• 65.38% reported that their child regulates emotions well or very well. Only 7.69% reported that their child regulates emotions poorly or very poorly, while 26.92% reported average emotional regulation.

• Top Challenging Emotions

  Anger, frustration, sadness, fear, excitement, and anxiety were among the most challenging emotions parents reported.

• 79.61% of respondents rated their child's ability to form meaningful, age-appropriate relationships as good or excellent.

  Conflict and Fighting:

  • 36.92% of respondents reported that their child fights with siblings, family, or friends daily.

  • 36.15% reported weekly fights.

  • 32.69% reported that their child manages conflicts by discussing calmly.

  • 32.69% said their child turns to arguing.

  • 22.31% reported that their child typically seeks adult intervention, and 10.77% said their child typically ignores conflict.

  Talking About Emotions:

  • 46.15% of respondents said they talk about emotions daily.

  • 84.61% discuss emotions at least weekly or daily.

  • A similar question asked how often children talk about their feelings with parents, and 85.77% said they do so weekly or daily.

  Cultural Shifts:

  There appears to be a shift in American culture from emotional restraint to emotional literacy. This can be attributed to various factors, including:

  • Cultural shifts and research on emotional intelligence (e.g., Goleman, 1995; Elias et al., 1997).

  • Changes in parenting styles.

  • Evolving gender roles, feminism, and the decline of patriarchy.

  • Impact of the internet and social media (e.g., Turkle, 2011).

  • Therapeutic and psychological movements (e.g., Herman, 1992; Norcross, 2011).

• 76.92% of respondents rated their child’s comfort level in expressing emotions as comfortable or very comfortable.

Playtime and Activity Levels:

• 9.62% of respondents said their child gets less than an hour of structured playtime each day.

• 54.23% reported more than 2 hours of unstructured playtime daily.

  • The suggested norm is 1-2 hours per day.

  Third-Party Evidence:

  • American Academy of Pediatrics (2007) emphasizes unstructured play for developing cognitive, social, and emotional skills (Ginsburg, 2007).

  • World Health Organization (2019) recommends at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity for children ages 5-17, including unstructured play.

  • UK Government Play Strategy (2008) underscores the importance of daily free play for creative thinking and social development.

  • Canadian Public Health Guidelines (2017) recommend at least 1 hour of physical activity daily for children aged 5-17, with emphasis on unstructured play.

  • University of Colorado Boulder (2014) found that children engaged in more unstructured activities developed better self-directed executive functioning skills (Barker et al., 2014).

Active Play vs. Screen Time:

• 80.76% of parents reported a balance of active play and screen time at home.

• 0.77% reported all active play, while 1.54% reported all screen time.

• 18.46% reported mostly or all screen time.

Emotional Expression:

• Happiness was the most commonly expressed emotion daily (77.69%), followed by excitement (57.31%).

• 31.54% reported that their child expressed anger daily.

• 24.62% reported anxiety, and 22.69% reported sadness.

• Frustration Responses:

  • 38.08% said their child typically cries when frustrated or angry.

  • 28.08% said their child typically shouts.

  • 22.69% said their child withdraws.

  • 10.77% reported that their child seeks help when frustrated.

• Calming Strategies:

  • 30.38% use talking it out.

  • 24.23% use deep breathing.

  • 19.62% use physical activity.

  • 15.38% use distracting activities like screen time or games.

  • 8.85% reported listening to music as a calming strategy.

Tools and Toys for Emotional Learning:

• 78.08% have never used toys or tools to help their child manage emotions.

• Of the 22.31% that did:

  • 46.55% used toys and games.

  • 17.24% used stuffed animals or dolls.

  • 8.62% used books or apps.

• When buying a toy or tool to promote social-emotional learning, parents prioritize:

  • 62.69%: Educational content.

  • 57.69%: Interactivity.

  • 50%: Personalization.

  • 53.46%: Family interactivity.

  • 30.38%: Independent use.

• 80% of parents find it important that toys include educational content.