Alexia Raynal

Narcissism in children

July 13, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Narcissistic individuals feel superior to others, fantasize about personal successes, and believe they deserve special treatment. When they feel humiliated, they often lash out aggressively or even violently. “Origins of narcissism in children,” PANS 2015 Most people associate narcissism with adults, but today’s headlines suggest it is now children who are being pointed at for their narcissistic attitudes. Earlier this year, a team of child development and psychology researchers in the Netherlands and the US published an article about […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: childhood, children, Eddie Brummelman, narcissism, Origins of narcissism, social science

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THERE IWAS UNDER M YROCK

June 15, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Earlier this year, New York’s iconic Scholastic store in SoHo permanently closed. I never visited the store while it was open, but I got a glimpse of its history while visiting the small exhibit that was put in its place. The larger piece in the exhibit (displayed in an entrance window) is a scroll-shaped canvas with an illustration of a child dragging herself out from underneath a big rock. The upper part of the canvas features a text box whose words are arranged in […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: art, childhood, children, education, literature, poetry, reading, Xavier Donnelly

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Ten is the new 21

May 11, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Perceptions about childhood and innocence tend to go hand in hand. People generally believe that young children are innocent and deserving of a worry-free childhood. Unfortunately, children in racialized groups might stop benefitting from such convenient assumptions way earlier in life than children in more racially advantaged groups. Dr. Goff from the University of California in Los Angeles interviewed police officers about their perceptions of children in different racial and age groups. While this could be one more in a well-known series of studies, it […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: black children, childhood, children

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Longing for a past that never was

April 27, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Pauline Hunt and Ronald Frankenberg wrote an academic analysis about Disneyland titled “It’s a Small World” several decades ago, before Disneyland became the multibillion dollar company it is now. Today, their analysis is still on target. The authors’ reflections on their own experience visiting Disneyland (as a couple) in the nineties illustrate a sense of “infinite nostalgia” that today’s visitors might also experience. In Disneyland, they write insofar as the visitor suspends adult disbelief, the world is her or his oyster . . . A deep nostalgia […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: childhood, children, Disneyland, Pauline Hunt, Ronald Frankenberg

Lunatic Childcare: 24/7

April 20, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Every now and then I read an interesting article about parenting. While this is not a blog on parenting, I like to comment on articles that address these issues because they reflect a big part of how we think about children. On “Seven Reasons We Hate Free-Range Parents,” Meghan McArdle wonders why America has “gone lunatic” on unattended children. Parents hover over their kids as if every step might be their last. If they don’t hover, strangers do, calling the police to report any […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: capitalism, childhood, children

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Trouble on Memory Lane

April 13, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Sociologist Sari Knopp Biklen died last year, but she left a substantial body of research that will undoubtedly be brought to life by people across disciplines. In reading her article “Trouble on Memory Lane,” I am reminded of the analytical risks of working with youth, including the assumption that we can connect to a group we once belonged to. Whether you like it or not, says Biklen, people who study youth often travel down memory lane to revisit their own adolescence . […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: childhood, children, Sari Knopp Biklen

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Blurry makes straight

March 30, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

Every now and then I like to look at the stories told by teenagers on slam poetry contests (see 5 November 2013). Here is an excerpt from Patrick Roche’s performance at the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in Colorado. The poem tells Roche’s experience growing up in a shattered family, possibly repressing his homosexuality. While Patrick counts down from age 21, we get a sense of the events that led him to become the kind of resilient (perhaps resenting?) young adult he […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: children

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Very little is known about the photographic practices of people under 18

March 16, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

In an article published in 2008, sociologist Penny Tinkler argued that “Very little is known about the photographic practices of people under 18 — that is, the range of ways and media through which they take, feature in, and use photographs.” Today, her words might make readers chuckle. Anyone looking at teenagers’ current photo uses would be surprised at how quickly Tinkler’s concerns are no longer valid. According to KPBC’s Internet Trends Report, over 1.8 billion new photos were shared every day on social media in […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: childhood, Penny Tinkler, photography, social media

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Pushing for more engineers and scientists through film

March 9, 2015 by Alexia Raynal

In recent years, the US has strongly favored education programs that focus on creating more engineers and scientists. Education advocates have opened up debates on how to get children more interested in STEM fields, an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. They are also interested in learning how to integrate these subjects into children’s everyday lives. I was recently reminded of this national drive while watching the Walt Disney Animated Studios movie “Big Hero 6” (released in fall 2014). The film tells […]

Categories: Alexia Raynal, ZiR • Tags: Big Hero 6, children, education, film, STEM