CYP Matters
Respect and listening
Dad’s picture book about son breaks down barriers about disability, spreads message of acceptance
When father, Brook Seal, was sending his youngest son to school in their hometown of Kimba, SA, he wanted to give Ziggy a bit of a helping hand. Ziggy has a brain injury, so Mr Seal put together a photo and storybook as a tribute to his son and to explain to his classmates that just as they were all different, Ziggy was too. More >
Youth Made Consent Education
Consent education aims to inform children and young people about consent and respectful relationships, gender stereotypes, coercion and power imbalances. Kids First Australia has co-designed an online platform with young people, ‘To Future Me,’ which facilitates a conversation around consent in a way that kids will relate to. More >
Why language matters: in need of attention, not ‘attention seeking’
The need for attention, to feel seen and heard, is a natural human instinct. Calling a child’s behaviour ‘attention seeking’ risks minimising their needs and if ignored or dismissed, these needs may continue to go unmet. More >
Enjoying and achieving
‘Free’ public education costs as much as $100,000 in parts of Australia, report finds
Experts are calling for greater government investment in public education as a new report suggests parents could spend up to $100,000 putting a child through the state school system. More >
Brain-Building Through Play: Activities for Infants, Toddlers and Children
From infancy on, play is an important part of a child’s life, helping to develop sturdy brain architecture, the foundations of lifelong health, and the building blocks of resilience. The handouts in this series provide suggestions for games and play-based activities for children and young people from 6 months to 17 years of age. More >
Screen panic: how much time is too much?
Teens must navigate rapidly changing technology to negotiate their academic and social lives and stay safe while doing this, however there is very little research into how they are using their devices from their perspectives. More >
Participation
Youth advocate says good leadership means diluting and improving power structures
Public servants can claim to champion human-centred design until they are blue in the face but to create policy and programs with impact, decision-makers need to be open to sharing power with stakeholders. More >
Engaging children with disability in supported decision making
Children with disability, like all children, have the right to express themselves and to have their views heard. This article outlines what supported decision making is, why children with disability can and should be engaged as decision makers, and evidence about using supported decision making to support them towards exercising this right. More >
School attendance rates are dropping. We need to ask students why
School attendance rates and attendance levels in Australia have been steadily declining from 2014 to 2022. One way to address this issue is to talk to children and young people themselves, to understand what is going on in their lives, both at school and beyond. More >
Prepared for adult life
Teen Parliament scholarship winners are on the right path to success in education
Six young people have won $10,000 scholarships after their participation in South Australia’s Teen Parliament last week. An Indigenous teenager who wants to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather in helping youth to forge a better life is among the scholarship recipients. More >
Health and wellbeing
Podcast: In Depth with early childhood body image expert Dr Steph Damiano
It goes without saying that we want to give our young children the best start in life. So how do we protect our children from developing a negative body image? And when should we start? The answer could shock you. More >
How to foster sibling relationships early on
If sibling relationships of children with disability are nurtured early on, they are likely to continue into adulthood. This blog examines the things that might affect sibling relationships, especially in childhood, and why sibling relationships are important both for a sibling and for a child/adult with disability. More >
Want your child to eat more veggies? Talk to them about ‘eating the rainbow’
’Eating the rainbow’ means regularly eating a variety of different coloured fruits and vegetables. Encouraging children to eat a rainbow is backed by evidence and can promote well-rounded and positive conversations about food. More >
Marketers are targeting children with alcohol, gambling and junk food ads online. Is it time for a ban?
By the age of 13, the average Australian child will have had 72 million data points collected about them: everything from what they like, to who they hang out with, to where they live and go to school, and how they feel. This data, gathered with every ‘like’ and online interaction, is stored to build precise and detailed knowledge of them. More >
Australia has a vaping problem, but no easy health or political solution
Australian National University research shows more than one in 10 Australians aged over 14 had ever tried a vape, with numbers skewed strongly toward young people under 25; over one third are regular e-cigarette users. More >
Why this Australian town is banning under-18s from buying energy drinks
Doctors say the ban could help improve mental health and behaviour, so are energy drinks bad for young people? The ban will run for four months and is being supported by measures before and after the ban, as well as focus groups, surveys, and interviews with store owners and community leaders. More >
Safe and nurtured
I believe you: children and young people’s experiences of seeking help, securing help and navigating the family violence system
In Australia there is increasing acknowledgement of the need to better respond to children and young people as victim-survivors of family violence in their own right. Children and young people in this study were unanimous in agreeing that current responses to young victim-survivors of family violence are not adequate and that there are significant opportunities to improve current practices. More >
Long-term strategy launched to fix children’s social care
Vulnerable children will be better supported to stay with their families in safe and loving homes, as part of an overhaul of children’s social care in the UK. A wide-ranging children’s social care implementation strategy will focus on more early support for families, reducing the need for crisis response at a later stage. More >
New guidance to industry issued for game developers on protecting children
These recommendations aim to: ensure games conform to the Children’s code of practice for online services and UK data protection; help designers and gaming communities consider the different needs of children; and ensure a safe and positive experience for children playing video games. More >
‘A community that values its children will cherish their parents’: Family inclusion in child protection systems
This webinar explored the best practice and research evidence on family inclusion initiatives in the USA, Canada, Norway and the UK. It discussed practical innovations in family-inclusive practice, including parent-to-parent peer work, a greater focus on carer and parent relationships, and parent leadership. More >