Inside: How to stop relational aggression is one of the biggest challenges facing schools and parents. What is it? Why does it happen? How can we stop it? In schools, we talk constantly about protecting girls from harm. We teach… Continue Reading →
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The Weapon We Need In The War On Bullying
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You were at school. You know how bullies work. And you know that at certain stages even the great kids can become bullies. They rarely strike when there is a teacher around and when they do, it is so subtle,… Continue Reading →
School is designed for extroverts. It is loud and busy and dictated to by bells and buzzers and the urgency of getting through lessons and assessments. Even recess and lunch are full on. There is co-curricular and meetings to attend,… Continue Reading →
When Kids Don’t Fit In
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At some stage, most kids will feel alone at school. For some reason, they are different and don’t fit in. How do we support them and create inclusion? How do we help kids who don’t fit in? Yesterday, a twelve-year-old… Continue Reading →
Teach kids the benefits of consistency. It takes time and patience to achieve the best things in life. If you had to identify one thing that distinguishes this generation of teens from all those before it, I think it would… Continue Reading →
How To Respond To Your Child’s Friendship Issues
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Your daughter comes home from school and her heart is broken. Her best friends have told her they don’t want her to come to the sleep over they have planned for the weekend. Or your son sees on Snapchat that… Continue Reading →
What Makes Your Child’s Sparents So Special?
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The first time I heard the term sparent was eight years ago. It was around the same time as my first nephew was born. My brother thought that the idea of sparents was brilliant, especially when there was a particularly… Continue Reading →
Inside: The benefits of boarding school are not limited to the boarding students themselves. The positives that boarders bring to a school community are significant. Australian boarding schools offer an opportunity for kids from sparsely-populated rural areas to receive high… Continue Reading →
Teenagers don’t always say what they mean. They have not yet developed all the skills of emotional regulation. That means that often they don’t recognise the emotions they experience and they have a hard time managing their emotions. This can… Continue Reading →
This Is Why Our Kids Are So Anxious
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More people suffer from anxiety today than did during the Great Depression. Particularly young people. The first time I heard that I was stunned. How is that even possible? But then it is borne out in the research. 1 in… Continue Reading →
Fish and chips on a Friday night. Served straight from the paper, with lots of salt and vinegar. When I was a child that was the ritual in our family. When dad got home from work the whole family would… Continue Reading →
I have to admit; I’m fascinated by a toddler tantrum. I can understand why they are so distressing to parents but it is an incredible thing to watch. It doesn’t seem possible that one so small could muster that much… Continue Reading →
I got my first proper holiday job at 14. It was in the women’s clothing department of a store in the small town where I lived. I’m sure it was illegal to employ a 14-year-old in Australia, but nobody seemed… Continue Reading →
5 Powerful Ways to Build Resilience in Kids
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Resilience is the ‘it’ word of the decade when it comes to kids and their wellbeing. And so it should be. In the past we have focused on problems one at a time. Drugs, bullying, peer pressure, self-esteem, cyber-safety, alcohol…we’ve… Continue Reading →
I’m working on a project with my mum and dad at the moment. They are writing their stories down for their grandkids and all the future Stades. I’ve written them a set of questions. It’s a good way to get… Continue Reading →
Self-esteem is seen as a cure-all for social problems. We believe that if we give kids high self-esteem, they will withstand peer pressure and be successful. They will resist drugs and alcohol, they won’t bully and they will never be… Continue Reading →
My teenage daughter is overweight. I’m worried about her health but I don’t want to damage her self-esteem by drawing attention to it. What do I do? This was a question that came out of a recent parent forum on… Continue Reading →
For many of us, there are few things more uncomfortable than teaching kids about sex. I’m not talking about reproduction. That’s relatively simple. But sex? What happens and how we treat one another during sex? Well, that’s a bit more… Continue Reading →
Anger is often poorly understood and poorly managed, especially in children. What is it, why do we experience it and how can you help an angry child? A work friend told me that her five-year-old daughter, Maya, has a problem… Continue Reading →
We know that single-sex education for girls is academically very successful, but what are the other benefits of all girls schools? Recently, one of my friends rang and asked for my opinion on where her daughter should go to… Continue Reading →
We all know the black hole moments. The moments when your child is overwhelmed by emotion. It might be frustration, shame, disappointment or hurt or any other powerful feeling. It doesn’t only happen to little kids; our teens can be… Continue Reading →
Who do you want your child to be? I’m not talking about a profession. It doesn’t matter if they’re a firefighter, a social worker or a tiger tamer. I mean, who do you want your child to be? Do you… Continue Reading →
Grit for Kids: Why We Want It and How We Get It Watching my six year old niece learn to water-ski is to watch 20 kilograms of pure grit. If it is possible to will yourself to stand on water,… Continue Reading →
Inside: A downloadable social media contract that will help generate great conversations with your kids Managing your child’s social media use can be daunting. We all know the basics; no social media in the bedroom, make sure privacy settings are… Continue Reading →