A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Most states are either on school holidays this week, or are in their final week of term time. Term 2 is always a particularly hectic term - aren’t they all? - due to report writing pressures, and in some states the fact that this year, schools have had to squeeze ten weeks worth of stuff [...]
In conversations with many teachers and parents, the opinion is divided about whether to focus on the positive behavior or negative choices youth make surrounding drugs. There are those who believe most young people will try drugs at some stage, so we should shock students by telling true stories of disaster parties & those who [...]
I’m really exploring the concept of Student Voice at the moment. Both in my writing and in my work with schools. Last week I was invited back to the school where I last taught in 2012. I was part of a panel for an evening that the Year 12s had put on to discuss some [...]
In the teenage parties of my youth, there was always a room left in darkness, furnished with armchairs and couches, where couples could retire from the melee to "pash on" in privacy. By midnight, adolescent hormones being what they are, there was barely a spare place left. Reliably, one of those left out of these [...]
Leaders aren’t born – they become leaders through experience and opportunity. Young people need genuine opportunities to test drive what it feels like to be in the leader’s seat. Right now – there’s a great opportunity for primary and secondary students around the country to get a practical lesson in leadership that they won’t forget! [...]
I was bullied as a kid. That might be hard for you to imagine if you’ve met me in person. As a former representative footy player who stands around 191cm and over 110kg, I don’t come across as your typical ‘victim.’ But I used to dread going to school on a daily basis. Each day [...]
On the weekend I gave a short talk entitled Father & Son – Side by Side at an event ran by Kids Giving Back. In short, the day involved 30+ fathers with their teenage sons cooking meals and delivering them to people who needed them; women’s shelters, youth refuges, services for homeless people etc. [...]
You know that NAPLAN is just around the corner each year when the media start trotting out the same old stories about kids being stressed by the tests, teachers teaching to the tests or worse – teachers and students colluding to cheat the tests! This year it will be different ACARA says. Schools [...]
It’s widely accepted that it is a fundamental requirement for student to feel safe and supported at school. In order to help schools to address this, The National Safe Schools Framework was developed and furthermore the Safe Schools Hub is a really useful website that has been developed to support schools in with stage-appropriate advice [...]
Teachers are spending a significant amount of class time dealing with problems related to weekend alcohol and drug abuse, according to the results of a national survey. The report by the National Council on Drugs reveals an education system where teachers are battling to get students to pay attention in class after weekends of partying. [...]
