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The American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines on Monday urging parents to accept the preferred gender identity of their children. In a policy statement entitled “Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents,” the group recommended “gender-affirming” health care for minors who do not identify with their birth sex. In some cases, this includes “surgical intervention,” as well as using gonadotrophin-releasing hormones to delay...

In a tense hearing on Tuesday, members of the Senate questioned Department of Homeland Security officials about the detention of immigrant families. During the exchanges, the officials repeatedly asserted that they were unaware of any negative psychological effects detention could have on children. The pattern of the officials' answers, first noted by ThinkProgress , stands in stark contrast to the mountain of recent warnings from experts and public-health officials about the dramatic short-...

For my three-year-old son, his playmates are an endless source of entertainment: They meet up at the park to go down the slide, ride tricycles, and conspire in plenty of shenanigans. As he gets older, I hope he will also experience the unparalleled gift of great friendship, with all the delight, reassurance, interconnection, and opportunities for growth that it brings. My hopes are echoed in a new study published in Psychological Science, which found that boys’ friendships are not just fun...

Bryan Stevenson, and acclaimed public interest attorney and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has committed his life to justice -- and especially to the task of closing the gap between how the criminal justice system operates for poor people and people of color, and America's purported ideal of equal justice for all. But for more than 30 years, Stevenson has embarked on a mission to try. He successfully argued a case in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that mandatory...

photo/ CCO 1.0 Screening their pediatric patients for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) showed researchers at Montefiore Medical Center that their cut-off score of 4 for referring children and families for help was too high, says Dr. Dana Crawford, a pediatric psychologist and the director of the Trauma-Informed Care Program at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. Dr. Dana Crawford Their analysis of the results not only confirmed what pediatricians had suspected, it helped them...

photo/ CCO Children, in what should be the safety of their homes, experience trauma, and it is ruining lives — and perhaps entire ethnic groups. Childhood trauma actually alters the structure of the brain — a result of consistent toxic stress — which is why it’s so difficult to heal an individual and help them attain a healthy life. Dr. Anthony Pico The science that was the springboard for making those linkages began with the now famous Adverse Childhood Experiences Study of over 17,000...

“Last year, I got suspended. And it didn’t work. It only made me more mad.” The young man sat in a circle with 3 of his peers, his teacher, a youth intern and myself. It was the third and final day of the National Center for Restorative Justice Youth Conference and school teams were using this time to reflect on and collaborate on an action plan for implementing Restorative Justice in their schools. He was recounting for us his first-hand experiences with both the punitive system of...

Public health messages often tell people things they don't want to hear: Smokers should stop smoking. Sedentary people need to get moving. Trade your pizza and hot dogs for a salad with lean protein. For many people, these messages trigger our natural defenses. They make us feel bad about ourselves and our choices, leading our subconscious to reject the healthy encouragement. However, a new study published in PNAS found that a simple priming exercise in which sedentary people think beyond...

This past July, two men were brutally beaten while heading back to their hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Four men were charged with the attack, but instead of pushing for a harsh jail sentence, the two victims proposed something else: a face-to-face meeting with the perpetrators. The idea is based on a process called restorative justice. In a country where criminal justice often involves harsh penalties like jail time and steep fines, restorative justice asks everyone impacted by a...

Researchers on Monday released a massive collection of education studies timed to inform the next California governor’s and Legislature’s preK-12 agenda. The big achievement gap for California’s low- and middle-income children relative to their peers in other states starts in kindergarten, indicating a need to significantly expand preschool and quality child care.Among the findings of Getting Down to Facts II: The big achievement gap for California’s low- and middle-income children relative...

For anyone with a trauma history, Dr. Blasey Ford's story about what she experienced at age 15, which she alleges were perpetrated by two young men, acting with premeditation and in concert to trap her, keep her from calling for help, and then forcefully remove her clothes and rape her, is not only horrifying but also very triggering. I for one dread seeing how this will play out - and my heart is with Dr. Blasey Ford, who has managed to build a remarkable and resilient life in the face of...

On Monday evening, the U.S. Senate approved 99-1 the Opioid Crisis Response Act (OCRA) of 2018 (Senator Mike Lee, R-UT was the lone “no” vote). The rare, multi-committee, bipartisan bill includes significant provisions taken from or aligned with the goals of the Heitkamp-Durbin Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act (S. 774) , including the creation of an interagency task force to identify trauma-informed best practices and grants for trauma-informed practices in schools. The...