Weekend Reads: Training Kids to Spot Bullshit Health Claims, The Trump Effect on Bullying, and a Ninja Warrior

Louis Doench October 9, 2016

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Happy Weekend Readers! Only a month until Election Day. This will be the longest October ever.

Julia Belluz at Vox reports on an awesome program that is just wrapping up in Uganda to teach young people how to spot bullshit health claims.

The researchers designed teaching materials, lesson plans, and cartoon-filled workbooks for kids about the reliability of medical treatments. And they’ve tested them out on more than 15,000 kids in a randomized controlled trial in Uganda.

We don’t yet know whether their method will work; the researchers are still analyzing the results.

But whether or not this trial fails, it’ll bring us closer to answering an important question, maybe the most important question, on health information right now: Instead of just debunking, which often fails, can we prevent dubious claims from catching on in the first place?

We often complain about how hard parenting the wee ones can be, but we need to also remember that it’s hard for them too.

Constance Hall has a message for her child free friends… Thanks for giving a fuck about my kids.

Speaking of “fuck”, one linguist explains why it is fine to curse in front of your kids.

Diaper change or Wrestling match? From the Stay At Home-Field Dadvantage blog.

Adam Lee lists the 20 Things I’ll Teach My Son.

The Trump Effect by the Southern Poverty Law Center is a haunting look at how the Republican candidate’s campaign rhetoric has impacted both students and teachers. It’s a chilling review…

MARGINALIZED STUDENTS ARE “TERRIFIED” Over two-thirds (67 percent) of educators reported that young people in their schools—most often immigrants, children of immigrants, Muslims, African Americans and other students of color—had expressed concern about what might happen to them or their families after the election. Close to one-third of the students in American classrooms are children of foreign-born parents. This year, they are scared, stressed and in need of reassurance and support from teachers. Muslim children are harassed and worried. Even native-born African-American children, whose families arrived here before the American Revolution, ask about being sent back to Africa. Others, especially younger students, have worries that are the stuff of nightmares, like a return to slavery or Educators wrote a total of 5,000 comments in response to our survey. One in five mentioned Donald Trump by name. being rounded up and put into camps. Overall, these vulnerable students are disillusioned and depressed at the hatred they’re hearing from candidates, in the news, from classmates and even, sometimes, from trusted adults. They’re discouraged to find out what people really think. Teachers struggle to help them feel safe.

The National Education Association is planning a six figure ad campaign accusing Trump of bullying behavior that wouldn’t cut it in an elementary school classroom, let alone the White House.

Dads aren’t babysitters…