This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.

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In today’s world, it seems that pictures of shootings, wars and hate dominate newspapers and TV news. The dangers of brutality and cruelty do not hide in shadows any longer they have become part of society’s everyday life. It is no wonder that many parents have started worrying how it is possible to protect the mind-set of their children and how to teach them a sense of having compassion for others when growing up surrounded by all this negativity.

In What Way to Children Perceive the World?

For a long time, many people thought that children perceive the outside world in a different way than adults. It was believed that children only observe the world from their own eyes and that they could not engage with it from a less self-centric point of view. Studies have long been in line with this belief reporting that a sense of compassion and care for others only grows in adults.

However, more recent academic studies such as the research published by the National Institute of Health in America suggest that children are able to show signs of concerns and empathy. The study showed that some children reacted with concern when confronted with sadness and even expressed the wish to help in order to tackle a problem. These findings may indicate that parents’ best approach to support kids’ perception of the world is to open the door to address and discuss dramatic and cruel events in an age-appropriate context rather than wondering if ignoring terrible news protects children from realising them.

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In order to show children that violence is not an acceptable behaviour regardless of what happens around them, it is important to teach them a sense of responsibility and find ways to advise them on developing compassion for others around them. In practice, parents may like to address what it means to them when their children act with responsibility and kindness by telling them right away when they acted thoughtless. Through this process, children will learn that the parent does not accept and even disapproves their behaviour. Studies that found strong evidence for children being able to feel empathy, suggest that children are more likely to change their behaviour when their parents have a real emotional commitment to the situation. The reason for this is that most children want to help to fix the problem when they are concerned that an important person in their life feels unhappy.

The Limits of Control

There is no doubt, that it is impossible to control all aspects that affect the life of children. In the end, children have to go outside and experience the real world when playing with friends, go to kindergarten or spend time at school. Some of these experiences will be harsh and negative. Additionally, children have their own personalities and they will deal with negative experience in their own ways or are influenced by negative external forces such as irresponsible friends. But parents do not need to fear that all negative influences undermine their own educational efforts at home. There are some things parents can do to encourage their children to become responsible and caring people.

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Guidance on Teaching Responsibility and Kindness

The American Psychological Association published a useful guide with practical examples that show how parents can help to counteract influences from the outside world. The guide includes the following recommendations:

Firstly, it is important to encourage children to read books that concentrate on caring characters and compassionate storylines. There are many short stories and novels that promote responsible and kind behaviour fitting every child’s taste. It is important to give children books they can identify with in order to engage with the material and understand the message behind it.

Secondly, an inexpensive alternative that may require some research though, is to educate children about famous altruists. There may be television, DVD or magazine specials about an interesting person who has put the care of others above his or her own. Local museums may provide an enjoyable way to teach children about responsibility. A good starting point could be to have a conversation about idols and ask children whether there is a person they admire and if so why.

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The truth is that nothing is more inspiring than having a role model. Unsurprisingly, there is no exception when it comes to children and educating them on responsibility and fairness. If a child grows up in a caring and compassionate home, it will be more likely to adopt the role and care more about others in his or her environment.

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Shines a light on what has been an overlooked subject for society and the economy. The findings demonstrate for the first time just how far-reaching and damaging the consequences of bullying can be.

Thus, it seems a bad experience in our childhood, such as bullying, is more likely to lead to failure later in life. A 2008 study from  The Heritage Foundation  noted that numerous education reforms in the past few decades in the United States had little or no impact on student achievement. Instead, it showed that stable family structures and strong parental involvement were closely linked to positive educational outcomes such eagerness to study and college completion. Thus, instead of wasting time and money on ineffective education forms, the system should aim at strengthening family structure and should encourage greater parental involvement, in the US. Indeed, many children are raised in poverty, whether in developed industrial countries or in poorer societies. In our Western societies, many mothers have to work multiple jobs for long hours, in order to make ends meet or to advance in their careers. The downside is that they are then too busy and tired to give them the attention they require. As a result, one may claim that our childhood environment, education and the involvement of parents can determine non-cognitive skills and character. These studies, along with many more, point to the facts that our childhood affects our ability to succeed: a happy, wealthy and stable childhood will lead to success, while a troubled one will increase our chances of failure. According to another article from the  Annual Review of Psychology, social classes also determine attitudes that people develop towards success. Higher-income families tend to encourage kids to follow their dreams and tend to nurture a caring and hard-working environment. They may give them the tools and support to pursue various interests; to think creatively, to work independently and to take initiatives. Less wealthy families tend to emphasize pride in hardships and let their children figure out their limits on their own. Their children are not made aware of leadership skills in the same ways, and tend to do what they are told without taking risks and maybe even challenge authorities. It seems then that material success in early childhood has a positive influence on success, while poverty-stricken communities and families are less likely to succeed. However, this is highly debatable and  poverty does not necessarily mean inability to succeed. Building and supporting a stable and caring home environment is key for children to develop happily and to want to be successful later. Yet again, the definition and interpretation of such an environment is for each of us to determine. This will in no doubt influence young people’s character and non-cognitive skills such as creativity, critical thinking, willingness to take risks and taste for entrepreneurship. In turn, those skills can be powerful tools and drivers of success. What other factors from our childhood would you say affect our future success? What impacts do family structure, parental involvement and educational attainment in our childhood have on our ability to succeed?  Do you agree that our childhood can in any way lead us to be successful adults? Or is it all up to luck, right timing, taking risks and grabbing opportunities?

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Summertime rhymes with playing outdoors, picnic in the park, or daytime at the beach. It also rhymes with countless surveys and articles about the “end of childhood”, and why children no longer play outside, but rather spend hours in front of the TV screens.

For example, a quarter of children spend less than half an hour outdoors each day, a 2012 survey from the National Trust has found. According to their research, more than half of seven to twelve year old children spend less than an hour a day outside, while almost nine in ten children have never taken part in outdoor activities such as climbing trees, exploring a cave, using a map or building a den.

This contrasts with the 1.000 parents and grandparents surveyed who spent an average of two hours and 34 minutes outside each day in their youth. More than half of grandparents (53 percent) spent more than three hours a day playing outside when they were aged seven to 12, compared to six percent of children today. Finally, the RSPB, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, said that only one in five British children is “connected to nature.”

As a result, The National Trust launched its 50 things to do before you are 11-and-three-quarters campaign to “connect the cotton wool generation with nature” by getting 200,000 children to play outside this summer. The campaign organises more than a thousand events and activities over the holidays to encourage families to get closer to nature.

“Outnumbered” star and supporter of the campaign Hugh Dennis, told The Independent:

My most treasured childhood memories are of being in the outdoors so it’s a sad thought that kids today aren’t enjoying the experiences which we remember so fondly. There are so many simple delights to be had – and it doesn’t have to be a chore or ordeal to do either. Back gardens can be as much as a treasure trove for kids as the seaside or a local park.

Helen Meech, assistant director for outdoors and engagement at the National Trust, added:

The memories made as a child stay with you forever, and if outdoor places are part of these memories then hopefully children will grow up wanting to protect these special places for years to come.

The end of childhood?

One question remains though. [tweet_quote]Why does the fact that children no longer play outside is a synonym of “the end of childhood?”[/tweet_quote] Do you agree with that? The reality is that our societies have created a climate of obsession with children’s safety and have regarded parents as irresponsible for allowing children to be independent outdoors. Some parents have been accused of gross negligence if not criminalised for letting their offspring live an independent life.

So we now have a contradiction between children’s freedom and children’s protection where letting them outdoors contradicts the social climate. All these reports and articles do not take that reality into account nor the loss of enthusiasm from parents for outdoor play. This is a shame as the best way to protect children is probably to nurture their independence, creativity and sense of adventure. Don’t you think that children need to experience and interact with the world around them in order to learn about themselves, to develop a sense of responsibility and strategies to deal with risks and unexpected events?

Does too much security mean less freedom?

Most importantly, being outside is simply good for your child’s mental and physical health. Exercising is key for their growth and as they are under increasing pressures to perform well academically, being in a park or by a pond could relieve them. It is also good for the planet: spending time in natural places will encourage children to grow into environmentally-friendly adults, who will cherish their childhood memories outside and will hopefully spend more time in nature.

On another note, I should add that today’s society has greatly evolved and children cannot be expected to act and play in the same ways as previous generations. It is important not to rely on technology and new gadgets but one cannot simply ignore these either. So it is a matter of finding a healthy balance and compromising with your kids.

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What other pros and cons do you see? Would you agree that too much security is less freedom?

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As a little girl, I enjoyed watching Disney animated movies based on fairy tales. I remember they took me to the world of imagination, where I was a princess, who was waiting for a prince charming to come and rescue me. My favourite fairy tale was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs“. I will never forget how excited I have been while my brother and I prepared to go to the cinema with our parents, to watch this story in animated version, for the first time. Only later did VHS and videotapes come, enabling us to record and enjoy our favourite scenes and episodes. Snow White helped me in many ways. One of them was the fact that I started learning and practising my English, which I continued to study at the Institute for Foreign Languages in Belgrade. Thanks for that!

The Little Mermaid is also on the top of my best cartoons list. This is a symbolic story which tells children about perseverance, determination, love and purity of heart. Today, having children of my own, I always find time to sit with them and watch their favourite cartoons. From Baby TV channel – for the little ones, to the animated feature films. Everything has its value, and in the same time, it helps me remember all these wonderful things that we learn from cartoons. One can never be old enough to watch them.

What Can We Learn from Watching Cartoons

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Younger children learn new sounds, shapes and colours with the help of cartoons; they also get in contact with music in a different way (most of the times they are used to listen to songs on CD player or the radio); watching cartoons inspire kids to dance and to talk in a new, imaginative language only known to them… Parents must be trully delighted to see them so happy and joyful. At early age, children usually don’t have patience to listen to long bed time stories and tales we read to them. Instread, they prefer watching short cartoons. In that way, kids improve speech and vocabulary not only regarding their mother tongue, but they learn foreign language as well. Cartoon TV and Dexter Laboratory, for example, helped my younger brother start speaking English when he was only 6! Of course, a sister had her share in that, too.

As children grow up, we use cartoons to show them how things function in real life, explain them more about feelings and relationships in a way they can understand. We also show them how to deal with certain situations and people. Cartoons contain some valuable life lessons. With Peppa Pig children learn about making friends and friendship, how to accept and appreciate our differences, about positive things of playing outdoors. Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony teach youngsters about friendship, telling them it is something very precious and important, and showing how that with the help of friends you can resolve any problem. Bo on the go gets kids familiar with all the charms of physical culture. My second son, who is three and a half, imitates all the exercises Bo and her friends are doing. I find this very useful, especially during long winter months when we are not spending so much time outside. Animated movies based on fairy tales produced by Disney, Pixar or DreamWorks, teach us lying is wrong and that we should always listen to our conscience – a message from Pinocchio. With Dumbo and the Ugly Duckling we learn that it’s okay to be different and to accept and love ourselves. Children, especially boys, are very fond of Pixar cartoon Cars. It is much more than an ordinary car race. If you haven’t seen it, you have to check out this cartoon, which shows that it is not all about winning the race. Some other things are more important, such as the race itself, getting to know the route and the friends we make along the way  Up teaches us that love is possible at any age, and that long lasting friendships are the most precious thing in life. It is only thing that counts. Kung Fu Panda helps children discover there is no “secret recipe” that can guarantee success in anything, or rather that they have that recipe inside themselves – it is their inner strength, determination and will to do what their heart and imagination desire and to be what they trully are.

Cartoons are full of positive life messages. We, as parents, have to recognize it, and to show our children how to understand such stories, especially when the kids are still too young to realize their meaning. Also, it is a good idea to watch cartoons together. This will help the entire family to bond and become closer than before. Encourage children’s imagination and creativity. Let them talk about their favourite heroes or help them draw cartoon characters. Find and bring out your inner child. This is the best way to connect with your children and exactly the thing Peter Pan tells us.

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