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A call to re-think our obsession with social media

Posted on 06/05/2014 in For Students, For Teachers, Parenting Teen - Ideas, Uncategorized by Graham Comments are off
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“Look Up” (see below) was posted by Gary Turk on April 25 2014. By today – May 6 – it has had over 15,250,000 views and 123, 000 likes. Why? Because it cleverly and beautifully resonates with a concern many of us have about way they social media can actually damage society. Our online presence has the potential to damage our capacity to have a significant offline one. This is not to say that Social Media is the devil, it can be a wonderful and beneficial boon of modern technology, it is just to say that it is not harmless or inert. Like everything in life the tool is not the problem it is the way the tool is used.
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Brilliant drug & alcohol resource for parents of teens

Posted on 25/03/2014 in For Teachers, Parenting Teen - Ideas by Graham Comments are off

The biggest challenge for parents is often just staying informed about what is really happening in the world of their teens. This is nowhere more true than in the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Fortunately we have ready and free access to some of the best research in the world, and some of the wisest thinking, right here!
The Australian Drug Foundation provides an excellent set of free resources on its website. From this page you can access research, ideas and a great list of links to support and help agencies. Their page provides access to information and statistics that are current, reputable and – best of all – Australian based.
Their subsite provides all parents and carers need to intiate a conversation with their teens and pre-teens about the use of alcohol and other drugs.
ADF also has resources for young people.

And people wonder why teens have body image issues!

Posted on 17/03/2014 in For Students, For Teachers, Social Media, Uncategorized by Graham Comments are off

Great quick video demonstrating the power of Photoshop in distorting reality (no wonder our teens have body image issues!) https://youtu.be/kKB8CAkKqLc

Parenting and school performance are inexorably linked

Posted on 13/01/2014 in For Teachers, Parenting Teen - Ideas by Graham Comments are off

“Billions fail to stop slide in world student rankings” The Australian Dec 4 2013
Students performance linked to parental engagementBillions have been spent on facilities and technology for schools, and student performance has gone backwards. Class sizes have diminished, teachers have mandatory ongoing professional development, and student performance has gone backwards. The slide in the ability of Australian school students to learn will continue until someone shines a light on the proverbial pachyderm in this room and we as a nation begin to aggressively deal with it. The primary factor that undermines school based learning in Australia it is the rapid increase of general disengagement by parents in their children’s lives.
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More to life than an ATAR

Posted on 09/11/2013 in For Students, For Teachers, Parenting Teen - Ideas by Graham Comments are off

HSC students to be reminded 'there are many things more important than the HSC.'

An ATAR says what you achieved at high school; it is essentially only useful for your first year out of school – it will get you into a uni course or into a job. After that your progress is entirely determined by your performance.

In many ways even more important than your ATAR or “leaving certificate” is your reference. This says who you were at high school: it highlights your habits and character, the things that will determine the progress of the whole of your life. This article puts this in perspective from the point of view of a Vice Chancellor
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Don’t, I repeat DON’T text or use a mobile phone while driving

Posted on 09/11/2013 in For Students, For Teachers, Parenting Teen - Ideas by Graham Comments are off

Such a sad story, but perhaps the glamour and tragedy could be used to make teens think twice. This is a story that every new driver should read.  Model Loses life while talking on phone

Are all young people drinking?

Posted on 09/11/2013 in Answers to parent questions, For Teachers by Graham Comments are off

In the words of Harold Arlen it’s time to ‘accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative’ in thinking about teen behaviour.
I have always thought that we (meaning those of us who speak to and about teenagers) are far too focused on the negative statistics. Promiscuity, suicide, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse are easy attention grabbers and make wonderful PowerPoint slides because they have such frightening consequences. No one wants to think about, let alone experience, having a teenager hurt by any of them.

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Brilliant video

Posted on 09/11/2013 in For Students, For Teachers by Graham Comments are off

Don’t we wish we all had 1) the creativity and 2) the time to do stuff like this

Post by Funny Videos.

Facebook is not (necessarily) the devil!

Posted on 26/02/2013 in For Teachers by Graham Comments are off

Saint Stephen’s College on the Gold Coast is having enormous success using a Facebook page as a real time news and information resource for a year level. The page was set up early in 2012 with the year 11 group. It quickly became the central resource for all information and announcements as well as a forum for affirmation and encouragement for students. The page continues in 2013 with the year 12 cohort.

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Vivo: promoting student development by positive reinforcement.

Posted on 04/02/2013 in For Teachers by Graham Comments are off

Toowoomba State High School principal, Chris Zilm, is thrilled with the success of the Vivo program. This web based system allows teachers to award points to students’ accounts – to affirm positive behaviour, as rewards for quiz and test performance, as incentives, etc. Students can then use their points to purchase items from the Vivo store. For more about Vivo: https://www.vivomiles.com.au. For more about the way it is being implemented at TSHS please contact us (blog@ysa.com.au or 1300 795 030) and we will forward your details to Chris.

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