What comes to mind when you think about skateboarding? Depending on your age (wink), your initial thoughts might range from "kid's toy" to "action sport," or from "thrilling" to "dangerous" or even "annoying noise." Although skateboarding bore the reputation of a rebellious counterculture in its…

The Northern Triangle of Central America faces many challenges, including violence and crime. Young people are the most common victims as well as perpetrators of violence, especially gang-related violence. That is why Glasswing International is committed to providing children, adolescents, and youth with tools to prevent violence and opportunities…

Education is a social institution through which a society's children are taught basic knowledge, skills, and cultural norms. Social change can often lead to transformation within the social organization of a society, as it can affect not only people but also social institutions. Social change occurs when people call for change to meet human needs.…

Recognizing the valuable role nature plays in human development as well as humans' responsibility toward the earth is critically important when considering how to transform education for the betterment of the individual and society. In this article, the author views nature as a force or phenomenon of the metaphysical world. As such, she suggests…

Healthy psychosocial development during childhood is a key determinant to the future well-being of all individuals. In many areas of Africa, demand for psychosocial support continues to grow in response to the increasing number of children left orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These orphans face various challenges and yet, in most…

This article explores the power of student voice, in recognition of the child's right to be treated as a capable, competent social actor involved in the education process. In this study, student voice is considered in the light of improving students' engagement and personal and social development at the primary school level. It emphasizes the…

Over more than three decades spent researching cultural aspects of how children learn, the author has had the opportunity to learn about how individuals and cultural communities change and continue. During her research on children's learning by observing and "pitching in" in a Mayan community in Guatemala, the author learned a great deal…

Allophilia refers to an individual's feelings of affection, engagement, kinship, comfort, and enthusiasm toward members of a group seen as "different" and "other" (Pittinsky, Rosenthal, & Montoya, 2009b). The term allophilia is derived from the ancient Greek words for "liking" or "love" and the "other". The concept of allophilia mitigates the…

Intergenerational programs unite people of different ages and provide opportunities for individuals, families, and communities to enjoy and benefit from the richness of a culturally and generationally diverse society that encompasses the needs and interests of the individuals involved. Reflecting on the numbers of young children and senior adults…

Literature can stimulate creativity and imagination necessary for the development of personal awareness and social consciousness. (NH)

This article describes a project called "Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy by Children, for Children". The project was simple in scope. The authors sought to collect stories of child advocacy--ways in which children were working on behalf of other children. They also sought to collect and profile children's voices and vision and so…

The author suggests that a balanced view of freedom tempered with constraint can overcome barriers to the human potentials movement. (Author/WY)

The author describes events in her children's lives which illustrate their growth through curiosity and the ways in which parents can nurture a child's innate curiosity. (ED)