NAPLAN to blame for teacher, student stress
NAPLAN to blame for teacher, student stress: study - ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
November 2012
Hot boys and recycling gender stereotypes
Girlfriend’s November issue is about boys. Sort of. It’s more about ‘hot’ celeb boys and recycling gender stereotypes. What do girl readers learn about the opposite sex? That they are, disgusting, fart, pee standing up and aren’t just “good for pashing”, they can also be “quite useful” (“they can fix all the things you accidently [...]
Is Exercise “Useless” In Treating Depression?
The publication of a new study in the BMJ on 6 June triggered a flurry of headlines suggesting that "exercise doesn't help depression". However, reducing the study's specific, detailed findings to a media-friendly sound bite has run the risk of misleading people, because the researchers did not set out to test the effect of exercise [...]
Testing Testing 1,2,3
As the Fairfax media reports that more parents than ever were withdrawing their kids from the annual NAPLAN tests I wonder if these tests are even assessing the right things in school. Now I realize the importance of literacy and numeracy – of course I do. But, these tests only measure outcomes. [...]
Alcohol promotions are targeting children
It seems that for many young people a good night out on the town now a days consists of a cocktail of too much alcohol, added to a dash of caffeinated energy drink and mixed with some kind of violent altercation. More than 3,500 Australians are hospitalised each year with brain injuries caused by assaults, [...]
Cannabis and the Adolescent Brain
For some time, people have known that using cannabis during adolescence increases the risk of developing cognitive impairment and mental illness (e.g. depression, anxiety or schizophrenia) later in life. Importantly however, the mechanisms responsible for this vulnerability are not well understood. A new study, published in Brain, shows that long-term cannabis use that starts during [...]
Diet, exercise fight depression
The incidence of depression has skyrocketed in children and adults since World War II; depression affects about 10 percent of the population in the United States, and the World Health Organization predicts that by 2030, more people will suffer from depression than any other medical condition. Antidepressant medication use has also increased (to the tune [...]
Dangerous new drugs sold on web ‘silk road’
DANGEROUS new psychoactive drugs are emerging in Australia at a breathtaking rate, say experts conducting groundbreaking research into online drug sales. The drugs can be toxic to the brain and are often untested on humans, and unsuspecting users are buying them without knowing what they contain or what effect they will have. About four new [...]
10 minute activist: help stop violence against women
48% of women have experienced physical violence 34% of women have experienced sexual violence* 14% of young women aged 12 to 20 have experienced rape or sexual assault** Join over 60,00 Australians, including many celebrities like Rove, Keith Urban and Andrew O’Keefe and take an oath to end violence against women. It is important to [...]