All posts tagged: Norms

Early Childhood Interventions Impose Western Norms and Values

Early Childhood Interventions Impose Western Norms and Values

Published by Jenni Sidey

In Southern Madagascar, Gabriel Scheidecker observed Bara children playing. He was struck by their elaborate games. A group of 3- and 4-year-olds recreated a bilo, the possession ceremony that is a key psycho-social healing technique for this pastoralist community. One child took the role of the healer, two took the roles of those possessed by spirits, and the others sang and clapped in the distinctive rhythms used to induce the state of possession. Bara children have rich, playful social lives among other children in the villages. This cohort of age mates, including many cousins and siblings, will grow up to be economically intertwined throughout their lives, herding and subsistence farming together. Their play thus serves many purposes. It facilitates mental, physical, and social development, as is the case for children around the world, it establishes bonds among peers with whom one’s economic life will unfold, and it includes developing local skills and knowledge, such as the songs and steps to perform the bilo. The engrossing lives of Bara children occur in a context of family …

Declining societal religious norms are linked to rising youth anxiety across 70 countries

Declining societal religious norms are linked to rising youth anxiety across 70 countries

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the journal Developmental Science suggests that shifts in cultural expectations for young people may play a role in rising child and adolescent anxiety rates. Specifically, the research indicates that growing up in societies with declining religious norms tends to be associated with an increase in youth anxiety. These findings provide evidence that community wide beliefs shape youth mental health, hinting at a need to find new ways to offer young people a sense of belonging in the modern world. Over the past three decades, many societies have changed how they raise children. Cultural expectations have shifted away from community focused values, like obedience, and toward individualistic traits, like personal responsibility. Scientists wanted to understand how these shifting societal values affect the mental well-being of children and teens. “Around the globe, we see rising numbers in young people being affected by mental health struggles. To be able to stop this concerning trend, it is needed to understand why mental disorders such as anxiety disorders are rising. There has been much research …

Iran’s Proposal to Collect Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Violates Trade Norms

Iran’s Proposal to Collect Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Violates Trade Norms

Published by Sam Flores

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — To end the war with the United States and Israel, Iran is demanding the right to collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz as a precondition for reopening the waterway vital to world oil supplies. Yet collecting tolls in the strait would violate a basic and enduring principle of international maritime trade: freedom of peaceful navigation. It’s an ancient idea that was codified by the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994. Opening the strait would save the global economy from supply constraints that have pushed energy and fertilizer prices sharply higher since the war began on Feb. 28. But agreeing to Iranian toll-collecting would cement the Islamic Republic’s control over the strait through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped — and enrich the country against whom the war was launched. U.S. President Donald Trump has made reopening the strait a priority. But the White House said Wednesday he is opposed to tolls, and analysts say the Gulf’s oil producers are, too. …

Children’s Books About Intelligent Disobedience and Challenging Norms

Children’s Books About Intelligent Disobedience and Challenging Norms

Published by Jenni Sidey

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. On the way to a New Year’s Day hike, my eight-year-old daughter and I were talking about the Pledge of Allegiance. I had told her a silly story about misunderstanding the words in second grade. “Momma,” she responded, “the pledge ends by saying ‘and liberty and justice for all.’ If Black people still experience racism, how is that true? And what about immigrants? That’s unfair.” Yes, yes, it is unfair.  Every day, we hear about a deluge of injustices. Creating a better world often feels impossible, but giving up and doing nothing only helps those who maintain the status quo. The only way to make things better is to speak up, stand up for what’s right, challenge norms, and be disobedient in the face of the unfair. To “get in good trouble, necessary trouble,” as John Lewis said.  Children are keen observers of the unjust. While teaching disobedience might seem counterintuitive to caregivers, empowering children to stand up …

The Cost of Keeping the Peace: Relationship Advice and Oppressive Norms

The Cost of Keeping the Peace: Relationship Advice and Oppressive Norms

Published by skeptic

Many of us have probably heard the following pieces of advice when navigating conflicts in an interpersonal relationship. Pick your battles: don’t make an issue out of every problem; let some minor grievances go. Don’t expect your partner (friend, colleague) to be a mind-reader; instead, explicitly articulate your desires and needs before assuming the other is deliberately disregarding them. These suggestions are meant to encourage healthy communication while remaining realistic about the imperfect nature of humans and their relationships.  On the surface, both pieces of advice seem reasonable. In our significant relationships, we are often wise to let some issues fall by the wayside, and we should be able to articulate our needs and desires rather than assuming others know them as well as we do. However, like so many of our interpersonal practices, this advice is built on—and thus serves to reinforce—oppressive, heteropatriarchal norms and stereotypes. In turn, the deployment of this advice is distorted along gendered lines, so that what seems neutral advice becomes a mechanism to reinforce those very stereotypes and norms. …