A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Reading aloud can help young children learn about new words and how to sound them. There’s great value too in providing opportunities for children to enjoy regular silent reading, which is sustained reading of materials they select for pleasure. But not all schools consistently offer this opportunity for all of their students. We regularly hear [...]
On behalf of student here from Hong Kong I am so worried to tell my parents that the work is too much. They want me to study hard and continue at an Australian university. – Anonymous Key points first and foremost, look after yourself try to talk to your parents, remembering they only want what’s [...]
In a recent TED talk titled No Philosophy, No Humanity, author Roger Sutcliffe asked the audience whether a flagpole was a place. Around half the audience said yes, the other said no. He went on to describe the response a nine-year-old gave him to that question: to me a flagpole is not a place, but [...]
Does Australia's classification system suit your family's needs? Generation Next is supporting the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) to help parents and carers navigate the increasingly complex media landscape. Australia's National Classification Scheme for movies, games and apps uses the classifications G, PG, M, MA15+ and R18+. ACCM has designed a short survey to assess the helpfulness of this system and whether it [...]
Whether schools should mandate a uniform is a controversial issue. Some believe wearing the same clothes smooths out inequality. Others see uniforms as authoritarian; believing them a symbol of repression, stifling freedom of thought and individuality. We asked five experts from various fields whether school uniforms should be compulsory. Rather surprisingly, among the experts at [...]
Vaughan Cruickshank, University of Tasmania; Brendon Hyndman, Charles Sturt University, and Shane Pill, Flinders University Physical education is one of the most popular subjects for children in their early school years. Yet by secondary school less favourable attitudes towards what’s known in the Australian school curriculum as Health and Physical Education (HPE) can start to [...]
Emily Freeman, University of Newcastle Play is an important way for children to learn about the world around them. Through play, they learn cultural norms, socialisation guidelines and experiment with different ways to interact with their environment. But play between a father and their child or children can offer a different type of play. It’s [...]
John J Reilly, University of Strathclyde and Xanne Janssen, University of Strathclyde Fidgeting is usually considered as a sign of boredom or lack of attention which can be distracting to others. Parents and teachers often demand that their children and pupils stop doing it. But fidgeting could actually be good for their health. Research suggests [...]
This article explores the benefits of bedtime stories, beyond what is known about reading to children generally. The main benefits it relates are psychological: this regular ritual helps kids to wind down, to be comforted, to connect with their parent and to engage their imaginations. It also covers one important physiological benefit, that reading to [...]
Louise Remond, University of Technology Sydney Hi, I was just wondering if something’s wrong with me because I’m never happy and never want to do anything and I’m getting really lazy and I really hate school. Thanks - Anonymous Everyone experiences down days at times. Feeling flat is a normal reaction to something upsetting happening, [...]
