On TikTok, familiar childhood dynamics are pathologised
From “gifted kid burnout” to “eldest daughter syndrome”, influencers are rebranding familiar human experiences as a trauma diagnosis.
ByChildhood
The cheering sounds of childhood
Innocent, childlike play is one of the great delights of life. We should try to keep in touch with it.
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We must nourish children’s sense of wonder
Nothing is more character-forming than enthusiasm for the natural world, and the openness and attentiveness it fosters.
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The Nordic parenting myth
Scandinavians are not better parents – but their politicians, unlike Britain’s, understand that childcare is a social good.
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A boyhood built on fear
The cruelties of Maidwell Hall boarding school, described by Charles Spencer in his memoir, have blighted my adult life.
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We’ve forgotten what skin looks like
Something is wrong when ten-year-olds are seeking out anti-ageing products.
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Fear about young adults’ maturity is just a way of trying to control them
Better to help this generation of Peter Pans find their way out of Neverland.
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How Big Tech made us screen addicts
Gaia Bernstein’s Unwired argues that smart devices are engineered to keep our children hooked. Can we hold the industry to…
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A childlike wonder at the world’s everyday beauty is best left to grown-ups
I feel the more experience we have of the world – not less – the more deeply we feel what…
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“It’s constant anxiety”: inside the crisis in child social care
The murders of Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes revealed shocking shortcomings in the UK’s social care system. What is being…
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Does punishing adults for their childhood mistakes really improve society?
The Marc Bola case is the latest example of the dangers of a culture of retrospective shame.
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The top children’s TV show conspiracy theories
From randy Postman Pat to white supremacist Smurfs, we present to you your childhood in tatters.
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The minimum cost of raising a child to adulthood: £83,000
New research by Child Poverty Action Group shows that the cost of raising a child threatens to tip an increasing…
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