Some children just aren’t that into parties, writes Clare Wishart. Why do we have parties? What are we celebrating in that nebulous notion of ‘turning’ a new age? When I was growing up, I wondered what all the fuss was about. Now, I am a mother myself,...
Sibling relationships are some of the longest-lasting relationships we have in our lives, report researchers Marissa Nivison and Sheri Madigan Half of Canadians and around 80 per cent of people worldwide have at least one sibling. Sibling relationships are unique from all other relationships because siblings...
I think my child is having panic attacks. What should we do? Gemma Sicouri, Annabel Songco, Chloe Lim and Jennie Hudson look at the symptoms and what to look out for. In the movie Inside Out 2, 13-year-old Riley, who has recently started puberty, has a...
New teen accounts on Instagram are a welcome step, but real ‘peace of mind’ requires more, writes Tama Leaver As Australia and other countries debate the merits of banning kids under 14 from social media, Meta has announced a significant “reimagining” of teenagers’ experience of Instagram. These...
Here are some new books for the middle school readers. Two of them give lots of information about animal conservation and care and two books are for young sports fans, with missing koalas in the mix. Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold, illus. by Levi Pinfold, pub. by HarperCollins...
We asked 5 experts, writes Fron Jackson-Webb One in four Australian children aged two to 17 are classified as above a healthy weight, based on their body mass index (or BMI, which is weight divided by height squared). The Australian College of Nursing says school nurses can...
Reluctance turns to relief when Andrew Bartholomew finds that helping at his daughter’s school is actually quite enjoyable. “Don’t we pay fees?” I demanded. “We pay fees, go to meetings – I even do the occasional Saturday morning working bee!” My wife had just told me the...
School bullying is depressingly common, writes Andrew Trounson, but having a group of friends, not just a single “bestie”, may bolster a child’s resilience. Surviving school bullies may be a numbers game. Having a group of friends to rely on rather than a single “best” friend appears...
Jennifer Fergus reflects on her relationship with her grandchildren, who live overseas. As I was introducing myself to my granddaughter’s teacher, a voice yelled out from across the playground: “Her real name is Grandma!” The teacher and I paused, looked at each other, and smiled. She...
Researcher Nusrat Homaira looks at what this means and what you can do about it. We may think of air pollution as an outdoor problem caused by car exhaust and smog. But if the air inside our homes is polluted, this can also affect our health. In...
