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Raising kids who care about others and the common good.

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You’re in the right place for our media coverage, blog posts, and event information. Our work spans a range of topics, all connected by our commitment to elevate caring and concern for the common good at school, at home, and in our communities. You can review what’s new below or use the dropdowns to sort by topic and category.

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Forbes: Handling College Admission Decisions: A Sidecar Parent’s Guide

Forbes: Handling College Admission Decisions: A Sidecar Parent’s Guide

“Parents need to ask themselves how much of their own hopes and needs are getting confused with what is best for their child—their own status concerns, their competitive feelings with other parents, their belief that the college their child attends is a clear and public reflection of their success as parents, their hopes that their child will live out their particular dreams or compensate for their shortcomings.”

Read more sound, sane advice for families as college admissions decisions start rolling in in this Forbes piece by Brennan Barnard.

All What's NewAli CashinDecember 3, 2021Mental Health, Moral and Ethical Development

Meet our 2021-2022 Youth Advisory Board!

Meet our 2021-2022 Youth Advisory Board!

Our 2021-22 Youth Advisory Board represents a diverse group of young people who will work with Making Caring Common to make schools and communities more just, caring, and respectful places.

All What's NewAli CashinDecember 1, 2021Youth Advisory Board

Business Insider: One chart shows how the pandemic made Americans reevaluate what's most meaningful to them. It's not romance.

Business Insider: One chart shows how the pandemic made Americans reevaluate what's most meaningful to them. It's not romance.

When it comes to relationships, a new Pew survey suggests that family and children are more meaningful to Americans than romantic partners.

Read more in this Business Insider piece, which also cites MCC’s 2020 report on fathers feeling closer to their children since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All What's NewAli CashinNovember 23, 2021State of Caring

CMS Wire: Are Conversational AI Companions the Next Big Thing?

CMS Wire: Are Conversational AI Companions the Next Big Thing?

Does our future include social robots to help combat loneliness?

It may sound like a sci-fi movie, but according to CMS Wire, "conversational AI bots are becoming the norm in Asia, and are beginning to be commonplace even in the United States."

NewsAli CashinOctober 31, 2021COVID, Caring and Empathy

Usable Knowledge: What You Can Do: Help Anxious Students

Usable Knowledge: What You Can Do: Help Anxious Students

Looking for ways to help anxious students? Making Caring Common Faculty Director Rick Weissbourd suggests:

1. Connect every student to an adult at school
2. Discover what each student is anxious about
3. Focus on building community

Hear more in this short video by Usable Knowledge:

NewsAli CashinOctober 31, 2021Caring and Empathy, School Culture and Climate

Voice of Islam: Good Morals

Voice of Islam: Good Morals

The Voice of Islam Radio’s Drive Time podcast interviewed MCC’s Rick Weissbourd about the role of values and ethics in day-to-day life. Take a listen on SoundCloud!

NewsAli CashinOctober 20, 2021Caring and Empathy

Popular Science: Why Loneliness is Increasing, and How to Fight Back

Popular Science: Why Loneliness is Increasing, and How to Fight Back

"I think of loneliness as a social failure, not as an individual failure. And when you see that large numbers of people are lonely, I think it’s a sign that communities aren’t functioning well, that we don’t have a social infrastructure that really functions very well," says Rick Weissbourd.

In this Popular Science piece, Morgan Sweeney writes about pandemic isolation and how we can work to "overcome America's invisible health crisis."

NewsAli CashinSeptember 14, 2021COVID, Caring and Empathy

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Why Does Pennsylvania Still Lack Comprehensive Sex Ed?

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Why Does Pennsylvania Still Lack Comprehensive Sex Ed?

Did you know that September is sexual health month?

The Philadelphia Inquirer featured our research in this article discussing how young people are often looking for more information about how to create and sustain healthy romantic relationships.

NewsAli CashinSeptember 14, 2021Romantic Relationships, Caring and Empathy

The Atlantic: The Pandemic Is Making Dads Reevaluate Their Work-Life Balance

The Atlantic: The Pandemic Is Making Dads Reevaluate Their Work-Life Balance

What are some pros and cons of working from home?

The last 18 months have been tiring and stressful for parents. At the same time, the pandemic also gave many fathers more time at home with their kids.

Dads are reevaluating their work-life balance, writes Joe Pinsker in The Atlantic.

News, Featured newsAli CashinSeptember 14, 2021Parenting, COVID

The Harvard Gazette: How to Help Your Kids With Classroom Anxieties

The Harvard Gazette: How to Help Your Kids With Classroom Anxieties

Talking to your children about going back to school and hearing their worries is crucial, especially this year.

"What parents are worried about may not be what kids are in fact worried about. It’s important for parents to inquire, find out, and listen to what kids are concerned about,” said Rick Weissbourd in this Harvard Gazette article.

NewsAli CashinSeptember 14, 2021Parenting, COVID, School Culture and Climate

The Good Men Project: What Do You Coach For?

The Good Men Project: What Do You Coach For?

Coaches can foster a positive team environment and encourage key life lessons if they are thoughtful and intentional in their approach.

Check out these tips from The Good Men Project!

NewsAli CashinAugust 24, 2021Parenting, Caring and Empathy

The Family Dinner Project: The Back-to-School Dinner Habits You Want This Year

The Family Dinner Project: The Back-to-School Dinner Habits You Want This Year

One silver lining of being home all day every day during COVID-19 lockdowns?

Family dinner time!

Over 50% of families we surveyed ate meals together last year and would like make it a habit. Our friends at The Family Dinner Project provide some helpful tips for parents for how to build the back-to-school dinner habits that work for your family.

NewsAli CashinAugust 24, 2021COVID, Parenting

Forbes: College Rankings: Reject Or Reimagine

Forbes: College Rankings: Reject Or Reimagine

How important are college rankings?

"If our numbers-driven, quantify everything, judgment culture has its claws deep into you such that you simply cannot resist the need to surrender to ratings and rankings, then at least do your homework,” writes Brennan Barnard in Forbes.

NewsAli CashinAugust 24, 2021College Admission

Greater Good Science Magazine: What Do We Need for Useful Political Conversations?

Greater Good Science Magazine: What Do We Need for Useful Political Conversations?

How can we lay the groundwork for more constructive political dialogue?

"We can begin by listening to each other, and we can try to learn about those we perceive as our opponents. We can lead with grace instead of leading with the quick burn. We can create space for respectful dialogue. And we can take pride in knowing that these small acts can add up to something much greater," write MCC's Ali Cashin and Rick Weissbourd in this piece for The Greater Good Science Center.

NewsAli CashinAugust 24, 2021Caring and Empathy

The Washington Post: Fathers Face a Choice: Stay With Kids or Return to Office?

The Washington Post: Fathers Face a Choice: Stay With Kids or Return to Office?

How will new fathers weigh the pros and cons of returning to an office?

“In the case of new fathers, the pandemic might have spawned a long-overdue cultural shift in how to balance workplace and family life," writes Conor Sen in the The Washington Post.

NewsAli CashinAugust 24, 2021Parenting, COVID

The Buffalo News: My View: Act of Kindness Shows the Power of Empathy

The Buffalo News: My View: Act of Kindness Shows the Power of Empathy

This Buffalo News piece references three key aspects of empathy:

Taking someone else’s perspective
Identifying with another’s feelings
Learning to value human beings outside ourselves help us develop “a moral identity.”

NewsAli CashinJuly 27, 2021Caring and Empathy

Cartoon Network: Play Positive

Cartoon Network: Play Positive

Cartoon Network has launched a campaign about how to be a positive gamer. These videos give kids tips on heading off bullying before it starts. Since 2010, Stop Bulling Speak Up has empowered kids to develop greater kindness, caring, and empathy.

NewsAli CashinJuly 27, 2021Bullying

Reuters: The American Pandemic Day: More Kids. More TV. More Z's. More Time Alone.

Reuters: The American Pandemic Day: More Kids. More TV. More Z's. More Time Alone.

The U.S. Department of Labor's American Time Use Survey confirmed that dads spent more time with their kids in 2020.

"One of the questions is are fathers going to take the first train back to normal here ... or are they going to maintain some of this time and some of this closeness?” Rick Weissbourd asks in this Reuters article about the survey's results.

Find out more about how Americans spent their time last year during the pandemic.

NewsAli CashinJuly 27, 2021COVID, Parenting, Caring and Empathy