News

02 May

Posted at 03:23h in News by

Chicago Tribune
By Dana Suskind
April 30, 2026
Recent reporting has drawn attention to an alarming new trend: video content aimed at young kids that is generated by artificial intelligence and is popping up on YouTube at a shocking rate. These videos feature garbled text, made-up words, disfigured people and animals, nonsensical songs and, sometimes, downright scary imagery. This is AI slop for kids, and it’s dangerous. And technology companies’ proposed solution isn’t good enough. According to a New York Times report, up...

02 Apr

Posted at 03:31h in News by

Brookings
By Sweta Shah
April 1, 2026
A baby is sleeping under a camera that monitors her breathing. A toddler is asking Alexa to play a song. A 5-year-old is sounding out words through a tablet app that adjusts to her pace. A 7-year-old’s YouTube queue is curated by an algorithm based on his preferences. AI is not arriving in the lives of young children. It is already there. The assumption that AI primarily affects older children is wrong. For the youngest children, the...

01 Apr

Posted at 03:50h in News by

LA Times
By Ruben Vives
April 1, 2026
The number of homeless students in Los Angeles County is surging, with thousands more unhoused in the span of a single school year. The number of students experiencing homelessness in the county rose by 28% — from 47,689 in the 2022-23 school year to 61,249 in 2023-24 — according to a pair of studies from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. It is the largest increase the county has experienced in the last five...

28 Feb

Posted at 17:53h in News by

Fort Lewis College
February 6, 2026
On April 9, Fort Lewis College will inaugurate Dr. Heather Shotton as the institution’s 11th President. This formal investiture marks the installation of Dr. Shotton as the first Indigenous president of Fort Lewis College, a significant milestone for the College as a Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution. A citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and a descendant of the Kiowa and Cheyenne peoples, President Shotton brings a vision grounded in student success, academic excellence, and community...

28 Feb

Posted at 15:47h in News by

WRAL News
WRAL Staff
February 26, 2026
State and local leaders met with child care providers in Durham to talk about solutions to what lawmakers call a "child care crisis" in North Carolina. Sen. Natalie Murdock, D-20, headed the State of Child Care in NC Roundtable session that took place at Kate's Korner on Blackwell Street in downtown Durham. Kate's Korner is an early childhood learning center. The founder, Kate Goodwin, was in attendance. ...

26 Feb

Posted at 16:14h in News by

Time Magazine
By Rebecca Schneid
February 26, 2026
At an event in September 2024, lawyer and activist Reshma Saujani asked President Donald Trump a question about his plans to address child­care affordability. His fumbling answer went viral, and raised awareness about how expensive childcare has become in the U.S.: for most American families with young children, it eats up more than 20% of their income. One report found that the burden on the U.S. economy comes out to more than $122 billion a...

01 Feb

Posted at 00:25h in News by

Transcend
January 2026
As we enter a new year, a growing dissonance is becoming impossible to ignore: the gap between what most young people experience in schools and what they actually need to thrive in this moment and beyond. For the past few years, we've been obsessed with the question of what ongoing advancements in AI mean for the future of school. We've watched as districts chase efficiency through disconnected pilots. We've seen AI readiness appear in glossy materials without changing classroom practice....

01 Feb

Posted at 00:14h in News by

Harvard Center for the Developing Child
January 22, 2026
We are thrilled to share the news that Stephanie M. Jones, PhD, has been named the next Faculty Director at the Harvard Center on the Developing Child. Dr. Jones is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor of Early Childhood Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she is Director of the EASEL Lab and co-Director of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative. An accomplished researcher, she brings a broad range of relevant...

30 Jan

Posted at 15:38h in News by

The New York Times
By Robert Wachter
January 19, 2026
We physicians have a long tradition of the curbside consult — when we bump into specialists or more seasoned colleagues in the hospital cafeteria and ask for their advice on a vexing clinical case. Over my 35 years of practice, I used to track down other doctors for a couple of curbsides during morning rounds each day. These days, I’m getting far more curbsides, but they are not with colleagues. They’re with A.I. Sometimes...

23 Dec

Posted at 18:18h in News by

Alabama Daily News
By Trisha Powell Crain
December 23, 2025
Alabama could become one of the first states to set statewide standards for screen time for children 5 and younger in publicly funded early learning settings. Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville, said the bill pre-filed for the upcoming legislative session reflects a priority on how young children learn and grow. “The earliest years of life – from birth to age five – are the most important period of brain development a child will ever experience,” Ross...

22 Dec

Posted at 17:01h in Hunt Institute, News, Press by

WUNC - North Carolina Public Radio
By Colin Campbell
December 18, 2025
Former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt has died. The Wilson County native served the state for four terms as a Democrat, expanding the role of the governor and pushing for major education initiatives. Hunt was 88 years old. Hunt's family members, including his daughter, Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, announced his passing Thursday afternoon. A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 26, at First Presbyterian Church in Wilson. The...

20 Dec

Posted at 22:22h in News, Press by

Time Magazine
By Dr. Dana Suskind
December 18, 2025
Every week brings new product announcements promising AI-driven companionship for children: Barbies who call you by name, Curio stuffies that propose adventures and imaginary games, chatbots for kids from Meta and xAI. Even Disney recently joined the AI revolution, purchasing a $1 billion stake in OpenAI to bring its beloved characters to Sora. Whether they arrive as disembodied voices, avatars on a screen, or irresistibly plush toys, these products represent a fundamental break from every...

20 Dec

Posted at 22:15h in News, Press, Tomorrow's Hope by

Start Early
By Diana Rauner
December 4, 2025
We are excited to share the Start Early 2025 Year in Review, celebrating a year of growth, innovation and transformative milestones during the last fiscal year (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025). At Start Early, we strive to ensure that every child has access to high-quality early learning opportunities. This past year has tested the resolve of the early learning field in ways few of us could have predicted. Delayed federal and state funding, regional...

04 Dec

Posted at 22:07h in News by

The Economist
December 4, 2025
CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS may contain more surprises than usual this year, as children open presents that can talk back. Toymakers in China have declared 2025 the year of artificial intelligence (AI) and are producing robots and teddies that can teach, play and tell stories. Older children, meanwhile, are glued to viral AI videos and AI-enhanced games. At school, many are being taught with materials created with tools like ChatGPT. Some are even learning alongside chatbot-tutors. In work and play,...

02 Dec

Posted at 02:07h in News by

NJBIA
December 2, 2025
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues transforming classrooms worldwide, Kean University Professor Jennifer Chen, Ed.D., is leading research into how AI affects young learners ages 3 to 8 and what educators and families need to know to use it ethically, responsibly and effectively. Her latest articles, published in AI Enhanced Learning and Early Childhood Education Journal, explore the complexities of integrating AI into learning environments, finding that while it can enhance students’ learning and comprehension, it also presents ethical...

02 Dec

Posted at 01:46h in News, Press by

Start Early
November 12, 2025
By Diana Rauner
For 25 years, Educare Chicago has set the standard for high-quality early childhood education. What began as one school is now a national network serving thousands of children and families. Start Early celebrates this milestone and the lasting impact of Educare’s model of excellence, innovation and community partnership. Twenty-five years ago, Educare Chicago opened its doors with a simple yet powerful belief: that every child no matter their background or ZIP code deserves access to quality...

15 Nov

Posted at 22:06h in News by

invisiblepeople.tv
By Cynthia Griffith
November 15, 2025
As Artificial Intelligence Accelerates Job Loss and Rental Inflation, Our Most Vulnerable Populations Are Left Grappling with a Widening Economic Chasm Artificial intelligence continues to evolve with little oversight, shifting the tides of poverty and power. We see it in price-setting rent algorithms, pervasive misinformation, mass unemployment fueled by automation, and tech advancements that deepen wealth inequality and entrench dependence on a broken system. Is AI on track to push more of humanity into homelessness by replacing...

08 Nov

Posted at 21:56h in News by

trendwatching.com
November 7, 2025
In the UK, McDonald's has stripped its iconic Happy Meal box back to basics — launching a limited-edition blank design that invites children to draw how they're feeling. Running through mid-November across the UK and Ireland, the initiative will distribute nearly four million white boxes and crayons, transforming a familiar fast-food staple into a creative outlet for emotional expression. Developed in partnership with BBC Children in Need, the campaign responds to research revealing that 42% of children aged 5-10...

28 Oct

Posted at 19:38h in News by

The Atlantic
October 23, 2025
By John McWhorter
My tween-age daughters make me proud in countless ways, but I am still adjusting to the fact that they are not bookworms. I’m pretty sure that two generations ago, they would have been more like I was: always with their nose in some volume, looking up only to cross the street or to guide a fork on their plates. But today, even in our book-crammed home, where their father is often in a cozy reading...

20 Oct

Posted at 21:11h in News, Press by

Brookings
September 19, 2025
By Ellen Roche, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Rachel Romeo, Dana Suskind, and Kris Perry
The human brain is primed for social interaction. In the first few years of life, thousands of daily interactions shape lifelong social and cognitive systems that prepare us to live and work with other humans, and to engage in symbolic thinking through systems like numeracy and language. Decades of developmental cognitive and neuroscience research have made it clear that young humans cannot develop optimally without daily, real-time...