Raising kids who care about others and the common good.
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Read the latest from Making Caring Common! You’re in the right place for our media coverage, general updates, and press releases. Topics include: Access and Equity, Bias, Bullying, Caring and Empathy, College Admissions, Gender, MCC Update, Misogyny and Sexual Harassment, Moral and Ethical Development, Parenting, Romantic Relationships, School Culture, Trauma, and Youth Advisory Board.

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Read the latest from Making Caring Common!

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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EdSurge: Making the College Admissions Process Work for All Students

Jenny Rickard, President and CEO of the Common Application, and Eric Waldo, Executive Director of Reach Higher, write about how to make the college admissions process work for all students. They also mention our recent report: “Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education’s Turning the Tide Campaign is a great example of an effort to help underrepresented and low-income students see themselves in a college environment while encouraging university admissions professionals to consider a broader set of experiences when evaluating applicants. Their report suggests reshaping the college admissions process to promote greater ethical engagement and reduce excessive achievement pressure.”

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The Washington Post: When parents are so desperate to get their kids into college that they sabotage other students

“This is like an arms race, and people keep ratcheting each other up. It fuels the constant competition that a lot of parents feel in this process, and it lowers the bar for unethical behavior. If you’re a parent who is just helping a kid on an essay too much, which is not a good thing to do, you might feel like, ‘Well, compared to these other parents, what I do is really benign.’” Making Caring Common’s Rick Weissbourd spoke with Caitlin Gibson about parenting and college admissions. Read the full piece in The Washington Post.

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Deseret News: The college admissions process poses an ethical test for parents, and many aren't passing. Here are 7 tips

Rick Weissbourd spoke with Jennifer Graham about the college admissions scandal and our new report:

“The scandal is mind-bogglingly immoral and dumb from my perspective. And it’s not really the problem. It’s a problem in the sense that it’s an awful thing, but (what the indicted parents did) is not common. What we’re writing about (in the report) is very common forms of behaviors, things that parents do that cross a line.”

Read more in Deseret News.

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Quartz: The college application process is an ethical test—and many parents are failing it

Jenny Anderson spoke with Making Caring Common’s Rick Weissbourd about the recent college admissions scandal: “‘I fear that parents won’t see themselves in this,’” he says. Of course, the alleged bribery ring was both illegal and ‘mind-bogglingly unethical and dumb.’ But the lack of consciousness about equity? He argues that’s way more common. Helping kids write their college essays, allowing them to fudge their extracurriculars or volunteering, hiring high-priced tutors to help with the applications? ‘It gives their kids unfair advantages.’” Read the full piece in Quartz.

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TODAY: After the scandal: How to parent your teen through college applications (sanely)

“Is there is a way to get through the college admissions process in a sane and healthy way?

It's possible, says psychologist Richard Weissbourd, a Harvard University Graduate School of Education professor and the faculty director for its Making Caring Common Project. But here's the catch: Parents must be willing to do some work of their own — and he doesn't mean researching colleges for their children or emailing admissions officers on their behalf.

Instead, in Making Caring Common's recently-released ‘Turning the Tide II’ report, Weissbourd and his colleagues recommend prioritizing concern for others instead of amassing personal accolades for the purpose of gaining entrance to an elite university.”

Read the full piece in TODAY.

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