Here are my top 10 news and articles I found in the week of May 17th-23rd, as the 3rd entry for the project of posting my top 10 articles weekly. There are some encouraging article on the surge in clean energy (ranked number one) and on more investors caring about environment and social (ranked number three), which are in line with the Factfulness approach that I discussed in my past entry. The purpose of my Top 10 Article project is to share articles that I believe convey essential information for parents or anyone who care about the next generation. I ranked the articles subjectively. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it!
10. Two female loos for every male one for public bathrooms, experts recommend
I support this proposal, given much longer lines in front of female restrooms in almost every pubic place. In addition, many young children – both boys and girls – use female bathrooms because more mothers (than fathers) bring children with them. Public health experts are calling for fair provision of public toilets for women, saying the aim should be to have two female loos to every male one, according to the article. Public toilets "should be considered as essential as streetlights, roads and waste collection,” say experts.
(Source: BBC)
9. For enhancing the effectiveness of teachers
Having good teachers makes a big difference, and his article provides an interesting insight on teacher development. Investing in teachers’ preservice experiences (an investment before individuals are even hired as teachers) pays off, according to the article. For example, student teachers become highly effective teachers if they are assigned mentors during their student teacher periods, according to research. This article concludes by advocating greater focus on research into what constitutes effective teacher candidate mentorship and more policy attention (and potentially funding for teacher mentors) on how to ensure that teacher candidates receive high-quality mentorship during their student teaching.
(Source: Brookings Institute)
8. The New Mom Economy: The $46 Billion Millennial Parenting Market in USA
Companies are offering online services to improve US Millennial’s parenthood, targeting $46 billion markets. Services include newborn health support, baby food delivery, and online communities for new parents. Some apps/services listed in the article look pretty good. I wish I would had been able to use them when I was a new mother.
(Source: Forbes)
7. The ethics of smart devices that analyze how we speak
Smart speakers are getting quite popular among families with young children, as smart speakers can act as a ”buddy” to children. But, smart speaker machines can collect data on your traits based on how you speak, including identity, health, feelings, and even sexual orientations. This could raise serious ethical problems. Should we just let the tech giant (such as Amazon and Google) collect data, which include our sensitive and confidential information?
(Source: Harvard Business Review)
6. Finding compassion to detained migrant children
We all need to care about and be compassionate to detained migrant children. While US has moved to legalize detaining children for longer days under Zero Tolerance Policy, the time spent in detention centers increases risks of depression, PTSD, and even long-term issues such as heart disease and diabetes.
(Source: Psychology Today)
5. OECD predicts global economic slowdown and suggests some remedies
OECD calls on governments to boost economy by spending more for countries that can afford to do so - notably Germany and Netherlands. OECD is getting cautious about possible economic slowdown resulting from US-China Trade War.
(Source: Reuters and Financial Times)
4. Children in poor countries are behind in learning
Sadly, children in developing countries score much lower than their peers in rich countries, based on a new effort to include more low- and middle-income countries in the internationally comparable learning assessments. This article shed lights on the importance of improving learning outcomes, rather than focusing on equality. So far, much attention has been paid to the equality of schooling and learning across groups, such as across girls and boys or the poor and the well-off. Indeed, it has been widely recognized that the equality of schooling and learning has been much improved; for example, more than 90 percent of girls in developing countries nowadays finish elementary schools. However, when it comes to learning outcomes and achievements, children in poor countries are far behind the children in rich countries.
(Source: Brookings Institute)
3. More and more large investors and funds are paying attention to environment, social, and governance, while the rule setting is yet to be done.
“The global investment community’s interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues has finally reached a tipping point. Large asset management firms and pensions funds are now pressuring corporate leaders to improve sustainability practices in material ways that both benefit their firms’ bottom line and create broader impact. They’re also advocating for more uniform metrics and industry standards.”
But, how do we know each company is in compliant with proper ESG practices? How to set information disclosure rules? In USA, it took several crisis (dating back to Great Depression in 1929) until SEC set accounting and disclosure rules. The interviewee professor expects that investment communities shall put pressure on SEC to take actions.
(Source: Harvard Business Review)
2. How Trump’s approach to the Middle East ignores the past, the future, and the human condition
As someone residing in Jordan, or as a human being, I sincerely hope that peace will be brought to people of the holly land.
Here is an excerpt of the article: Let’s start with the principles of the approach as revealed by Kushner and other members of Trump’s team. While ignoring prior peace agreements, U.N. resolutions, and international law, Trump’s approach is anchored on three flawed principles: “realities” on the ground as they are, appeal to ethnic/religious justifications of Israeli control of occupied territories, and economic incentives to appease Palestinian political aspirations. The first ignores the history of the U.S. role in creating these realities; the second ignores the future consequences of framing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as an ethnic/religious conflict, instead of a nationalist conflict; the third misses not only the nature of the Palestinian struggle, but of the human condition.
(Source: Brookings Institute)
1. Wind and solar power generation has been surging, will continue to further surge, according to Bill Gates
Wind and solar power generation is expanding. More technological advancement could solve the problems of wind and solar energy, such as storage issues (for example, in rainy days and windless days, how to storage power). It seems that Bill Gates is sure that such technological progress will happen in the predictable future. Let’s hope that Bill Gates and Gates Foundation will invest enough money for that.
(Source: Gates Notes, the Blog of Bill Gates)
(photo by Faye Cornish on Unsplash)