hear the spring peepers. Even living in the suburbs, the wetlands, […]
Part two: overcoming the social isolation society has imposed on children. By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn Children are suffering today from too much adult structuring of their activities and not enough freedom to play and explore in their own chosen ways (for some of the evidence, see here, here, and here). […]
By Peter Gray, Ph.D. Part one: irrational societal fears can paralyze parents and harm children. Children are designed, by nature, to spend hours per day playing with other children, independently of adults. In such play they practice all sorts of physical and mental skills; discover and pursue their passions; and learn […]