In the news, we’ve recently been bombarded with outrageous examples of male dominance, sexual control and coercion, and the objectification of women in very public forums. For example, a fraternity was recently suspended in Virginia after hanging a sign off their front porch that read, “Hope your baby girl is ready for a good time.”

The need for self-control can feel like a tease at times and a bit of a pity, but its influence is spectacularly powerful. A landmark study conducted over three decades has found that the level of self-control children have as five-year olds, is one of the greatest predictors of their health, wealth and success as adults. Knowing how to increase self-control in children can help them on a path that sees them thrive.

Stories let kids see the world through someone else’s eyes. Here are 10 children’s books that teach the importance of empathy.

This book list of picture books to teach empathy was inspired by one of you! A reader emailed me and asked for a list of books which would help her child to think a little bit less about worldly goods, and a little more about the importance of appreciating non-tangible values like generosity, humility, compassion and kindness. In other words, these are books which help teach children to reject a sense of privileged entitlement.

Transgender and gender nonconforming people (think Caitlyn Jenner or Ruby Rose) are gaining more visibility as they find the courage to come out and live publicly as the most authentic versions of themselves. Around his third birthday, my son started showing signs of gender nonconformity — wearing a dress, growing his hair out and only playing with dolls while insisting he was boy and preferring masculine pronouns.

Consent is everything! Here are some helpful tips--a LOT of them-- for kids ages 1-21! Check it out...

We talk a lot about recognising what other people are feeling, and the Empathy Game I describe in this post is one activity that has helped us practice.  Developmentally it will take children many years to empathise on a regular (and consistent) basis but small steps over time remind us all of the importance of this habit.  Talking about empathy with the kids is a potent reminder for me to work on this all-important character trait in my own life as well.

It’s not an unusual scene: the kids are running through the house, chasing each other, playing tag, tackling, tickling. Friends are over and the girls have jumped in with the boys. Everyone is giggling and having a great time. Then I notice my boys (ages four and six) corner their little friend (a four year old girl) and I notice her face changes expression. What was once a cheeky smile and glint in her eye is replaced by apprehension and reservation. She no longer wants to play this chasing game but she doesn’t have the words to say no or articulate why.

Back when my son was biting off the ears of other children (yes, I have a sense of humor about it now), it was difficult for me to envision what he would be like after empathetic parenting started to work.

Parents and teachers are worried. They believe that today's kids are growing up in an unkind world and that learning to be kind is even more important than getting good grades. But, when it comes to defining "kind," parents and teachers don't always agree.

I remember walking into the cafeteria of my new school, and it was like someone punched me in the stomach. I was in sixth grade. My family had just moved from Virginia to Ohio. At first, I attended the local Catholic school. Within the first two months, I was begging my parents to go to the public school because the girls were so mean to me. And when I look back, wow, were they cruel.

No parent wants to get a call from the school principal about bullying, but what if the call isn’t about your child as the victim, but instead as the perpetrator of harassment? Your gut reaction might be to deny it—how could your sweet angel be involved in something so nasty?—but bullying isn’t a problem that anyone should ignore. So take a deep breath and commit yourself to finding out what’s going on and making whatever changes are necessary to be sure you aren’t harboring a bully at home. Here are six steps to follow.

"Sex positive" is a term that has been gaining more attention in recent years. A social and philosophical response to repressed, limited, and often judgmental attitudes toward sex and sexuality, the sex positive movement emphasizes that "good sex" is defined as safe, informed, consensual, and whatever else it also is beyond those things is best left up to the people participating in the act. Find out more by reading the article.