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THEY learn to read at age 2, play Bach at 4, breeze through calculus at 6, and speak foreign languages fluently by 8. Their classmates shudder with envy; their parents rejoice at winning the lottery. But to paraphrase T. S. Eliot, their careers tend to end not with a bang, but with a whimper. Consider the nation’s most prestigious award for scientifically gifted high school students, the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, called the Super Bowl of science by one American president.

Access to care after diagnosis still prompts concerns for women in NJ and in other states he national recommendation to screen pregnant women and new mothers for signs of postpartum depression will help protect millions of American families, experts agree, since as many as 20 percent of new mothers suffer from the debilitating condition. And if history is any guide, the screening process New Jersey developed nearly a decade ago could continue to serve as a roadmap for communities...

The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice Edited by Marvin D. Krohn and Jodi Lane John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015 620 pages The title and cover of this book immediately sparked my interest, since I had practiced law in the juvenile justice court systems across Georgia as a defense attorney and state prosecutor for almost 20 years. I have become somewhat of an expert in the practice of juvenile law, having worked in a juvenile system that saw numerous overhauls in the...

The man France proclaimed “Best Chef” just committed suicide. He had just been informed that he still had his third Michelin star, the pinnacle of achievement among chefs. You can’t achieve any more than Chef Benoît Violier has in a life spent cooking. And according to one of the people interviewed for the story, Chef Violier gave every appearance of happiness and being self assured. And why wouldn’t he be. His restaurant apparently had no financial troubles...

I’ve been teaching philosophy for 15 years, and while I’ve had some very memorable experiences along the way, I knew early on that my current seminar would be unique. The course itself is on values, and each Monday for nearly three hours my students debate — in an often lively and engaging manner — issues ranging from the existence of universal moral truths to the permissibility of torture and the death penalty. In fact, a few weeks ago, there was a complaint about...

It’s been a big week for young people in the justice system. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that those previously sentenced to life without parole as juveniles must have at least a chance at life outside prison walls. And President Obama’s subsequent ban, announced the same day , on solitary confinement for young people in federal prisons marks another critical acknowledgment of how we need to think about young people in prison. These recognitions — of both science and...

The University of Texas at Austin is launching “Thrive at UT,” a mobile application geared toward enhancing the well-being and success of its students. The application will help students practice and incorporate behaviors into their daily lives that support academic success and timely graduation including bouncing back from failure, maintaining social connections and having a positive self-image. “This application — designed specifically for UT Austin students —...

Some of us remember the bad old days when nobody wore seat belts and babies bounced on their mothers’ laps in the front seats of cars. For others, it’s the stuff of legend. Since the advent of seat belt laws in the late 1980’s, the proportion of people buckling up has skyrocketed from fewer than 15 percent to over 90 percent in many states. The laws required people to change their behavior initially and continuously until buckling up was a habit of mind and a social norm.

Our annual RWJF Culture of Health Prize honors and elevates communities across the United States that are making great strides in their journey toward better health.  A scan of the 2015 winners reveals something we’ve seen in previous years: There is no single blueprint. Even when solving common problems, these Prize communities innovate in their own ways. Each brings fresh ideas to the forefront and offers a unique perspective on how to holistically address our nation’s...

Children born to obese mothers with diabetes have more than four times the risk of developing autism spectrum disorder than children of healthy weight moms without diabetes, according to a new study at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics , add to the growing body of information that the risk for autism likely develops before the child is even born. [For more of this story, written by Traci Pedersen, go...

For kids in some Chicago neighborhoods, walking up and down the same street where there was a beating or a shooting or a body is just part of life — one that isn't always talked about. That's something the Urban Warriors program is trying to change. The YMCA of Metro Chicago project connects kids like Courtney-Clarks, who live in high-violence neighborhoods, with veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan and who might understand what they're going through. The program is built...

A few months ago I published a blog, " A Mother's Rage". I re-accounted my rage and helplessness regarding my daughter's high school rape in Miami, FL. I ended my post with words of hope. I wrote how several years had passed since my daughter's assault. She was now engaged and pregnant with my first grandchild.  This is the rest of the story. I held my daughter's hand as she labored through the night with my grandson. I tried to comfort her fiancee who felt helpless. I rubbed her back,...