A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Last week I wrote about the dangers of finding ourselves in what Carol Dweck terms a Fixed Mindset. This week I want to explore the concept of a Growth Mindset a little more. Much of the work I do in schools is around enhancing engagement. Often I’m asked what should ensure all kids and teachers [...]
How old were you when you decided that you weren’t any good at sport? Or that you couldn’t sing? When did you decide that you weren’t a maths person or that you couldn’t draw to save your life? Was it last week? In your late 30s? Early 20s? Late teens? Early teens? In primary school [...]
On Friday 30 May, NSW Mental Health Commissioner, John Feneley addressed teachers, nurses, social workers, police and mental health professionals as he officially opened the Sydney Generation Next seminar. Held at the Sydney Town Hall, the Generation Next seminar saw more than 1000 professionals from across multiple disciplines come together to learn how to support [...]
Lets face it, watching the evening news bulletin rarely makes for cheery viewing, but in the last few months it seems to have been particularly harrowing. Plane crashes, war zones, suicides and urban shootings have seemingly dominated the headlines. As an adult I’ve found it hard to watch. As an educator I’ve found it harder [...]
Police are investigating five year 9 boys from a prestigious Catholic boys' college on Sydney's northern beaches who shared sexual images of two female teachers on Facebook. The boys, from St Augustine's College at Brookvale, used iPhones to photograph and video up the skirts of the two teachers and then shared the images on a [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Who is teaching young people about sex and relationships in the digital era? Issue Today, pornography’s influence is everywhere. Porn influences mainstream advertising, music videos, fashion and popular culture. Australian children are growing up in a digital world dominated by sexualised imagery that reinforces inequity and the notion that women are objects to be controlled, managed and dominated. Use of pornography in [...]
“They know more about drugs than I do …” Paul Dillon Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) One of the most common fears for anyone who works with young people is they believe the adolescents they have contact with know more about illicit drugs than they do. The catch-cry is usually something like [...]
