The Local’s columnist Jessica Alexander argues that Denmark is ahead of Hollywood when it comes to realistic approaches to women’s ageing. Why happy endings don’t make us happy (18 Jun 15) A little known secret to the Danes’ happiness (01 Jun 15) Let’s talk...
The Local’s columnist Jessica Alexander, whose book ‘The Danish Way of Parenting’ focuses strongly on how Danes teach empathy, says we’d all be better off if we were more understanding and trusting of others. You would think that co-writing a parenting book would automatically...
Parenting expert Jessica Alexander worries that even in Denmark, where play is seen as a necessary part of a child’s life, free play could be pushed out by a focus on competitiveness. I recently took a tour around the International School of Billund, Denmark...
An Australian TV programme that highlighted Denmark’s “kids gone wild” at a forest kindergarten struck a nerve internationally. Parenting expert Jessica Alexander explains why. A few weeks ago, a video came out from a programme in Australia about a day in the life...
American author Jessica Alexander writes that Donald Trump is a prime example of the authoritarian parenting style that is so prevalent and so different from the way Danes raise their kids. I used to like Donald Trump back in the day when he was...
Is it socialist, the country that has been on the tip of Bernie Sanders’s tongue this campaign trail? The US senator consistently points to little ol’ Denmark, a small country famous for the Little Mermaid, as a role model for how countries treat their...
Danish classrooms can be considered as a gym for cooperation capabilities. In my ongoing research about cultural differences and how the “Danish Way” of doing things really does impact happiness, I had some enlightening discussions recently with my two 18-year-old Danish nieces. We went...
Opinion columnist Jessica Alexander used to be sceptical of the Danish emphasis on playing and socializing but has come to realize that all cultures tend to view their own parenting approaches as best. When I first met my Danish friend Iben Sandahl many years...
We were on holiday recently and I witnessed a fairly familiar scene. I don’t need to talk about where we were. It could have been Anywhere, U.S.A or Wherever, Europe. It could have been on a beach, in the snow, in a restaurant or...
The Local’s opinion columnist Jessica Alexander was a bit taken aback to hear her Danish husband reading their child a book about sex but should she have been? When I heard the words “Mads stikker sin tissemand ind i Emilia’s tissekone” (Mads sticks...
