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Social & Emotional Development

A New Year for Children

January 4, 2019
As we begin the New Year, every new headline reminds us that these are very tumultuous times. I start this season redoubling my determination to focus all my energies towards helping build a transforming movement for children to end child poverty and inequality at this extremely dangerous time of...
Marian Wright Edelman's picture

UPDATED! Let Cyntoia know you are with her!

December 21, 2018
*** Did you see this campaign? MomsRising is fighting for Cyntoia Brown, and your signature is still urgently needed. Please take a few moments to sign our petition asking Governor Haslam to grant Cyntoia Brown clemency NOW! Read on for all the details, and thank you for all you do. *** Yesterday...
Beatriz Beckford's picture

Prayers for the Holy Season

December 21, 2018
All during the Christmas season, as millions celebrate a poor, homeless child Christians call Savior, I think about the irony of some political leaders proposing (and citizens permitting) policies that would result in millions more children becoming destitute, homeless, and hungry and being...
Marian Wright Edelman's picture

A Unanimous Voice in Support of Students

December 18, 2018
On October 2, the Graham County School Board quietly joined all the other 114 local school districts in North Carolina by voting to prohibit the use of corporal punishment in the public schools. Thus, for the first time in the history of our state (as well as the colony before it), no students...
Tom Vitaglione's picture

In Honor of Her: Venida Browder and her fight for justice told by her son Deion Browder.

December 18, 2018
On June 6th 2015, the news of Kalief Browder’s untimely death was mourned across the country. Kalief at sixteen had been arrested for theft of a backpack, a crime he contended he did not commit. Subsequently, he was detained without being charged with a crime at Rikers Island simply because his...
Beatriz Beckford's picture

How to Help Children on Long Car Trips or Plane Rides

December 18, 2018
I was sweating at the base of my spine thinking about the possibility that my two-year-old would wake up from her nap and I would have to tolerate all of the passengers staring and judging. This was my first trip alone on a flight with my daughter and my mind was whirling with multiple worst-case...
Lina Acosta Sandaal's picture

How Many Gifts to Give Young Children During the Holidays?

December 14, 2018
Every December at my center , parents ask me how to not spoil their children and how to manage the gift-giving frenzy of the holidays. The following are the answers to the most popular parent questions during the holiday: How many gifts should we give our kids? There is no magic number but if the...
Lina Acosta Sandaal's picture

Education Buzzwords: A Rundown on Social & Emotional Learning

December 10, 2018
Although the concept has been around for some time, social emotional learning (SEL) has become the new buzzword in education circles, joining the ranks of other child and youth-centered keywords including trauma-informed teaching, restorative justice, and positive behavior intervention schools...
Beatriz Beckford's picture

Remembering My Dear Friend and Freedom Fighter Dr. John Maguire

December 6, 2018
“Up until I was 16 years old and a senior in high school, I did the same thing my friends did. We drove through the Black side of town throwing pears at Black guys and yelling racial epithets. We were the White oppressors. I was the White oppressor.” My dear friend Dr. John Maguire readily admitted...
Marian Wright Edelman's picture

Safety In Our Kids' Schools: Providing Social & Emotional Support

December 4, 2018
As a parent, I believe that it is essential that my children feel not just physically safe, but also socially and emotionally safe in their schools. As a mental health professional who has worked in both elementary and high schools, I have seen that physical safety is often the primary focus in...
Keisha Mathew's picture

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