Anyway, the thought came to me because my five year old is interested in becoming a vampire and I pointed out that she’d need to do a good sight better with brushing her teeth if that’s what she’s aiming for.

Not to overthink things, but olden day vampires don’t make any sense. Poor dental health and tooth loss was extremely prevalent in the late nineteenth century. Even if Dracula had some teeth left, perhaps owing to his relative high status, they’d have been terrible for chomping on necks, surely? 🧛

📢 New publication from our team!
🎮 Children's contextualised digital play drivers and subjective well-being

Our latest journal article has just been published and can be read Open Access now via New Media and Society 🎉

🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
#DigitalPlay #DigitalChildhoods

Thank you so much Prof Hardey! It’s been a real labour of love getting this first article from our Digital Play and Wellbeing project out into the world! Means a lot to hear something nice about it 🩷

“We should get more of these”
What, flannels?
“Yes, they’re so good. I didn’t know they’d be so good”

5-y-o over the moon about her first flannel

This morning’s reasons-I-know-my-child-is-my-child: (sees a horse) “I want to marry that horse” (imagines future crisps) “I’ll just reach in with both hands and OM NOM NOM”

a brown bear is smiling with its eyes closed and its paws folded ALT: a brown bear is smiling with its eyes closed and its paws folded

4-y-o jokes:
Q: Where does a bear go when he’s hungry?
A: He eats your glasses.

a brown teddy bear sits on a white background ALT: a brown teddy bear sits on a white background

Just found out that my 4-y-o’s class has a class teddy called ‘Huglas Douglas’ and a scary world is a tiny bit better #huglasdouglas #earlyyears

How video games can support children’s wellbeing Playing online can help children explore and trial their developing identities.

Children playing video games have raised various concerns over the years, but @fionascott.bsky.social and her team’s research show that the right digital play can be beneficial to children’s wellbeing.

Read more in her @uk.theconversation.com piece:
theconversation.com/how-video-ga...

Becoming a new parent during the pandemic: experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period - BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth New parenthood in ordinary times can be a vulnerable and unpredictable time. The Covid-19 pandemic brought additional, unprecedented changes to policy and practice that drastically impacted on the exp...

What was it like becoming a parent for the first time during a global pandemic? Read our findings, based on over 300 individual accounts, open access in BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth doi.org/10.1186/s128... #parenting #pandemic #digitalliteracies

Folks from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child @digitalchildau.bsky.social are slowly turning up here, so here's a smallish starter pack for now, but as new folks from the Centre arrive, ping me & I can add you:

go.bsky.app/8RES29o

My take: "It's very seductive to think that a grand gesture like this is going to be a positive step, but the fact that we don't really know that the technology will work - or that there's evidence that this will be a positive thing for children - is a concern".

World reacts to Australia's social media ban - ABC listen Australia's social media ban for under 16s is making headlines around the globe, as the world wonders just how it will work.

I spoke to ABC News (Australia) and the BBC News Channel yesterday on the passing of Australia's #SocialMediaBan Echoing many Digital Child colleagues, a regrettable step in terms of children and young people's rights and well-being. Let's hope enforcement is nuanced. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Australia has passed the teen social media ban. Now, the hard part — making sure it helps, not hurts The Albanese government's success in passing the teen social media ban is the start, not the end, of a process that will include a lot of difficult decisions.

Now the U16s Ban is legislated, @cameronwilson.bsky.social is right, the hard part begins: we know the Bill actually could cause harms, so the next year is about trying to minimise the damage & leverage the public support for real changes like a duty of care.(1/2)

www.crikey.com.au/2024/11/29/t...