Generation Next Blog
← Older postsThe Cyber-villification of Melinda Tankard Reist- The Industry Hits Back at a Campaigner that Keeps Them Honest
Over the past few weeks many of us have watched with concern a snowballing campaign of vilification against Melinda Tankard Reist, her public work as an advocate for women and girls and for society as a whole. Much of this has occurred online using all manner of cyber harrassment perpetrated by trolls and pseudo-experts. Their gutless cyber threats serve only to expose their own lack of character.
Melinda has for many years campaigned against the commercialisation of childhood, the sexualisation of young people, especially girls, in the advertising and other industries and, more recently, the growing influence of pornography on the psyche of young people and society at large. Frontline clinicians, educators and professionals who work with young people are now coming to realise that these are important issues that have an impact beyond creed or caste. As we begin to comprehend the rising tide of mental illness impacting on our young people we have no choice but to examine those parts of our culture and society that are contributing to it regardless of how uncomfortable it might make us feel. Melinda has identified an important issue that is not just about one’s personal taste, values or morals but in fact about the health and wellbeing of the next generation of Australians.
It is no surprise that Melinda has hit a social nerve. She is compelling and popular not because of her personal beliefs but because there are many who immediately see the common sense logic and reasoning behind her arguments. Melinda fearlessly expresses her arguments, with presentations that are dense with research and evidence, about social trends that mainstream, average Australians have been worried about. For many, listening to or reading Melinda’s material is a turning point where they realise that there are many others who are feeling the same way about what is happening to our society as it becomes progressively more influenced by commercial interests and an increasingly sexualised culture.
Melinda is a powerful voice, and hence a threat to those commercial forces and idealogues that are driving the social trends that she criticises, because she has the ability to galvanise and unite people to stand with her against the cultural tide. It’s no surprise she has enemies, given that she and her colleagues have been so effective in making companies and advertisers more responsible about the images and ideas they use to promote their products.
That’s precisely why Generation Next chooses to work with Melinda. Generation Next educates thousands of teachers, nurses and other professionals who work with young people each year and Melinda has been an important part of our expert team that addresses large audiences all over the country. The response from the audience, more than 4,000 people last year alone, was overwhelmingly positive. The audience was not interested in Melinda’s personal philosophy or spiritual orientation because they judged her material, evidence and arguments on their merits and nevertheless emphatically agreed with her conclusions.
I have worked closely with Melinda over the last few years and have been impressed with the cogency of her messages and the authenticity with which she applies herself. I don’t necessarily agree with all her views however her work on issues that impact on the wellbeing of girls and women, such as sexualisation and pornography, stands on its own merits and is definitely coming from the right place. I find it bizarre that her critics should label her a secret fundamentalist Christian. I would not label myself as a Christian, although I do believe that all the great religions warrant respect and are in fact united by a common thread of wisdom, nor am I a Feminist. In fact I don’t have time for fundamentalists or “-isms” of any orientation, yet I have seen no hint of fundamentalism in her behaviour. Melinda did tell me about her personal beliefs but it was clear to me that she was open to many ideas from other cultures and traditions. I’ve had significant opportunity to examine her substance. In my assessment she’s the real thing.
Why have they singled out Melinda for this special treatment? After all, she is not the only voice that speaks out about these issues that impact on the wellbeing of women and girls. The reason, I believe, is because she is the most prominent, convincing and unrelenting. The sincerity of her commitment is self-evident and that’s one of the reasons why she is so compelling- and so dangerous!
What’s evident to me is that her critics don’t just disagree with her views, they hate her guts. They hate her because they fear her. They’re afraid of her authenticity, her genuine commitment to the welfare of the women and girls in our society and her wish to contribute toward a better world for them. Her critics find it difficult to counter-argue at a rational level simply because their counter-arguments don’t hold up to logical scrutiny. So they have resorted to character assassination and for some reason they are currently getting away with what many believe is an out and out campaign of defamation.
Labelling Melinda as a fundamentalist does not neutralise the inherent logical power of her arguments about the impact of sexualisation and porn on our society. In fact, those critics that dismiss her work on this issue because of Melinda’s purported fundamentalism, simply expose the fact that they have not examined her arguments on their merits and hence must themselves be driven by an agenda other than an interest in getting to the truth on these matters. There are many industries, ideologies and personalities who have waited a long time to get square with Melinda and they are certainly making the most of the current opportunity. They are desperate to kill the messenger before the message gets any more traction.
We at Generation Next will be standing by her and we challenge all those who have worked with her, who know her to be real in her words and deeds to also show their support. We’re proud that she’s part of our 2012 speaking line up and Generation Next not only endorses her, we think she’s the kind of authentic Australian that makes our events so popular and respected. We encourage you to support her and her colleagues who work in this very difficult space for the betterment of our young people.
Melinda, your in the process of finding out who your real friends are. It’s a painful but ultimately invaluable process. I’ll end with a quote that has helped me through some tough times: “Illegitimi non-carborundum”
Dr Ramesh Manocha, Convenor, Generation Next
Posted in adolescent health, bullying, cyberbullying, Dr Ramesh Manocha, Melinda Tankard Reist, Uncategorized | Leave a commentJoint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety – Report
The Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety tabled its report on the Inquiry into Cyber-Safety entitled High-Wire Act: Cyber-Safety and the Young
via Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety – Report.
Posted in adolescent health, cyberbullying, Cybersafety, Dr Ramesh Manocha, internet safety, Mental Health | Tagged adolescent, cyber, cyber-bullying, cyberbullying, Cybersafety, internet, teen, young minds, youth | Leave a commentSexting in the USA- New Survey Results
The Crimes Against Children Research Center conducted two national surveys to develop a better understanding of sexting.
The Third Youth Internet Safety Survey was a telephone survey done in 2010 with national sample of 1560 youth Internet users aged 10–17 years and their parents.
- Almost 10% of youth (mostly girls aged 16–17 years) said they had “appeared in, created, or received nude or nearly nude images or videos.” Of these, 26% appeared in or created images, half of which were sexually explicit such as “showing breasts, genitals, or someone’s bottom” and the other half were sexually suggestive such as wearing underwear, striking sexy poses, or focusing on genitals in clothes.
- The remaining youth received images of which 84% were sexually explicit but did not create or appear in them.
- More than 50% of sexting incidents were related to existing romantic relationships or efforts to start one, whereas 20% were characterized as pranks.
- Among all young people involved in sexting, 28% reported incidents to an authority while 25% reported emotional distress.
- Less than than 10% of images were distributed further.
- Read the formal report: Mitchell KJ et al. Prevalence and characteristics of youth sexting: A national study. Pediatrics 2012 Jan; 129:13.
In a 2008/2009 national survey of 2500 US law enforcement agencies, 21% handled one or more cases involving youth-produced sexual images (created by young people 17 years of age or younger) that were or could have been child pornography under the statutes of their jurisdictions. Read the formal report Wolak J et al. How often are teens arrested for sexting? Data from a national sample of police cases. Pediatrics 2012 Jan; 129:4.
Published in Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine February 1, 2012
Posted in adolescent health, communication, Convenor's Comment, cyberbullying, Cybersafety, Dr Ramesh Manocha, education, events, in the news, internet safety, Media, Mental Health, mobiles, pornography, relationships, research, technology, the media | Tagged adolescent, conference, cyber, cyber-bullying, cyberbullying, generation next, internet, Mental Health, sexting, sexualisation, sexualization, teen, young minds, youth | Leave a commentAAP 2011: How Media Violence Impacts Children [Video]
In this video Dr Kathleen Clarke-Pearson comments on how media violence can increase the risk of aggressive behavior in children and adolescents.
via AAP 2011: How Media Violence Impacts Children [Video].
Posted in Convenor's Comment, Dr Ramesh Manocha, Media, parenting, research, violence | Tagged mass media, parenting, television, violence, young minds | Leave a commentMore Results From the Herald Sun Teacher Survey
The survey of 816 primary and secondary teachers, conducted and analysed by Galaxy Research, also found:
- 50% of all teachers surveyed have been verbally abused by a parent;
- 60% five teachers say students do not show them enough respect;
- 80% of teachers say cyber bullying is a problem at their school, but that students are still largely unaware of the dangers of social networking sites such as Facebook.
- While the majority of teachers said they would choose teaching if they could start their careers again, many said their job description was broadening rapidly.
- 74% believed “parents expect teachers to provide all the discipline for their children”.
- 67 % of teachers saying parents supported their authority in the classroom.
via Raise your own kids – teachers | Herald Sun.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentRaise your own kids, teachers say
A major Herald Sun survey of Victorian teachers found three-quarters believe parents have unreasonable expectations about the school’s role in raising kids.And the stresses are showing, with nearly half of teachers surveyed admitting they had considered resigning over the past 12 months.
via We’ve had enough, it’s time to raise your own kids, teachers say | News.com.au.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTop ten anti cyberbullying sites
The recent Ipsos Social Research Institute Survey of 24 countries found that Australia was a leader in the world of cyberbullying. Not a title to be proud of. We even beat the US, UK and China.
Those ahead of us were India, Indonesia, Sweden and Canada.
Ispsos director Ryan Williams said “According to parents, Australian children were less likely to experience bullying in an online chat room, via email, or on their mobile phone, compared to global averages – but were more likely than any other nation to experience bullying via social networking sites, such as Facebook.”
In the past bullying was confined to school hours, but with the explosion of use on social network sites by teenagers, it can now make its way into every student’s home and family life. No longer do they have the safe haven of parents, bricks and mortar to give them a sense of protection and safety.
Mr Dalgleish, Kids Helpline Manager of strategy and research, said “Cyber bullying has a profound impact as it widens the audience (from school) and means it can be seen by anyone. It can be used as an extension of face-to-face bullying and takes it from the classroom and into a child’s own bedroom undermining their sense of safety and security.”
Bullying can result in chronic anxiety, depression, fear, anxiety, withdrawal from school and in the worst cases, self-harm.
Find out more about cyberbullying and cybersafety at the Kids in Cyberspace seminar that is being held in Sydney on 16 March 2012. For more details and to register go to Kids in Cyberspace.
If you are being bullied or harassed, or know someone who is, then take some positive action now. Talk to a teacher or parent or visit the following websites where you or the person you know that is being bullied can get help:
www.kidshelpline.com.au
www.cybersafetysolutions.com.au
www.netalert.gov.au
www.NetSmartz.org
www.netsafe.org.nz
www.ceop.gov.uk
www.CyberTipline.org
www.iSafe.org
www.bullying.org
www.wiredsafety.org
www.GetNetWise.org
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: The Telegraph. Cybersafety
The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families- AAP Statement
Using social media Web sites is among the most common activity of today’s children and adolescents. Any Web site that allows social interaction is considered a social media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs. Such sites offer today’s youth a portal for entertainment and communication and have grown exponentially in recent years. For this reason, it is important that parents become aware of the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for children and adolescents.
via The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentWoolies promotes drinking
Woolies criticised by leading motoring body for offering discounts to entice people to buy more alcohol.
via Get a gutful, then a tankful: Woolies under fire for 30c alcohol-fuel discount.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentEarly signs of psychosis in young people
A person with psychosis ‘loses touch with reality’: they may have disorganised thoughts, hallucinations or delusions and find it difficult to interact with others. In young people a psychotic illness many occur as a result of depression or experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
Here are some early warning signs to watch out for.
Behavioural
Odd/agitated behaviour
Excessive writing
Poor hygiene
Abnormal activity level
Thinking and speech
Rapid speech
Irrational statements
Preoccupation with religion/the occult
Severe distractibility
Social
Sensitivity to being touched
Dropping out of activities
Unexpected aggression
Suspiciousness
Social withdrawal
Emotional
Inappropriate laughter
Inability to express joy
Feeling depressed
Euphoric moods
Reckless behaviour
Things you can do to help:
- Discuss your plan of action with the school counsellor.
- Refer to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist for diagnosis, treatment, a school action plan and funding.
- Reduce competitive stresses.
- Have a pressure free time-out spot.
- Find safe havens for students and staff.
- Have clearly established crisis management procedures.
- Support opportunities for patients to express talents.
- Encourage family involvement in the treatment plan.
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: Dr John Irvine, Healthed GENERATION NEXT: The Mental Health & Wellbeing of Young People, Perth 2011
