A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Maria Nicholas, Deakin University; Andrew Skourdoumbis, Deakin University, and Ondine Bradbury, Monash University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school students are not achieving their potential. A previous review in 2019 estimated [...]
Elise Waghorn, RMIT University It’s a weeknight, parents rush through the door from work, grab a snack, and then speed off in various directions to children’s extracurricular activities. As they do, they are managing tired and hungry kids as they all move from one thing to the next. Sound familiar? As of 2022–23, almost 50% [...]
Trevor Mazzucchelli, Curtin University As the holidays progress, parents will no doubt be hearing a classic line from their kids: “I’m boooooored”. We all get bored from time to time and there is nothing particularly wrong with feeling bored. In fact, it is a useful emotion because it is helps us reflect and make changes [...]
Richard Jolley, Staffordshire University and Sarah Rose, Staffordshire University When the weather’s bad and there’s no prospect of a trip to the park, we might well reach for crayons, pencils and paper as a way to keep our children entertained. But drawing is much more than a fun activity. It has wide-ranging benefits for children’s [...]
Sarah Jefferson, Edith Cowan University School holidays become a very different challenge when kids leave primary school. The holiday program arrangements that once enabled parents to juggle work commitments may no longer be suitable or even available. You may find your child is at home largely unattended for two or three weeks. This can put [...]
Stephen Ashworth, University of East Anglia The school summer holidays are in full swing. If you’re a parent, you may be getting tired of hearing “I’m bored!” echoing through your home – especially on rainy days when everyone’s stuck inside. But pretty much every kitchen can double as a chemistry set. Here are some experiments [...]
The most recent research on brains & learning shows that we all have different patterns of processing information. This confers upon the human race a great advantage, in that collectively we are smart in different ways. Some people are more ‘neurotypical’ while others think in vastly different ways. This means that we need to focus [...]
Naomi Zouwer, University of Canberra School holidays can feel like a marathon if all the kids want to do is watch TV, play Minecraft or repeatedly ask you for the iPad. There are lots of things you can do inside the house that do not involve a screen. And will help ward off any whines [...]
Dr Alexander Crooke, Professor Jane Davidson and Trisnasari Fraser On 30 January 2023, the Australian Government launched its much-awaited cultural policy, Revive, which aims to support and enhance the role of arts and culture in our society.This is welcome after years of neglect and in the wake of the crisis experienced in the creative and [...]
Most Australian children are stuck at home due to the outbreak of COVID-19. They need to find ways to socialise, do their school work, exercise and entertain themselves. It’s not surprising parents may be hearing “I’m bored” a lot more than before. People hate being bored. So much so that in one study, one-quarter of [...]
