Australia No.10 in the world happiness rankings
Officials say a new metric for measuring the economic and social progress of a nation is a ranking of happiness. via Happiness Profile Measures Progress of Nations | Psych Central News.
Why Naming & Shaming Won’t Work
Last week the Queensland Government announced plans to name & shame repeat juvenile offenders. I wrote an opinion piece for the ABC in response. You can read the full article here, but in summary I oppose such actions for one main reason. It doesn’t work. The rationale for naming and shaming is [...]
Sexualisation is all in a day’s twerk for some pop stars
In the pornified music world populated by churned-out female pop stars pumping and grinding to a sexualised script, cavorting semi-naked and presented as sexually insatiable, we see Miley Cyrus simulating sex acts while denuded of real sexuality. While many around the world condemned what was seen as an overtly sexualised performance at the recent MTV [...]
The numbing effects of electronics
Click HERE to watch
“Smacking never did us any harm!”
How often have you heard that line? How often have you said it? I’m not here to tell you how to parent your kids. I’m learning every day just how hard a job it is. But I can’t help thinking to myself, whenever I hear this: “Yeah, smacking never did us any harm, [...]
The Tightrope between Primary and High School – Scary or Successful?
It's about this time of year when Yr 6 students start thinking about high school next year. By now, many parents will have decided which secondary school their son or daughter will attend, and the kids themselves are already feeling 'done' with primary school. Attitudes and behaviours are changing....and "Boring!" becomes the key word of [...]
Proactive Grief Recovery: An ideal or a great idea?
With recent focus on emotional intelligence, it seems now is the perfect time to analyse whether we are doing enough in classrooms to support our children through the process of grief recovery. As an educator, I believe our Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Institutions should be implementing (PGR) Proactive Grief Recover - addressing grief related [...]
Racism Impacts Mental Health of Teens
An international review of published studies has found children and young people experience poor mental health, depression and anxiety following experiences of racism. University of Melbourne researchers say the study, which found 461 cases of links between racism and child and youth health outcomes, is the first of its kind. Lead researcher Dr. Naomi Priest [...]
Adolescent sex offenders
In recent years children's sexuality and claims about the ‘pornification' of childhood have attracted considerable media attention. Among other phenomena, social commentators have observed the marketing of brands and clothing normally associated with adult sexuality to an increasingly younger age group. At the same time as this trend has encouraged younger children to explore their [...]
France moves to ban child beauty pageants
Parliament in France has moved to ban child beauty pageants on the grounds that they promote the "hyper-sexualisation" of minors. The Senate adopted the bill by 196 votes to 146 on Tuesday evening. It must now be passed by the National Assembly, before becoming law. Organisers of such pageants may face a jail term of [...]