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Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
California Students Recognized for Designing Digital Interventions in Support of Teen Mental Health and Wellness
Youth-led solutions support healthier tech use and peer wellness SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As young people navigate the complexities of the digital age, a new wave of solutions is emerging, designed by youth for youth. Today, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the Child Mind Institute, with support from the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), proudly announced the winners of the first Single-Session Intervention (SSI) Challenge. This groundbreaking competition invited California high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to design brief, scalable digital interventions aimed at fostering healthier and more intentional technology use. The SSI Challenge is part of a broader California effort to engage youth in co-developing mental health tools that reflect their lived experiences and meet the evolving needs of their peers. All interventions were developed using the Child Mind Institute's software MindLogger, supported in part by CYBHI. The submissions, which showcased remarkable creativity, empathy, and insight, ranged from mindfulness and cognitive restructuring tools to interactive guides for media literacy and fostering genuine social connection. "At the Child Mind Institute, we believe young people should be part of the solution when it comes to supporting their mental health," said Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, founding president and medical director of the Child Mind Institute. "These interventions show that when we give youth the tools and the trust, they can create meaningful, scalable solutions that meet their peers where they are — online." "California's CYBHI is committed to keeping youth at the center to better meet them when and where they need it most," said Dr. Sohil Sud, director of the CYBHI. "When we listen to young people and equip them to lead, we create more relevant and impactful behavioral health supports." The winning projects tackle a diverse array of topics vital for today's youth, including emotional regulation, self-esteem, values-based decision-making, media literacy, and digital boundaries. The common thread? Each was designed with a profound understanding of the digital world from the perspective of those most immersed in it. High School Winners Stephanie Leung, Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, California — "Rethink Agency: Reclaiming and Redefining Tech Use" A reflective three-step intervention that guides teens in rethinking the impact of tech on their well-being, reclaiming personal agency, and setting healthy boundaries. Zenia Rehan, Castilleja School, Palo Alto, California — "Scroll Control" Helps participants examine their social media habits and create personalized specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, incorporating peer testimonials and data collection to improve agency. Riyana Melvani, Monte Vista High School, [Danville, California] — "Mindfulness in the Digital World" Guides participants through three self-paced activities to reflect on the content they consume, their digital self-presentation, and the impact of technology on their mental well-being, fostering a more intentional relationship with social media. Undergraduate Winners Selena Cuevas and Andrew Alvarez, University of California, Berkeley — "Overcoming Triggers From Social Media Using A.C.C.E.P.T.S." A Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)-informed intervention that provides youth with tools to regulate emotional distress from social media through grounding, reframing, and resilience-building techniques. Diana Vega, University of California, Irvine — "Cognitive Restructuring" Teaches users how to recognize and reframe negative self-thoughts, particularly those triggered by comparison online, using relatable storytelling. Sarah Arcelo, University of California, Berkeley — "Mind Over Media" Uses mindfulness to help teens reflect on emotional triggers for screen use and develop healthier, more intentional tech habits. Graduate Winners Iris Khan, California State University, San Bernardino — "Overcoming Social Barriers: Rethinking Tech Use" Focuses on building psychological capital to help youth set social goals and leverage technology to form more meaningful relationships. Madhuri Sharma, Elizabeth Garcia, and Srinidhi Vusirikala, Santa Clara University — "Beyond the Filter" A media literacy and GenAI intervention helping teens, especially girls, build confidence in navigating digital spaces and understand how AI alters body image online. Ellie Xu, University of Southern California — "Valued Living With Healthier Technology Use" Based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, this intervention helps youth define their values and align their digital habits with those values through committed action. What Comes Next? These pioneering interventions will undergo further validation and refinement. The goal is to make these youth-developed tools accessible to young people across California. Learn more about the SSI Challenge. Media Availability Interviews with representatives from the Child Mind Institute, CYBHI, and select student winners can be arranged. Visual assets, including logos and screenshots of the MindLogger platform, are available upon request. About the Child Mind Institute The Child Mind Institute is dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders by giving them the help they need. We've become the leading independent nonprofit in children's mental health by providing gold-standard evidence-based care, delivering educational resources to millions of families each year, training educators in underserved communities, and developing tomorrow's breakthrough treatments. About the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) The CYBHI, led by the California Health and Human Services Agency and DHCS, is reimagining and transforming the way California supports children, youth, and families. CYBHI is investing in a coordinated ecosystem of services that prioritize prevention, early intervention, and youth-driven design. By centering the needs of young people and uniting the efforts of the agencies and organizations that serve them, the CYBHI seeks to ensure kids and families can find support for their emotional, mental, and behavioral health needs, when, where, and in the way they need it most. Visit Child Mind Institute on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn For press questions, contact our press team at childmindinstitute@ View original content: SOURCE Child Mind Institute Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
CNBC
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNBC
Michelle Obama: The No. 1 parenting strategy my mom used to raise confident children—‘it prepared me in ways I couldn't imagine'
Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama says she inherited her confidence from her mother, Marian Robinson. During Obama's childhood in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, Robinson dedicated much of her time with her two children to laughing at their jokes and listening to their ideas, Obama recalled on an episode of the "Good Hang with Amy Poehler" podcast that aired Wednesday. Robinson's interest in Obama and Craig's ideas made them feel special, smart and capable at a young age, Obama said. In other words, Obama's mother actively listened to her children — paying attention to what they said, and asking thoughtful questions in response — which is an effective strategy for parents to help raise confident children, some experts say. "That's where confidence began for me, sitting at my kitchen table, me and my brother with a mom who really, really loved our voices," said Obama, 61. "She liked to hear our thoughts. She thought we were funny." The confidence Obama developed as a child helped her navigate challenges as an adult, she added. "[Her light] probably prepared me in ways I couldn't have imagined for those White House years, that time in the spotlight," Obama said. "I could handle a lot of the negativity. I could handle the stress and the pressure."Asking questions — from "How was your day?" to, when necessary, "Why did you hit a classmate at school?" — can help parents build trust with their kids, without necessarily letting them off the hook for bad behavior. Such questions can also help children develop more self-awareness, child psychologist Becky Kennedy told CNBC Make It in January. "It's a really key part of raising children: Can we see them for who they are, accept them for who they are?" Kennedy said. "It's really core to helping a child become a decent human being, one who can handle themselves and have confidence in themselves." Obama used another parenting tactic to help raise her own self-assured daughters: When her children Sasha and Malia fought growing up, Obama simply didn't get involved, she said in an April 30 episode of her and her brother's podcast "IMO." "I don't want to play favorites," Obama said. "I'm not sure who's telling the truth. So, if I'm involved ... play is shut down, doors closed, computers off, it's over." Learning to resolve conflicts without tattling to their mother helped the siblings learn how to solve problems on their own so they could keep playing, Obama added. People with successful careers typically have strong conflict resolution skills, the Harvard Business Review reported on October 21. And the younger kids learn how to communicate, the more easily they can regulate their emotions and build relationships as they grow up, according to the Child Mind Institute.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Just Let Your Kids Play With Makeup
At least once a month, someone asks Kathryn Keough, a clinical psychologist at the mental-health nonprofit Child Mind Institute, if their child is in trouble. An expert on juvenile trauma and distress, Keough helps families navigate the fallout from scarring events or severe illnesses. But the inquiring parents aren't asking Keough whether their kid will recover after a tragedy. They're worried because their young daughters want to play with lipstick. Call it the fear of 'girly-girl' culture—the princess movies, sparkly dresses, and, of course, makeup that Keough says become part of many little kids' orbits when they turn 3. These interests, the thinking goes, feed into a culture that grinds the spirits of bright young women into pixie dust by insisting that their outward appearance is ultimately more important than their actions. The concern is a frequent topic in Facebook parenting groups and modern advice columns, which feature questions such as what to do when a 3-year-old is obsessed with pink despite a hard-and-fast 'No sparkle princesses!' rule. Recently, parents' anxiety has been stoked by YouTube and TikTok influencers who turn makeup routines into entertainment—popular videos that have led to an influx of fifth graders in Sephora aisles. Late last year, to cultivate a younger clientele, the beauty retailer Ulta even debuted tiny toy versions of popular makeup products, essentially collectibles shaped like eyeshadow palettes or lipstick. The response was robust sales—and panicked articles declaring that the toys were 'hooking young kids on makeup' before their brains could reject such glitter-coated temptations. 'The anxiety,' Keough told me, 'is very real.' But a child's curiosity about makeup isn't necessarily a red flag, or even a fluttery pink one. When a 3-year-old asks for a lipstick tube of her own, she's doing something that is, in Keough's words, developmentally 'so normal'—and that can even be helpful. Today, many experts think that toys symbolizing makeup, or a spare amount of nontoxic cosmetics, can have cognitive and developmental benefits for preschool and elementary-age children, as long as they're used as part of child-initiated play. A knee-jerk rejection of girlhood signifiers—being against princesses, say—ends up putting a double standard on playtime that can cast girls themselves as weak or unwanted. Compare the kerfuffle over Ulta's lipstick figurines with Ferrari's similar partnership with Hot Wheels, which produced no discernible outrage at all. The typical clutter of boyhood rarely faces the same scrutiny as 'girly' toys. [Read: How to have a realistic conversation about beauty with your kids] Little girls clamoring for lipstick is a healthy part of role-playing, Tara Well, a psychologist and Barnard College professor who specializes in personality development, told me. Children begin experimenting with their appearance early as part of their identity formation, the process of realizing that they are distinct beings with their own body and desires. A version of this type of play begins around six months, when babies become fascinated with their own reflection. (If you've ever held up a baby to a mirror and cooed 'Who's that? Is that you?' then you've helped guide this practice.) By 18 months, toddlers will typically recognize themselves in the mirror, and they'll also use visual aids—dress-up clothes, masks, perhaps makeup—to role-play as caregivers or story characters, a kind of exploration that tends to continue for many years. This is why my goddaughter, when she was a toddler, would pretend to spray her grandmother's perfume on herself before coming to dinner, and why the 5-year-old daughter of a friend swiped a Sweet'N Low packet from the table when we were all at brunch, then rolled it up to look like a 'pink lipstick' that she dabbed onto her face until her buttered toast arrived. The act of creating pretend makeup or putting on the occasional swipe of real lip balm can also reinforce fine-motor and planning skills, Keough told me. Putting on (actual or pretend) makeup requires grip—and it teaches a child to identify and follow a simple sequence of events: uncapping the product, pinpointing the specific part of the face where it belongs, using it carefully, putting it away. When children 'turn' regular objects into makeup, such as the sweetener packet at the diner, they're also developing problem-solving skills. Drawing pictures and building with blocks have similar benefits, Keough said, 'but to say playing with makeup, or pretend makeup, is useless isn't accurate.' Trying to ban such 'glamour play'—as Well described the practice of playing with items that deal with appearance—can also backfire. Such rejections can tamp down a child's natural curiosity and desire for agency, which might cause some developmental issues, such as loss of confidence in one's natural desire to explore the social environment, Well told me. That's especially true in today's highly supervised childhoods, where many young kids' sights, smells, and tastes are entirely prescribed by adults. Imagining a makeup-wearing future gives children the ability to feel a tiny bit of control and wish fulfillment, just as imagining having a beard or a mustache could. 'A lot of kids will pretend to shave like Daddy,' Keough told me. 'People don't seem so concerned about that.' Many people have argued that there's a thin line between an interest in beauty and an embrace of unhealthy societal norms, such as the idea that a woman's worth is primarily determined by her appearance or ability to sexually attract a man. But the desire to wear makeup isn't always about appealing to the male gaze. Women wear lipstick in corporate boardrooms, congressional meetings, and places of worship—and not because they want a date. Many female leaders have made a signature cosmetic look, such as bold lipstick, a part of their visual calling card. Witness the fire-red lips of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has said she often wears lipstick to get a confidence boost and as a tie to her Latina culture. Rabbi Rebecca Keren Jablonski, an author and religious leader in New York City, has said that she adopts a glam look partly so young people in her community can see that she's just like other adults they know, and not a distant, unapproachable figure. When young women have agency to choose their own clothing and makeup, they can be more confident, less anxious, and even kinder, Shakaila Forbes-Bell, a London-based psychologist who specializes in aesthetics and mental health and is the author of Big Dress Energy, told me. Women's sense of agency over their appearance can also, in certain arenas, influence cognitive performance. The authors of a 2012 paper on 'enclothed cognition' suggested that clothes 'can have profound and systematic psychological and behavioral consequences for their wearers.' And a 2017 study found that female students scored higher on academic assessments when they applied their preferred style of makeup before taking a simulated exam. [Read: 'Intensive' parenting is now the norm in America] The desire to have control over our appearance—and to appear on the outside as we feel on the inside—begins in childhood, Forbes-Bell told me. 'Letting kids look how they want,' she said, 'especially when they're playing, is so, so important.' Does that mean all beauty products are great for all kids? Absolutely not, which is why some of the parental concern over kids' desire to use makeup is well placed: Some dermatologists have said that many brands popular on TikTok have stronger chemical compounds (such as retinol) that, though helpful for older adults, could irritate young skin. (Obviously, if you're too young to get drunk, you don't need a Drunk Elephant brand anti-aging serum.) More alarming is a 2023 study from Columbia University, which noted that children who've been exposed to personal-care products—not just makeup but also some hair gels—might absorb toxic chemicals from the formulas into their skin, eyes, and mouth. The scientists behind the study called for greater government restrictions, especially on products marketed to children. Physical safety is one thing. A moral panic about playing pretend is another. Although it's true that no child, whatever their gender, should be told their worth is primarily communicated through their looks—and parents understandably want to reinforce that message—banning 'girly' play can come with its own harms. At an innate level, children know that their appearance can help communicate who they are, and who they might want to be in the world. Pretending to apply makeup with toys, or occasionally smearing some real makeup on with adult supervision, can be a healthy way for kids to explore that idea—and a fun, even thrilling way to assert their sense of self. Letting children take the lead is the point, even if it leads to lipstick instead of Legos. When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
14-05-2025
- Health
- Atlantic
The Case for Letting Kids Play With Makeup
At least once a month, someone asks Kathryn Keough, a clinical psychologist at the mental-health nonprofit Child Mind Institute, if their child is in trouble. An expert on juvenile trauma and distress, Keough helps families navigate the fallout from scarring events or severe illnesses. But the inquiring parents aren't asking Keough whether their kid will recover after a tragedy. They're worried because their young daughters want to play with lipstick. Call it the fear of 'girly-girl' culture—the princess movies, sparkly dresses, and, of course, makeup that Keough says become part of many little kids' orbits when they turn 3. These interests, the thinking goes, feed into a culture that grinds the spirits of bright young women into pixie dust by insisting that their outward appearance is ultimately more important than their actions. The concern is a frequent topic in Facebook parenting groups and modern advice columns, which feature questions such as what to do when a 3-year-old is obsessed with pink despite a hard-and-fast 'No sparkle princesses!' rule. Recently, parents' anxiety has been stoked by YouTube and TikTok influencers who turn makeup routines into entertainment—popular videos that have led to an influx of fifth graders in Sephora aisles. Late last year, to cultivate a younger clientele, the beauty retailer Ulta even debuted tiny toy versions of popular makeup products, essentially collectibles shaped like eyeshadow palettes or lipstick. The response was robust sales—and panicked articles declaring that the toys were 'hooking young kids on makeup' before their brains could reject such glitter-coated temptations. 'The anxiety,' Keough told me, 'is very real.' But a child's curiosity about makeup isn't necessarily a red flag, or even a fluttery pink one. When a 3-year-old asks for a lipstick tube of her own, she's doing something that is, in Keough's words, developmentally 'so normal'—and that can even be helpful. Today, many experts think that toys symbolizing makeup, or a spare amount of nontoxic cosmetics, can have cognitive and developmental benefits for preschool and elementary-age children, as long as they're used as part of child-initiated play. A knee-jerk rejection of girlhood signifiers—being against princesses, say—ends up putting a double standard on playtime that can cast girls themselves as weak or unwanted. Compare the kerfuffle over Ulta's lipstick figurines with Ferrari's similar partnership with Hot Wheels, which produced no discernible outrage at all. The typical clutter of boyhood rarely faces the same scrutiny as 'girly' toys. Little girls clamoring for lipstick is a healthy part of role-playing, Tara Well, a psychologist and Barnard College professor who specializes in personality development, told me. Children begin experimenting with their appearance early as part of their identity formation, the process of realizing that they are distinct beings with their own body and desires. A version of this type of play begins around six months, when babies become fascinated with their own reflection. (If you've ever held up a baby to a mirror and cooed 'Who's that? Is that you?' then you've helped guide this practice.) By 18 months, toddlers will typically recognize themselves in the mirror, and they'll also use visual aids—dress-up clothes, masks, perhaps makeup—to role-play as caregivers or story characters, a kind of exploration that tends to continue for many years. This is why my goddaughter, when she was a toddler, would pretend to spray her grandmother's perfume on herself before coming to dinner, and why the 5-year-old daughter of a friend swiped a Sweet'N Low packet from the table when we were all at brunch, then rolled it up to look like a 'pink lipstick' that she dabbed onto her face until her buttered toast arrived. The act of creating pretend makeup or putting on the occasional swipe of real lip balm can also reinforce fine-motor and planning skills, Keough told me. Putting on (actual or pretend) makeup requires grip—and it teaches a child to identify and follow a simple sequence of events: uncapping the product, pinpointing the specific part of the face where it belongs, using it carefully, putting it away. When children 'turn' regular objects into makeup, such as the sweetener packet at the diner, they're also developing problem-solving skills. Drawing pictures and building with blocks have similar benefits, Keough said, 'but to say playing with makeup, or pretend makeup, is useless isn't accurate.' Trying to ban such 'glamour play'—as Well described the practice of playing with items that deal with appearance—can also backfire. Such rejections can tamp down a child's natural curiosity and desire for agency, which might cause some developmental issues, such as loss of confidence in one's natural desire to explore the social environment, Well told me. That's especially true in today's highly supervised childhoods, where many young kids' sights, smells, and tastes are entirely prescribed by adults. Imagining a makeup-wearing future gives children the ability to feel a tiny bit of control and wish fulfillment, just as imagining having a beard or a mustache could. 'A lot of kids will pretend to shave like Daddy,' Keough told me. 'People don't seem so concerned about that.' Many people have argued that there's a thin line between an interest in beauty and an embrace of unhealthy societal norms, such as the idea that a woman's worth is primarily determined by her appearance or ability to sexually attract a man. But the desire to wear makeup isn't always about appealing to the male gaze. Women wear lipstick in corporate boardrooms, congressional meetings, and places of worship—and not because they want a date. Many female leaders have made a signature cosmetic look, such as bold lipstick, a part of their visual calling card. Witness the fire-red lips of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has said she often wears lipstick to get a confidence boost and as a tie to her Latina culture. Rabbi Rebecca Keren Jablonski, an author and religious leader in New York City, has said that she adopts a glam look partly so young people in her community can see that she's just like other adults they know, and not a distant, unapproachable figure. When young women have agency to choose their own clothing and makeup, they can be more confident, less anxious, and even kinder, Shakaila Forbes-Bell, a London-based psychologist who specializes in aesthetics and mental health and is the author of Big Dress Energy, told me. Women's sense of agency over their appearance can also, in certain arenas, influence cognitive performance. The authors of a 2012 paper on ' enclothed cognition ' suggested that clothes 'can have profound and systematic psychological and behavioral consequences for their wearers.' And a 2017 study found that female students scored higher on academic assessments when they applied their preferred style of makeup before taking a simulated exam. The desire to have control over our appearance—and to appear on the outside as we feel on the inside—begins in childhood, Forbes-Bell told me. 'Letting kids look how they want,' she said, 'especially when they're playing, is so, so important.' Does that mean all beauty products are great for all kids? Absolutely not, which is why some of the parental concern over kids' desire to use makeup is well placed: Some dermatologists have said that many brands popular on TikTok have stronger chemical compounds (such as retinol) that, though helpful for older adults, could irritate young skin. (Obviously, if you're too young to get drunk, you don't need a Drunk Elephant brand anti-aging serum.) More alarming is a 2023 study from Columbia University, which noted that children who've been exposed to personal-care products—not just makeup but also some hair gels—might absorb toxic chemicals from the formulas into their skin, eyes, and mouth. The scientists behind the study called for greater government restrictions, especially on products marketed to children. Physical safety is one thing. A moral panic about playing pretend is another. Although it's true that no child, whatever their gender, should be told their worth is primarily communicated through their looks—and parents understandably want to reinforce that message—banning 'girly' play can come with its own harms. At an innate level, children know that their appearance can help communicate who they are, and who they might want to be in the world. Pretending to apply makeup with toys, or occasionally smearing some real makeup on with adult supervision, can be a healthy way for kids to explore that idea—and a fun, even thrilling way to assert their sense of self. Letting children take the lead is the point, even if it leads to lipstick instead of Legos.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Some kids get cellphones at 9 years old? What's the average age for first phones in NJ?
Planning on giving your child their first smartphone? On average, parents in Louisiana give their children their first cellphones before they reach 10 years old, and in New Jersey, parents wait until their children are just a bit older. Here's when parents begin giving their children their first iPhone or Pixel in New Jersey, and what you should think about first before setting your child up with a cellphone. According to Secure Data Recovery's report, children average 10.77 years old when parents in New Jersey give them their first cell phone. In comparison, the average age when kids get their first cellphone is 10.66 in Pennsylvania and 10.97 in New York. That's about the age when kids start pressuring their parents for a cellphone. "By the time kids are in middle school, the pressure from kids can be intense, and parents worry that their child will feel isolated if other kids have phones and they don't," according to the Child Mind Institute. "According to Common Sense Media, 42 percent of kids have a phone by age 10. By age 12, it's 71 percent. By 14, it's 91 percent. "Max Stossel, the founder and CEO of Social Awakening, recommends that parents hold the line on giving kids smartphones until at least eighth grade." Age and level of responsibility are just two factors that parents should consider when giving their children their first cell phone. "Increased cellphone use has added more distractions and interruptions for students, along with an increase in cheating and cyberbullying," advised the All for Kids nonprofit. "Technology can have a significant negative impact on kids, while the benefits of reading to children and other non-technology pastimes, such as music, writing, or art, are clear." In New Jersey, parents will need to also consider cellphone restrictions imposed by the New Jersey Schools Boards Association. "Currently, there are districts that collect phones and store them, some in dedicated lockers or pouches," advised the NJ school boards website. "Other districts require that the phones be stored in students' lockers. Others do not allow them in classrooms or require that they be turned off during certain parts of the day. "Some districts have installed technology to block internet access, or access to certain platforms or apps in school." Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region. This article originally appeared on When should I give my child a cellphone? What NJ parents should know
