F015 Education, health and how to raise independent children (Esther Wojcicki)

 
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Esther Wojcicki is an accomplished journalist and teacher with a very successful family. Her husband Stanley is Stanford University professor of physics and together they have three daughters. Susan is the CEO of YouTube. Janet is a Fulbright-winning anthropologist, epidemiologist and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and researcher. Anne is the co-founder of 23andMe — the first genetic testing service available directly to consumers that includes reports that meet FDA standards.

So yes, Esther has a lot to share regarding education, upbringing, and the US healthcare.

Listen on Google Play Music on your android device, in iTunes or Podbean or use the RSS feed for your podcast player.

When Esther was still a child, her 18-months old brother died because he swallowed too many aspirin pills. Instead of sending him to the emergency room, the family doctor told the parents to put the child to bed. Even after going to the hospital, the child did not receive medical attention since at the time, American hospitals could reject patients lacking proof of payment. Despite this practice not being allowed today anymore, hospitals in some States still turn patients away, says Esther.

She is very critical of the US healthcare and political system. “One of the main reasons for high homelessness in the US is the fact that people get sick. When they try to get better, they spend all their money on healthcare, eventually lose their job and get homeless,” she mentions.

After the family tragedy, Esther decided to ask every tough question and eventually became a journalist. She switched to teaching after the birth of her girls. Today, Esther holds an honorary doctorate from Palo Alto University (2013) and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) 2016. Among many many other things, she is the founder of the Moonshots in Education Movement (MiE).

She encourages her students to use all the latest apps and media and be creative in news creation. Children come without manuals, but no matter the country, all parents have one thing in common: they want what’s best for their children, says Esther while being critical of modern parenting. “You are your child’s first teacher,” she says pointing to the fact that parents expect too much from school and lack understanding of their influence on their children.

In order to make things easier for themselves, parents do things instead of their offsprings. Since children learn by doing, this takes away an opportunity for them to learn and build their independence.

The discussion in the 15th episode of Faces of digital health resolves around how we learn, changes in the way we interact due to technology, the role of parents in education and ofcourse 23andme, a little bit of politics and how the US healthcare system affects society.

Some questions addressed:

  • What is the role of education for personal health?

  • What is the significance of home environment in education?

  • How have the communication and learning changed due to new technologies?

  • Can updates of educational system follow the rapid technological improvement?