As an adult, it can be easy to forget what life was like growing up, to remember what mattered most, whose opinion counted and the daily decisions that needed to be made ...The University of NSW’s Social Policy Research Centre, in partnership with a range of non-government and government agencies, has recently released research that uniquely captures the experiences and insights of young people living in economic adversity. The Making a Difference study interviewed around 100 young people aged 11 to 17 years over an 18 month period. It offers a rare view on their experiences, how they cope with disadvantage and what they think can be done about it. Read full post

As a daughter of a migrant, whose father fled Croatia in the 1950s to settle in Melbourne, I was always conscious that my Dad’s boat story made me different in the school yard. At recess and lunch, to avoid the jibes, I hung out with other migrant kids; first-generation Asians; second-generation Italians and Greeks; kids from Madagascar, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Spain. I had the United Nations of mates...Sport made us winners. This is why it is such joy to champion a program fusing sport with human rights. Read full post

We are in the midst of an epidemic. One in seven kids suffer from it. It destroys lives and can have fatal consequences...As a community, there are things we can all do to decrease the likelihood that children will become bullies...Teens, although highly vulnerable to slights, are quick to dish them out. Testing each other and the world, their expressions are often uncensored... Read full post

Today is International Day of the World's Indigenous People - the theme is "Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices". Here in Australia we still have a long way to go, in my opinion, in promoting and listening to Indigenous voices when it comes to improving the conditions of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children ... The United Nations' press release for today's activities points out the importance of us listening to voices of Indigenous people via the media ...read what SNAICC has to say about protecting the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Read full post

This morning’s news reported a six week old baby allegedly having been abandoned by his parents on the side of the road at about 3am in a western Sydney suburb. It’s simply heartbreaking to think of such a young child being mistreated in this way. And my natural first reaction was anger at the adults involved in that child’s care. Two writers on mainstream online media websites this morning called the situation as they saw it ... I think as bloggers, journalists and publishers we can do better in these rare but extremely disturbing situations where a baby is abandoned. Read full post

A mother polar bear helps her baby out of the water and on to the ice and snow. Gorgeous video. Shared with us by happychild blogger Carol Duncan who is recently back from the Australian snowfields. No polar bears there. Read full post

In this video from Mornings at Channel 9, Yvette Vignando on the parenting panel with Dannielle Miller and Tracey Spicer talking about research lead by Dr David Hawes from the University of Sydney about the kind of warm and positive parenting that can help children with what is known as "callous and unemotional" (CU) traits. Also discussed: parents who are in a dispute over their child and a father has been ordered to stop weighing his daughter as it affects her self esteem. Read full post

Share this with your children and their schools. On UNICEF Day for Children, kids can help make a difference to children all over the world. It's also a great way of educating children about human rights. Video features children's author, Morris Gleitzman.UNICEF Day for Children is on 24th October 2012. Read full post