Free Talk in Sydney - 'What is Good Education for Girls AND Boys?'
Santa Sabina College Principal and Gender Education Expert, Dr Maree Herrett invites you to a free talk about gender relations in education. Read full article
Two Fourteen Year Old Girls - One is Married
I travelled to India in 2010 with other volunteers working with global not-for-profit, Room to Read, in order to find out more about their programs on the ground. Room to Read helps students in Asia and Africa learn to read and write, and helps girls finish school. I don’t think I was prepared for the impact of meeting a young girl from a small village in the middle of the Rajasthan desert. Read full article
Why Girls' Education is Highest Returning Social Investment
Kaisone is eighteen and lives in Salavan Province in southern Laos, a country where more than three-quarters of the population still survives on less than $2 per day. Just a few months before her sixth birthday, her mother passed away: "It was such a futile death . . . . on the long drive to the hospital after giving birth to my younger sister. I vowed then that I would study hard to become a doctor, so that the people in my village would not have to die because of poor access to medical aid." Read full article
Raising Boys vs Raising Girls
The segment on Mornings on Channel 9 raised the question - do we parent boys differently to the way we parent girls? Are there fundamental differences in boys and girls which mean it is easier to parent boys or girls? Do we need to be careful not to be influenced by our children's gender when we're communicating with them? Read full article
Growing Great Girls
Growing Great Girls is the must-have parenting book for those with daughters. It contains a wealth of excellent, practical advice on bringing up girls from babies, preschoolers, tweens and right through to teenagers. Read full article
Parents Help Young Girls Develop a Positive Body Image
Tonight I read some extracts from a UK School Health Education Unit report called “Young People Into 2011”. The headlines about the report tell us that about one third of primary school girls are missing their meals and are unhappy with their weight. I’m only a little surprised because there’s so much media coverage of teenage girls who are unhappy with their body image. Read full article
Of Course, You'll Want the Pink Party Bag, Won't You?
Not so long ago, I wrote about my six-year-old daughter’s ambition to be a builder. Cunning inventions made from sunglasses and old CDs attached with straw flow from her fingers, and nothing makes her happier than a new box of Lego. She is also uncannily gifted at Monopoly, so I look forward to enjoying old age supported by my wealthy and astute property developer of a daughter. She is not a keen clothes shopper (‘no’ is her assessment of most garments), but given the choice she would prefer to pick a Ben 10 t-shirt from the boys’ side of the store than a pink fairy dress from the girls’ aisle. Read full article
A Reason to Love Tom Hanks - Toddlers and Tiaras Spoof
There have been a few posts on here lately around the issue of children and body image. And now the whole beauty pageant fiasco is coming to Australia. I do not like children's beauty pageants (not one bit). Here's a light-hearted but powerful video spoof that covers many of the issues, starring Tom Hanks and his daughter. Another reason to love Tom Hanks. Read full article
Marketing Body-Toning Products to Girls aged 7
A shoe manufacturer is marketing shoes to 7 to 12 year old girls that are designed to tone and shape legs - is this appropriate? Yvette Vignando spoke about this with Christine Morgan from The Butterfly Foundation and Julie Gale from Kids Free to Be Kids. Read full article
Suri Cruise is 5 Years Old - She is Not a Woman
Yvette Vignando, Melissa Hoyer and Melinda Tankard Reist on Channel 7, The Morning Show, discuss decision by Glamour Magazine to include 5 year old Suri Cruise in the Best Dressed Women of 2011 list. Was this a good decision by Glamour magazine. Can we just allow little girls to be little girls please? Read full article
