What can we do to improve our children’s academic success? Play with them!

Sergio Pellis, a researcher at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada says  "The experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain, and without play experience, those neurons aren't changed," Those changes in the prefrontal cortex help wire the brain regulate emotions, problem solve and making plans. So, according to Pellis, “Play is what prepares a young brain for life, love, and even schoolwork...the skills associated with play ultimately lead to better grades.”

​Playing with our children can also strengthen family bonds. “Spending quality family time together strengthens family bonds and provides each family member with a sense of belonging,” says Shannon Cromwell, M.A. Extension Assistant Professor, Family & Consumer Sciences at Utah State University. “When it comes to children, one of the most important things you can do to positively influence their development is spend time with them," says allforkids.org.

With all the research being done on the importance of playing with our children, let’s make it a point to have just a little more fun with them.

Grandparents serve many important roles in the lives of children and since roughly three-quarters of parents will become grandparents, it's important to examine the role grandparents play in the family. Grandparents are invaluable in raising their grandchildren. Increasingly, grandparents find themselves providing part-time care for their grandchildren and even full legal custody. As a result, they help teach life skills such as cooking, cleaning, gardening and repairs that help build the character of their grandchildren. Knowing family history, which is often passed down by grandparents, is also important to the emotional development of grandchildren. In a study from Emory University, researchers measured children’s knowledge about their family history and found that the more that children knew about their families, the higher their self-esteem and sense of control over their lives. Sara Duke is a psychologist who specializes in children with learning disabilities and further explains that, “The ones who know a lot about their families tend to do better when they face challenges.” Her husband, Dr. Marshall Duke - a prominent psychologist at Emory University in Atlanta said, “Children who have the most self-confidence have a strong ‘intergenerational self.’ They know they belong to something bigger than themselves.” Even if one or more of the grandparents of a family may have passed, we can still honor their legacy by telling family stories.  it's important to remember them and their rich history.

It's important that we foster the grandparent-grandchild relationship even into adulthood. Sara M. Moorman, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute on Aging at Boston College explains, "We found that an emotionally close grandparent-adult grandchild relationship was associated with fewer symptoms of depression for both generations. The greater emotional support grandparents and adult grandchildren received from one another, the better their psychological health."

When distance is a factor, letters, phone calls, and video chats can help build the grandparent-grandchild relationship. Building the love and friendship between the generations has significant benefits to both generations.

“A grandparent is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend.” -- Unknown

What's the first thing our children hear from us in the morning? Do they feel greeted with cheer and optimism, or do they feel hurried along to get to school on time? When our children get home from school do we tell them we missed them, or do we chastise them for getting dirty at recess?  What's the last thing our children hear from us at the end of the day?

If we forget to praise our children for the good we see them do, we may find that the only feedback they get from us is when something needs to be fixed. Children and adolescents interpret this kind of feedback as something is wrong with them. They then internalize these negative labels and begin to see themselves as "not good enough."  

​None of us is a perfect parent. Sometimes we might get upset or yell. Sometimes we are going to be rushed, and sometimes we are going to let our frustration show. But, according to Affective Neuroscientist, Jaak Panksepp, there is a way to make up for the times when we're not on our best parenting behavior. Panksepp says there are 3 key times during the day that have the biggest impact on children and if we can have positive interactions during these times, it will have a substantial impact on their emotional well-being.
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The 9 most important minutes of a child's day are:

• the first 3 minutes of their day-right after they wake up
• the 3 minutes after they come home from daycare or school
• the last 3 minutes of the day–right before they go to bed.

Having meaningful conversations with our children during these times and giving specific praise not only helps our children feel loved, but it also lays the foundation for what they think about themselves.

"Speak to your children as if they are the wisest, kindest, most beautiful and magical humans on earth, for what they believe is what they will become."- Brooke Hampton

Spend more than five minutes with a teenager and you’ll likely notice a fairly obvious observation: teenagers don’t always make the best decisions. There’s a reason God gave kids parents. We know, without a doubt, from study after study and personal experience that an adolescent’s brain is actively developing on the daily. According to a 2013 study, referring specifically to adolescence, the researcher notes, “Particularly significant changes occur in the limbic system, which may impact self-control, decision making, emotions, and risk-taking behaviors.” Yep. That sounds like a teenager to me.

Nevada Assemblywoman Ellen Spiegel seems to agree with these findings considering she recently introduced AB 187 into the current legislative session. The bill requires bicycle helmets for any child under the age of 18. When questioned why she chose 18 (many states that have similar helmet laws limit the age to 16 or 15 and under), her response essentially was that 18 is when a child becomes an adult. The implication is that minors are not capable of making good decisions about their safety.
But apparently, parents aren’t capable of making good decisions about the safety of their children either. Hence the $15 fine for parents who don’t abide by the government’s edict.

In a recent interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Spiegel said, “One of the things that differentiates children from adults is that children don’t have the ability to make these decisions for themselves. So, I want to make sure they’re safe.”

She reiterates this point saying, “We want to make sure that the kids are safe, and that they don’t have permanent damage from engaging in fun activity.”

So, while we may disagree on the government telling parents how to parent (I assure you, we disagree vehemently on that point), on its face we do agree with the documented science that demonstrates children, including teenagers, often make terrible, sometimes unsafe and life-threatening decisions.

Or, so I thought we agreed on that point.

But Assemblywoman Ellen Spiegel is not only the sponsor of AB 187, she’s also the co-sponsor of the recently introduced SB 179.

Among other things, SB 179 seeks to eliminate a Parental Notification law in Nevada for underage abortion.

Wait, what?

Yes, you read that right.

Spiegel introduced a bill that would require children to wear helmets because they are incapable of making safe decisions for themselves. And yet, she believes that children should not only be allowed to seek out an abortion (morality aside, abortion is a medical procedure) but that the parents shouldn’t even be legally allowed to know about said abortion if the child chooses not to inform them.

Also, in 2013 she voted to require parental consent for anyone under 18 to use a tanning bed.
Judging only by what she says, Ms. Spiegel seems to care for the health and safety of children, but her record does not support that. If so, how could she want to protect children from injury while riding a bicycle, but not desire a parent be notified if a child obtains an abortion? A parent doesn’t just have the right to know when their child goes in for surgery, a parent has the right to consent when their child goes in for surgery.

What’s obvious here is that Spiegel, like many liberal legislators and big-government proponents, believes she knows what’s best for children. Never mind that “what’s best” is, to many, completely unethical and also a surgical procedure. To statists, however, parents are simply surrogates for the state. There is zero regard for the fundamental, constitutional rights of parents to make medical, health, and all other decisions for their own children.

So, it makes perfect sense that Assemblywoman Spiegel can pick and choose when a child should be protected and when a child should not. She knows best, after all.

In the case of the bicycle helmet, the state has determined that they are the best authority, not the parent, to decide what is safe for a child. In the case of abortion, the state has determined that the parent doesn’t even have a need to know what their child is doing. In both cases, the state declares what is best.

Make no mistake: this is the underlying philosophy of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and similar legislation in states like California.

But the glaring issue with this liberal position is that, as a parent, I did not conceive, carry, and birth my child for the sake of the state. My child is mine, not theirs. And, as the child’s parent, I am the one who has the right to decide whether or not my child wears a bicycle helmet and whether or not my child should obtain an abortion. I am the one who has my child’s best interest in mind.

If only Assemblywomen Spiegel and other liberal Nevada legislators had the proper respect for parents, perhaps they would see the blatant inconsistency and downright hypocrisy of sponsoring bills such as these.

This article is reprinted with permission from Jessi Bridges and Ricochet. The original article can be found here.

“The rights of parents to the care, custody and nurture of their children is of such character that it cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions, and such right is a fundamental right protected by this amendment (first) and Amendments 5, 9, and 14. Doe v. Irwin 441 F Supp 1247; U.S. D.C. of Michigan, (1985)”

The Constitution of the United States clearly supports the family unit as the foundation upon which a strong society is built. More than anytime in the history of this nation, parental rights are under attack by government.  Too many people are unaware of the encroaching policies aimed at usurping the rights of parents to be the primary unit designed to raise, teach, and nurture their children. Increasingly we see that if the family values run counter to institutional worldview and agenda, activists circumvent parents and indoctrinate the children in their care with their secular agenda. Most parents are not equipped to defend their children from these influences.  If we are to remain free and prosperous as a nation, we must educate parents about laws and policies that suppress the rights of mothers and fathers to be the primary influence in their children’s lives. Families need tools and resources to help them defend these cardinal rights.

Power2Parent is the foremost parental rights organization in the state of Nevada.  Our mission is to inform, organize, and mobilize parents and community members for the fundamental protection of parental rights. Power2Parent is an advocacy organization that seeks to influence policy and expose dangerous legislation to voters.  We effectively reach thousands of people throughout Nevada with the mission of educating and empowering parents to protect their families.

In 2017, former Governor Sandoval vetoed a Planned Parenthood sex education bill that would have taken away the need for parental permission to be given before sexual material was taught in school classrooms.  By incorporating social media alerts, email updates and cottage meetings, along with lobbying efforts with Legislators, Power2Parent successfully campaigned against this dangerous bill. Governor Sandoval agreed with us that schools have the obligation to inform parents about sex education curriculum and the timing of lessons.  

Now more than ever, we need to default to the visionary writers of the Constitution, and reignite hearts and minds to the truth that liberty and justice are imparted to our society as a whole when the rights of parents are protected foremost.

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