children’s development
Semai Seek their Rights
Several Semai spoke up at a political convention in a major Malaysian city last week to complain about the lack of services provided by the state for their villages. A report in the news service The Malaysian Insight described the ways the state of Pahang has been ignoring its Semai communities. After 60 years of […]
A Nursery School in Ladakh
Tsewang Dorjey, a 43-year old police officer, has taken a special interest in the young children of Shara, a small community in rural Ladakh, so he founded a nursery school for them. A news story by Shreya Pareek in The Better India last week reported on the ways Officer Dorjey is developing his school. Shara […]
Rural Thai Children Threatened by Absence of Parents
Millions of Rural Thai children are being raised by their grandparents, a social situation that seems to be producing serious problems for the youngsters, such as increased levels of aggression toward their peers. The Bangkok Post last week published an analysis of the issue based on preliminary results from an academic study plus the paper’s […]
The Development of Children in Ufipa [anthology chapter review]
In traditional Fipa society, infants slept with their mothers until they were weaned, which, for younger children, may have been delayed until the age of five or so. In a recent article, Kathleen R. Smythe, a professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati, describes the traditional Fipa pattern of raising a baby, called an umwanche uncheche. […]
Report Examines Childhood Development among the Piaroa
A new study of six indigenous societies in Venezuela concludes that playing games by children helps promote their growth and the successful transmission of their culture. The Inter Press Service, a news agency devoted to disseminating news from the developing countries, reported Tuesday that a team under the leadership of Emanuele Amodio spent two years […]
Why Don’t You Kill Your Baby Brother?
What kind of people would say to a child who is adjusting to the birth of an infant into the family, “why don’t you kill your baby brother?” Provocative as the question may seem, the answers are neither simple nor straightforward. But in an article from 1994, just added to the Archive of this website, […]
Ju/’hoansi Puncture Helpers-at-the-Nest Theory [journal article review]
The “helpers-at-the-nest” theory, at least a variant for humans, may apply to several agricultural societies but it does not hold true for the traditional Ju/’hoansi. The biological theory suggests that female animals of breeding age, such as some bird species, can pass along their genetic fitness just as effectively by assisting their parents—by acting as […]
