In Australia, on any given day, about 43,000 children have a parent in prison and there is no formal system to support them, wrotes Catherine Flynn. We have to use the word “about”, as there is no official process to identify this group of children. There...
Here are some ways to take that step, reports Sharon Horwood For more than a decade we’ve been deeply immersed in a love affair with social media. And the thought of ending things can be painful. But like any relationship, if social media is no longer...
Shankari Chandran draws the positives from potential negatives. On 18 October 2003 at precisely 8.24pm, I unreservedly loved my mother-in-law (who I call Mum). At 8.25pm, I handed our newborn daughter to her, and as Mum tenderly cuddled her, I felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation. I...
And why those conversations are important. By Nicole Racine, Camille Mori and Sheri Madigan, University of Calgary The early months of 2022 have already included several distressing world events. From the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to protests against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, to the Russian invasion...
‘We get the raw deal out of almost everything’ Lucas Walsh, Beatriz Gallo Cordoba, Blake Cutler, Cathy Waite and Masha Mikola look at the Australian Youth Barometer Young people today are coming of age in the middle of a global pandemic, soaring house prices, an unpromising job...
Edmund Wedam Kanmiki, Abdullah Mamun and Yaqoot Fatima, report it could be setting kids up for a lifetime of health issues. School holidays can be a special time for extended families to gather. Children may see their grandparents at seasonal gatherings or as part of childcare...
Maxine Clark’s son begins to ponder the more obvious markers of his Jamaican heritage. “Your mum’s brown,” a little girl at my son’s childcare centre announced matter-of-factly to him when I arrived to pick him up last week. It wasn’t a criticism; it wasn’t an insult....
Empathy is vital for social functioning. However, new research demonstrates that children who are particularly empathic are also more anxious, report Kate Bray and Associate Professor Sarah Whittle Empathy is our ability to share and understand the emotions of other people. Most experts agree that there are...
In the war of wills with her children, Gemma Rolleman has learnt to pick her battles. Last night, my seven-year-old daughter regurgitated a spoonful of my carefully prepared risotto back onto her plate. “Yuck,” she spluttered, her nose wrinkled, “that’s disgusting.” I half expected the reaction....
When I first became a mother in 2013, Carla Pascoe Leahy reports, I realised my experiences of motherhood did not match the kinds of messages circulating around me. As a society we talk about motherhood either in cheesy sentimentalities – think of gift catalogues for Mother’s...
