Podcast: Community Cafe:
Exploring Curiosity with the Healthy Youth Alliance
In this podcast, we hear directly from two of our very own Bainbridge High School students, Emma Russell and Maya Nathan, on how we as parents, teachers and community members help encourage or, in some cases, inhibit the natural curiosity among youth.
Why is this so important?
According to local developmental psychologist, Marilyn Price Mitchell, “research suggests that intellectual curiosity has as big of an effect on performance as hard work. When put together, curiosity and hard work account for success just as much as intelligence. Another study found that people who were curious about a topic retained what they learned for longer periods of time. And even more impressive, research has linked curiosity to a wide range of important adaptive behaviors, including tolerance of anxiety and uncertainty, positive emotions, humor, playfulness, out-of-box thinking, and a noncritical attitude — all attributes associated with healthy social outcomes.”
In her recent article, Marilyn also notes that “psychologists view curiosity as a life force, vital to happiness, intellectual growth, and well being.”
Wow, that’s powerful.
And yet, while curiosity is innate in kids, it can also unintentionally be discouraged by adults. So how do we help our kids continue to wonder about the world, ask questions and actively seek out answers? And how do we foster that curiosity in a culture that prioritizes good grades and test scores?
Emma and Maya share their perspectives in this podcast, which is part of the Bainbridge Healthy Youth Alliance’s 8-month educational campaign called “Beyond the Report Card: Cultivating What Matters”. Each month, the campaign focuses on a different attribute–such as empathy or curiosity–to help our youth thrive and is designed for local parents, educators and other adults who care about teens.
To learn more about the Bainbridge Healthy Youth Alliance, including specific things you can do to support our youth, or to sign up for weekly resources, please visit BIHealthyYouth.org.
Credits: BCB host: Christina Hulet; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.