1 . I was shopping in Whole Foods Market when my cellphone rang. My daughter Julianna told me that she got the job she had applied for. She had just turned 14 and was determined to spend this summer vacation on work. The things she wants are both long-term and immediate. She wants to freely buy things from Forever 21 and save money for the famous college she’s determined to get into.

Several weeks before her birthday, Julianna asked me whether I’d allow her to work. Some of her friends’ parents wouldn’t let their kids work, wanting them to focus on their studies and enjoy the last childhood freedom for as long as possible. I understood those parents. But I wanted her to spend less time on her electronic devices in her room and more time in the outside world.

The day after her birthday, Julianna immediately applied to an amusement park, which hires teens during busy summer months. I’d never seen Julianna so active. The day before the interview, we went over possible questions, including why she wanted to work at the amusement park, its most famous attraction, and what her previous work and volunteering experiences were. She rarely talked about anything else until the interview was over.

I never worked as a young teen. My husband, though, worked as a young teen at an amusement park. He shared some funny stories about his time working there. More importantly, the work contributed to his strong work ethic (道德准则) today. Studies also show that work can contribute to healthy development and that teens who work at times are more likely to attend four-year colleges and get degrees quickly.

Julianna used to be so careful about new experiences, but now she is doing something new. I realize it’s time to put aside my doubts and worries and believe she can learn the skills she needs to take care of herself.

2 . Pooja Rai was a young architecture student in 2014 when she went with a friend to give food to a local orphanage. She was surprised at what she saw.

Kids were playing with anything they could get their hands on. One group was rolling around a broken metal pipe. Two boys were trying to play badminton, using old shoes as rackets. “Play shouldn’t just be part of a rich kid’s lifestyle. All kids have a right to enjoy their childhoods.” Rai says.

Over the next few weeks, she talked with friends about collecting money for a playground. And that’s when she thought of old tires. Around 100 million tires are thrown away in India every year. Could they reuse them as playground materials and help the environment, too?

That idea became a reality in 2015, using old tires—all cleaned, carefully looked over to make sure they are safe to use, and painted in bright colors. The following year, she created Anthill Creations, which has built 275 playgrounds across India—celebrating the power of play in public spaces orphanages, and schools.

“Our work always begins with talks with kids about what they want from this space.” says Rai. Sometimes it can take a few hours, or a few visits, until children are ready to open up. She also draws on her experience as an architect. “I found that spaces are powerful in shaping people’s behavior.” she says.

Most of the play spaces Rai designs feature large tire sculptures of cars, buildings, or animals, paired with more classic elements of swings and jungle gyms.

In one girl’s school in Bengaluru, the children wanted their play space to be shaped into a boxing ring, with tires doubling up as punching bags. “Their teacher was unsure about it.” Rai remembers. “But the girls said they didn’t want people to see them as weak. They wanted to practice self-defense and grow stronger.” In December 2019, this playground became a reality.

6 . Chelsea FC Foundation Soccer Schools

This Foundation Chelsea FC Soccer Camp Programs near London, England and near Brighton in Southern England offers children the experience of training like soccer professionals.

Boys Soccer Only Camp

For 9 — 17 years old boys. An intensive boarding program where players live and train like professionals with two coaching courses a day with Chelsea FC Foundation coaches, including sports science workshops and seminars (专题研讨会).

Boys and Girls Soccer and English Camp

For 9 — 17 years old boys and girls learning English as a second language. Players combine world class coaching and sports science workshops of Chelsea FC Foundation with daily English lessons using a customized (定制的) and football-focused course with the English learning successful CLIL model used in top schools across the world.

Girls Soccer Only Camp

For 13 — 17 years old girls. Chelsea FC Women has won the Women’s Super League for the past 3 years! Girls can learn from the champions’ winning way and enjoy training in girls-only groups with champion coaches and players. Sport science workshops support the on-field training. Girls can choose from soccer only or soccer and English.

Goalkeepers Soccer Camp

For boy and girl goalkeepers from 13-17 years old. Players learn skills specific to their position in on-field training including positioning, ball handling, shot stopping and distribution. Goalkeepers can choose from soccer only or soccer and English. There will be specialist goalkeeping training courses throughout the week as well as courses where goalkeepers join the field players program.

7 . Which is more important for parents, making more money to give the kids a better life or spending more time with them? It is a problem for parents and it is not easy to decide. A new study shows that today’s parents are spending more time with their children than parents in the past. According to the study, today’s college-educated mothers spend about 21.2 hours a week taking care of their children. But women with less education spend about 15.9 hours. Before 1995, it was only 12 hours.

Dads are spending more time on ball games. Before 1995, fathers with college educations only spent about 4.5 hours a week playing with their children. Today, it increases to 9.6 hours a week. For fathers with high school education, the time goes up from 3.7 hours to 6.8.

These days, parents don’t care more about the cleaning or the cooking. They are trying their best to spend time with their families. As for the kids, they don’t mind how much time their parents spend with them. They just want to enjoy the time their parents do be with them.

So, take part in the kids’ activities when you are with them, such as helping with homework or playing soccer with them.

10 . Vicky Barlow is a volunteer for a non-profit environmental organization. She was overturning stones in a rock pool in Falmouth, England when something “extremely bright and unusual” caught her eye. Under a large seaweed-covered rock, she made a very rare find: a rainbow sea slug (蛞蝓).

Rainbow sea slugs are very uncommon in England — they’re usually found in warmer waters, such as those along the west coasts of Spain, Portugal and France. In fact, there have only been three previously documented sightings of the species in the UK. But those were all found by divers rather than rock poolers. “It’s a warm-water species but it looks as if it has arrived here,” said the sea biologist Ben Holt. He adds that waters around the UK have seen rapid warming due to climate change. By the end of the century, water temperatures in the UK will rise by more than 3℃.

Sea slugs are particularly useful in related research. Most sea slugs only live up to about one year, which means they can make a very quick response to the changes in water temperatures caused by climate issues. In Australia, climate scientists have been collecting information on sea slugs for over 10 years to record the species and learn about changes in their distribution (分布), including their arrival in historically cooler waters.

Around 3,000 species of sea slugs exist in waters worldwide. They mainly feed on seaweed and other sea slugs. Unlike snails, adult sea slugs don’t have shells to protect them from being eaten by hungry marine animals. Instead, many of them have formed bright colors to scare off their enemies such as sea turtles, starfish and crabs. Some species may even have the unusual ability to steal stinging cells (刺细胞) from animals they feed on and shoot them out when threatened.

Before sending it back where it came from, Barlow placed the sea slug in a pot to get a better look at its colors. “It is absolutely amazing that I could find it on our rocky coasts,” Barlow writes in her blog. “It’s a perfect example of the incredible wildlife we have on our doorstep.”