As the scorching summer arrives and the semester draws to a close, KIT wishes all parents, children, and teachers a safe and joyful summer vacation. In this edition, we cover a range of interesting topics, including a brief overview of Growing Up in New Zealand, a longitudinal research project launched in 2008, along with some KIT findings related to children's experience of shame. We also feature a special interview with Prof. Yi-Hsuan Wu from the Department of Child and Family Studies at NTNU and a book review of Last Stop on Market Street, a storybook written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson, which tells the heartwarming story of CJ and his grandmother on a bus ride through the city.

Growing Up in New Zealand
Growing Up in New Zealand is a longitudinal research program that began in 2008 with the aim of tracking the development of the new generation born in the 21st century. Implemented by the University of Auckland, the program is funded by the Ministry of Social Development and involves cross-departmental collaboration across health, education, research, and statistical sectors. The program's sample consists of 6,000 newborns born between 2009 and 2010, representing diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The plan is to follow these children into adulthood, at least until the age of 21. Twelve weeks before childbirth, the program began collecting data from mothers on aspects of pregnancy (such as nutrition and exercise), as well as genetics, physiology, and the family environment. The goal is to depict the growth profile and characteristics of New Zealand's next generation across various dimensions, including health, well-being, family conditions, schooling, psychological development, community and environment, and cultural identity. The findings are intended to inform government policies and services that support the development of children and adolescents.

The program collects data approximately every three years and is currently conducting the wave for 12-year-olds. As the participants are now entering adolescence, data collection includes information on their relationships with parents and friends, health status, physical changes, perceptions of life, opinions about school and teachers, extracurricular activities, favorite places, self-identity, and feelings about living in New Zealand. At this stage, in addition to questionnaires for both the participants and their primary caregivers, the program also gathers data through tests, games, and microbiological samples. Moreover, with funding from the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, Growing Up in New Zealand developed an interactive mobile app, with some participants involved in its design. The app will be used to collect digital data from teenagers, such as photos, videos, audio recordings, and text, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing the well-being of the next generation. The program also plans to use machine learning techniques to process and analyze this large volume of data in real time. For more information about Growing Up in New Zealand, please visit https://www.growingup.co.nz.

Highlight of KIT Findings
Shame-based parenting is often used by Chinese parents to ensure that their children's thoughts and behaviors align with socially recognized moral values. Influenced by Confucian thought, which emphasizes the concept of “knowing shame,” this approach helps children understand that others may view them negatively if their behavior falls short of or violates moral standards. The feeling of shame is not innate; it gradually develops as children's cognitive abilities and sense of self grow. It emerges through feedback from interactions with others and as children begin to understand the standards and rules of their environment.

To explore how young children in Taiwan develop the feeling of shame, we can examine the responses gathered from the KIT questionnaire item: “The child feels ashamed when he/she does something wrong.” Parents are asked to select one of five options—"Never,” “Rarely,” “Sometimes,” “Often,” or “Always”—based on their child's usual behavior.

Figure 1 shows the proportion of parents in Taiwan who observed their children displaying feelings of shame at ages 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, and 5. From this chart, it is evident that the feeling of shame in Taiwanese children develops rapidly with age.

At age 1, nearly 10% of children (9%) feel ashamed when they do something wrong.

By age 1.5, about 30% of children (30%) experience feelings of shame.

At age 2, over 50% of children (52%) feel embarrassed.

By age 3, nearly 70% (67%) exhibit feelings of shame.

At ages 4 and 5, only a very small number of children (4% and 3%, respectively) have never shown awareness of shame.

From the observations of parents in Taiwan, children are capable of feeling shame at a very young age. By the age of 1.5, 12% of children often or always exhibit this emotion. By the age of 5, this number rises to 44%, indicating that a significant proportion of children often experience feelings of shame.

About Prof. Yi-Hsuan Wu
Assistant Professor Yi-Hsuan Wu, from the Department of Child and Family Studies at National Taiwan Normal University, is a new member of KIT's Phase IV research project. She is currently collaborating with Professors Chih-Wen Wu and Li-Tuan Chou to develop a scale for assessing the quality of adolescents' family environments and their experiences, as well as to explore the relationships between various family environment factors and adolescent development. Her contributions are expected to significantly benefit the KIT research.

Prof. Wu's expertise includes social-emotional learning, parenting education, and school psychology. Her primary research focuses on systematic prevention programs in both school and family settings. She is also a research member of the Social and Emotional Education and Development Center and serves as a collaborative committee member on social-emotional learning at the National Academy for Educational Research.

With extensive international experience in education and parenting, Prof. Wu has studied and worked in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. She is dedicated to helping educators, parents, and students lead fulfilling lives by enhancing their social-emotional skills.

Book Review
“Last Stop on Market Street,” written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson, is a heartwarming story that conveys messages of gratitude, community, and empathy. The story follows CJ and his grandmother on a bus ride through the city. As CJ questions why his family doesn't have more, his grandmother teaches him to appreciate the simple beauties of life. Its English version is available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399257748), and readers can find its Chinese version on Books.com.tw (https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010712960). Click https://youtu.be/pZUDKP0pm-s to listen.