Society & Culture

‘Most damaged children’ not assessed

Some of the state’s most vulnerable children will be traumatised further after the Department of Child Protection failed to complete their child welfare assessments. The Department of Child Protection’s annual report for 2011-12 showed that 631 child notification assessments were unable to be completed. This figure was revealed alongside a significant increase in child welfare [...]

Background TV Not Good For Young Children

Even though children may not be watching it, even having a television on in the background may be bad for development, according to a new study. Researchers wrote in the journal Pediatrics children between eight months and eight-years-old are exposed to nearly four hours worth of background TV a day, compared to the 80 minutes [...]

‘Toxic teacher’ warning as debate rages on lifting uni entry marks

THE nation's elite universities warn that Australia is at risk of training a generation of ''toxic teachers'' who will pass their own deficiencies at school on to their students. The executive director of the Group of Eight research-focused universities, Michael Gallagher, said Australia was ''at risk of producing a cohort of ''toxic teachers''. ''The next [...]

Sponsors pull ads after Alan Jones’ comments

Sponsors of the Sydney radio station part-owned by Alan Jones have started pulling advertising after his comments about the death of Julia Gillard's father sparked a flood of complaints. 2GB star Jones was forced to publicly apologise yesterday after declaring Ms Gillard's late father John Gillard had died of "shame" because of her "lies" at [...]

By |2012-10-09T13:44:53+11:00October 1st, 2012|Categories: Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment

Wellbeing or Education? It begins with belief

Dan Haesler asks which should come first, wellbeing or education? This is a no brainer - and possibly the wrong question altogether! The national and international evidence is quite clear: though we have yet to persuade all school principals across Australia - and probably most politicians - to believe the evidence.  It is unequivocal that [...]

5 ways to build bonds with your children

It seems that the older children get the further away from you they become both emotionally and physically. This is the experience of many parents and developing and maintaining a deep and healthy connection as they grow is a balancing act that requires constant nurturing. Psychologists refer to this bonding process as ‘attunement’. It is [...]

Learning to Drive – The Social Media Way

Another week, another call for social media to be part of the Australian schooling curriculum. For what it’s worth I wholeheartedly endorse any approach that is more proactive and meaningful to the way we currently address social media in schools. Imagine for a second if we taught our teenagers to drive a car in the [...]

Students swot up on sleeplessness

YEAR 12 students are about to enter the most sleepless time of their schooling life, with adolescent health specialists overwhelmed during the Higher School Certificate period. Paediatric sleep specialist at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Chris Seton, is overwhelmed by bookings every September, with only a month to go until students start their written exams [...]

By |2012-09-28T15:48:17+10:00September 26th, 2012|Categories: Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Rudyard Kipling: If

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being [...]

Long and the short of US woes

A new study says white Americans with low educational levels have already lost an average of four years from their life expectancy. That's the loss of 5 per cent of the average lifespan for an American who lacks a high school diploma, and it's happened at astonishing speed - between 1990 and 2008, says the [...]

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