What do newborn babies, children who have been severely deprived of human contact, people with autism, and blind mothers have in common? On the surface, not much. But they provide a common theme for understanding…
We often preface words like slap and smack with “just a little” to make it sound more socially acceptable.
paulscott
Picture this: you’re standing in a long, slow-moving queue. People around you are disgruntled and complaining. You turn to talk with the person behind you and someone else jumps the queue in front of you…
I admit it, I love the Olympic Games. The sport, the over-hyped commentary, the fancy-dress national costumes – it’s two weeks of every four years that I anticipate with excitement.
In many ways, the…
Whether children imitate a bear or a pirate, their imagination could contribute to human advancement.
Juhansonin
We all know the scene: a child, wrapped in his or her own imaginary world, fights off aliens while flying through space on a rocket fashioned from an empty box. But could such flights of fancy be critical…
Praising kids all the time might lead to inflated self-esteem and low regard for others.
Flickr/ymc_photos
When most people picture the typical school bully, they think of a kid who is likely to have been bullied themselves. A child with low self-esteem who is trying to make themselves feel better by picking…
Limiting children’s access to now widespread “pornified” media will require serious political will.
lamont_cranston/Flickr
Soft porn music videos on television. Girls mini-mags featuring fashion and celebrity gossip at the supermarket checkout. Porn at eye-level in the petrol station. Billboards on the trips in between.
As…
Breastfeeding generally falls under the jurisdiction of mothers, so I decided to ask a group of mothers I see regularly on Saturday morning what they thought of the recent Time magazine cover portraying…
Children with Specific Language Impairment have difficulties learning language for no discernible reason.
runintherain/ Flickr
Language development is a truly remarkable phenomenon. But for a small number of kids, the words don’t come so easily.
Most children acquire their first words around 12 months of age, start to string…
Children aren’t suited to adult-style fitness programs using exercise bikes, treadmills and rowers.
Axel Bu hrmann
With one in five Australian preschool-age children now overweight or obese, it’s no wonder kids' weight is so often in the media spotlight.
While the causes of obesity are complex and multifactorial…
Children should be taught to play music themselves rather than just listening to it.
Naruco
What parent can pass up the chance to boost their child’s intelligence by putting on some nice classical music?
The popular idea that IQ scores can be raised by listening to Mozart is a case study in…
Struggling to read? You may not be using your brain effectively.
Flickr/Lab2112
Almost half of all Australians aged 15-74 years had literacy skills below the level required to participate effectively in our society, according to a 2008 study from the Australian Bureau of Statistics…
Quality relationships and time spent together is what’s important when it comes to children’s wellbeing.
Flickr/disgustipado
The media often blame a lot of society’s problems on the break down of traditional family structures and the increase in single parent homes.
When fathers no longer live at home, policy makers focus on…
ABC’s The Slap investigates the complex and very personal views of those at the heart of a smacking case.
ABC
In last night’s ABC program, The Slap, an impulsive slap changed everything. A man struck someone else’s child at a barbecue provoking a legal challenge. In real life, that would be an assault, though…
Antidepressants double the chance of a young person making a suicide attempt.
Flickr/kamera kz
In early 2009, two 16-year-old Queensland girls tragically hanged themselves within weeks of each other. The girls' lives were plagued with abuse, self-harm and illicit drug use, and their deaths raised…
Despite ideas to the contrary, the evidence shows that texting does not make us bad spellers.
Flickr/lanier67
Children and teenagers today do all the things that children and teenagers have more or less always done – they talk to their friends, have dinner with the family, and watch TV.
However, as even the casual…
The study claims an association between infant reactions and adult anxiety is due to temperament rather than shaped by the environment.
MRS.HART/Flickr
A paper published earlier this week in the journal Molecular Psychiatry claims reactions to unfamiliar sounds, smells and objects at four-months could predict the development of anxiety disorders later…
The foreskin is the most sensitive part of the penis.
Flickr/NoVa Hokie
For centuries, children have been subjected to cultural and medicalised practices that were ultimately proven harmful and a violation of basic bodily integrity. Such practices have included foot binding…
Problems come when bodies change and brain development doesn’t keep up.
Flickr/zebra404
You just have to turn on the television or catch a glimpse of a magazine newsstand to see how girls are being thrust into adulthood earlier and earlier. But does biology match societal change? Are girls…
A “Pull the Pin” protest against the child beauty pageant in Melbourne on May 24, 2011.
melbourneprotests.wordpress.com
The Universal Royalty Beauty Pageant, who brought us the television show Toddlers and Tiaras, is just days away from its inaugural Australian meeting in Melbourne, and there’s been a build-up of public…
Trauma and adversity during early development can embed neuro-vulnerability in children.
apdk/Flickr
The last Federal Government budget announcement revealed funds dedicated to “early intervention” mental health services for youth. But whether this intervention takes place in a timely manner for optimal…
Statutory guidelines only limit junk food advertising to children for about an hour a day.
a fc o/Flickr
Industry self-regulation has failed to change the amount of fast food advertising targeting Australian children, according to new research from the Prevention Research Collaboration and NSW Cancer Council…
Helping children recognise the sounds in words can improve their reading ability.
Pratham Books/Flickr
There are two main approaches to teaching children to read. Phonics, involves teaching children to recognise combinations of characters and establish the meanings of words based on combining them. The…
