London-based journalist & author, 10-year vet of @NYTimes. Coming Jan 2015: The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better and Live Better (Crown)
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Articles by Jenny Anderson
I spent a day with Google’s AI-in-learning experts and an hour with a 16-year-old
Picture: This is Engineering on Unsplash Last week I went to Google’s third annual AI for Learning Forum. The goal was to look at the evidence: Is AI helping kids learn better, or making them dumber? Is it helping teachers teach better? Is it building trust, which is essential, since learning is a fundamentally social process? Is it augmenting human relationships or displacing them? Is it personalizing learning—as tech has long promised to do—and offering faster and more precise feedback?
Kids are incredibly resilient, especially when the adults around them are also resilient
Photo by Wes McFee on Unsplash Last week, a sweeping set of research came out that should really change how we see the Covid pandemic and its effect on young people. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Many people who parented through that time have feared, ever since, that it had a lasting impact on a whole generation of kids—an idea that’s been reinforced by the popular discourse.
Four reasons I am excited about tech in learning
Photo: Alexey Dmidov for Unsplash. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I started my journalism career covering finance and economics, which means I spent an inordinate amount of my 20s and 30s thinking about incentives, markets and trade-offs. Part of the reason I worry about tech is that the incentives are 100% not in kids’ favor.
We need to protect kids' friendships—and fallouts— from AI companions
Photo: Timur Shakerzianov on Unsplash How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I have 15- and 17-year old girls, which means I have witnessed, supported and coached the two of them through a lot of friendship issues (in their words, drama).
School smartphone bans seem to make kids and teachers happier
Photo: Alexander Grey for Unsplash Data is starting to come in on smartphone bans in schools, and everyone is trying to make sense of it. The headline: Smartphone bans seem to make kids and teachers happier. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Of course, it’s not that simple.
Democracy doesn’t trickle down. It bubbles up.
Democracy is fraying. It’s being eroded from the top and, simultaneously, losing the bedrock that will sustain it long term: a generation of young people ready to defend it. A big reason it’s losing resonance is that democracy doesn’t trickle down (just like economics don’t trickle down). It bubbles up—from all people, and especially young people, participating, engaging, caring and believing they can have impact.
Letting our kids go is one of the bravest things we can do for them
Photo by iam_os for Unsplash One of our favorite summer rituals is spending time on an island with a group of families we have known for over a decade. This year, many of those families are sending a kid off to college. This impending departure is, not surprisingly, stirring up some big emotions for them. It’s also surfacing some in me. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Almost half of teens are languishing. How can you help a kid who seems profoundly stuck?
Image: Julia Vivcharyk on Unsplash If you like this post, please consider sending it to a friend, sharing it on social media, or leaving a comment. It really helps. This is a 17-year-old, described to me recently by his parent: “He lost his motivation because his grade went down. He quit basketball, tennis etc. He constantly plays games. He doesn’t hang out with anyone. His favorite thing is just playing Roblox with other kids. He isn’t interested in coding other computer stuff.
I have a question (and a free book) for you
Hello How to Be Brave humans! Thank you for reading. I’m deeply grateful for your time and attention, which is why I’d love your help making this newsletter better. I wrote a survey that takes about 3 minutes, and honest answers (including critical ones) are the most useful thing you can give me. As a thank you, I’ll send a free book to a randomly-picked respondent (The Disengaged Teen or, if you have it, another great book).
What if we actually listen to what teens think about school?
This week, in partnership with Transcend Education, I launched a podcast called Ask the Kids. The premise is simple: Every episode, my cohost, Jenee Henry Wood and I ask one or two young people about their experience in school. We ask about AI, about how their day is organized and what they do, and about innovation and what it feels like to learn in new and different ways. After the interview, Jenee and I unpack their insights and observations.
My takeaways from the world’s biggest tech and education conference
My panel at ASU+GSV How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I just got back from ASU+GSV, a vast education and tech conference held in San Diego every year. It’s a place that sparks strong emotions, and can be breathless about tech in a way I don’t always buy. But I love it.
Effort counts for a lot in learning—and it's eroding
Photo: Vince Fleming for Unsplash “How do I know when to push my daughter, and when to support her?” a mom asked me at a recent event. She herself came from a traditional Mexican family, she explained, where expectations were clear: she needed to do well in school, respect her elders, and follow whatever rules her parents set. “It feels so different now,” she said. “I worry more about her mental health, I don’t know what’s too much.” I have been asked versions of this question hundreds of times.
Anger, shame, happiness, trust, and forging a good life in the presence of AI
Wonderful How to be Brave readers: Photo by Yuri Figueiredo on Unsplash How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Wonderful How to be Brave readers, I hope you are having a good summer. Mine’s been tough. My mom had a stroke which, even though her health has been failing for a while, has totally upended me. As such, and because it’s summer, I am going to take a break for a few weeks.
Back to school: The right time to talk to teens about AI
Photo by Pavel Egorov on Unsplash. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. A new survey from Common Sense Media shows that most teens are using AI, with some utilizing it to support their education, but plenty having artificial intelligence do the work for them.
The two things that broke parents’ trust in schools
Photo by Terrillo Walls on Unsplash. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Test scores are falling. Around 20% of kids don’t go to school regularly, a level of chronic absenteeism that suggests the social contract of education has broken. Teen mental health problems remain stubbornly high.
A case against rewards and sanctions for schoolkids
Photo: Barrowford Primary School Rachel Tomlinson is the head teacher of a primary school in Barrowford, Lancashire. I’ve known Rachel for years and was intrigued by her “no sanctions, no rewards” approach. I recently visited the school and asked her to explain it. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The “no sanctions” idea was familiar to me.
How your voices are shaping the work I do
Photo by Inka Kapturewska on Unsplash I ran my first reader survey in October, two years after launching How to be Brave, and I’m thrilled to be able to share (very briefly!) what you all told me. I loved hearing from you, which was instructive and sometimes surprising. Book prizes are on their way to randomly-picked respondents, and my thanks go out to each and every one of you! Readers’ favourite topic from a list of six was, by a big margin, productive struggle and helping teens do hard things.
Everybody’s arguing about when kids should get a phone. Nobody’s teaching them how to use one
Photo by Andrey K on Unsplash My daughters got phones when they were 11. They were good students with plenty of friends and interests, from sports to drama and art. Heading to “secondary school” in London meant taking themselves on public transit. Around the same time, every family we knew was also giving their kid a phone. My kids (now 16 and 18) seemed ready. Without a huge amount of reflection, we assumed we were too. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication.
YMSL Magnolia Mothers and Sons Help Build 90 Beds for Montgomery County Children
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX -- Mothers and sons from the Young Men’s Service League (YMSL) Magnolia Chapter rolled up their sleeves this September to help provide local children with something every child deserves: a safe and comfortable place to sleep. As part of its 2026–2027 Ultimate Gift, YMSL Magnolia partnered with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Montgomery County and joined YMSL chapters from The Woodlands and Montgomery for a community-wide service project.
Natalie's volleyball team cut 40 girls. They didn't find another sport: they found their phones
Note to readers: If you’ve been here awhile you know I am obsessed with sports. I was a competitive figure skater, broke my back at age 16 and then became an ice hockey player. From the former I learned discipline, built strength, gained confidence, and figured out how to relentlessly chase a dream. From the latter I learned that everything is better with a team: winning, losing, practicing, and driving up and down Route 95 to every hellscape ice rink on the Eastern seaboard.
How to think about teens' plummeting test scores
Photo by Alice Kotlyarenko on Unsplash. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. PISA scores were released this week and showed most countries losing ground on reading, math and science. (England was an exception. I write about this below and will do so more in another post, since I am an American educating my kids in the British system.) The PISA score collapse is not new.
Five stories about tech and teens to read this weekend
Photo: Maarten van den Heuvel for Unsplash I’m trying something new this week: five stories you should read, and why. All of them cover topics near and dear to How To Be Brave: teens, tech, learning, and how to show up well for our kids. How to Be Brave is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. If you like it, please let me know: As always, I welcome your feedback.
The AI-Tutor Revolution That Wasn’t Original
In a 2023 TED Talk watched by millions of people, the American educator and entrepreneur Sal Khan declared that AI was about to deliver “probably the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen.” The founder and CEO of Khan Academy was touting the company’s new educational chatbot, Khanmigo, claiming it promised to be an “amazing personal tutor” to “every student on the planet.” By 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was chiming in that AI was on the verge of delivering, for...
The AI-Tutor Revolution That Wasn’t
3 hours ago A public university in the American heartland spent more than two decades educating executives tied to China's military-industrial complex through a business program that allegedly received taxpayer support, a new watchdog report claims. The report, titled Heartland for Hire, compiled by the …
Pet Matters: Share your love with animals
Life is better with companion animals, and I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than sharing it with a Western Arizona Humane Society adopted pet. Rescued has always been my favorite breed. Nearly every one of our pets has been of mixed heritage. Fortunately love doesn’t require having a pure pedigree. kAm(6 >FDE C6@C:6?E @FC E9:?<:?8 23@FE 9@=:52JD 2?5 86E 2H2J 7C@> E96 >2E6C:2=:D> @7 >@56C? D@4:6EJj 27E6C 2==[ E96D6 9@=:52JD 2C6 :?E6?565 E@ 42A:E2=:K6 @?
What Happened After a Teacher Ditched Screens
Listen1.0x 0:008:43 This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. For more than a decade, Dylan Kane, a seventh-grade math teacher in Leadville, Colorado, leaned into technology as a way to improve his classes. Starting in 2014, he dragged Chromebook carts down hallways to make sure all of his students could use a device.
Theater - Beaches
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Only a third of American kids are highly engaged in school
Written by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop on March 10, 2026. Posted in Current News Powerful generative AI tools are suddenly everywhere, embedded in many of the learning platforms students use daily For students, they offer an irresistible shortcut: why write the essay, solve the complex math problem, or read the chapter when a chatbot can do it for you in seconds? Schools across the U.S. are scrambling to adapt. Blue books are back. So too are in-class exams and No. 2 pencils.
Schools are teaching AI — and making a massive mistake
Schools are teaching AI — and making a massive mistake (washingtonpost.com) Schools are teaching AI — and making a massive mistake By Jenny Anderson; Rebecca Winthrop 2026031011310300 Whenever a new technology comes along, schools often rush to build "literacy" in the new domain. That has certainly been true of artificial intelligence. Many schools are training teachers and students how to use AI chatbots. They're showing them how to design a good prompt and guard against hallucinations.
Pet Matters: Dogs for Veterans
November brings about greater awareness of veterans and their needs. A part of that is recognizing service dogs that provides dignity and independence for injured and disabled veterans. We hear many wonderful stories about the impact dogs have on healing, but we may not realize that many trained emotional support and service dogs actually have been rescued from shelters. K-9’s For Warriors.org states that 90% of their dogs are sourced from shelter settings.
La insólita historia de la mujer tras Elvira, la inventora del Halloween para adultos
Cassandra Peterson repasa en sus memorias su trayectoria en un Hollywood que no perdona la diferencia y recuerda que Halloween era una cosa de niños hasta que apareció ella Cuando en 1986 Coors eligió a Elvira como imagen de la marca, encumbrándola como una de las primeras mujeres en patrocinar una cerveza, The Wall Street Journal sentenció: “Halloween, que en otro tiempo fue una fiesta para niños vestidos de piratas y princesas, ahora rivaliza con el Día de San Patricio y con Nochevieja como...
Pet Matters: Halloween Pet Safety
Much of this information has been published before, but it is worth repeating. Our companion animals should be kept safe from injury and unnecessary stress. Halloween kicks off the beginning of a busy holiday season. There are potential dangers to our companion animals, especially in the form of candy and decorations. The candies and treats we purchased may contain ingredients poisonous to cats and dogs.
Opinion | Parents, Your Job in Children’s Learning Has Changed in the A.I. Era
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Guest Essay Sept.
5 Back-To-School Books That Deserve an A+
As the school year kicks off, it’s not just students who are learning—parents and educators are, too. These 5 nonfiction books offer fresh insights into education that can help everyone start the year on the right foot. Learn something new every day with “Book Bites,” 15-minute audio summaries of the latest and greatest nonfiction.
Carnegie Mellon Alumnae Earn Two 2025 Tony Awards®
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Carnegie Mellon Alumnae Earn Two 2025 Tony Awards®
Previous CMU alumni recognized with 66 Tonys to date — onstage and be… Next Up SHENZHEN, China, June 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ZTE Corporatio…
The Teen-Disengagement Crisis Original
Updated at 10:58 a.m. ET on May 1, 2025 This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. Many parents are probably familiar with a certain type of teen and their approach to school: These kids turn up. They do their homework. They get good-enough grades. They comply, which in academic terms means they’re behaviorally engaged. But they’re not investing in what they’re learning, nor are they that interested in trying to make sense of it.
The Teen-Disengagement Crisis
2 days ago Birth rates are crashing around the world. Should we be worried? Societies do collapse, sometimes suddenly. Nevertheless, prophets of doom might keep in mind that their darkest predictions have been, on the whole, a little premature. In 1968, Paul Ehrlich, a lepidopterist, and his largely uncredited …
Stop calling the smartphone generation damaged goods
Photo by Chelaxy Designs on Unsplash I have watched Jonathan Haidt’s campaign over the past year with mixed emotions. I am grateful he is taking on Big Tech and shaming them for targeting kids. Like Big Tobacco’s leaders before them, top tech executives have built addictive products and aim to hook kids early so they will stick around for life.
Don’t Try to Rescue Your Kid From the ‘Learning Pit’
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Parents have way more influence than they realize in shaping their children’s success
Talking to them about what they learn in school and what’s happening in their lives makes all the difference This story was originally published by The Hechinger Report. Parents can be tricky for teachers and administrators to manage. They love their kids dearly, but the way that love gets expressed to teachers and school leaders can sometimes be less than constructive. Teachers often report that managing parents is among their least-favorite parts of the job.
Parents have way more influence than they realize in shaping their children’s success
This story about parents and school success was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s weekly newsletter. Parents can be tricky for teachers and administrators to manage. They love their kids dearly, but the way that love gets expressed to teachers and school leaders can sometimes be less than constructive.
Here’s A Whole New Way To Talk To Your Teens This Year
a different resolution After all, discussion is to adolescence what cuddles are to infants: necessary for brain growth. Written by Jenny Anderson & Rebecca Winthrop 4 minutes ago Rebecca Smith/Moment/Getty Images This may not sound like breaking news, but how we talk to our teens directly influences what they hear.
Parents are key to helping their children succeed in school, but only with the right strategies at home
Parents can be tricky for teachers and administrators to manage. They love their kids dearly, but the way that love gets expressed to teachers and school leaders can sometimes be less than constructive. Teachers often report that managing parents is among their least-favorite parts of the job. But just like students who behave badly because they don’t know how to manage their emotions, parents sometimes behave badly because they feel powerless to help their child succeed.
Giving Kids Some Autonomy Has Surprising Results
This approach works because it teaches kids strategies they'll need to succeed in work and life - and keeps them invested, too. But a survey of over 66,000 young people that we conducted with the Brookings Institution and the education nonprofit Transcend showed that very few middle and high school students regularly have the opportunity to work this way. Only 33 percent of 10th graders report that they get to develop their own ideas in school. The result?
Agency, the 2024 election and Anna Freud
Since I live in the UK, I have spent even more time than usual talking to people in the US in recent days. Stress levels are palpable. People are anxious that the next four years will be volatile, unpredictable and possibly violent. It seems dumb to write but I will: humans don’t like any of these things. Which is why I was so energized to talk my friend JJ in LA. She sounded so positive and relaxed when she answered the phone Monday (Nov 4) that I was puzzled. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Becoming a low-key public person
How to Be Brave Helping parents raise curious, courageous learners using evidence, instinct and grace. From a former NYT reporter and author with 25 years experience. No thanks
Welcome to How to Be Brave
Ever worry that your kid doesn’t care enough about school? Or perhaps they worry too much, working furiously but with little joy or sense of purpose. Maybe you’ve wondered why so many kids seem to be both bored and overwhelmed, not by turns but, apparently, at the same time.
Sleep. The key to helping students flourish.
What happens when we sleep When we sleep, our brains do the active, critical work of restoring, repairing and recharging. It’s when we consolidate information and move it from short-term memory to long-term memory, where it can be accessed again later. Sleep helps strengthen essential connections between complex regions of the brain. Teen brains undergo a major remodelling in puberty, and that growth and remodelling requires energy.
The reality of being a Third Culture Kid | INSIGHTS
What schools can do to support Third Culture Kids and their families School leaders say creating a deep sense of community is key. “Belonging for us is belonging to our school community,” says Tim Richardson, Principal of The British School of Guangzhou, part of Nord Anglia Education.
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