March 2023 - Growing Up in Santa Cruz

Editor’s Note

growingupsc — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 05:52:56 +0000

We asked an Artificial Intelligence program to write a poem about being a teen whohas grown up in Santa Cruz and this is what we got in 20 seconds: In Santa Cruz by the sea, Where the waves crash wild and free.I spent my teenage years, With laughter, love, and tears.The sun-kissed sand, the salty breeze, The boardwalk bustling with glee.The pier where we’d fish and dream, Our youth so full of promise and esteem.The town was quirky, artsy, and kind, With open minds and hearts refined.Where we could be ourselves, express, And never feel the need to impress.We’d hang out at cafes, skate parks, and beaches, Taking risks, pushing boundaries, and reaching,For new horizons, new experiences,With all the zeal and confidence of adolescence.Yet with each passing year, We sensed the world drawing near,As we faced the harsher truths, Of inequality, injustice, and the endless pursuits.We learned to stand up, speak out, To fight for what we care about,To question authority, tradition, and norms, And embrace our own values, passions, and forms.So as I look back on those days, I cherish the memories, the joys, and the ways,That Santa Cruz shaped who I am, And taught me to be brave, bold, and damn. Science fiction has become science fact, so suddenly, and it’s more than a little scary. Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy takes our first look at the new widely available Artificial Intelligence in her column on page 17. She is watching history being made and the world changing as fast as it did when the Internet was invented.We are shaking our heads and looking to answer more questions. Next month we will have answers from other educators about how they will handle a technology that will do all the homework students can dream of. Is this a future you want? Are you ready for it? What should we do with it? Do you like the poem? Can you do better (we don’t think we can, especially not in 20 seconds, and that’s really scary.)Let us know your thoughts about a technology right out of “2001, A Space Odyssey” and “Terminator” at editor@growingupsc.com We promise to keep all of our writing done by humans. Thanks for reading, Brad Kava,Editor and Publisher

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ChatGPT – How Will This Change Education?

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:22:54 +0000

When spell check and grammar check features became available in the late 1970s, critics feared that we would rely on technology to edit our work and that the quality of our writing would diminish. Then when the internet first appeared in 1983, critics worried that people would lose the ability to think critically. Both the internet and spell/grammar check features have become a mainstay in writing and we rely on them for research and editing our work. Today ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence software program that provides instant research results and can write an original essay in a matter of seconds – is the new obsession. Teachers and administrators are anxiously searching for ways to ban it and penalize students for using it. Now that the genie is out of the bottle, there’s no putting it back, so we best find how we can make GPT a positive educational tool. One of the benefits of GPT is that all students have equal access to it. It’s like having a private tutor, 24/7, to answer questions and help write essays. Up until now, only wealthy students have had access to private tutors who teach concepts that they didn’t get in school and help them prepare for exams. These students have also had the luxury of private tutors who organize, edit, and even write their essays. With GPT, all students will have the opportunity to get individualized attention and guidance. It actually evens the playing field between the haves and the have nots. I recently opened a GPT account to experiment with it. I recommend that everyone do this before condemning it. Go to chat.openai.com/chat to enter a question. Ask it to write an essay. You’ll see that it writes a good essay using proper grammar and spelling. It may suggest that you add information to personalize it. As you read the responses, you’ll see that GPT functions like a personal search engine and secretary. The writing style is basic; nobody is going to win essay contests with GPT. While we have become dependent on spell check, it has created a generation of poor spellers. Likewise, grammar check helps us keep pronouns matching their antecedents, and reminds us of parallel structure and verb agreements, but sadly, has not helped us learn these skills as they autocorrect our writing. In other words, spell check and grammar check features temporarily help students with assignments but they don’t make them better writers. Recently, teachers now have access to software that will be able to detect if ChatGPT (or other programs) were used in writing students’ essays. This will be a never-ending challenge for the AI and the software-detection developers, similar to the programs that teachers use to detect plagiarism. Some teachers are now requiring students to handwrite in-class essays. Others are providing students with word processors that allow them to type their responses in class without access to the internet. GPT is forcing us to quickly adapt to new ways of doing research and writing essays. When classes were conducted online in Zoom during the COVID pandemic, teachers cleverly administered exams (without access to search engines and textbooks) while students were at home. Naturally, some students found ways to cheat by finding ways around GPT-detection software. Since OpenAI released GPT-3 in June 2020, there’s been an uproar about how to grade student performance. Maybe we’re going to have to rethink what we are testing and how we are evaluating student learning. With search engines at our fingertips 24/7, do we really need to make students memorize facts like dates and names? If we want students to identify their beliefs or perspectives, should we allow them to use GPTs to write the first draft but require them to personalize their ideas by incorporating them in further drafts? Maybe teachers will ask students to defend their writing or request that they add new material that will require critical thinking, research, grammar, and style to their essays. If GPT helps everyone produce well-written essays and comments that reflect their ideas, should we welcome this refreshing opportunity? Over the past decade, the ability to communicate ideas in writing have dwindled away with the vast expansion of text messaging. Without an emoji, many text messages are incoherent and often don’t make sense. Has good writing become a lost art? The future of GPT programs and software to detect machine-generated text will be ever improving. I hope that students will learn how to use these powerful resources to improve their written communication skills by giving them a start with GPT drafts. Educators have a new opportunity to teach concepts, utilize these AI software programs, and evaluate student learning and progress. We are in the midst of a huge paradigm shift – whether or not we like it. Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy is the founder of Merit Academy (one-on-one classes)and Merit Educational Consultants (college and educational advisory). She has written books on projects, free child care, education, and parenting. Susan hosts TEDxMeritAcademy for students to present their innovative projects and solutions. In 2019, she was California Mother of the Year. meritworld.com

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Tips for Music Teachers

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:09:54 +0000

My greatest satisfaction, after 70 years of musical experience, has been teaching piano to people of all ages. I’ve found it to be an art of empathy, perception, intuition and constant appraisal. Teaching is about preparing and encouraging a student to continue conscious and creative learning as a life long practice. Here are some tips that may be useful.

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Athlete of the Month

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Local swimmer Oliver Santana of Soquel High School is only a sophomore, but has already proved himself to be one of Santa Cruz county’s most promising young athletes at age 16. Oliver’s parents encouraged him to take swimming lessons as a child to grow familiar with the nearby ocean. This is where his love for swimming collided with an innate desire to compete and improve. “I always just loved the water,” said Santana. “I like doing a little more every time.” And improve he has; as Santana has improved his times nearly every time he competes. Not only is he racing against other swimmers from the area, but additionally against himself every time he has swam before. “I do better on the longer distances because there are more walls,” said Santana. This was evident in the PC MAC Senior Open when Oliver placed 14th overall in the 100 meter breaststroke, compared to second place in the 200 meter breaststroke. Of all the events Santana participates in, breaststroke is his most dominant and favorite. It requires a great deal of strength and persistence to be a competitive swimmer, and he has been working on every facet of his game to be the best and fastest version of himself as possible. Santana explained how. “It’s a lot of strength training, it’s a lot of working on technique to try to perfect my stroke and adjust individual details.” As a local kid from Santa Cruz County, Oliver has already begun to make a name for himself in the global swimming community. He made his international debut in 2022 in Sweden, where he showcased his speed to become the Swedish age group 200 meter breaststroke national champion. Not only was the trip to Europe an incredible experience and one he hopes to duplicate, but the difference in culture was unlike anything he’s ever seen. “It was a lot of fun,” said Santana. “I have family over there so I joined up with a team and it was really interesting to get immersed with that.” As it happens, Oliver speaks fluent Swedish so his ability to experience the area wasn’t hindered by linguistics. As it is only his sophomore year, he has another offseason to get even faster followed by two more years for Soquel. In that time, Santana has made up his mind about where he wants to be in his swimming career, and has set some big goals for himself. “This year I want to qualify for state,” he said. “Eventually I hope to win state and go to a division one school for college.” One way Santana has tirelessly worked to make his dreams a reality is through club swimming. He has competed for Quicksilver swimming, based in San Jose but practices in Soquel. Oliver believes that club is more fun and slightly less serious than school meets, and allows him to swim with even more of his friends from around the area. He really enjoys the atmosphere and team culture of Soquel as well, partially because his team coach is also his club coach. Oliver’s favorite memory of high school swimming so far in his early career was last year’s CCS finals. While he was recently sick which slowed down his times, he hopes to make that time up this year. Something that many people don’t know about Oliver is that his parents are the owners of famed local Mexican restaurant Manuel’s in Aptos. “It’s really interesting, people come up to me and be like, I didn’t know your parents own Manuel’s.” With Santana’s sophomore season wrapping up, one thing’s for certain: he will continue to bring his A-game every time he steps into the water. Quinn Southall is a journalism student at Cabrillo College and writes for the Watsonville Pajaronian.

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Community College is Best Path to University of California

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Each year more than two million people enroll in a California Community College. While each student has their own personal goals during their time at community college, many have aspirations to transfer into a four-year university — the most popular of these universities being University of California. In April of 2018, the UC president and California Community Colleges issued a memorandum of understanding (an “agreement”) that guarantees admission for all CCC students who complete one of the UC pathways and has qualifying GPA. The GPA standard is set at 2.4 or 2.8 for non-residents. While this base GPA varies between majors, it offers a reasonable expectation for students who want to attend a UC but are unsure if they have the ability to meet the standards. There are 20 UC Transfer Pathways for the most popular majors that makes it easy for students to ensure they are completing the correct coursework. No pathway for your major? No problem. Cabrillo College counselor Claudia Hernández recommends working with a counselor to use the website ASSIST.com that will help find the Cabrillo course equivalents to complete the necessary major preparation. The agreement also states that if the applicant is not admitted to their selected campuses, they will automatically be entered into a Systemwide Transfer Guarantee Pool where they will be offered admission to another campus that has space available in their selected major. The hopes of this agreement is that it will inspire more CCC students to apply to a UC — and it definitely has. There has been a surge in transfer applicants from CCC to UC since 2019 when the agreement took effect and the numbers continue to rise each year. When asked her advice to students who may be weary of applying to a UC, Claudia Hernández recommends to get a good understanding of the transfer criteria and never assume that you don’t have a chance. With this in mind, students should feel more confident in applying for transfer admission into a UC. Take the time to meet with a counselor to work out a transfer plan and see your goals become achievable before your eyes. Gabrielle Gillette is a Cabrilo College Journalism student covering campus issues.

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A Plea for Your Help

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Kevin, a 16-year-old teen, was sitting in my dental chair in terrible pain. He had a deep cavity that was hitting his nerve and needed treatment right away. As a dentist and a mom, I really felt for Kevin. Fortunately, I was able to get him the care he needed to get him out of pain and save his tooth – a risk he didn’t know he had when he arrived. I knew that the cavity had taken years to get to this point. If he had been seen by a dentist at an earlier stage, it could have been easily treated with a filling before it caused Kevin any pain. Or even better, it could have been prevented all-together by regular check-ups, cleanings, and fluoride treatments (all of which are painless!). Kevin hadn’t been in for a dental check-up in 4 years. Busy with school, sports, and a part-time job, the to-do of going to the dentist fell away. In talking with his mom, I understood that Kevin didn’t want to come in for his regular check-ups and that the family didn’t understand how important it was — that he could even lose his teeth at his age if he didn’t take care of them. We had a great conversation about how to move forward and restore his oral health. This experience is not unique to Kevin or my experience as a dentist. As a matter of fact, this is an example of a disturbing trend that we have noticed when it comes to pre-teen and teenagers visiting the dentist. Based on the 2022 Oral Health Needs Assessment for Santa Cruz County, going to the dentist starts to drop sharply once children get to the pre-teen years*. The percentage of children who access dental services starts strongly with 1- and 2-year-olds, peaks at the ages of 6-9 (at 68%), but then starts to decline sharply in the tween years, going all the way down to only 21% by age 20. This is unfortunate since most dental services at this age are brief and painless and can prevent a lifetime of problems with your teeth. The data is clear: we’re doing a great job of bringing our youngest children to the dentist for important preventive visits, but once they get to the pre-teen years, it stops being a priority. To try and understand why, I’ve talked to patients Kevin and his mom to understand their lived experiences. I’ve talked with mental health professionals to better understand the teenage brain and motivation. And, I’ve considered my experience with my own son, who at 11 years old, strives for independence and autonomy in his decision making. I’ve concluded that teenagers have busy lives and dental health is just not a priority. Secondly, as they become more independent, they want to have more autonomy in deciding what to do in their free time and let’s face it, visiting the dentist is not the top of their list. As a dental provider, I want to reach the teenagers where they are. Some of my ideas include social media campaigns about how great a healthy smile looks and feels, bringing dental care onsite to middle and high schools, and engaging the teenagers themselves to get their ideas about what would motivate them to make the time to visit their dentist! But, I need YOUR help too! I know as a parent, you don’t want to nag your child! But a gentle reminder about the importance of regular dental visits and making those appointments would go a long way!Maybe give them a choice for when they go? Maybe a lunch with mom or dad afterward as a reward? If nothing else works, maybe tell them about an article you read about a dentist mom begging you to bring your teenager for their dental checkups so they’re not sitting in her chair in pain. *Data reported is based on Medi-Cal recipients. By Sepi Taghvaei, DDS, Executive Vice President of Operations, Dientes Community Dental Care Co-chair, Oral Health Access Santa Cruz County.

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Harraher is the Chief of Neurosurgery at Dominican Hospital

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:56:31 +0000

Dr. Ciara Harraher is running around her front yard on a cool Saturday afternoon in January with 20 nine-year-old boys at her son, Finn’s, birthday party. Directing a nerf war is no easy task. “Wrangling the boys was like getting an operating room in check! That was so much fun. Finn envisioned doing his nerf war, so I had to come through with it,” said Harraher. Dr. Harraher’s professional resume is remarkable. She is the Chief of Neurosurgery at Dominican Hospital and heads the Stanford Neurosurgery Outreach Clinic. She also teaches Principles of Medicine to Stanford MD students. She received her medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, a Master of Public Health from Harvard, completed residence at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada and fellowships at Stanford University. She also has leadership positions on numerous boards, advisory committees and professional organizations. Dr. Harraher was also a professional dancer who toured the world, but at home, she is Mom. Her daughter, Gemma McDonnell, 11, says. “My mom and I really like ballet. She danced when she was a kid, and I dance now, so we share, and talk about dance a lot. We go to the ballet, and we share a lot of other things that we like including shopping”. “We do biking, exercising and running, a lot of running, and she watches movies with me,” said Finn McDonnell, 9. Born in Toronto, Dr. Harraher learned hard work and dedication from a young age from her passion for dance. After high school, she went on to study neuroscience and philosophy. Upon graduating, she moved to Europe, doing contemporary and modern dance professionally in London, and then later working on a British Cruise line. After an injury sidetracked her dancing career she applied to medical school where only 6 percent of neurosurgeons are female, and many people tried to dissuade her from the profession, but she didn’t listen, and took on this new challenge. Professors even tried to persuade her to choose a different specialty, saying she wouldn’t be able to have a family life as a neurosurgeon, she would never get married, wouldn’t be able to have kids, and life would be difficult. After meeting her husband, Mike McDonnell, in her second year of residency, she realized a family and life being a neurosurgeon could blend. McDonnell, a professional chef, has been her biggest supporter and when she voiced concerns about not being able to have enough time for any kids in the future he replied, “I’ll be there.” Her former professor was wrong, she could have kids and a family life. Today, Dr. Harraher often performs multiple surgeries a day, of which many are lifesaving procedures, in Santa Cruz, and sees patients with some of the most serious health issues in our county. Stanford has an agreement with Dominican Hospital, to provide neurosurgery services, and Dr. Harraher has served as the chief of neurosurgery since 2014. Having someone with her expertise living and working in our county is beneficial to the community. In the following interview Dr. Harraher explains her path to neurosurgery, a typical day in her life, lack of diversity in her field, work/life balance, and her family. She is a Healthcare Hero of Santa Cruz County and serves the critical medical needs of the community. Your passion growing up was dance, how did you get interested in neuroscience? Dancing had always been my main activity, on a serious level, throughout my childhood and adolescence. I wanted to do professional dance right out of high school, but my parents, in their wisdom, felt that I could dance while I was at college and still get my undergraduate degree. Towards the end of high school, I became quite interested in biology, specifically neurobiology of the brain. When I went to University, I studied neuroscience and philosophy. I always had a hard time between science and the arts, I loved both and I think medicine is really a big blend of art and science to be honest, and it was a really good fit for me. I got advice towards the end of college that I would be good at medicine, because I was good with people. How did you decide to go into surgery? I had a friend who wanted to be a surgeon and we were very alike. She convinced me to do surgery as an elective. My friend said, “You’re a dancer, you can perform under pressure, and you stay pretty cool.” Following instructions, working hard, performing under pressure and doing the same thing over and over again – it’s like surgery. To this day, I can take a deep breath because I know what I’m doing. I have my little area of work, I’m going to do what I need to do, and I’m going to get it done. Surgery and dance are similar, and I like that. There is some aspect of performance. There are lights, there is procedure, there are things you have to do every time and ritual – and I liked the element of pressure. I’m good under pressure, so it’s okay that I need to do something quickly and I need to get it done now! What does a typical day look like for you? I try and get up in the morning at 5:30 or 6 am, before the kids and the animals and everyone gets up. I do yoga for an hour. It’s good in a lot of ways for strength and fitness, but it’s also good mentally to center myself before the day stars, which can get crazy. Once I finish yoga, we get the kids out to school, and then I leave somewhere between 7 or 8:30 am. On clinic days, I have somewhere between 15-20 patients, there’s a combination of new and follow up patients, and I also have patients in the hospital that I’m going to see as well, in between patients. I take calls from Dominican Hospital frequently, which means I’m getting calls from the Emergency Room with patients with neurological issues that need to be seen. I’m the only full-time neurosurgeon in Santa Cruz, and I’ve been the chief of the department since 2014. On operating days, one to three days a week, it’s a combination between general neurosurgery cases, things like spine surgery, neck and back, degenerative spine disease conditions, tumors, trauma and brain bleeds. I also do a little peripheral nerve like carpal tunnel as well. Female Neurosurgeons represent only 12% of neurosurgeons in the U.S. and Canada, and only 6 percent at the full professor level. Why are women significantly underrepresented in neurosurgery? Many men told me not to do it. It would be too difficult a lifestyle. It would be too stressful. It would be too hard to have a family. I would never get married. I’d never have kids. I could have a much easier life if I did something else. A lot has changed in 20 years, but I think there is still an element where people tell women not to do things. Also, women don’t see their mentors in neurosurgery, so they don’t pick it. Does a work/life balance exist for women? The thing about balance is you don’t have it all the time. There are going to be times when you don’t have a lot of it, and times you can make up for it. Quality time versus quantity is important. Talk to your kids. I do this when I’m in the car with them. We have meals together. Meals are so important. I really try to be home for dinner, even if it means going back to work later. It doesn’t always have to be a lot of time, it just has to be quality time. Being present is important. You work in such a demanding field. How do you manage it all with motherhood? Having a supportive partner is the key to why I can do this job. A partner who is okay with working outside of normal expected marital roles. Mike, my husband, has always been supportive and proud of me. He has never thought of my job as a burden, he is proud of what I do. Also, women are always expected to be the one the school always calls. Just change the number on the form. They can call dad too. There is no way I could do everything alone. It takes a village.

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A Grandmother’s Love

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:51:03 +0000

My granddaughter is adorable and everything she does is adorable. I’m not just saying that because I’m her grandmother. Everyone thinks so. She is objectively adorable. Why do I feel the need to say that? Probably because I am not only an adoring grandmother, I am also an obnoxious grandmother. And I’m not just saying that. I am objectively an obnoxious grandmother. Everyone says so. I can’t get enough of that little pumpkin. I make excuses to stop by just so I can smell the top or her head (which is very big because of all the brains). I knew that I would love my grandchild even if she wasn’t objectively adorable. And I thought I knew what that love would feel like, but I was surprised by the intensity of my love. I could have left it at that and continued to smother her with my grandmother love, but because I am me, I pathologized it. I wondered if perhaps I needed to get a life. I asked my grandmother friends if it was normal to feel this way. (Side bar: if you had asked me when I was little what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said, “normal.” As an adult I know that normal is not a great life goal, but it’s hard to teach an old grandma new tricks.). My friends all agreed my feelings were normal or at least not inappropriate, but I couldn’t just take their word for it. I had to ask the expert, Dr. Google. Imagine my joy, when I discovered an actual scientific study validating my feelings! A group of anthropologists and neuroscientists (who were apparently reading my mind) teamed up to investigate the relationship between grandmothers and their grandchildren. The author of the study, James Rilling, found that when grandmothers looked at pictures of their grandchildren, there was activation in the brain areas that are associated with emotional empathy (feeling emotions that another person is feeling), but when grandmothers looked at pictures of their grandchildren’s same-sex parent (often the grandmother’s own child), there was more activation in the areas of the brain linked with what is called cognitive empathy (understanding at a cognitive level what a person is thinking or feeling). “If their grandchild is smiling, they’re feeling the child’s joy. And if their grandchild is crying, they’re feeling the child’s pain and distress. These findings suggest that when mothers are engaging with their grandchildren versus their children, they may be adopting these sorts of different mental perspectives.” Rilling goes on to say that “young children have likely evolved traits to be able to manipulate not just the maternal brain but the grand-maternal brain … An adult child doesn’t have the same cute ‘factor,’ so they may not elicit the same emotional response …This work is a reminder about the uniquely enriching ways the elderly people in our lives can contribute.” My grand-maternal brain was right there with you, James, until you referred to me as elderly.

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Managing Screen Time

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:47:08 +0000

Let’s face it. It’s hard to unplug from our screens. Our devices connect us to other people, as well as to fun and useful information, but they can also have a downside. In this month’s column, I’ll share some reminders for managing screen time as a family. This monthly column provides tips for anyone who is helping raise children, based on the world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, available to families in Santa Cruz County. If you have a question or idea for a future column, email me at triplep@first5scc.org. Dear Nicole,We have a toddler, a third grader, and a tween who is growing up fast. If we let them, they’d spend all their time staring at a screen, and there are many days where it feels like that’s the best way to keep the peace. I know they enjoy connecting to friends online, but I worry about what else they’re seeing, what they may be missing, and the example we’re setting for our youngest. Any suggestions? Max Dear Max,Your concerns are understandable and shared by many parents and caregivers. Finding the right balance between rules or limits and gradually increasing independence is a challenge. Teaching children and teens to use screens in healthy, responsible ways teaches them self-regulation skills and prepares them for responsibilities later in life. Here are a few ideas to try: Inform yourself. Technology changes quickly; it’s hard but important to keep up. For example, social media whistleblowers recently exposed how some companies use algorithms to steer children, teens, and adults to harmful content (e.g., searching for exercise routines leads to content that promotes behaviors associated with eating disorders). Ask teachers and other parents or caregivers what kinds of limits they’re placing on children and teens, and why. You don’t have to adopt the same limits but can learn about specific situations to discuss with your own children, such as identity theft or cyber bullying. Talk with your children to understand their screen habits. Show interest in what your children are doing online, keeping in mind that some screen time may be beneficial. Connecting with peers, creating art or music, playing an active game—these can be healthy activities that happen on a screen. Try to avoid lecturing or criticizing them about their digital world. Help your children think ahead and plan for safety. For teens or older children, discuss sharing certain kinds of personal or financial information, how hard it can be to remove information from cyberspace (e.g., social media posts that a future employer might see), what to do about unwanted or explicit messages, or being alert to scams and computer viruses. Thinking ahead to possible consequences is a key life skill and takes practice, so expect some trial-and-error. For younger children, monitoring usage and messages more closely is appropriate. Watch for other problems. Too much screen time can contribute to physical health problems (headaches, lack of sleep) and mental health concerns (depression, anxiety), especially if it increases social isolation, decreases physical activity, or exposes kids to bullying. Ongoing discussions about screen time can help you notice these sooner and intervene. Encourage your children to tell you if any online interactions feel strange or threatening. Help them support others who are experiencing bullying or other online problems. Develop family agreements for screen time. Keep them simple and realistic. Consider setting weekly (versus daily) screen time limits, defining what’s acceptable versus off-limits, and agreeing on rules about when and where screens can be used (e.g., “Put away phones while we eat,” or “Turn devices off by 10 p.m.”). Involve your kids in defining these agreements, how they will follow them, and what will happen if they ignore the rules. Remember that logical consequences, such as temporarily removing screen time privileges, are meant to be a teaching tool versus a punishment. Emphasize that the more your kids can follow the family agreements, the less you have to intervene to enforce the rules. Then set a good example with your own screen time habits. Encourage behavior you want to see more of. When your kids are managing their screen time well, show interest and notice. Ask about the music they’re listening to or thank them for putting away their phones during meals. This helps shift attention to the things your kids are doing well instead of things you wish they would stop doing. FINAL THOUGHTS: Teaching kids about managing their own screen time is one way to help them become confident, competent individuals. Plus, we can all use reminders! Nicole Young is the mother of two children, ages 19 and 22, who also manages Santa Cruz County’s Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, the world’s leading positive parenting program. Scientifically proven, Triple P is made available locally by First 5 Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (Mental Health Services Act) and the Santa Cruz County Human Services Department. To find a Triple P parenting class or practitioner, visit triplep.first5scc.org, www.facebook.com/triplepscc, or contact First 5 Santa Cruz County at 465-2217 or triplep@first5scc.org.

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Caramel, Beige and Pink

growingupsc — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:42:49 +0000

Race is a mirage but one that humanity has organized itself around in very real ways. – Ibram X. Kendi My son asked me the other day about our different skin colors. He’s six, and something that might have been affecting him for several years is suddenly something he can put into words: “What color am I Mama?” “You have absolutely beautiful, caramel-colored skin,” I said. “What color are you?” he asked. I thought for a moment. “Pink and spotty,” I said. I’m an aging surfer, and this was the most accurate description I could come up with. I wondered if I had been correct in how this conversation went. He seemed quite satisfied with the descriptions and went on playing. Last week I was very proud of our county when I attended the conversation on racism between Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone held by Bookshop Santa Cruz. The authors are on a book tour for their new release, “How To Be A (Young) Antiracist.” The event had to be moved to the Kaiser Arena, and even that huge venue sold out. It seemed the whole town turned out in droves. It reminded me of the rare years when the sandbar shows up along the Cowell Beach cliff and absolutely everyone plays in the ocean together. I’ve heard many, many white friends questioning what they can do about racism in America. They want to be allies, they want to take action, but they are still unsure how to start. The message of the evening was quite clear; you start by exploring your own inherent racism, and you talk with grace and curiosity to other white people who haven’t taken that step yet. If you’re slamming on the brakes here, denying you are racist, then perhaps you didn’t grow up in America? The authors made the wonderful analogy of growing up in a pool, then being surprised you are wet. Racism is built into our history, our systems, and our country. It’s everywhere, and it’s terrible for all of us. If you don’t think you’re racist, they ask, then how do you define racism? Language for everything about racism is a key point in their book. If you define racism as having deeply learned ideas about different groups of people not being inherently the same, it makes it a bit easier to understand, and much easier to forgive ourselves and move forward. I had a student do a biology report on racism the year after the genetics study completely debunking genetic differences between races came out. How is it that at the time, the idea that people born in different native groups in Africa are more genetically different from each other than any African is to a person with European ancestry was so shocking? If one traces the path of humans over the span of evolutionary history, it actually makes sense. In fact, the two most distinct genetic races in the world are the Aborigines of Australia and those native to the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. An individual from either would have been classified as “colored” under the Jim Crow laws in America. It’s completely arbitrary. I love that we have a liberal majority in Santa Cruz County. I love that we are thinkers, I love that we seem to always have high ideals and intentions. But we know we have a long way to go. I’ve experienced people who think they are the most unracist doing and saying terribly racist things. When I told people that we were preparing to adopt a child from foster care in Santa Cruz County, two people actually expressed their excitement about the idea that I could adopt a black child, but grimaced when I said that given the statistics in our county, we would likely welcome LatinX children into our home.When we moved to Watsonville from the West Side, we were warned by white friends about gang activity and lack of safety, even though statistically our neighborhood in Watsonville had 75 times fewer drug-related crimes reported than where we lived in Santa Cruz. When we got to Watsonville, we learned that our babysitters’ mom called her a “coconut” when she did something foolish, which meant smart like a Latina on the outside and dumb like white lady on the inside. Absolutely no one, in any of these situations, thought they were a racist, or saying something racist.It’s not fun to report all of this, but what really needs to end in order for our society to transform is the idea that we should not be talking about this. What also needs to end is the idea that it is not happening within ourselves and our communities. This is not a “somewhere else” problem. Nic Stone told a story about her son, who has lighter skin than she does. When he turned six, he asked her the same question my son asked me. She told him his skin is “beige.” I breathed a sigh of relief.We teach kids colors, don’t pretend skin color is not different, and don’t pretend it can’t be named. She’s ready for more conversations with her son about how the world may see him differently than other groups, after all, she wrote the book. My next step in becoming the anti-racist I want to be is getting ready to have those conversations with my children and my students and my colleagues and friends, anytime they come up, with no fear.Lisa Catterall teaches STEAM, math, science, and art at Mount Madonna School and is a senior associate of the Centers for Research on Creativity. She lectures and trains teachers and administrators on innovation in education in Beijing, China. Lisa has five children and lives in Santa Cruz County.

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