THE AAP, KIDS, AND SOCIAL MEDIA. Recognizing the increasing importance of all types of media in their young patients’ lives, pediatricians often hear from parents who are concerned about their children’s engagement with social media. To help address the many effects—both positive and negative—that social media use has on youth and families, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a new clinical report, “The Impact of Social Media Use on Children, Adolescents and Families” in the April issue of Pediatrics (published online today, March 28). The report offers background on the latest research in this area, and recommendations on how pediatricians, parents, and kids can successfully navigate this mode of communication. Find the report.
FOOD DYES AND AD/HD. Whether artificial food dyes may trigger hyperactive behavior in kids with a predisposition may get a look from the US Food and Drug Administration. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has petitioned to have certain food colorings banned from foods. Is hyperactivity a problem in that gifted kid you raise or teach? Find out more about the issue.
TREAT KIDS AS IF THEY'RE SMART is the premise of a North Carolina program for at-risk students. At the beginning of the study, no third-graders in the program had been identified as gifted. But when 5,000 K-12 students were taught and treated as if they were gifted (by specially trained teachers), it turned out that by third grade 15 to 20 percent were evaluated as gifted. Seems to us that this study is not only a validation for training teachers in gifted education techniques, but also (perhaps) for playing on strengths. Read more.
VISUALIZING HOW WE READ is the title of a new article at the Dana Foundation site. The article describes what imaging tools can tell about the way the brain works as it processes letters and language sounds. The article notes differences among dyslexics in terms of brain structure and the probability of reading improvement, and calls for more research on "how neuroscience can inform education." Find the article.