Empowering kids in an anxious world

There’s a lot going on in the world right now. Here are some tips if your kids are feeling anxious. [View this email online]( [NPR Education]( March 27, 2022 This week, we looked at ways to help your kids with anxiety, a school strike that was averted and a University of Michigan lawsuit. Plus, a look at how name, image, and likeness contracts are transforming college sports. --------------------------------------------------------------- Angie Wang for NPR Happy Sunday, Cory here with a little something we cooked up to help with the children in your lives, whether you’re a parent, teacher, nana, auntie or doting uncle. Speaking of doting uncles, my brother taught my 10-year-old how to play Dungeons & Dragons last weekend, and I can’t remember the last time my son smiled that much. He needed it. Also, I highly recommend scale mail. Being a kid in today’s world is stressful – especially with how connected everyone is. There’s a war unfolding in Ukraine. A pandemic unfolding or winding down, depending on whom you ask. Our nation’s racial reckoning. Not to mention the pressures of social media. Rates of anxiety and depression among teens in the U.S. have been rising for years, even before the pandemic. Now, schools across the country are overwhelmed with K-12 students struggling with mental health problems, [according to our friends on the Science Desk](. And you might be surprised by some of the roots of this trouble. "Kids are play-deprived," Katherine Reynolds Lewis, a journalist, parent, parent-educator and the author of the parenting book, The Good News About Bad Behavior, told us back in 2018. And by "play" she means play without screens or adults keeping watch. "Two or three decades ago, children were roaming neighborhoods in mixed-age groups, playing pretty unsupervised," Lewis says. And this kind of adult-free play helped them develop important skills they'd use for the rest of their lives. "They were able to resolve disputes. They planned their time. They managed their games. They had a lot of autonomy, which also feeds self-esteem and mental health." When you throw in pandemic-specific challenges like social distancing that have limited kids’ access to other kids and masks that make it harder to pick up social cues, you can begin to understand what’s happening in a child's brain when they talk about feeling anxious. For four years now, my colleague Anya Kamenetz and I have been mixing up our news reporting with research-backed [advice for parents and families](. Though some of those stories predate the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the lessons still hold true. If you’re looking for help, we hope you’ll read through our reporting. And if you know someone who is looking for help, we hope you’ll press the forward button and share this email with them. For help empowering your kid, [click here](. Tips for talking about death with your child, [click here](. For what teens are saying about sex, drugs and sadness, [click here](. For tips on how to help your child struggling with anxiety, [click here](. Just wanna see us practice our deep breathing skills with Cookie Monster, [we’ve got you covered](. As always, you and your kids are not in this alone. — [Cory Turner]( Correspondent, NPR Ed Now, let’s get into some news… Howard University and faculty reach a tentative labor deal, ending strike threat. Howard University administrators and the union that represents faculty members have reached a tentative three-year agreement to negotiate fairer working conditions, averting a strike. After the early Wednesday deal, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500, agreed to call off the planned three-day walkout, the university said. The tentative pact still needs a vote of ratification by union membership, which is set to take place in the coming weeks. [Read more here](. — Deepa Shivaram, NPR Newsdesk --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- University of Michigan settles a lawsuit over protecting students from sexual abuse. The University of Michigan has reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by students who sought to force changes in how the school protects the campus from sexual misconduct. As part of the deal, which was filed in federal court on Thursday, the Ann Arbor school will create and pay for a multidisciplinary standing committee designed to protect the university community from sexual abuse. [Read more here](. — The Associated Press The Taliban reverses a decision, barring Afghan girls from attending school beyond 6th grade. In a morning of tears and anger, the Taliban on Wednesday reneged on a promise to allow Afghan girls to attend secondary school, as thousands of them turned up at their old school gates in tidy uniforms and carrying their school bags. The abrupt about-face revived worries that the Taliban might keep teenage girls away from education indefinitely. When the militant religious movement first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, girls were not allowed to study. [Read more here](. — Fazelminallah Qazizai & Diaa Hadid, NPR News And before you go, consider this… For the first time in March Madness history, college athletes can cash in on endorsement deals because of changes to the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policies. This is a result of a Supreme Court ruling last summer. While the new arena in college sports has been lucrative for athletes, with contracts reaching 7 figures, NIL advocates are concerned about the lack of legal and financial protections for students. NPR’s Consider This podcast spoke with Stewart Mandel, Editor-In-Chief of college football at The Athletic, about how the current nature of NIL deals may risk exploiting student-athletes. [Listen here](. See you next week. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! [They can sign up here.]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. 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