Give California’s Kids Barstools for Christmas

It’s Clear That the Next Generation Doesn’t Matter in a State That Prioritizes Bars and Restaurants Over Schools

Santa, California children need more this Christmas than you can fit in the sleigh. But could you at least give every Californian under the age of 18 their very own barstool?

Why barstools? If our kids are going to get back to education and socialization anytime soon, their best shot lies in restaurants and bars—the places that adults care most about keeping open these days.

Yes, St. Nick, I realize that turning the bars—at least those with outdoor seating—into havens for those too young to drink legally is not a great idea. …

by Joe Mathews | December 15, 2020

The Forgotten Children of ISIS Fighters

Without Country, Citizenship, Protection, or Even Compassion, Thousands Remain in a Precarious Limbo

by Mia Bloom | April 2, 2020

Accounts of two young girls, both named Amira, have dominated the 2020 news cycle out of Syria.

One girl, a 3-year-old Australian, has been in the Kurdish-run refugee camp al-Hol …

Canceling School for COVID-19 Cheats California’s Kids

When This Epidemic Ends, Schools Should Make Up the 50 Days of Instruction Our Kids Are Missing Now

by Joe Mathews | March 31, 2020

Not one day.

Our kids should not lose one day of school, not a single day of instruction, to the coronavirus.

Let me be clear: I’m not arguing against closing schools right …

How Cesarean Births Became a ‘Global Epidemic’

Reliance on New Obstetric Technology and Lawsuit-Averse Doctors Made Traditional Birth Seem More Risky Than C-Sections

by Jacqueline H. Wolf | December 3, 2018

Almost one in three births in the United States today is by cesarean section—a dramatic change from a century ago when physicians avoided the surgery whenever possible. Doctors remained so …

Why Are California’s Children’s Hospitals So Much Nicer Than Other Services for Kids?

A System of Medical Centers Has Grown Up—and Offers an Example of a More Generous Golden State

by Joe Mathews | September 17, 2018

I wish California children were doing as well as California children’s hospitals.

Even as the Golden State has maintained the nation’s highest child poverty rate, underfunded its schools, and made housing …

What the Gender Reveal Fad Says About Modern Pregnancy

A New Ritual Speaks to Anxieties Surrounding the Medicalization of Childbearing

By Laura Tropp | September 13, 2017

My youngest daughter often asks me to tell her about the day when, pregnant with her, I was riding to work on the subway and wondering whether she would be …

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