child development

Education needs all of us.

KinskyLeave a comment
Adults and children working together on a colorful puzzle in front of a school, representing families, teachers, schools, and communities supporting children’s education.

Education is too big to be held by one person.

It cannot be carried by one school alone. Not by one teacher. Not by one parent. Not by one program. Not by one policy.

Children are raised within a web of relationships and influences. They are impacted by their home life, their peers, their teachers, their families, their communities, their expectations, their routines, the technology they interact with, the voices that instruct them, and the adults who love them.

Right now, far too many of those pieces are strained.

Schools have become politicized. Parents are overwhelmed. Teachers are burned out. Institutions are struggling. Technology is advancing faster than many adults can keep up with. And now we are sending kids and teens into the world with AI as part of their upbringing.

We should all take a step back.
Children need more than a device.
AI can answer questions, but it cannot raise a child.
Technology can provide information, but it will never replace wisdom.

A screen can react, but it cannot love a child. It can teach, but it will never truly know a child the way another human being can. It can monitor, but it will never protect a child from harm the way a caring adult will.

No matter how many machines we build to assist us, they will never replace the human connection children need.

Children need adults.

They need parents. Teachers. Families. Schools. Communities. Everyone coming together to do what is best for children.

Children need boundaries.
They need guidance, discipline, love, patience, attention, and most of all, connection.
That is why this is not the time for adults to point fingers at each other.
This is the time to come back to the child.
If we want education to change for the better, we have to make the child the center.
Politics cannot be the center. Technology cannot be the center. Test scores cannot be the center. Programs cannot be the center.

The child has to be the center.
And that means education needs all of us.

Young Children Should be Playing, Not Staring at Screens

KinskyLeave a comment
Mother and young child playing with blocks and books, showing that young children need playtime, connection, and real-world learning more than screen time.
Young children need playtime, not screen time.

Young children should not be learning primarily from screens. They should be learning through their hands and senses, imaginations and relationships, movement and play.

Young children need time with parents and caregivers. Eye contact, conversation, songs, stories, hugs. Blocks to build, books to turn, pages, crayons to draw, kitchens to pretend, trees to climb and run around. Time touching rough and smooth textures, and using their tiny hands to explore everything.

Screens can be educational. But they can’t look you in the eye. They won’t teach your baby language or attention or emotional security or imagination or kindness.

Your baby doesn’t need a video for entertainment. Your baby needs you.

Your toddler doesn’t need a device to learn how to use their imagination. They already have plenty of imagination. Your toddler needs time. Space. Simple toys. And your undivided attention.

I’m not saying parents need to feel guilty about screen time. We’re all tired. We’re all doing the best we can. But maybe we shouldn’t let screens take over. Let’s remember what kids really need.

Before screen time, they need play time. Before programs, they need human interaction. Before apps and online learning, they need to explore the world around them.

One of my goals in writing Raising Children in the Age of Screens was to give parents, teachers and caregivers a chance to reflect on what kids really need in a screen-dominated world.