Facebook use has caught on in Ghana over the past two years just as it
has caught on in other parts of the world. There are many stories
concerning how this social networking utility is used. CNN has this interesting piece
about the different types of people you're likely to run in on
Facebook. Some Ghanaian bloggers have also taken a shot at the subject
but Esi Cleland's hilarious piece on Ghanaian Facebook status updates is one of the best that i've encountered to date.
Startup Africa last April wrote a piece on African Facebook demographics based on data gleaned from Nick Gonzalez's checkfacebook application.
From Startup Africa's analysis, Ghana ranks as Africa's 7th Facebook
user country with just over 100,900 users. My last check shows this
figure has risen to 277,600, i.e. within a space of 7 months, Facebook
has grown at a percentage of over 175% in Ghana. Startup Africa also
computed Ghana's Facebook penetration, the percentage of the country's
online population using the social network, and arrived at 11.47% (my
own calculations pegs the figure at 27.84%). This places Ghana third in
Africa ahead of the likes of Nigeria, Kenya and Morrocco. The ranking
is interesting against the backdrop that the aforementioned countries
have higher Internet penetration than Ghana.
The demographic
details of Ghana's Facebook population is expected but surprising with
regards to the huge gap in Facebook usage between the genders. A
whopping 68.7% of Ghana-based facebookers are male. The 18-34 age range
dominates the Ghanaian Facebook landscape, commanding 82%. The other
significant Facebook usage age groups are 14-17 (7.5%) and 35-44 (6.3%).
A
few conclusions could be drawn from the above data. Firstly, Ghana's
relatively high Facebook penetration shows how much Ghanaians want to
keep up with conversations and information. This is buttressed by the
country's mobile penetration
of almost 50%. Someone will say we are a country of talkatives and
these stats point to that. Secondly, the information also shows the
demography that should be targeted by businesses who want to employ the
social media as an advertising tool. I will place my bet on males in
the 18-34 age range for now.
What do you make of these stats? Do
they tell you something? What has been your experience with Facebook
usage? Is there a way that we can employ this social networking utility
to more effective use? The ball is in your court!
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
why ghanaian businesses should have a business website
Does your business have a website? If not then you are certainly not
operating at maximum capacity. A website can play an integral part of
your company's promotional and marketing strategy, and every successful
business or company should have one. Having a company website is very
useful in this day and age and has so many advantages for your business.
Millions of people have internet access today, and most are using the web more as a research tool to obtain information about almost everything. More and more people are using the internet as a first post of call because of its convenience and the fact that it saves time. They also search for products and services online before making purchases, using search engines, such as Google and Yahoo. Having a good informative website can bring your site right up the web pages index list so lots of potential consumers will access your website to see what you have to offer. Customers are able to access such information as products and services, support, prices, and contact details. The web can be the easiest way to pick up new business and you should use it to your advantage. Being found on the Internet will give you an edge over your competition and generate business sales for you.
Having an effective website is a great marketing tool, and a cost-effective way of advertising your company. You can publicize your business, service or products to millions of potential customers. Most consumers expect that every reputable company has a web site, and most have more confidence in, and prefer doing business with companies that they know something about. Your website can provide visitors with the very latest company information, including your location, opening hours, and details of your products and services. It can also have maps or directions to your company's location. Consumers can become educated about your business and get answers to many of their questions which will help to cut back on the number of phone calls you receive with simple inquiries. A lot of people hitting your website are an active audience, and are curious as to what you have, or are seeking questions or more information about goods and services. They want to learn more about what you have to offer. These visitors are seeking information, which your site can provide, and help win them over.
With an internet site, your products or service are accessible globally, to prospective customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In a way you are able to conduct business at any time, and when it is convenient for your clients/customers. You are never actually closed. And if you have an e-commerce website, your customers can shop every hour of the day. Are you thinking of marketing your products to customers outside your locality, maybe, nationally, or even globally? The answer may probably lie in an ecommerce site.
Websites are quicker, easier and more cost-effective to update than print based media such as flyers and brochures. Once it is built, the maintenance and updating is usually relatively easy and inexpensive. You can update any section of your website, whenever you want and as often as you want.
A website serves as an introduction to your business, and you can use it to enhance your business image. A well designed and presented web site can project an image that you are a much larger business than what you really are. This can help when trying to win business from larger organizations and to establish credibility with new customers. Your business card also looks more professional with your website address on it.
A small business website can be quite an effective to increase your sales. Properly planned, designed and implemented, a website should pay for itself and provide a return on investment.
Websites are very powerful and inexpensive marketing and advertising tools, and a great way to expand your business into all areas of the country. People are increasingly using the Internet to find local services - especially the younger generation. More and more businesses are getting websites because they realize that it gives their customers another way to contact them for products and services.
Maybe it is time to reach out to a web developer and educate yourself on how the web can work for you. The internet is here to stay, so act now. Make use of this powerful tool to market or sell your business products and services in new ways.
Millions of people have internet access today, and most are using the web more as a research tool to obtain information about almost everything. More and more people are using the internet as a first post of call because of its convenience and the fact that it saves time. They also search for products and services online before making purchases, using search engines, such as Google and Yahoo. Having a good informative website can bring your site right up the web pages index list so lots of potential consumers will access your website to see what you have to offer. Customers are able to access such information as products and services, support, prices, and contact details. The web can be the easiest way to pick up new business and you should use it to your advantage. Being found on the Internet will give you an edge over your competition and generate business sales for you.
Having an effective website is a great marketing tool, and a cost-effective way of advertising your company. You can publicize your business, service or products to millions of potential customers. Most consumers expect that every reputable company has a web site, and most have more confidence in, and prefer doing business with companies that they know something about. Your website can provide visitors with the very latest company information, including your location, opening hours, and details of your products and services. It can also have maps or directions to your company's location. Consumers can become educated about your business and get answers to many of their questions which will help to cut back on the number of phone calls you receive with simple inquiries. A lot of people hitting your website are an active audience, and are curious as to what you have, or are seeking questions or more information about goods and services. They want to learn more about what you have to offer. These visitors are seeking information, which your site can provide, and help win them over.
With an internet site, your products or service are accessible globally, to prospective customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In a way you are able to conduct business at any time, and when it is convenient for your clients/customers. You are never actually closed. And if you have an e-commerce website, your customers can shop every hour of the day. Are you thinking of marketing your products to customers outside your locality, maybe, nationally, or even globally? The answer may probably lie in an ecommerce site.
Websites are quicker, easier and more cost-effective to update than print based media such as flyers and brochures. Once it is built, the maintenance and updating is usually relatively easy and inexpensive. You can update any section of your website, whenever you want and as often as you want.
A website serves as an introduction to your business, and you can use it to enhance your business image. A well designed and presented web site can project an image that you are a much larger business than what you really are. This can help when trying to win business from larger organizations and to establish credibility with new customers. Your business card also looks more professional with your website address on it.
A small business website can be quite an effective to increase your sales. Properly planned, designed and implemented, a website should pay for itself and provide a return on investment.
Websites are very powerful and inexpensive marketing and advertising tools, and a great way to expand your business into all areas of the country. People are increasingly using the Internet to find local services - especially the younger generation. More and more businesses are getting websites because they realize that it gives their customers another way to contact them for products and services.
Maybe it is time to reach out to a web developer and educate yourself on how the web can work for you. The internet is here to stay, so act now. Make use of this powerful tool to market or sell your business products and services in new ways.
publish blogs for money
I have come across people in the world of blogging attributing the
failure of many blogs to the ease at which a blog can be set up coupled
with the no or less cost of running a blog syndrome.
Though the above are two of the numerous reasons why most blogs fail or have failed, I believe there is a common and far serious reason why most blogs are unable to survive the non money making stage to make it to the 'cash in' stage.
It is always refreshing and challenging to read and learn that certain big blogs like my all time favourites 'JohnChow.Com' and 'ProBloggers.Net' are making more than 30 thousand US Dollars each month.
The fact that many are making it with their blogs means you can also do it. In the same light, the fact that many have failed with their blogs and cannot even make a living out of them also means you can fall into the failing ditch of blogging.
If you care to know, Technorati reported in the beginning of 2009 that there are over 200 million blogs online. I certainly know there is more than that by now and even a lot of people contested this figure then, saying there are more blogs than just 200 million.
However, less than 1 percent of these blogs can boost of a decent income. When I say a decent income, I mean just enough to enable their owners make a living.
Where does your blog fall now? If your blog is not in the less than 1 percent zone, then you seriously have some work to do and push it there else you will end up with the majority, the failing or failed blogs. Continue Reading From Here
Chris-Vincent is an internet enthusiast & entrepreneur, web developer and a blogger, a law student with special interest in Human Success, Personal Development and Achievements.
As a multi-niche blogger, areas of web development, internet entrepreneurship and marketing are a close heartfelt passion. He enjoys blogging and making money online. He loves to teach and share his online money making tips for free with others on www.ScrewLife.Com
Chris-Vincent runs with the catchphrase 'Success Is A Right, Not A Privilege'.
Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri - GhanaCelebrities
Though the above are two of the numerous reasons why most blogs fail or have failed, I believe there is a common and far serious reason why most blogs are unable to survive the non money making stage to make it to the 'cash in' stage.
It is always refreshing and challenging to read and learn that certain big blogs like my all time favourites 'JohnChow.Com' and 'ProBloggers.Net' are making more than 30 thousand US Dollars each month.
The fact that many are making it with their blogs means you can also do it. In the same light, the fact that many have failed with their blogs and cannot even make a living out of them also means you can fall into the failing ditch of blogging.
If you care to know, Technorati reported in the beginning of 2009 that there are over 200 million blogs online. I certainly know there is more than that by now and even a lot of people contested this figure then, saying there are more blogs than just 200 million.
However, less than 1 percent of these blogs can boost of a decent income. When I say a decent income, I mean just enough to enable their owners make a living.
Where does your blog fall now? If your blog is not in the less than 1 percent zone, then you seriously have some work to do and push it there else you will end up with the majority, the failing or failed blogs. Continue Reading From Here
Chris-Vincent is an internet enthusiast & entrepreneur, web developer and a blogger, a law student with special interest in Human Success, Personal Development and Achievements.
As a multi-niche blogger, areas of web development, internet entrepreneurship and marketing are a close heartfelt passion. He enjoys blogging and making money online. He loves to teach and share his online money making tips for free with others on www.ScrewLife.Com
Chris-Vincent runs with the catchphrase 'Success Is A Right, Not A Privilege'.
Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri - GhanaCelebrities
ghana on facebook
Everybody is on Facebook, from basic school pupils to the trendy
grandma and grandpa, almost everybody is now hooked to the social
network in Ghana: In some high schools, you are termed "collo" old
school when you do not have a Facebook account. So what is so special
about Facebook? What is Facebook and why are most people especially
young Africans especially Ghanaians obsessed with it.? How many
Ghanaians are on Facebook? What do they do on Facebook? Are they any
pros and cons of Facebook? This article is an attempt to briefly
educate Ghanaians on the above questions.
Ghana has a total of 1482280 people using Facebook today as at the time of publication. We believe that this number excludes all Ghanaians residing abroad. Of the total statistics, 70% are men and the 30% women. To quote directly from the source here are the details:
"Our social networking statistics show that Facebook penetration in Ghana is 6.09% compared to the country's population and 63.63% in relation to number of Internet users. The total number of Monthly Active Facebook Users (MAU) in Ghana is approximately 1482280 and declined by more than -191760 in the last 6 months. Monthly Active Users measures the number of people who have been active on Facebook during a 30-day-period."
So what then is Facebook?
According to WISEGEEK, Facebook is a social networking website intended to connect friends, family, and business associates. It is the largest of the networking sites, with the runner up being MySpace. It began as a college networking website and has expanded to include anyone and everyone.
The GCFLEARNFREE site defines Facebook as the world's most popular social networking website. It makes it easy for you to connect and share with your family and friends online. Facebook has even helped the web become more open and social.
On its site BBC UK's WEBWise explain the social network site as having started in the United States as a way for some college kids to stay in touch when they had left campus - and it's evolved since then to become one of the largest social networks in the world.
WIKIPEDIA describes Facebook as an online social networking service, whose name stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other.
According to WISEGEEK, the history of Facebook started at Havard. It was founded by 2004 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and some of his friends, and originally called thefacebook. It was quickly successful on campus and expanded beyond Harvard into other Ivy League schools. With the phenomenon growing in popularity, Zuckerberg enlisted two other students, Duston Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, to assist. Within months, thefacebook became a nationwide college networking website.
Zuckerberg and Moskovitz left Harvard to run thefacebook full time shortly after taking the site national. In August of 2005, thefacebook was renamed Facebook, and the domain was purchased for a reported $200,000 US Dollars (USD). At that time, it was only available to schools, universities, organizations, and companies within English speaking countries, but has since expanded to include anyone.
Facebook users create a profile page that shows their friends and networks information about themselves. The choice to include a profile in a network means that everyone withing that network can view the profile. The profile typically includes the following: Information, Status, Friends, Friends in Other Networks, Photos, Notes, Groups, and The Wall.
Facebook is a great way to meet friends and keep up on what they are doing. Once you add a friend to your Facebook friend list you will always know when they are adding things to their blog or updating their profile. Join Facebook groups to meet people like you, or browse the profiles to find new friends. Facebook's classmates and co-worker search is good for finding friends too.
Pros
Keep Track Of Friends: Facebook tells you when your friends are updating their profiles, adding to their blogs or have some other news on their website.
Photo Album: Add photos and photo albums to your Facebook profile.
Blog Merge: Use the blog feature to create your own simple blog or you can merge your existing blog right into Facebook's blog.
Excellent Search and Browse: Search and browse for people on Facebook using just about any search features.
No Chatroom: I really would have thought that a site like Facebook would have a chatroom or general forum so people can get together online and just chat and say "hi". They don't. They do have an IM feature though, it's called Chat.
Cons
No Music: You can not add music to your Facebook profile.
No Video: You also cannot add video to your Facebook profile.
WHY FACEBOOK
Facebook and other social networking websites can be very confusing for those who have never used it. So if you are having friends and family request that you get on Facebook, but aren't sure why you should use Facebook, continue reading.
Why Facebook?
Facebook can be thought of as your home on the Internet. It's a place people can go to leave you a message, browse through your photo collections, or even chat with you while you are online. It can be a great way to keep in contact with friends and family, and even find long lost friends that you haven't spoken to in years.
The Facebook "wall" is where it all happens. This is where you write comments on what you are up to or share photos and articles with your friends. You'll also see what your friends and family are posting on their wall, and anyone on your friends list can come by and write a comment on your wall. So not only is the Facebook wall a great place to let everyone know you are back from vacation and post trip photos, it is also a place where conversations are started.
Facebook is your online photo album
In addition to keeping up with friends and family, Facebook is a great place to upload all of those family photos. Ordinarily, you'd have to whip out the photo album when people are over at the house, but uploading them to Facebook means the parents can look at their grandchildren anytime they want.
Facebook for fun, games and more
There is also a lot more to Facebooking than just post on your friend's wall. You can play online games like Mafia Wars whereby you will enlist the aid of your friends to knock off a bank or take down a gang leader. You can also use Facebook applications to map out who you are related to on Facebook and even chat with any friends and family that are online.
Facebook for business
You can also use Facebook to connect with co-workers and old co-workers to keep the workplace networking going. It's a fact that one of the best ways to find a new job is to be recommended by a friend, so keeping up with business contacts can be very important.
Facebook for finding old friends
Ever wonder whatever happened to your prom date? Or your best friend from middle school? With more and more people joining Facebook, it is becoming a great place to look up old friends and getting back in touch.
Remember to start slow
Now that you know what all you can do with Facebook, the trick is to not become overwhelmed by trying to do everything at once. Start slow by sending friend requests to your friends and family and reading what's up on their wall. Once you get accustomed to the interface, you can expand your use to uploading photo albums, and from there, begin experimenting with some of the neat Facebook applications.
Ghana has a total of 1482280 people using Facebook today as at the time of publication. We believe that this number excludes all Ghanaians residing abroad. Of the total statistics, 70% are men and the 30% women. To quote directly from the source here are the details:
"Our social networking statistics show that Facebook penetration in Ghana is 6.09% compared to the country's population and 63.63% in relation to number of Internet users. The total number of Monthly Active Facebook Users (MAU) in Ghana is approximately 1482280 and declined by more than -191760 in the last 6 months. Monthly Active Users measures the number of people who have been active on Facebook during a 30-day-period."
So what then is Facebook?
According to WISEGEEK, Facebook is a social networking website intended to connect friends, family, and business associates. It is the largest of the networking sites, with the runner up being MySpace. It began as a college networking website and has expanded to include anyone and everyone.
The GCFLEARNFREE site defines Facebook as the world's most popular social networking website. It makes it easy for you to connect and share with your family and friends online. Facebook has even helped the web become more open and social.
On its site BBC UK's WEBWise explain the social network site as having started in the United States as a way for some college kids to stay in touch when they had left campus - and it's evolved since then to become one of the largest social networks in the world.
WIKIPEDIA describes Facebook as an online social networking service, whose name stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other.
According to WISEGEEK, the history of Facebook started at Havard. It was founded by 2004 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and some of his friends, and originally called thefacebook. It was quickly successful on campus and expanded beyond Harvard into other Ivy League schools. With the phenomenon growing in popularity, Zuckerberg enlisted two other students, Duston Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, to assist. Within months, thefacebook became a nationwide college networking website.
Zuckerberg and Moskovitz left Harvard to run thefacebook full time shortly after taking the site national. In August of 2005, thefacebook was renamed Facebook, and the domain was purchased for a reported $200,000 US Dollars (USD). At that time, it was only available to schools, universities, organizations, and companies within English speaking countries, but has since expanded to include anyone.
Facebook users create a profile page that shows their friends and networks information about themselves. The choice to include a profile in a network means that everyone withing that network can view the profile. The profile typically includes the following: Information, Status, Friends, Friends in Other Networks, Photos, Notes, Groups, and The Wall.
Facebook is a great way to meet friends and keep up on what they are doing. Once you add a friend to your Facebook friend list you will always know when they are adding things to their blog or updating their profile. Join Facebook groups to meet people like you, or browse the profiles to find new friends. Facebook's classmates and co-worker search is good for finding friends too.
Pros
Keep Track Of Friends: Facebook tells you when your friends are updating their profiles, adding to their blogs or have some other news on their website.
Photo Album: Add photos and photo albums to your Facebook profile.
Blog Merge: Use the blog feature to create your own simple blog or you can merge your existing blog right into Facebook's blog.
Excellent Search and Browse: Search and browse for people on Facebook using just about any search features.
No Chatroom: I really would have thought that a site like Facebook would have a chatroom or general forum so people can get together online and just chat and say "hi". They don't. They do have an IM feature though, it's called Chat.
Cons
No Music: You can not add music to your Facebook profile.
No Video: You also cannot add video to your Facebook profile.
WHY FACEBOOK
Facebook and other social networking websites can be very confusing for those who have never used it. So if you are having friends and family request that you get on Facebook, but aren't sure why you should use Facebook, continue reading.
Why Facebook?
Facebook can be thought of as your home on the Internet. It's a place people can go to leave you a message, browse through your photo collections, or even chat with you while you are online. It can be a great way to keep in contact with friends and family, and even find long lost friends that you haven't spoken to in years.
The Facebook "wall" is where it all happens. This is where you write comments on what you are up to or share photos and articles with your friends. You'll also see what your friends and family are posting on their wall, and anyone on your friends list can come by and write a comment on your wall. So not only is the Facebook wall a great place to let everyone know you are back from vacation and post trip photos, it is also a place where conversations are started.
Facebook is your online photo album
In addition to keeping up with friends and family, Facebook is a great place to upload all of those family photos. Ordinarily, you'd have to whip out the photo album when people are over at the house, but uploading them to Facebook means the parents can look at their grandchildren anytime they want.
Facebook for fun, games and more
There is also a lot more to Facebooking than just post on your friend's wall. You can play online games like Mafia Wars whereby you will enlist the aid of your friends to knock off a bank or take down a gang leader. You can also use Facebook applications to map out who you are related to on Facebook and even chat with any friends and family that are online.
Facebook for business
You can also use Facebook to connect with co-workers and old co-workers to keep the workplace networking going. It's a fact that one of the best ways to find a new job is to be recommended by a friend, so keeping up with business contacts can be very important.
Facebook for finding old friends
Ever wonder whatever happened to your prom date? Or your best friend from middle school? With more and more people joining Facebook, it is becoming a great place to look up old friends and getting back in touch.
Remember to start slow
Now that you know what all you can do with Facebook, the trick is to not become overwhelmed by trying to do everything at once. Start slow by sending friend requests to your friends and family and reading what's up on their wall. Once you get accustomed to the interface, you can expand your use to uploading photo albums, and from there, begin experimenting with some of the neat Facebook applications.
ghana to invest in solar energy
The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) has decided to
invest in solar energy farms to add about 40 megawatts of power to the
national grid.
According to officials of SADA, feasibility studies have been carried out in the various catchment areas of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ) to make way for the commencement of the project.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SADA, Alhaji Gilbert Iddi, who made this known in an interview, reiterated the authority’s mandate to stop at nothing to execute projects and programmes in order to improve the livelihoods of the people in the SADA zone.
Accordingly, he said, over the past one year, SADA harvested several hundred tonnes of butternut squash, with majority of the produce exported to the United Kingdom.
Alhaji Iddi envisaged that the 2014 fiscal year might record a bumper harvest of the produce to meet the ever-increasing demand of the produce in the European Union (EU).
The authority, he said, distributed 270 tractors through its technical service providers to farmers across the SADA zone over the last one year.
He outlined a number of projects, including the Sisili-Kulpawn water management project, massive agricultural input support services to farmers and grafted mango seedling projects, as economic activities that were bound to impact positively on the lives of the people and eventually eradicate poverty in the SADA zone.
He expressed regret that although the authority was doing everything possible to enhance the socio-economic standards of the people, a few elements in the Ghanaian society were trying hard to tarnish the good image of SADA and what it stood for.
Alhaji Iddi, however, gave an assurance that the doors of SADA were widely opened for dialogue on projects or programmes that sought to change the standard of living of people within the SADA catchment area.
According to officials of SADA, feasibility studies have been carried out in the various catchment areas of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ) to make way for the commencement of the project.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SADA, Alhaji Gilbert Iddi, who made this known in an interview, reiterated the authority’s mandate to stop at nothing to execute projects and programmes in order to improve the livelihoods of the people in the SADA zone.
Accordingly, he said, over the past one year, SADA harvested several hundred tonnes of butternut squash, with majority of the produce exported to the United Kingdom.
Alhaji Iddi envisaged that the 2014 fiscal year might record a bumper harvest of the produce to meet the ever-increasing demand of the produce in the European Union (EU).
The authority, he said, distributed 270 tractors through its technical service providers to farmers across the SADA zone over the last one year.
He outlined a number of projects, including the Sisili-Kulpawn water management project, massive agricultural input support services to farmers and grafted mango seedling projects, as economic activities that were bound to impact positively on the lives of the people and eventually eradicate poverty in the SADA zone.
He expressed regret that although the authority was doing everything possible to enhance the socio-economic standards of the people, a few elements in the Ghanaian society were trying hard to tarnish the good image of SADA and what it stood for.
Alhaji Iddi, however, gave an assurance that the doors of SADA were widely opened for dialogue on projects or programmes that sought to change the standard of living of people within the SADA catchment area.
Monday, 22 July 2013
what are you saying about your kids on the internet?
Decision making is another aspect of children's thinking that seems
to be suffering as a result of the latest technology. This poor decision
making is illustrated by events over the last few years involving young
people making egregiously bad decisions that involve technology (not to
mention the frequent examples occurring in the adult world!). For
example, teenagers whose 'sexting' to a friend is released in
cyberspace, embarrassing or illegal behavior that's recorded on mobile
phones and uploaded onto the Web, and the tragic consequences of
cyberbullying.
In looking at decision making among children, let me begin with a brief lesson in brain anatomy and functioning. Children start off at a severe disadvantage when it comes to decision making because the prefrontal cortex doesn't fully develop until well past adolescence. The prefrontal cortex is instrumental to so-called executive functioning, namely, determining good from bad, planning, recognizing future consequences, predicting outcomes, and the ability to suppress socially inappropriate behavior. This means that children begin their lives 'behind the curve' when it comes to decision making; their default is to make poor decisions. So, anything that makes bad decision making easier for children to act on just adds insult to injury.
Let's start by putting bad decisions in their proper historical context. Humans have been prone to flawed decision making for as long as we have roamed the earth. Whether a mild act of embarrassing stupidity, such as putting one's foot in one's mouth with an untoward comment, or an act of career-ending idiocy, such as insulting the boss around the water cooler, faulty decision making is a decidedly human attribute.
Why have we not evolved into better decision makers after so many eons of bad decisions? Because we have yet to gain mastery over our primal urges or our unconscious needs and insecurities, both the primary drivers of poor decisions. Nor have we been able to avoid falling prey to the myriad of cognitive biases (e.g., selective attention, rationalization) that blur our lens of reason. All of these forces conspire to prevent us from gathering sufficient information, analyzing it effectively, and using it exclusively to come to 'rational' decisions (in other words, we will never be like Star Trek's Mr. Spock). Everything that I've just described about all people goes double for children.
In looking at decision making among children, let me begin with a brief lesson in brain anatomy and functioning. Children start off at a severe disadvantage when it comes to decision making because the prefrontal cortex doesn't fully develop until well past adolescence. The prefrontal cortex is instrumental to so-called executive functioning, namely, determining good from bad, planning, recognizing future consequences, predicting outcomes, and the ability to suppress socially inappropriate behavior. This means that children begin their lives 'behind the curve' when it comes to decision making; their default is to make poor decisions. So, anything that makes bad decision making easier for children to act on just adds insult to injury.
Let's start by putting bad decisions in their proper historical context. Humans have been prone to flawed decision making for as long as we have roamed the earth. Whether a mild act of embarrassing stupidity, such as putting one's foot in one's mouth with an untoward comment, or an act of career-ending idiocy, such as insulting the boss around the water cooler, faulty decision making is a decidedly human attribute.
Why have we not evolved into better decision makers after so many eons of bad decisions? Because we have yet to gain mastery over our primal urges or our unconscious needs and insecurities, both the primary drivers of poor decisions. Nor have we been able to avoid falling prey to the myriad of cognitive biases (e.g., selective attention, rationalization) that blur our lens of reason. All of these forces conspire to prevent us from gathering sufficient information, analyzing it effectively, and using it exclusively to come to 'rational' decisions (in other words, we will never be like Star Trek's Mr. Spock). Everything that I've just described about all people goes double for children.
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