Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Studies Alvin Thomas discusses ways the city of Milwaukee could improve the well-being of its citizens — things like mental health resources and access to jobs — to try and bring down the number of homicides and serious crimes in the city.
Media Mentions
News clips and media mentions featuring experts from the School of Human Ecology
Should You Delete Your Kid’s TikTok This Week? (The Atlantic and MSN; Kirkorian)
Department Chair and Professor of Human Development & Family Studies Heather Kirkorian is quoted about the need to protect younger children from potentially upsetting material about the Israel-Hamas conflict and, in general, determining the appropriate age and development level for children to have access to a smartphone.
American Indians Need Equal Access to Homeownership (Bloomberg and The Washington Post; Keeler)
Assistant Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies Kasey Keeler writes that while the prevalence of land acknowledgment statements has expanded rapidly in recent years, this type of recognition rings hollow as Indigenous people in the U.S. face a homeownership crisis. Indigenous people have had inequitable access to homeownership throughout U.S. history, Keeler says.
When Parents and Kids Both Have Student Loans (The Wall Street Journal; Robb)
Department Chair and Professor of Consumer Science Cliff Robb is quoted about what he calls “generational indebtedness” when multiple generations of a family owe money on student loans, which he says can create a feeling of despair.
New program helps improve toddlers’ self-control skills and healthy eating habits (EurekAlert!/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and other news outlets; Nix)
Professor of Human Development & Family Studies Robert Nix writes about a recent study he conducted with other researchers that found that Early Head Start home visiting program Recipe 4 Success helped toddlers learn important self-control skills and healthy eating habits.
Jennifer Gaddis is a passionate advocate for school lunch (Madison Magazine; Gaddis and Kerr)
Associate Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies Jennifer Gaddis is profiled about her research on school lunch and her advocacy for healthier, more equitable school lunches for all. The story mentions Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Studies Margaret Kerr, whom Gaddis is currently working with to study how parents of elementary students feel about school meals.
‘I felt betrayed’: Health influencers are gaining notoriety for lies and lawsuits over deceptive marketing and claims that are too good to be true (Bloomberg, Fortune, Miami Herald and several other media outlets; Whelan)
Consumer Science teaching faculty member Christine Whelan is quoted about the largely unregulated nature of the wellness industry, saying that it’s often hard to tell whether an influencer is being deceptive or a product just doesn’t work for a particular person. Whelan said she expects more lawsuits against influencers and that updated Federal Trade Commission guidelines are a “warning flag” for the industry.
Republicans propose bill to end work permits for 14, 15 year olds (The Badger Herald; Riser)
Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Studies Quentin Riser describes the negative consequences of child labor, including a lower chance of working children enrolling in higher education and higher risk of not getting enough sleep, exercise or leisure time. Riser said marginalized and impoverished communities are more likely to be negatively affected.
More school districts are bringing back or adding police. Experts say it may not help (USA Today, AOL News and MSN; Fisher)
Associate Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies Ben Fisher discusses evidence that shows school resource officers don’t deter gun violence, and that when school shootings do happen, shootings in schools with police tend to be more deadly than those without police. Fisher also says that SROs’ claim of “relationship building” in schools isn’t necessarily beneficial to students.
Seeing the invisible: Learning to accommodate neurodivergence at work (The Cap Times; Erin Hamilton and Deniz)
Assistant Professor of Design Studies Erin Hamilton and Design Studies PhD candidate Hande Burcu Deniz are quoted about universal design, which involves designing built environments to make them accessible and useful for the maximum number of people. This includes designing functional work spaces for neurodivergent people in a way that doesn’t draw attention to disability.