Childhood is generally defined as the period of life between birth and adulthood, but children can also be characterized by their stage of development, including prenatal, infant, toddler, school-age, pre-pubescent, and teen or adolescent. RAND research on children covers the prenatal period to age 18 and spans multiple research areas, including health, education, criminal justice, and safety.
Research shows that engaged fathers have a positive influence on their children. Educational success, better social development, and higher self-esteem are some of the documented effects on children who have dads involved in their everyday life.
Ensuring the availability of needed mental health resources was critical in the immediate aftermath and recovery phase of the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado. Authorities in Oklahoma must ensure that such services are in place early so that Moore's residents can begin the long journey to recovery.
The historic objective of Children's Day — celebrated in many European countries on the first day of June — was not simply to celebrate children for who they are, but to bring attention to children around the world who suffer from exploitation, violence, and discrimination.
Contaminated drinking water contributes to the deaths of some 750,000 children under the age of five every year due to diarrheal disease. A RAND project is using mobile phones to increase the sales and use of safe-water filters in Kenya.
Federal and state initiatives to advance preschool program quality will further ensure that these investments in early learning programs will achieve their full promise and promote healthy child development — physically, socially, emotionally, and academically, writes Lynn Karoly.
High-quality early childhood interventions can improve academic achievement, reduce crime and delinquency, and enhance future labor market success, but the operative word is "high quality," says Brian Stecher.
An optimal approach to strategically expanding access to early childhood programs is one that helps states and communities identify evidence-based approaches that address their particular needs, within the context of their characteristics, writes M. Rebecca Kilburn.
President Obama's task force on gun violence has raised the stakes in the policy debate on gun control and policy in the wake of the recent shootings in Colorado and Connecticut. Some of RAND's top researchers share what is, and what isn't, known about firearms and gun control.
Art Kellermann reviews what is known from broad outlines of the Newtown attack and past research on gun violence to offer some preliminary thoughts to the Obama Administration's task force and the public.
The United States has long relied on public health science to improve the safety, health, and lives of its citizens. Perhaps the same straightforward, problem-solving approach that worked well in other circumstances can help the nation meet the challenge of firearm violence, writes Arthur Kellermann.
With an event like this, "recovery" doesn't mean a return to normal, because lives have been permanently altered. Recovery can only mean finding a new normal, a new path forward. And schools, those places of safety and healthy development, can help with that process, by providing a structure and community to support healing, writes Lisa Jaycox.
Workplaces across the world that rely on a teenage workforce, like supermarkets and fast food restaurants, need to do a better job protecting young people from starting to smoke, writes Rajeev Ramchand.
Boys and men of color—in particular, young African American men—are particularly vulnerable to racial and ethnic disparities. That such disparities exist should surprise no one. Nor should the fact that such disparities diminish the life chances of those affected, writes Lois M. Davis.
In terms of healthcare use and chronic health conditions, obesity is comparable to aging 20 years, with the health of a 30 year old resembling that of a 50 year old, writes Roland Sturm.
Essentially, the available research suggests that teaching abstinence alone to teenagers does not work — they are no more likely to delay the start of sexual activity than other teenagers. But research has not been so clear regarding virginity pledges specifically, writes Steven Martino.
Iraqi Refugee Challenge, in United Press International.
Published commentary by RAND staff: A Laid-Off Child Is a Terrible Mind to Waste, in Rediff.
Published commentary by RAND staff: Preschool Pays Off, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Published commentary by RAND staff: Benefits of Preschool Come with Every Dollar, in the Los Angeles Times.
Published commentary by RAND staff.
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