A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Paula Orbea started the online petition on Friday after her 11-year-old daughter saw the message on a van in the scenic Blue Mountains west of Sydney during the school holidays. It has so far been signed by nearly 25,000 people. "I agree with free speech, but where is the line? At what point do we [...]
When entering a school to present our Safe Partying seminars, I am usually greeted by a teacher on a ‘break’ (a questionable term) from lesson with a cup of coffee in hand. For most, I know this is not the first cup of coffee, with many more pours throughout the day for that extra burst [...]
My article last week that discussed whether of not particular school discipline procedures were a breach of students’ human rights, I didn’t even think to comment on corporal punishment. Why would I? It’s not relevant these days is it? So what to make of the fact that last week, Dr Kevin Donnelly stated that, as [...]
Teachers in NSW public schools spent almost $1900 each from their own pockets to pay for school essentials last year, according to a new study. The survey of more than 1200 primary, secondary, K-12 and special education teachers, conducted by the NSW Teachers Federation, found an average out of pocket expense of $1848, or more [...]
What makes you happy? Reflect on what you’ve done today. What do your behaviors say about your approach to happiness? These are the question I usually ask students on the first day of my psychology courses. Often, their responses sound something like this: food, shopping, a new car, a better job, money, sex, an honest spouse, [...]
State school graduates do better at university than private school graduates with the same end-of-school tertiary entrance score. That’s the clear finding in a number of Australian studies since the 1980s (here, here, here and here), and in England since the 1990s (here, here, and here). The Australian research compared academic results at the end [...]
According to this article, 85% of Australian teachers send naughty students to the ‘Naughty Corner’, give them Timeout or tell them to leave the classroom. This caused something of a storm on Channel 9’s the Today Show Facebook site after the Dr Anna Sullivan appeared on the show. The reason? Dr Sullivan suggested that sending [...]
Public schools should spend on tackling obesity and promoting wellness and positive psychology rather than the untested chaplaincy program that are in hundreds of the state's schools, the head of Sydney's Anglican Education Commission has argued. - Alexandra Smith via Anglicans: No chaplains, scripture in public schools.
New research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) shows children are expressing dissatisfaction with their body size as early as 8-9 years old and the majority of 10-11 years old are trying to control their weight. Executive Manager of AIFS' Longitudinal Study for Australian Children, Dr Ben Edwards said the research also showed [...]
Why does the Racial Discrimination Act matter? Some can forget that almost half of our population is either born overseas or is the son or daughter of someone who was born overseas. So when racism happens, it's something that isn’t marginal. It isn’t something confined to one or two per cent of our population, but [...]
