Here are some of the most important factors that make these spaces safe:

Reliable Equipment

When choosing commercial playground equipment, it’s important to consider many elements of design and construction. One of the biggest risks with cutting costs on playgrounds is that inferior quality can lead to the quick breakdown of the materials. Plastic slides can buckle and crack, which can cause scrapes and bruises on kids as they slide down. Broken swings can lead to children falling mid-swing. And battered bolts can even cause entire platforms to collapse.

While you may think all it takes is a little bit of maintenance to keep even the most inferior materials in place, the reality is that breakdown can happen at any time. And a child can get injured before you even realize there’s a problem. Genuine safety comes from choosing high-quality, certified, durable equipment to create structures that won’t wear down quickly. You also want material that, when it does need to be repaired or replaced, is easy and cost-effective to fix.

Visibility

Virtually any parent who spends any time on playgrounds with their kids will tell you one of the most nerve-wracking issues in parks is visibility. Some playgrounds are designed with huge blind spots, so caregivers can’t see their children at all times. The only option then is to trust that the kids will be fine or to spend the entire time chasing their children around. That’s not restful or relaxing for parents who desperately need a break on a local bench.

Lack of visibility can have parents avoiding a playground entirely, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Playground designers and park planners can create open spaces, so parents can watch their kids play from afar. Even when you create quiet spaces or sections of different play spaces, the barrier walls can be low, so parents can still observe kids from a distance. This visibility allows parents to catch dangerous behaviors before they go too far or stop children from running off into the street or other hazardous areas.

Barriers

Speaking of hazardous areas, many of the loveliest parks are bordered by city streets, babbling brooks, and deep creek beds. These might be lovely in terms of accessibility and even splash play during certain times of the year. But at other points in time, cars racing by and rushing rivers can pose a real danger to small children. Kids can quickly fall into dangerous water or chase a ball into the street before their caregiver has a chance to respond.

One of the most powerful ways to keep kids safe on the playground is to place barriers around the edges of the park. These can come in the form of natural walls made from shrubbery and trees. Or you could install chain link fencing around a park in a particularly busy city as an extra safety measure. Openings at regular intervals allow for accessibility, and low shrubs or chain links allow for visibility. So you kill three birds with one stone.

Regular Maintenance

Of course, no park can remain safe forever without regular maintenance. Unattended parks can pose the greatest hazards to children because small issues can become worse over time. Cracks in slides can become chasms that cause serious injury. Broken swings get misused over time. And dirty, unrepaired surfaces can make a simple fall a major crash and burn. These parks in disrepair also happen to be the ones no one even wants to visit anymore.

For a playground to be truly safe, maintenance workers should visit the area regularly for upkeep, landscaping, and a review of the playground equipment. This would both keep the slides, swings, and platforms in working order and keep the park clean and thriving with plant life. Also, having regular maintenance people on site in parks performing routine upkeep can be a deterrent for people with ill intentions.

An Engaged Community

Finally, the primary safety measure you can take in any location, and especially a community park, is to keep the community engaged. Far too many people now feel as though they have to mind their own business, and worry that looking out for other people’s kids might be considered nosy. Of course, you don’t want to have a ton of people worrying over nothing. But people locked into their phone screens to the exclusion of what’s happening around them can create a dangerous environment.

You can encourage more community participation by placing benches and other seating around the park. Strategically placed canopies and covers can also help people relax on both the hottest and rainiest days. You could also post signs about community involvement that remind people just how much they contribute to neighborhood security merely by being present and paying attention. The more helpful eyes you can get on kids at play, the better.

In the end, parks and playgrounds can be some of the safest places for kids in the community to spend time. They can grow, develop, and mature under the watchful eyes of their neighbors. And parents can trust that kids won’t be harmed by equipment that is of the highest quality and well-maintained. It really does take a village to raise kids, and every person involved in local parks, from planners to visitors, is part of that village.

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In therapy, people often come to me because they are becoming aware of these patterns, but they feel frustrated. They see what is happening but feel they cannot change. This is where I talk about what I call closing the gap, or the process of moving from unconscious reaction toward conscious response.

Imagine standing on one side of a bridge. That is the side of your old pattern. On the other side is the person you want to become. You are aware, calm, and able to choose your response. In the beginning, that bridge doesn’t even exist. You simply react. But with awareness, step by step, the bridge begins to take shape beneath your feet and the gap begins to close.

Here are 6 steps to move you onto a new path.

Step 1: Awareness After the Fact.

At first, awareness only comes later. You get triggered, you react, and then, after it’s over, you realize: “Oh, that was my old pattern again.” This is the first step.

Step 2: Awareness During the Reaction.

With time, you begin to notice while it’s happening. You’re in the middle of the reaction and suddenly you see it. You can’t stop it yet, but you’re closer, the first planks of the bridge are being laid.

Step 3: Less Intense Reactions.

Eventually, you catch yourself earlier. You still react, but not as strongly. The awareness softens the intensity. It’s as though you’ve taken a few steps forward and the planks of the bridge you are building feel a little steadier.

Step 4: Pausing Mid-Reaction.

Next comes the ability to stop yourself mid-reaction. You might still feel triggered, but now you can pause, step away, and return later when you’re calmer; a chance to regain balance before crossing into familiar territory, just as you would pause on a shaky bridge before taking the next step.

Step 5: Not Reacting but Needing Space.

You feel triggered, but you don’t act on it. Still, you can’t yet calm yourself enough to respond right away. The bridge is strong enough to hold you, but not yet steady enough to cross calmly.  Instead, you choose to leave the situation and return later to respond consciously, with more clarity.

Step 6: Anticipating the Trigger.

Eventually, the bridge becomes so familiar that you see potential obstacles before you step on them. You soothe yourself early, preventing a reaction altogether, and cross smoothly to the other side.

This is the process of closing the gap. Moving from no awareness to awareness after the fact, to awareness in the moment, until eventually awareness comes so quickly and naturally that you are able to choose how you respond.

However, it is important to remember that crossing this bridge is not a one-time event. We don’t just move through the steps once and arrive permanently on the other side. Depending on stress, tiredness, or circumstance, we may find ourselves back in earlier steps.

This doesn’t mean we’ve failed or gone backwards. Each crossing reinforces the bridge. Over time, the earlier steps happen less often, and the later ones feel more natural. This is not just a process I teach in therapy. It is also the path I’ve had to walk in my own healing. I have walked and rebuilt this bridge many times myself, and I know how discouraging it can feel before the gap begins to close.

The key is compassion. When we stumble, we remember. We’re still practicing, still strengthening the path. With patience and kindness, the bridge becomes sturdy enough to carry us again and again, toward greater awareness.

After all, the point is not to never get triggered again, nor to be perfect in our responses. That may not be realistic. We are still human with our emotions moving in waves. The point is to live with more ease, to be less at the mercy of old patterns, and to bring more choice and freedom into our daily lives.

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Here are five ways to bring curiosity into your interactions with children, and why it matters.

1. Ask More Questions Than You Answer.

Curiosity keeps the flame of imagination alive. Instead of positioning ourselves as teachers or problem-solvers, we can enter the child’s world as explorers. Asking more questions than giving answers leaves space for their creativity and reasoning to grow. Children feel whether our curiosity is genuine or judgmental. When our intention is to listen and learn, they are more willing to share their thoughts and feelings. By asking open-ended questions rather than giving explanations, we nurture imagination, invite new perspectives, and allow children to flourish in their own unique way.

2. Embrace Openness in Responses

When a child answers, receive it with an open mind and heart, even if it seems simple, off topic, or surprising, because it carries meaning. What may sound irrelevant to us may be the child’s way of expressing what feels important in that moment. These are the moments to lean in with even greater curiosity, not less. Every response is a doorway into their inner world, and walking through it with curiosity strengthens trust. Appreciating their answers, rather than overlaying your own interpretation, reassures them that their voice matters, builds confidence, and encourages them to share more freely.

3. Celebrate Simplicity

Children often speak profound truths in the simplest language. Don’t expect long or elaborate answers. A short answer is not shallow. It is a clear window into their genuine experience. When we expect children to respond like adults, with detailed explanations, we risk shutting down their willingness to share. Curiosity doesn’t seek complexity. It seeks authenticity. Embracing their brevity allows us to see the depth behind their words and teaches us to value clarity over complexity.

4. Be Fully Present

Curiosity requires more than words. It calls for full presence. Tune into the child’s tone, gestures, and emotions. Symbolic play often carries meaning beyond the literal, especially for younger children. Rather than rushing to explain, allow yourself to experience the play as it unfolds. Presence opens the door to deeper understanding. When we are curious, we begin to see the world as they do, and we realize how their playful expressions make perfect sense within the context of their experience.

5. Become the Student

Let go of being the all-knowing adult. Enter the child’s world with humility, as if you are the student and they are the teacher. In this posture, you not only learn how they see the world, but also show them that their ideas and imagination matter. This is how children feel truly seen, heard, and loved. We, in turn, are reminded of the wisdom and creativity that children carry so naturally. Curiosity is not a one-way act of guidance; it is a dance between asking and receiving, speaking and being silent, knowing and discovering.

Curiosity is more than a strategy; it is a way of being with children. It helps us listen, observe, and participate without imposing. It strengthens connection, nourishes trust, and reminds children that their thoughts and feelings matter. When we share the gift of curiosity, whether in play, in stories, or in everyday life, we keep imagination alive and love flowing. Curiosity really is a superpower. It transforms not only our children, but ourselves.

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Recess is a key component of children’s overall health. It shapes who they are by fostering important physical, cognitive, and emotional development skills. Children learn about their bodies, understanding spatial awareness and knowing their own limits. They also meet and interact with peers on a different basis than they do while in a classroom setting. Kids learn the importance of sharing and collaborating so everyone can have fun.

Modern playgrounds are built to ensure that all children’s needs are met, nurturing a space for everyone to feel welcome and invited to play. Here are a few ways that modern play equipment supports health in elementary schools.

Physical Health Benefits

It goes without saying that there are numerous physical health benefits associated with time on the playground. Commercial playground equipment, such as swings and slides, fosters physical fitness. Children develop gross motor skills as they run from one structure to another, navigate through obstacle courses, and gain strength by jumping and climbing. These types of movements are essential to overall development, leading to stronger bones and muscles as well as improved cardiovascular health.

Additionally, children also pick up on fine motor skills during play. Digging a hole in the sandbox and making sandcastles requires fine motor skills, as does grasping rings on a climbing ladder or turning a knob on an interactive panel. Both gross and fine motor skills are needed for lifelong learning and well-being.

Core strength is another lifelong skill that is often first developed on the playground. Climbing to the top of a rope ladder requires children to focus on their deep core, engaging the abdominal muscles and strengthening the back muscles, too. They engage these same muscles on balance beams, while also testing their overall flexibility and balance.

Children today face a higher risk of being overweight or obese. Packaged foods, sugar-rich treats, and highly processed fast foods are tempting. Unfortunately, many of these foods are also less costly than nutrient-dense, wholesome options. This diet, along with increased screen time, keeps kids in a sedentary state, limiting their ability to burn off energy and excess calories. That’s why getting children out on the playground is so important to their overall health, as well as their mental and emotional health.

Mental and Emotional Health Benefits

Recess is a chance for elementary schoolers to reset their bodies and their minds. Having a mid-day break can be beneficial for enhancing attention, concentration, and memory. Just like adults, children need breaks throughout the day. Having the ability to sit still in a classroom and pay attention is challenging, which is why recess can be so good for little ones’ mental and emotional health.

Unstructured play time on the playground gives children the chance to run freely, play with others, and be creative. Some children may decide to come up with a magical pretend game, assigning roles to their classmates and acting out different scenarios. Others may challenge themselves by going on the bigger slide or tackling the daunting rope ladder. And some children may use the time to focus on themselves, turning to low-stimulation activities such as sandboxes or activity panels.

With each of these pursuits, children relieve stress and anxiety and take in the benefits of nature. No matter if the elementary school’s playground is near an enclosed parking lot or in the middle of a massive field, children reap the benefits of being outdoors. They’ll re-enter the classroom feeling energized and ready to take on the next part of their day. You may even see boosted cognitive function as children can fully focus on the tasks for the day, or problem-solve to find a solution to a math equation.

Social and Interpersonal Health Benefits

Lastly, modern playgrounds are also built to bring children together. On a playground, children are highly encouraged to communicate openly, invite others to play, and cooperate. They grasp the importance of teamwork, knowing that everyone must work together if they want to spin fast on the merry-go-round. They are also presented with real-world scenarios, learning how to negotiate through disagreements and work together to reach a common goal.

These types of social and interpersonal skills cannot be taught. Rather, they’re obtained over time. When a child recognizes that they can’t have the swing set for the full amount of recess time, they must learn to share with others. They develop a greater appreciation for the time they do have on the swings, while also being empathetic to other peers who want a turn as well.

Modern playgrounds are a place of connection for elementary-aged children to gather, play, and bond. Children from different classes may form friendships, which can last well beyond recess time. These lifelong connections are a direct outcome of the many health benefits that come with recess during the elementary school years.

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Pretend play is the way young children practice turning internal images into actions. By taking on different roles, for instance, they absorb various image-sets of feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. When children play, they enter the realm of the imaginal, the world of the artist and poet. This world is their home. It’s where the young mind must hang out if it’s to grow appropriately. Through play experiences, children plan and organize, predict and anticipate, take risks, reflect and experiment.

Decades of empirical research have established the multiple benefits of children’s imaginative play. Because image making forms the basis for thought and because the young brain naturally seeks symbolic experiences, play develops cognitive, emotional, and social learning.

Make pretend play your parenting priority because of these three major advantages:

1. Give Children Limited Control and They More Readily Cooperate. I stumbled on this powerful strategy when I was a single, working mother. And with two rambunctious sons, ages 5 and 3, was I ever grateful to have found it! Since my kids were not easy, I was very skeptical, but the research behind the idea was sound. So, desperate, I tried it out. I was amazed at how well it worked. You could call it, “Let Your Child Be the Boss of You for 20 Minutes in Imaginative Play,” once or twice daily.

Begin by asking “What do you want to play today?” My sons were into Star Wars so they spent a lot of time defending the galaxy. After you enter the agreed-upon play scenario, ask your child questions so that all the decisions about the play are up to him/her. In other words, your child tells you what to do. It will go something like this:

Mom:  “Okay, who should I be today?’

Child:  “You be Princess Leia.”

Mom:  “What should I wear?”

Child:  “You wear this white nightgown.”

Mom:  “Great, and I guess I’ll wear these shoes.”

Child:  “No, you got to wear the black shiny ones.”

Mom:  “Okay, I’ve got my black patent leather shoes on, now what?”

Child:  “Now you go in the space ship. I drive.”

Mom:  “You manage the spaceship well. Where we going?”

Child:  “I have to go see Jabba, the Hutt.”

Mom:  “Oh, can I come, too?”

Child:  “No, you have to stay on the ship until I get back.”

And on it goes…for twenty to thirty minutes. After that time, you take off your costume, put down any toys and become Parent again.

With control during pretend play, youngsters grow in autonomy and competence, necessary for self-determination and inner motivation. And, to my delight, they become more, cooperative too. Since children have the reins during the play scenario, they get their need for control out of their system. With the play complete, they are very happy to give those reins back to you, exactly where they belong in the real world.

2. Prepare Children for Playing Nice with Peers. Playing with your two-year-old supports later peer interactions. Research shows that when mothers play with their youngsters at 2.5 years, it helps the children six months later play cooperatively with kids they had never met. And even later at 4 and 5 years, researchers found those same youngsters while playing with close friends, were applying what they learned from their mothers two or three years previously. For instance, children whose mothers balanced sensitivity and responsiveness in play like jumping on a trampoline were more likely to show those same skills with their friends. If moms were sensitive to their children’s interests and requests, the children grew to do the same with their peers. The evidence continues to mount. Parental modeling during pretend play brings far-reaching results.

3. Set the Foundation for Academic Success. We know that when children play longer before entering formal schooling, they do much better academically. In Singapore, China, and Finland, for instance, three of the highest-performing education systems according to the major international ratings, the average starting age for formal education was right around seven years old. From 0 to 7, play predominated as the pathway to learning. 

Research has found that pretend play also fosters an impressive array of skills that are necessary for school success including taking another’s perspective, regulating one’s emotions, taking turns with peers, sequencing the order of events, and recognizing one’s independence from others. Not surprisingly, children who engage regularly in imaginative play are more creative than their peers and often leaders in their peer group.

Pretend play gives youngsters opportunities to grow autonomy, competence and self-determination while honing their creativity and growing the foundation for academic and social success. Plus, it’s fun and energizing for everyone. Expect to be inspired by your child’s unique abilities. And encouraged by the many positive changes you will see!

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Some of life’s challenges can seem like mountains, especially to children. Unfortunately, some parents try to move the “mountains” that are before their children when they should instead teach their children how to climb mountains. In education, we define such parents as “enablers,” for by moving mountains instead of allowing their children to mountaineer life’s challenges, such parents enable their children to give excuses for problems. This causes children to miss opportunities to develop critical life skills.

If you are a parent who wants your children to succeed, here are five skills kids learn as they go “up and over” challenges like they would a mountain.

1. Dignity – This commonly refers to the honor we confer on others by appealing to their intellect with honesty and truth, offering sensitivity to feelings, and respecting one’s right of self-determination. We dignify people by recognizing their value as human beings. By teaching children to dignify others, kids reciprocally learn that they should expect others to dignify them as well. Thus, dignity refers to a pattern of moral behavior that both warrants and gives honor. By teaching our children of their own dignity, we instill value in them while at the same teaching them that others likewise deserve it.
2. Self-Discipline – The ability to restrain oneself from various feelings, impulses, and desires serves as a shield against temptations to settle for what is easy. The right choice and the difficult choice are often one and the same. Temptations to lose discipline always come in the form of lusting after something we see, something that brings bodily pleasure, or something that inflates our pride. Many bad decisions are easy to choose and made when we lose discipline and fall for these categories of temptation. Our children will be tempted to lose self-discipline for the entirety of their lives, so it is paramount they learn not to.
3. Responsibility – Since reputation is determined by action, responsibility thus carries with it culpability. Personal growth and respect are inhibited when one chooses not to do what is expected of them. By teaching our kids responsibility, they do as expected, accomplish more, and honor both themselves and the values you instill. Furthermore, they develop trustworthiness.
4. Accountability – Not be confused with “responsibility,” accountability simply necessitates giving an answer and does not imply obligation. This is a crucial skill. Our children are never responsible for what happens to them in life, but they are always accountable for their responses regarding what occurs. How they respond is what will determine progress or stagnation. Accountability trains our kids in humility, and it provides ways for them to be proactive and intentional. When our kids learn accountability, they never have to be victims again for they are in control of their responses.
5. Resilience – Resilience is the quality of being able to adapt to life-stressors and overcoming hardship. Resilience is a response. It is choosing to respond wisely to suffering while growing both through and from it. The enemy of resilience is an incorrect assumption that one knows how challenges will end. When our children are allowed to believe that they know the concluding result of a matter, we invite them to give up instead of exercising resilience. Life bombards everyone with numerous hardships. If we hope to see our kids overcome their hardships, we must teach them to be resilient, not fix their problems for them. 

In summary, metaphoric mountains continually offer opportunities for children to encounter challenges, react to them, and then reap the consequences of their responses whether these be positive or negative. This is practical learning. Mountain-climbing affords children the ability to adapt, which ultimately yields skillsets that promote wise choices, honor others, and set our kids up to be productive. The next time your child encounters a mountain at school or in life, choose to help them scale it rather than enabling them to produce excuses. They will one day thank you, and you will place yourself in company as rare as the air on literal mountain tops.

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The Importance of Secure Attachments

Whether you’re a biological or foster parent, forming a secure emotional attachment with an infant is essential for their wellbeing. Infants rely completely on their caregivers to have their basic needs met. When caregivers consistently respond to an infant’s signals in a prompt, sensitive, and loving way, a secure attachment forms. Securely attached infants see their caregivers as a safe haven and are confident they will receive care and comfort when needed. This provides the groundwork for infants to comfortably explore their environments and develop independence. In contrast, infants who lack secure attachments can suffer developmental impairment. Without a primary caregiver to rely on, infants feel anxious and fearful, undermining their personal growth.

Supporting Emotional Development

As children grow into toddlers and preschoolers, healthy relationships continue to positively influence their emotional intelligence and self-regulation. Young children see their parents and other family members as role models for handling emotions. When adults’ express feelings in appropriate, constructive ways, they demonstrate important emotion regulation skills. Conversely, home environments marked by harsh punishments, anger issues, and emotional neglect can hinder a child’s emotional maturation. Children thrive when parents provide warmth while setting reasonable limits and modelling resilience strategies like deep breathing and positive self-talk. These nurturing relationships teach children how to understand and manage their own emotions.

Promoting Social Competence

A child’s social development is also closely tied to the quality of their relationships at home. Through everyday interactions with attentive, engaged parents and siblings, children learn invaluable interpersonal skills. Cooperative play encourages sharing, negotiation, and problem-solving. Rich conversational exchanges expand children’s vocabularies and background knowledge needed for social success. Most importantly, consistent positive attention from family provides the deep sense of security children need to confidently interact with peers. Children reared in cold, unsupportive home environments often struggle socially. However, warm, responsive caregiving promotes the social aptitude to build friendships, cooperate, and resolve conflicts.

Engaging Cognitive Growth

The relationships and stimulation children receive at home directly impact their cognitive development and academic performance. Young children’s brains grow rapidly in response to new experiences and information from attentive caregivers. Engaged parents ask open-ended questions, explain new concepts, and expose children to activities like reading together. These exchanges build children’s critical thinking abilities, literacy skills, and general knowledge. Additionally, the security children feel through healthy family relationships provides the foundation they need to confidently explore, take on challenges, and learn. Children raised in neglectful, unstable family environments frequently experience cognitive delays and poor school adjustment. But responsive, enriched caregiving optimises children’s intellectual development.

As the most influential component of a child’s microsystem, their family relationships and home environment profoundly shape development across domains. All children need dependable caregivers who provide warmth, structure, and opportunities for growth. Research clearly demonstrates that healthy, stable relationships are essential for establishing thriving, well-adjusted children.

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A simple dictionary review informs us that accountability is a condition of being responsible for something. It’s the state of being answerable to a superior. It is likewise a position where one is worthy of another person’s trust and confidence. Indeed, accountability distinguishes the mature from the immature. Mature people can handle adversity. Immature people often wilt under difficult circumstances. Accountability, then, is a job-ready skill, a relationship skill, and a life skill. It is also the greatest gift you can give your child, because once they learn it, they will never have to be a “victim” again.

Let’s look at seven steps needed to teach others accountability.

1. When teaching any skill, engagement with the child should be based on the frequency of inappropriate behavior and seldom the degree of immature behavior. Frequency confirms a missing skill. Irresponsibility peeks its head often, so repetitious behavior should identify what a child cannot manage.
2. There are essentially three habitual behaviors that all unaccountable people struggle with. It may be one or more, but accountability needs to be taught and practiced if you recognize any of the following:
   1. They are beset by uncomfortable or overwhelming feelings that result in chronic trouble.
   2. They cannot maintain composure if someone around them can’t either.
   3. They are unable to do something when it is difficult, or they don’t want to do something requested.
3. If you recognize any of the above behaviors, you will need to assist that person with learning accountability. First, you will need to set boundaries if you want to navigate this obstacle course successfully. Boundaries help reduce worry but be careful…many make the mistake of teaching before establishing the necessary boundaries. You want to be predictable when teaching accountability. Accountability must be confined within boundaries and never by mood. When someone lacks accountability, they will do something that frustrates you. This is why an atmosphere of predictability is crucial. Be clear. Be kind. Be consistent and predictable.
4. Through the process, understand that you will need to provide time, relationship, and questions. You should seek ownership, partnership, and coachability from the child. The key is the relationship component. Irresponsibility will frustrate you. This will tempt you to distance yourself from that person, but don’t do that. It will only isolate the person from you, and they will no longer want to partner with you to grow.
5. Remember, when you partner with someone, you are coaching them, not lecturing them. A lecture never changed anyone. Coaching, however, leads people to change by asking great questions. An example would be asking someone if their choice made their situation better or worse. They know the answer. Allow them to voice it rather than you informing them. This exercise leads to the next requirement to successfully coach accountability: Practice.
6. Just like learning the skill of throwing a ball correctly, learning the skill of accountability also takes lots of practice. Practice leads to confidence, and increased confidence leads to increased effort.
7. Lastly, maintain high standards. Never lower standards for your child just because they have suffered something. When we lower standards, we rob our children of the chance to gain confidence. The pain they experience may not be their fault, but it is always 100% their responsibility to function maturely through problems. We don’t change expectations because every person is worthy of being successful. Don’t let your child avoid overwhelming feelings. Lead them through them and practice managing them appropriately.

Accountability is challenging because it is a vulnerable process for both parties. Ironically, parents are often strict when it comes to academics, but some are lax when it comes to behavior. The irony is that academics seldom impact real-world relationships, while behaviors will make or break a person. There is no algorithm for interpersonal skills. These depend on accountability but remember: Relationships don’t change children. Accountability is where change occurs.

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I would further argue that the best way to teach good writing habits is to study the hard news story. Indeed, the hard news format, practiced by journalists for generations, is an efficient and flexible tool for instilling discipline and focus for young writers.

Talk to any English professor, and they will tell you how poorly the average high school senior is prepared to deliver functional writing assignments. They will tell you how students lack an understanding of structure and order. They struggle with assembling the research needed to make a strong case. They often underestimate the amount of time needed to complete each stage of the process, which leads to rushed and poorly executed products.

I believe I can provide solutions to all of this through the introduction of a project-based curriculum rooted in journalism.

Project-based instruction, also known as “linked learning” or “work-based” learning, is a concept found to be especially successful in improving outcomes for at-risk students. Central to the curriculum is the linkage of traditional academics with real-world job applications.

Research shows that students enrolled in linked learning programs have higher graduation rates and lower drop-out rates with increased postsecondary preparedness and enrollment.

Such results have led some school districts to dedicate entire high schools to the linked learning format. Sacramento City Schools, for instance, has a high school where students are preparing for careers in health care, from doctors and nurses to paramedics, hospital administrators, and even facility engineers.

Here are 4 strategies my class would emphasize.

1. The inverted pyramid. Visualize the Giza Pyramid turned upside down, so that the entire structure rests on its tip. With that image in mind, let’s consider a few facts of a make-believe news story that starts with a traffic accident and a pedestrian badly injured. To properly organize this news story, the writer must decide which facts go first, and the inverted pyramid provides the answer. The idea is to give the reader the most fundamental message first. A 51-year-old man was killed Wednesday in a traffic accident on Main Street. The second sentence might carry the next most important fact. The victim, Fred Smith of San Francisco, was a political consultant and an advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Each of the following sentences would carry additional details in descending importance. Once a student has some exposure to this skill, their writing overall will be forever improved and carry over into all other coursework.

2. Short, declarative sentences. The demand for brevity goes back to the Civil War era when news was transmitted on telegraph wires and a dollar value was attached to each letter used. More than that, however, simple sentences support clarity and reduce the pitfalls of poor grammar. Hard news is formal, and its topics are typically serious. Conversational language is discouraged.

3. Time management. A reporter on deadline must quickly assemble the elements of a report. Many inexperienced writers spend too much time procrastinating, which leads to indecisive communication.

4. Research. Despite claims about “fake news,” no newsroom I ever worked in, tolerated even a hint of fabrication. Reporters are required to use credible sources to build their stories. Generally, editors want to know who the sources are even if the reporter has agreed not to name the source in the story. Working under deadline, a reporter must know where to get the information needed to fill out the story.

In my class, objectivity and accuracy would be constants.

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All children need attention. If there is no positive attention to be had, they will seek negative attention. avoid this slippery slope by following these ten tips.

1.  See Your Child’s Acting Out as a Need for Attention: See Billie’s misbehavior as a cry for attention. Let go of any judgment you might have about Billie ‘needing attention’. Think of it as him asking for a glass of water. Your child is not wrong for being thirsty; he should not be made wrong for wanting attention.

Never criticize Billie for acting out. All you need to know is that he is in desperate need for his feelings to be cared about and to be shown that he is loved. Let Billie know that, although you are not happy with what he’s doing, you want to know what’s going on with him. Tell him you love him; give him a hug and say, “Want me to take you to the park?” If you’re in a time crunch, say “I love you! Wanna go to the park later and talk?”

2. Children are Mirrors: Think back on a time when you wanted attention and did not get it. Take out your journal and write: “Why does it bother me that Billie wants so much attention?” And then ask: “When did I want love and attention and felt angry because I didn’t get it?” Sometimes parents feel like it’s not fair that their child gets the attention they never got. If you can’t think of a time, let it percolate for a few hours – it’ll come to you. Then call your EFT tapping buddy and heal the painful memory.

3. A Parenting Pep Talk: When a baby cries, you don’t get angry with it: You pick it up. You hold it, offer it a bottle, see if it needs changing. You try everything you can think of until it stops crying. Children and adults are just bigger babies, also needing affection, praise, and quality time with you.

4. How To Know When It’s Enough: When a child is satiated, he or she will begin making a craft or start playing fetch with the dog. Because they got what they needed. Don’t worry about ‘spoiling’ your child with too much attention: They will let you know if it’s too much.

5. Stop Gossip in Its Tracks: If you hear, “Don’t mind Dolly, she’s just looking for attention,” say, “Oh! Thank you for letting me know! Gotta go – I got some major huggin’ to do!” And then go and do something fun with your precious child. Aunt Minnie will get the message.

6. See It as a Healthy, Human Need: Have you ever asked your spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend for a hug? How dare you need some extra attention! Just kidding. If a child is showing you through their behavior and mood that they are needing attention, gosh darn it, give it to them. Generously and with panache!

7. Appreciate and Acknowledge. Every child needs to be appreciated and acknowledged – for creative contributions, acts of kindness, doing their homework, making you laugh, hugging their siblings, showing up for dinner. Make it a priority to spend quality time with your child, praising them, helping them with their homework, reading to them, telling them jokes and funny stories. Show them they are cherished and important to you.

8. Seek Out the Real Reason for the Acting Out: Your child is never ‘being selfish’ or doing something ‘for attention’. Ask them what’s going on with them. If they can’t tell you, figure out something they enjoy to do with them. Be patient, and they will eventually tell you.

9. Circumvent the Acting Out: You will be amazed at how infrequently your child acts out when you shower them with praise, acknowledgment, affection, and individualized attention. It only takes a moment to acknowledge your child at dinner for something they have done that was awesome!

10. Children Bounce Back Quickly: Children bounce back quickly when they’re given what they need. When you see your child happy and drawing you a picture because you gave them the love and nurturing they needed, you’ll know you did the right thing.

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