A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
“Why should I be nice to people? They aren’t nice to me...” This is a common response from adolescents when I try and engage them in the notion of being “kind.” Researchers will tell us that because of the adolescent brain, the teaching of such concepts need to demonstrate: “What’s in it for me?” [...]
We hear it everywhere - girls are growing up too fast. When I mention this to audiences of parents, their heads nod like they are going to fall off. Taxidrivers know it. Teachers know it. Doctors in emergency rooms almost weep when they say it, after dealing with twelve-year-olds who have drunk so much they [...]
I believe that being genuinely engaged does wonders for your wellbeing. One of the determinants of engagement is a level of independence, or autonomy. Schools go to great lengths to give students (and teachers) the impression that they encourage independence. However, in the scheme of things, most of what occurs at school is prescribed for [...]
Dr Andrew Martin, Australian psychologist and one of the country's leading experts on student motivation, describes the key components of motivation as those that improve, those that restrict and those that reduce motivation. He refers to those students who have a natural belief in themselves and their capacity to achieve as 'boosters'; those who restrict [...]
In his book Fame Junkies, author Jake Halpern speaks of a survey he carried out with US school students. One of the questions on the survey was; “When you grow up, which of the following jobs would you most like to have?” There were five options to choose from: CEO of a major company like [...]
Last week I wrote asking, Who’s Looking After the Teachers? and the response was astounding. By far, it received more comments than any other column I’ve written for Generation Next – which leads me to think it struck a chord. As well as the overwhelming majority of comments agreeing that staff wellbeing needed to be [...]
Boys will be boys, they tell us, but how many of us actually take this adage to heart and embrace it? I am the mother of four boys, now all adults. If I think back to their childhoods and adolescence, it’s a whirlwind of movement and physicality, adventure and injury, rough and tumble play, of [...]
I’ve written before about the importance of teacher wellbeing. Yes I know this is the Generation Next not the Generation Was Blog, but I think it is essential to appreciate that if we want our kids to flourish, then it is essential that the adults in their lives are doing likewise. A great deal [...]
According to Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald, “Stuffed toys that help children deal with ‘difficult emotions’ are being spruiked as a means to 'assist with the stress of NAPLAN.’” As an aside, it does seem ironic that the PR firm pushing these toys is called Evil Twin. Now, I understand that Year 12 students [...]
A new way to address digital citizenship in your school It seems that technology is a constant source of stress for teachers at school. If it’s not the pressure to integrate technology into their teaching, it’s the social issues related to students’ use of site such as Facebook, Tumblr or Formspring and apps such as [...]
