Talking with kids when they are anxious can be hard work for parents and teachers. Sometimes just one word out of place or spoken with the wrong tone of voice can get a child’s back up, upset them or make them uncooperative.
Topics: Parenting, Teens, High School, Primary School, Social Skills, Anxiety
Ah, remember the time when you were the centre of your kids’ universe, when you could do no wrong and everything about you fascinated them? You could throw them in the air, smother them with kisses, crow like a rooster, dance along to the Wiggles and they thought that was just great.
And then they started school …
As young as eight, I would hop on my bike after school, cycle a few blocks and knock on my friend's door to see if they could play. We would kick balls in the street or ride to the woods for fort building and games of tag and 'capture the castle'. If my parents worried, they never showed it.
Topics: Teens, High School, Primary School, Social Skills, Friendship
Year 11 and 12 exams are fast approaching. Teenagers across Australia are holing themselves away for their final slog of study and revision. Heads down and headphones on. What's their study soundtrack? Pop? Classical? Ambient whale sounds?
Topics: Teens, High School, Homework, exams
Around 14% of Australian 4-17 year olds and 20% of 15-19 year olds have mental health issues, according to Mindframe. The percentage of young people flagging mental health as a concern has doubled in the last six years.
Why are anxiety and depression so prevalent among our young people today and what can parents do to raise strong children, equipped to deal with the curveballs life throws at them?
Topics: Teens, High School, Behaviour, Primary School, Social Skills
I was lucky. I'd never been bullied ... until that time. I was thirteen and it went on for nearly a year. It wasn’t physical. It wasn’t aggressive. But it was repetitive and demeaning: a rumour contorted, embellished and thrown around the classroom with wild abandon by those who wanted to humiliate me.
Topics: Parenting, Teens, High School, Behaviour, Primary School, Bullying
