http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/justin-coulson/ Dr Justin Coulson is a parenting researcher and author. He is the father of five children and blogs at happyfamilies.com.au. Follow him on twitter @Happy_Families. Justin’s new book “What your child needs from you: Creating a connected family” is due out in August 2012 from ACER Press. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/secretive-teens-in-more-danger-online/ “Forbidden fruit” is powerfully alluring, especially for teenagers. Researchers have discovered that when children and adolescents are “forbidden” from drugs, media consumption, and even certain peer relationships, they will resist those limits and assert their independence. If you tell a teen not to do something you almost ensure that as soon as your back is turned, they’ll be experimenting, investigating, poking, prodding, inhaling, swallowing, or otherwise trying to experience whatever was just deemed contraband. This is partly due to teenagers’ basic desire for autonomy. “You can’t tell me what to do.” Another reason is that humans’ pre-frontal cortex (which is the part of our brain responsible for executive function and forward planning) does not fully develop until our early twenties. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justin Coulson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/secretive-teens-in-more-danger-online/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/secretive-teens-in-more-danger-online/#item8861 Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:35:26 +0000 Justin Coulson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/checking-toddlers-for-mental-illness-is-crazy/ From next year three year-old children will be screened for mental illness. GPs will screen kids for general physical issues at routine appointments, and three year-olds will also be assessed from the neck up for issues including depression, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorder. The Healthy Kids Check is a wacky idea, even if it is being promoted with the best of intentions. While the mental health of our children matters a great deal and there are clearly mental illness concerns for children, a policy that encourages doctors and parents to look for signs of mental illness at such a young age is misplaced and is likely to lead to several problems, all of which are worse than the proposed ‘cure’. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justin Coulson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/checking-toddlers-for-mental-illness-is-crazy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/checking-toddlers-for-mental-illness-is-crazy/#item8713 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:55:36 +0000 Justin Coulson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/naplan-na-not-a-great-curriculum-plan/ NAPLAN testing is scheduled this week (from May 15 to 17) in schools around the country. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority (ACARA), as well as proponents of NAPLAN, make three central claims extolling the usefulness of this high-stakes test. First, they claim NAPLAN will tell us that the tests are important to assess the quality of teaching in our children’s schools. Second, they will assure us that the tests can diagnose academic issues our children may be struggling with. Third, they will confirm that the purpose of NAPLAN is to maintain Australia’s high levels of literacy and numeracy in comparison to other countries in the world. ACARA and the proponents of NAPLAN (including our education ministers) will not tell you that there almost a complete lack of evidence to support those three claims. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justin Coulson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/naplan-na-not-a-great-curriculum-plan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/naplan-na-not-a-great-curriculum-plan/#item8467 Sun, 13 May 2012 19:25:37 +0000 Justin Coulson | Author bios | The Punch