Kids Haven't Changed...But the World Has

Evolution is usually pretty slow. It's taken tens of thousands of years to develop language, critical thinking and the kind of cognitive processing you'd expect from a species who can explore the universe. So when parents state that children are different than in their generation, I remind them that their brains are developing at the same rate as our brains developed. They also need the same things our brains needed a generation ago including safety and security, physical and emotional connectivity, freedom to explore and learn and healthy relationships.

What's changed and continues to change at an exponential rate is technology, social media use, the ways in which we communicate and social and cultural demands. These factors greatly impact children's social, emotional and behavioral skills and have likely resulted in the increase in rates of anxiety and depression. Like thousands, even dozens of years ago, children thrive when they have the opportunity to fail and eventually learn from those failures. This goes for building relationships or trying something new as well as navigating their environment.

It helps us parents to think of raising children in terms of evolutionary perspectives because by allowing them to explore and even fail will give them the opportunity to grow and learn. It will also increase their own feelings of self-worth and independence increasing their chances of becoming a emotionally balanced and mature adult.