Medical experts in Australia have concluded, following the result of a royal commission into domestic violence in the state of Victoria (the first of its kind in the country), that children are affected by it even before birth. Statistics show that the number of cases of domestic violence in the country has increased by 136 … Continued
I have spoken a lot about the necessity of secure attachments in the development of a socially and emotionally healthy children. Anyone with a modicum of common sense understands that good interaction and quality parenting behaviour lie at the heart of this. Achieving this however is not always easy. Kids are not blank slates that … Continued
I’ve spent a lot of talking about attachment theory, but have not really focused explicitly on the role of the father. General speaking infants develop attachments with regular interaction. This interaction is relational and not simply a matter of sheer proximity. A child is adept at discerning the nature of such attachments and deciding whether … Continued
Children are intrinsically creative. From the moment they become aware of the world around them they carry their own unique representations of it in their heads, right alongside the other imaginary worlds they build there. Albert Einstein once said that his schooling almost destroyed his interest in Mathematics and Physics, but that it recovered upon … Continued
Hey readers, Happy New Year. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Phew, thank God the buying frenzy is over. Of course I’m kidding, but there is an element of this, a tightrope we traverse between drowning our little ones in toys and incalculating in them the value of family. If you’re lucky you … Continued
I wrote recently about the draconian abortion laws in Northern Ireland. With the recent announcement by the Chinese government that it is about to abandon its one child policy in favour of a two child policy, I’d like to discuss the other side of that coin…what happens when planned parenthood is directed, engineered and enforced … Continued
How many people does it take to make a baby? If your answer is two, I’m afraid you may well be wrong. The House of Lords, following a ‘vote of conscience’ by its MPs have made Britain the first country to legalise mitochondrial transfer, a controversial IVF procedure which aims to eliminate inherited mitochondrial diseases. … Continued
In 2013 a 17.5 million pounds initiative was announced by the government which aimed to support 16,000 young mothers by 2015. The move was inspired by similar programmes in the USA which claimed to reduce the incidents of domestic violence and child abuse in these households. It’s an interesting experiment, but it also highlights a … Continued
I was thinking the other day about how we place a value on things. Consider a human being. There are various interesting thought experiments about the human body. In one intricate example,(which can be read here) ,we are asked to consider what the intrinsic value of a human body is. They suggest selling it for … Continued
It seems women are leaving it ever later to have kids. The reasons for this are complex and varied. Based on personal observation I would hazard that the ever increasing childhood/career period for some men coupled with a desire on our parts to wait for the ‘right’ circumstances might have something to do with this. … Continued