New Science On Parenting

November 23, 2009

Interview with Po Bronson, author of the book NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

www.NurtureShock.com

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Mike Carruthers:

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard that it’s not good to fight in front of your children. But that’s actually not very practical.

Po Bronson:

On average parents (if you count even the slightest bicker) it’s like 8 times a day that they’re sort of arguing. And kids are witness to it 45% of the time - and they’re feeling it, they’re picking up on it.

Po Bronson, author of the book NurtureShock …

What the new science says... it’s not saying go fight in front of your kids, but it is saying that if you start an argument in front of your kids, work it out to a point of affection in front of your kids. And use this as a chance to model how we negotiate and compromise. And it turns out that kids whose parents do this - they’re rated as less aggressive in school, more pro-social and have greater well being.

There’s a real good chance that your child is not getting enough sleep.

Kids today - on average - from kindergarten through high school are getting an hour less sleep than kids did  - than I did - thirty years ago. Average high school students today are getting only 6.5 hours of sleep a night. Only 5% of them are getting eight hours of sleep a night.

And just 15 more minutes of sleep per night can make a big difference.

On average, 15 minutes of sleep really matters in high school because A students on average get 15 minutes more sleep than B students who get 15 minutes more sleep than C students and so on.

For Part 2 of this interview, click here. 

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here