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
![<a href="/blogs/yvettevignando/2012/02/09/beauty-pageant-mom-gives-daughter-pageant-crack">Beauty Pageant Mom Gives Daughter " Pageant Crack "</a>](http://www.happychild.com.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/teaser_tall/images/pageant crack.png "<a href=\"/blogs/yvettevignando/2012/02/09/beauty-pageant-mom-gives-daughter-pageant-crack\">Beauty Pageant Mom Gives Daughter " Pageant Crack "</a>")
You might think the outrage about the Toddlers and Tiaras - type shows has been done to death - but here's something else to think about. A U.S. mother says she gives her young daughter a boost of what's apparently known as ' pageant crack ' to give her the energy needed for the long days of beauty pageants - her daughter says the mixture makes her "hyper". I said the word "concerning" about a million times in this clip - but I really am concerned. Read full article
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
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
I thought this segment on The Morning Show was going to be mostly about adultification of children - five year old Madison has over a million views on YouTube for her many videos of her applying makeup and reviewing it - in a five year old kind of way: "I really love it". But in the end I thought it was about something innocent that ended up with a child becoming a PR vehicle for adult makeup products - what do you think? Read full article
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
I once saw a study that showed that teenage girls’ self-esteem was linked to how represented their race was in the mainstream media. It was an American study. So Native Americans who were the most under-represented racial group in the media had the highest level of self-esteem, followed by African Americans with Caucasian teenagers at the bottom of the pile. They drew the conclusion that it was because if you see somebody of the same racial group on the front of a magazine you think that if you just lost the right amount of weight, did the right exercise, had the right clothes or wore the right make up you could look like that. Whereas, somebody of a different racial group would never be able to look like that no matter what changes they made. Read full article
Glee star Lea Michele appears on the cover of the March edition of US Cosmopolitan. The actress is apparently 24 years old but plays the role of a teenager in the internationally popular television series Glee. In the news is the reaction by some Texas newsagents who have removed the magazine from display and others who have said that the cover shot is overtly sexual and inappropriate for a celebrity who plays a teenager. The implication is that Lea Michele is also something of a role model for young women who watch Glee. Read full article
Wednesday 12 January 2011 - Links to Latest Parenting and Education news: Pinkification of Girls ~ Surrogacy in Australia ~ Children in Detention ~ Oxytocin & Ethnocentrism ~ Publishing Teacher Performance Rankings ~ Teacher Disciplined for Allowing Sled Use ~ Special Education Students ~ Autism and Yawn Contagion Read full article
Book: The Princess Bitchface Syndrome, Surviving Adolescent Girls by Michael Carr-Gregg. In this book, Michael Carr-Gregg focuses on the special trials of raising adolescent girls today, what to do when your previously quiet, loving daughter becomes a restless, rebellious stranger who behaves like a responsible adult one day and a vampish brat the next. Read full article
