Reclaiming Childhood

Freedom and Play in an Age of Fear

Helene Guldberg, Ph.D. is the author of Reclaiming Childhood: freedom and play in an age of fear. See full bio

September 27, 2009

Standing up to supernanny

‘It should be a wonderful time to be a parent. Standards of living are higher than ever before; women no longer have to choose between work and motherhood; thanks to modern contraception we can plan the number and timing of our children, ensuring that we only have kids if we want and when we want....So why is it that with all these choices, all the flexibility, equality, love and respect we have come to expect as our right, parenthood comes as such a shock to the system?'

September 7, 2009

The Myth of Depressed and Messed Up Kids

‘As I sometimes say to parents, I wish I had a dollar for every time I have read, in the last ten years, the words "children" and "crisis" in the same sentence. I'd be set for life', writes psychotherapist Dr. David Anderegg in Worried All the Time: Rediscovering the joys in parenthood in an age of anxiety. Read More

July 17, 2009

The 'stranger danger' panic is creating a hostile adult world

Some of the UK's leading children's authors have announced this week that they are refusing to take part in readings in schools because of the new policy that requires them to undergo criminal records checks to prove they are not sex offenders. Read More

July 5, 2009

Chimps are like humans? Stop monkeying around

A brilliant new book cuts through all the media-oriented research about ‘clever chimps' using tools, doing maths and feeling human emotions, and reminds us that, in truth, there is nothing remotely human about non-human primates.

June 24, 2009

How the quack industry harms autistic children

Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, author of Defeating Autism, recently talked to me about how raising a child with autism can be made infinitely harder - emotionally, financially and practically - by the charlatanic ‘war on autism'. Read More

June 14, 2009

Stop fretting about Children's Play

Earlier this week the UK clinical psychologist and television supernanny, Professor Tanya Byron, warned that parental ‘paranoia' about child safety could expose children to greater risks indoors. She warned that by denying children the opportunity to play outside, they are likely to face greater dangers inside from cyber-bullying or sexual predators. Read More

Books by Helene Guldberg, Ph.D.

Reclaiming Childhood: Freedom and Play in an Age of Fear

Child Development Basics

The speedy physical and psychological changes that children undergo from birth through adolescence often leave parents wondering how best to care for them at each stage. From how to talk so kids will listen to when to back off and allow them to fail, PT's experts weigh in.

Go to the Child Development Basics page for more on Child Development including:

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Books by Helene Guldberg, Ph.D.

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