Category Archives: Parents

Treat The Summer Holidays Like A World Cup – Because Winging It Won’t Work

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This summer, millions of people have watched 32 nations go to the World Cup with months of preparation behind them: meticulous planning, clear roles, a shared game plan.

Nobody turns up to a World Cup and wings it. Yet there are plenty of families who will turn up to the six weeks of school summer holidays with no plan at all.

Sometimes it’s easier to pretend it’s not happening and to assume it will work itself out, and then we all wonder why, by week two, someone is metaphorically drowning.

Cue the panicked parent group WhatsApp messages.

Advice for parents when it comes to nailing summer holiday scheduling

I’m a performance psychologist with over a decade’s experience working with the world’s top athletes and teams. My advice for winning the summer holidays is simple: approach it like a World Cup squad.

Before the holidays begin, sit down and treat it like a pre-tournament debrief. Map the weeks ahead:

  • Who owns what?
  • Who has the big work commitments and when?
  • Which weeks need childcare cover and who is sourcing it?
  • What are the non-negotiables for each person?

Get it out of one person’s head and into a shared system that everyone can see, and then look at subs: who’s available on the side, who can be called in in an emergency, who can be warming up ‘just incase’?

Don’t shoulder it alone

Divide by ownership rather than task. In a World Cup squad nobody tries to play every position. Clear roles mean nobody is waiting to be briefed and nobody is quietly absorbing everything by default.

To be clear, when I talk about your squad, I’m not just talking about two-parent households. I am talking about whatever parenting looks like for you. A grandparent who can step in on Wednesdays. Another parent friend you swap childcare with. A sibling who lives nearby. A neighbour who has offered to help and actually means it.

Your squad is whoever shows up. Name them, brief them, and use them.

Take five minutes before each day to prepare

Watch any World Cup team and you will notice something. The best ones don’t just train their bodies, they train their minds, starting with pre-performance routines, engaging recovery protocols, and honest debriefs after every game.

Parents need the same approach this summer. Start with the pre-performance routine. Before the chaos of each day begins, take five minutes to know what the day holds. Know your role and what you need from whoever’s supporting you.

That small act of preparation changes the entire shape of the day. The best teams in the world do not walk onto the pitch without knowing the game plan – don’t walk into your day without one either.

Have weekly check-ins

At the end of each week, check in. Share what worked, and what didn’t. Look at what needs to change next week. High performing teams do not pretend a bad game was fine. They replay it, review it, and adjust. Do the same.

Find time to rest

Build in recovery. Not as a luxury, which parents (especially mums) so often do, but as an operational necessity. World Cup squads have rest days built into the schedule because performance without recovery is not sustainable.

You cannot run at full capacity for six weeks without something breaking. Rest is part of the strategy, not a weak moment.

For solo parents, rest is even harder to protect and even more important to fight for. Asking for help is not a failure of independence. It is the most high-performance thing you can do. The best athletes in the world have a support team. You are allowed one too.

Give yourself grace

Name what you are actually carrying. Most parents are running a second full-time job in the background of their brains during the summer. That cognitive load has a neurological cost.

The prefrontal cortex, which handles planning, decision making and emotional regulation, has a finite capacity. When it is running the summer schedule it is not available for everything else. Naming that is the first step to making change.

Find a mantra and use it. Something that brings you back when it gets overwhelming. Mine is: “This is hard and I can do hard things.”

The best athletes in the world talk to themselves through the hard moments. You are allowed to do the same. Say it in the car. Say it in the summer camp pickup queue. Say it on day four when it is raining and the plan has fallen apart. You can do hard things. You have been doing them all along.

Mindset is as important as logistics. Go into the summer knowing it will be hard, and knowing there will be days that do not go to plan. Know that you will feel stretched and that is not failure. That is what it looks like to do something genuinely difficult.

Elite athletes don’t expect every session to feel good. They trust the preparation and they back each other.

The summer holidays don’t have to result in everyone being stretchered off. But they will come at a cost if you go in without a plan, without shared ownership, and with one person silently carrying everything.

Now, just 12 nations are left battling it out in the World Cup this summer with months of preparation behind them. If you’re in England and Wales, you’ve still got time left to plan your summer holidays. Don’t waste it.

Sophie Bruce is a performance psychologist for parents and founder of MOLO.

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Got A Rude Child? Parenting Expert Shares The Two Words You Should Say To Them

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A parenting coach has shared the two-word response parents can use if their kids are being disrespectful – and it’s surprisingly simple.

In a TikTok video, Mike Wallach, who runs Apparently Parenting, said: “Stop letting your kids walk all over you with this one trick.

“It’s super simple – and when done correctly, they rarely push back against it.”

What’s the trick?

The parenting coach and behaviour analyst said if a child is disrespectful or rude towards you, all you need to say in response is: “Try again.”

This can be used in a variety of scenarios, added the parenting coach, such as “when they slam the door, when they yell back ‘no’, when they’re playing too rough, [or] when they snatch a toy out of someone’s hand”.

“They immediately know what needs to be done to change their behaviour,” he explained.

Of course, some younger children might need a bit more direction than simply “try again”. If they say something rude to you, or shout at you, you could respond: “That’s not how we talk to each other. Can you try again?”

If they shout a demand at you, like “I want a snack!” you could respond: “Let’s try that again. How do we ask nicely?”

When kids are rude it might be tempting to raise your voice, but parenting pros suggest remaining calm and speaking in a steady voice, otherwise the situation will likely escalate.

According to My Parenting Solutions, asking for a replay is “so simple and effective”. But if your child is having a tantrum, it’s probably best to wait until they’ve calmed down to encourage them to try again.

The method can work well, because you’re giving children the opportunity to practice acting respectfully.

Any more tips?

Yes! If your child is being angry or rude, or having constant tussles with siblings, ‘special time’ might just help.

Child psychologist Dr Becky Kennedy, founder of Good Inside, described it as the “best bang-for-your-buck” parenting strategy.

Put simply, ‘special time’ is a period of time you carve out in your day where you and your child have one-on-one time together.

“So often, our attention as parents is split between work, siblings, admin, getting everyone fed, and the endless mental to-do list and demands on our time and resources,” Anna Mathur, a psychotherapist and author of The Uncomfortable Truth, told HuffPost UK.

But special time “cuts through that noise”.

It could be five minutes, it could be 15 minutes – but the idea is you get rid of all distractions and just sit and spend time with your kid.

Mathur said it works because “even 10 minutes of dedicated one-on-one time is a statement that tells your child: you matter, you’re seen, I want to be with you” and helps kids “feel emotionally secure, which strengthens their nervous system and improves behaviour”.

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7-7-7 Parenting Rule Could Reduce Attention-Seeking Behaviour, Says Psychologist

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If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for new parenting tricks and tips to help make your life calmer – and your kids happier.

I recently stumbled across something called the 7-7-7 parenting rule, where parents aim to spend seven minutes in the morning, seven minutes after school or work, and seven minutes before bed connecting with their child.

Over the course of the day that’s 21 minutes of undivided attention – and experts say it can work wonders for their behaviour.

Dr Sasha Hall, a senior educational and child psychologist, tells HuffPost UK the idea draws on attachment theory. “When children experience regular, undivided attention, it can strengthen emotional security and support regulation,” she explains.

“Over time, this can reduce behaviours linked to seeking attention, as the need for connection is being met more consistently.”

The benefits of the 7-7-7 rule

If you’re juggling work, household responsibilities and family life, carving out this time and embedding it into your routine can give you something concrete to aim for, rather than a “vague sense” that you should be forming deep connections with your child all day, says Dr Hall.

“Instead of repeatedly saying ‘just one minute’, and feeling they have fallen short, it creates defined moments where attention is fully focused,” she adds.

The timing of these moments can also support key transitions across the day. “A focused period of connection before school can help a child feel more settled when separating,” says the psychologist.

“Time after school can support decompression. Connection before bed can help with emotional settling and winding down.”

For children who have siblings, and feel like they receive less individual attention, carving out this one-on-one time can also be beneficial and reduce fights.

“Having protected moments where a parent is fully present and focused on one child can strengthen the parent-child relationship and support that child to feel seen as an individual,” says Dr Hall.

“It shifts them away from being experienced as the sibling who joins in, towards being recognised in their own right.

“When a child knows there are moments where they will have a parent to themselves, it can lessen the drive to seek attention in other ways.”

The challenges of the 7-7-7 rule

Obviously, if you’ve got multiple kids, carving out 21 minutes per kid over the course of the day can quickly become unachievable.

“Parents may find themselves trying to repeat this several times in the morning and evening, which is often when time is most limited and stress levels are higher,” notes Dr Hall.

There is also a risk that it becomes too rigid. “If parents feel they must stick to it in a very fixed way, it can add pressure rather than relieve it, particularly for single parents or those working long hours,” she adds.

What if this doesn’t feel achievable?

The psychologist suggests a more realistic approach is to build connection into routines that already exist, rather than adding extra pressure.

“For example, the school run or pick up can be used as a point of focused attention, without trying to manage other tasks at the same time,” she says.

Short bursts of focused attention, or ‘micro-moments’, can also be very effective for parents, notes Dr Hall, adding: “These might include eye contact, physical closeness or following the child’s lead in play, even for a brief period.”

Instead of choosing three points in the day, parents could narrow it down to just one or two, such as the start and end of the day.

Child psychologist Dr Becky Kennedy, founder of Good Inside, calls it “special time” and previously said it’s the “best bang-for-your-buck” parenting strategy, helping kids who struggle to listen, are being angry or rude, or having constant tussles with siblings.

She suggested even just 10-15 minutes of special time can be beneficial. The key is to give them your undivided attention – no phones, no distractions, no siblings.

“For families with more than one child, it may be more achievable to rotate one-to-one time, so each child has predictable opportunities for individual attention across the week,” Dr Hall adds.

Ultimately, every parent is doing their best with the resources they have.

Dr Hall suggests our focus can be less on meeting a fixed time target and more on ensuring children regularly experience moments where they feel “noticed, valued and responded to”.

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Forget The Stacked Itinerary, What You Need Is A ‘Plop’ Holiday

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There are trips where you pack every waking moment full of sightseeing, activities and excursions. And then there are trips you spend mostly horizontal: laying in a lounge chair, reading a book, sipping on a cold beverage and occasionally getting up for a dip in the ocean or pool.

The latter is what cookbook author and mum-of-four Caroline Chambers aptly refers to as a “plop vacation.”

A “plop” holiday is one in which you “wake up in the morning and pack a pool or beach bag, and literally plop by the pool or beach for the entire day,” Chambers explained in a comment on an Instagram post from a Mexico trip she and her family took earlier this year.

It’s similar to what folks in the travel world call a “fly and flop,” Chambers, author of the forthcoming What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast, told HuffPost.

“My sister is a luxury travel agent, and I often see her talking about this type of vacation where you fly to a destination and then basically flop down and don’t leave for the rest of the week,” she said. “Some people call it ‘flop.’ I call it ‘plop.’”

Certain travellers might look down on trips that don’t maximise time away by trying to see more, do more, learn more. And that kind of perspective-widening travel does have its benefits. Chambers herself loves “really, really adventurous travel where you are getting off the beaten path, seeing a local community in a way that you never could otherwise,” she said.

"There is no better balm for the soul that is overtaxed by all the daily logistics of running a career and having a house full of kids than plopping down by a pool and having a waiter come take your drink order and bring you lunch by the pool," said Caroline Chambers, who coined the term "plop vacation."

Thomas Barwick via Getty Images

“There is no better balm for the soul that is overtaxed by all the daily logistics of running a career and having a house full of kids than plopping down by a pool and having a waiter come take your drink order and bring you lunch by the pool,” said Caroline Chambers, who coined the term “plop vacation.”

But there are also some notable upsides to holidays of the plop variety.

“Sometimes you just need to completely reset your nervous system and not have to deal with any logistics,” Chambers said. “There is no better balm for the soul that is overtaxed by all the daily logistics of running a career and having a house full of kids than plopping down by a pool and having a waiter come take your drink order and bring you lunch by the pool.”

Plop vacations are great for anyone who just wants to rest and recharge their battery. But they can be particularly enjoyable and (relatively) low-stress for people with young kids. Just pack a bag with everything your family needs for the day: “snacks, diapers, toys, all of it, minimising schlepping as much as possible,” said Chambers.

“It allows the parents to actually feel relaxed afterwards because our needs are being taken care of too,” Chambers said. “We can sit by the pool and have a margarita and order our kids’ lunch.”

Kelsey Pomeroy is a content creator who specialises in parenting and travel with kids, and has two young children of her own. When she hears the term “plop vacation,” she pictures “setting it all down and letting it all go, a rare treat in the life of parents to young kids,” she told HuffPost. It’s appealing because “schlepping stuff around is “the bane of [her] existence,” Pomeroy said.

Plopping with little kids in tow is not going to be as tranquil as plopping child-free. But it can still be pretty relaxing.

“A plop vacation is what people imagine when they think of the word ‘vacation,’ and I love the idea that even if it isn’t the same as a vacation was pre-kids, you can still plop and achieve pockets of peace throughout the day,” Pomeroy said.

As Chambers wrote in a post on her Substack, even though your kid is “spilling half of your margarita before you can even take a sip,” she still finds it “very restful and fun.” And if you need some grown-up plop time, you can sign the kids up for camp at the resort or book a local sitter, she said.

As parents and caregivers know, it can sometimes feel intimidating to leave the house – let alone leave the country – with young kids.

“So whether the beat of your family is to run around all day or plop, I love seeing easy frameworks like ‘plop vacations’ making traveling with little kids feel more accessible,” Pomeroy said.

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Trick For Stopping A Toddler Travel Tantrum In 30 Seconds – Does It Work?

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A parent has shared the unusual trick she used to calm her toddler’s tantrum on a flight in under a minute.

Taking to Instagram, content creator and photographer Shante Hutton recommended a “nervous system reset hack” for toddlers who are in “meltdown mode” – and it might be particularly useful while travelling.

What’s the tantrum trick?

In a video shared by Hutton, her toddler can be seen sitting having his feet, and then his stomach, brushed with a comb.

“Take a small comb and gently brush their feet, hands, and tummy – slow, light strokes,” said Hutton. “It interrupts the overwhelm, gives their brain a new sensory input, and calms them down fast.”

The parent added that when she tried the trick, “we went from red-faced screaming to comatose in under a minute”.

She then urged families to add a comb to their carry-on luggage the next time they take a flight with young kids.

Does it work?

“My daughter[’s] OT [occupational therapy] recommend we brush her daily,” said one commenter. “Sounds like I own a horse, but it works.”

A grandparent added: “Interesting! I draw circles on their palms (or feet) with my finger and they almost go into a trance.”

One parent admitted they started “skin brushing” when their baby was a newborn and they “swear it helps with the milestones too”.

There were even some who joked: “Giving my husband a comb for my meltdown later.”

Obviously this isn’t a hack that works for everyone – we’re all different, and some kids might love the sensory experience while others… well, not so much. You know your child and whether they’d respond well to this or not.

Any other meltdown hacks?

Prevention is key. Take lots of snacks and toys to keep them occupied. Tablets can be useful if your child is of an age where they can be distracted by TV shows and films for periods of time. Choosing flights that work around naps can also be beneficial.

One parent swears by painter’s tape to keep her child occupied on a plane – it’s cheap, easy to rip (and remove from surfaces, once stuck), and colourful. Just make sure you clean it all up before you disembark.

If your child is in the thick of a tantrum and the comb trick isn’t working, you could try asking them a “tiny, non-threatening question”, according to Jo Walker, a hypnotherapist at Walker’s Therapy.

The question should have nothing to do with the tantrum. So, Walker gave an example of, “hey, I just noticed your shoes. Where did you get those from?” or “what is the animal on your T-shirt?”.

Other parenting pros, like Jon Fogel, have recommended similar techniques, such as the colour game, where you ask your child to find something of a certain colour.

Good luck!

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What Teenagers Say Is Worrying Them The Most (And It’s Not Social Media)

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I often think about how tough it must be to be a teenager right now. Between the pressures of school life and the inability to get away from it all thanks to the 24/7 nature of social media, it sounds pretty exhausting.

But what is it actually like? And what’s keeping the nation’s teenagers up at night? A 2025 survey by BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Bitesize shed some light.

The online poll of 2,000 kids aged 13-18 explored the issues shaping teenagers’ lives – from mental health and safety to the rise of AI.

What is the biggest worry for teens?

Getting kids to open up about what’s worrying them can be like drawing blood from a stone for plenty of parents. But the survey offered some insights into what teens worry about most.

Over two-thirds (69%) of all participants reported feeling anxious at least some of the time, with pressure around exams and grades being the biggest worry.

Its survey of 1,000 15- to 18-year-olds taking GCSE or A-Levels found 63% said it was hard to cope in the lead-up to, and during, these exams. Of these, 13% had suicidal thoughts and 13% self-harmed. More than half (56%) had trouble sleeping.

Among those struggling, 61% experienced anxiety and 40% worsening mental health, while 30% skipped meals and one in four (26%) had panic attacks.

The research also found exams were more than twice as likely to have a significant negative impact on mental health than social media.

May – which is when school exam season starts for most – is the peak season for children to call Childline about exam stress. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026; the free, confidential service for kids delivered 1,679 counselling sessions where exam or revision stress was mentioned.

The majority of concerns about exam stress were from children aged 12-18 years old, however younger students are also impacted, with 11% of contacts coming from children aged 11 and under.

One young person, aged 16, said: “If I’m not revising for exams, I feel this panic in my chest, but the panic also stops me focusing on the revision when I try and do it.”

Another 16-year-old girl said they have plans for their future, but have completely lost motivation to revise. “I have no idea why, my friends are trying to help get me back on track but I’m so overwhelmed,” they said.

What else did the BBC’s teen survey find?

It found 65% of teens feel overwhelmed at least some of the time and almost three-quarters (74%) of girls feel anxious at least some of the time.

Another eye-opening finding was just how much time teens are spending on their phones: more than a third (38%) spend five hours or more a day, while one in 20 spend eight hours or more.

When they are online, more than half reported having seen sexist and racist content. Two in five (44%) said they have seen extremely violent content.

In real life, 44% worry about knife crime in their local area and almost one third (30%) of teenage girls have experienced sexual harassment in school.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly popular among the younger generation, with almost half (47%) using it to help with homework or coursework.

This is rising year-on-year – the figure was 36% in 2024 and 29% in 2023.

Despite the challenges teens face today, nearly eight in 10 (79%) are feeling positive about their future.

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These ‘Sacrifice Scorecards’ Tell Us A Lot About How Parents Are Being Failed

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What have you given up since becoming a parent?

It might be precious time spent with your newborn – the UK’s paternity leave is the worst in Europe forcing many dads back to work before they’re ready. It might be career progression, a pay rise or even your job (85% of women leave the full-time workforce within three years of having their first child).

It might be your savings or any extra income you are forced to make in order to pay for full-time childcare, which can range from £60 to £100 per day (government help with these costs is applicable to some, not all).

A new study on fatherhood from Equimundo, which polled 8,000 parents and caregivers across 16 countries, found fathers value care more than ever – but are increasingly stretched to breaking point.

The study found parents don’t have the time, resources, or support to care for their families without constant strain, which it dubbed a “crisis”.

Savings (and safety nets) are drained, hours are cut to work around the school day (four out of five parents said their employer won’t allow flexible working), job security hangs in the balance, and study and leisure time quietly disappears.

Malte Mueller via Getty Images

The sacrifices parents make

The report’s “sacrifice scorecard” asked the world’s mums and dads what they have had to give up in order to care for their loved ones.

It found parents are making six to eight separate sacrifices to provide care for their children.

One in four had to refinance their homes to pay for care services, one in three turned down a professional advancement to provide care, almost two-thirds worked overtime to bring home extra pay, and half took on a second or third job to increase their income.

It’s no wonder then that three in four dads, and four in five mums, are losing sleep over their financial future.

The report highlighted how these sacrifices can also fuel increased anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and higher alcohol consumption. It noted fathers have higher odds than mothers of falling into the high-distress group, with younger dads most at risk.

Its authors summarised that fathers want to be present and active in the daily lives of their children, but are held back by norms and policies that haven’t caught up – and it’s placing great strain on families.

Elliott Rae, founder of Parenting Out Loud and Equal Parenting Week, said the sacrifices dads are having to make, per the new research, tell “a new version of the same story that we have heard” from mums over the years.

“This isn’t about competition between the sexes; it’s about recognising that both parents are continually having to make sacrifices because of societal structures that make parenting in the UK akin to the ‘wipe out’ obstacle course tryouts,” he said.

“Unequal parenting leave means that mums are set up as the primary carer and dads are set up as the chief provider, and both parents then struggle to excel in each other’s lanes.

“We need to set parents up as equals from the get-go by levelling up paternity leave, and then we need to instil flexible working practices that allow mothers to work to their full potential instead of making themselves smaller in order to ‘have it all’ and dads to be able to be the present dads that they want to be.”

Gary Barker, president and CEO of Equimundo, responded that while “men are doing more of the care work and finding meaning and happiness in doing so”, families everywhere “face enormous challenges to provide basic care”.

He called on men to “demand and advocate for the care services we all need”.

Lee Chambers, founder of Male Allies UK, wants to see changes to policies that better support parents.

“The problem is we’re asking dads to be providers first and then telling them they need to do 50:50 childcare too. They want to do it, they want to be there, but there’s still a huge pressure to work like you don’t have kids,” he said.

“The reality is something has to give and without policies in place to support dads to be dads, they end up taking a hit as a family, both financially and mentally.

“We need to create balance – put structures in place that enable mums to work without getting paid less than dads for doing so, and we need to enable dads to be dads by giving them time off to bond and care for their children.

“We need to close the gaps if we want any hope of reaching equality at work and home.”

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Teens Are Falling Out Of Love With Reading. Teachers Share What They Think’s Behind It

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We all know kids and teens are reading less – and an increasing number are enjoying it less, too.

The stats speak for themselves. When The National Literacy Trust polled almost 115,000 kids in early 2025, it found just one in three (32.7%) kids aged eight to 18 years old said they enjoyed reading in their free time.

This marked a 36% decrease in reading enjoyment levels since 2005.

Among teens, particularly boys, reading enjoyment drops even more. One in five (18.8% of) boys aged 14 to 16 report enjoying reading, compared to 37.7% of girls.

It’s not just a UK issue, either. In a US-based survey of Gen Z students by Walton Family Foundation and Gallup, 35% admitted they disliked reading, with 43% saying they rarely or never did it for fun.

What’s impacting their love of reading?

In a TikTok video, a teacher known as Ms C, admitted one of her students had revealed they’d never finished a book before.

Discussing why older kids are reading less, she said there are “many reasons” like “increased pressure inside and outside of school, a desire to spend more time socialising, and, of course, the phones”.

But an even more “obvious” reason, she said, is that “adults have lowered the bar for how much you should read as a teenager” to the point where “the bar cannot be found”.

She explained: “There are many educators who have the mindset that you shouldn’t teach whole books because kids just won’t read them.”

“In the past I’ve taught at schools where teaching novels is actually discouraged,” she claimed.

I asked teachers and school librarians in the UK for their two cents on why kids are falling way out of love with reading by the time they reach their teens.

Sol Elliott, librarian at Overton Grange School, suggested more time spent online, especially on social media, plays a key part: “The technology that brings a lot of young people towards reading also keeps far more people away from it.

“The dopamine hit of social media use is hard to compete with, especially when we are working with people whose brains are developing quickly.”

Sarah Parsons, director of education at the Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust, said: “Sadly, we see in our schools that teens find it hard to maintain the reading habits that they may have developed during primary school.

“Increasing demands on their time both within and beyond the classroom, combined with the growing influence of technology, have all contributed to a decline in regular reading among our teenagers.”

Research suggests there was a 52% increase in children’s screen time between 2020 and 2022. Kids aged eight to 14 years old who use the internet spend an average of 2 hours 59 minutes a day online across smartphones, tablets and computers, typically on YouTube, Snapchat, Google (search), Facebook and WhatsApp.

Nat Parnell, CEO of the Westcountry Schools Trust, also suggested social media plays a major role in teens reading less: “The risk is that the short bursts of gratification teenagers get from social media and texting are far more immediately satisfying than reading, which requires much greater effort before enjoyment is reached. It is not really a fair competition.”

The benefits of reading for pleasure

Besides being a nice way to switch off and unwind, there are several benefits to kids reading for pleasure. It helps introduce children to a range of experiences and viewpoints, which can help build empathy. It can also boost confidence and spark creativity.

Reading enjoyment has also been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status, and it’s linked to higher scores in reading assessments.

Schools are trying to address the reading crisis – but it’s not easy. Parnell said their schools ensure all students have structured reading opportunities. “We also banned mobile phones in school some time ago,” she noted.

Parsons said their are a few strategies they’re deploying to try and boost reading: providing dedicated time each week for independent reading, for example, as well as exposing kids to texts that stimulate meaningful discussion and debate.

For Elliott, it’s been a case of tailoring the school library collection to the pupils’ tastes “in the hope that they will pick up a healthy reading habit as they grow up”.

“A lot of these choices are informed by internet trends and TikTok friendly genres (Fantasy, Romance, Manga etc.),” said the librarian.

“I genuinely fear for the health of our society if a meaningful cohort of young people are not reading regularly and interacting with serious literature,” Elliott added.

“I am optimistic, though, that when a school is sensitive to its young readers and pays attention to their interests that we can help them turn into regular readers.

“All reading is good reading, and I can only hope that stocking my library with magazines, comics and manga, will lead a good amount of them to a Zadie Smith novel, or a play by Arthur Miller.”

Ways to get kids reading at home

If you’re hoping to spark a love of reading in your teen, here’s what might help:

  • Buy books related to a favourite film, TV series, or which matches their interests or hobbies.
  • Let them choose what they read.
  • Be a reading role model – make sure they see you reading for enjoyment, too.
  • Set screen-free time before bed and encourage activities such as reading, colouring or journalling to wind down.
  • Help them find their own spaces to talk about books, suggests Scottish Book Trust – try Goodreads or #BookTok on TikTok.
  • Encourage different reading formats – e-books, comics and e-magazines still count!
  • Take them to library,school and book shop-hosted events focused on reading.
  • Check out our picks of the books to gently steer teens towards reading once more.

Good luck!

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What Does Larp Mean? The Gen Z Gaming-Inspired Term Explained

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If there’s not a day that goes by where you aren’t scratching your head over something your teen’s said, you’ve come to the right place.

Today we’re talking about the Gen Z term ‘larp’, which tweens and teens might call each other, or mention in comments online. The clue is absolutely not in the name. So, what on earth does it mean?

“People are calling each other larps which Google says is ‘live action role play’ but that sentence literally makes no sense, so what are they saying?” asked one Redditor who was equally baffled by it.

What is a larp or larper?

The Redditor is correct that larp comes from the gaming term ‘live action role-playing’, which is where people physically act out characters. For example, wearing costumes and acting out scenes from their favourite computer games.

But over time, the term has also evolved to mean someone pretending to be something they’re not. You can be a larper or larping, too.

One Redditor explained: “LARPing usually involves some form of acting.

“So if you’re calling someone a larper you’re saying they are acting a part, calling them fake basically, that they are pretending to be something they aren’t, and/or their behaviour is performative.”

In short, it’s become an insult and a way to call someone out. As another Redditor noted, larper has become “a common insult online used to imply the person is making shit up”.

What else are kids saying?

Call your Uber

Some teachers report kids are saying “call your Uber” or “call yo Uber” in class. Uber is a popular ride-hailing company so it’s kind of like saying, “call yourself a taxi”. In short: you need to leave.

Mid

When Gen Alpha uses it, “mid” means mediocre or of disappointing quality. If you’re described as “mid” by a teenager then they’re basically saying you are… average.

According to Merriam-Webster, “mid” serves to express that something falls short of expectations, or isn’t impressive.

The dictionary notes that this slang term is thought to have come from a shortening of the term mid-grade, “a designation in cannabis culture of medium quality”.

City boy

“City boy, city boy” is the call of Gen Alpha currently, with TikTok creator and teacher Philip Lindsay noting kids in his class have been saying it.

“It’s a meme from an old video clip that they’re just repeating,” explained the teacher, who is based in the US. The memes actually first did the rounds in 2022 and appear to be popular again.

From a Gen Alpha perspective, Mr Lindsay suggested the phrase doesn’t really mean anything and kids are just shouting it out at all opportunities – a bit like six-seven.

Unc

This is short for “uncle”. And, per Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, it’s “often used humorously to indicate old age” and may imply “someone is old, getting old, or acting older than their age”.

Unc status may also be awarded to someone who “exhibit[s] behaviours that are considered outdated or out of touch”.

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Delete Photos Of Your Kids Online Before They Become ‘Landmines’, Warns Author

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A parenting author and columnist has urged other parents to delete all the photos they’ve shared of their kids online – warning that these pictures are like “landmines” waiting to go off as children grow up.

Plenty of parents share photos, videos and details of their children’s lives online – usually on social media or in private groups – a phenomenon known as ‘sharenting’.

But this increasingly comes at a cost. Other children and teens can easily find these photos online and then turn them into cruel memes, deepfake videos (some of which can be pornographic) or share them around school to cause embarrassment.

Lorraine Candy, a journalist and author of ‘Mum, What’s Wrong with You?’: 101 Things Only Mothers of Teenage Girls Know, shared: “I think we need to go back and delete all the pictures we have ever shared – even in private Facebook groups or on private WhatsApp channels – of our children when they were younger.”

Explaining the reasoning for this statement, she said when kids reach their tween and teen years, those photos on social media are “landmines” for them and it can be “really upsetting” that other people can see them and they might get shared around.

“Imagine your worst teenage bully at school, imagine your worst friendship group where you feel very insecure and vulnerable, imagine them having access to pictures of you in a bath when you were a baby, to posts about you having a poo,” she said in an Instagram reel.

The author continued: “I know you can say it’s in a private group, it won’t get shared. [But] It does get screenshot, it does get shared. Other children have access to their parents’ private groups.”

Candy, who has four children, noted it’s “really important to a developing mind, as a teenager, that they don’t have these little bombs going off in the background emotionally as they’re developing their identity and their autonomy and their privacy”.

Plenty of people resonated with the post. “I mentor teenagers and would always recommend that parents do this. Online photos can cause all sorts of issues further down the line,” said one commenter.

“I’ve thought about this a lot over the years. I’ll have the conversation with my 12-year-old son this weekend and see how he feels about it. It’ll be so difficult to erase them because my Instagram is like a memory book of his childhood!” added another parent.

One mum recalled how she received a “barrage of requests” from her daughter’s friends to connect with her on Instagram (back when her daughter was 13).

“When I asked my daughter she said they were only sending these requests to access pics of her when she was younger – for jokes, basically. It was a real moment of enlightenment for me,” she added.

It’s not just bullying and deepfake creation that can be an issue as a result of sharenting. Images – whether real or fake – can also be used to intimidate or blackmail teenagers, as well as to commit identity theft and fraud.

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