Quick hit: the best interests of the child

Two articles in The Guardian today which bear some thinking about. 1. A study has been conducted which seems to suggest that if a child is abused, that child will do better in the long term if sie is removed from hir family and not returned. That may well be what the study found. And [...]

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How immoral to acknowledge to kids that yes, sex happens

This post is inspired to some extent by Wildly Parenthetical’s post on sex ed – although I’ve thought for a very long time that sex ed should be a normal part of education generally (from a young age). I don’t know the best way to integrate it (but then, I’m not a teacher). However, I [...]

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Music company funded Roxanne Shante’s PhD

ETA: Or maybe not! Via —————– This post really warmed my heart. Roxanne Shante – a teen rapper in the 1980s – had a contract with Warner Music. It included a clause that the company would pay for Shante’s education for the rest of her life. She made them pay up. Including for her PhD. [...]

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Muslim school in Camden rejected by the Court

The Land and Environment Court has dismissed the appeal by the Quranic Society against a decision by Camden Municipal Council not to allow a Muslim school in the area. I haven’t read the decision yet – if I get the chance to do so next week, I may post about it – but the ABC [...]

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Discrimination in the provision of education

You’ll probably see some of the themes of my posts during this week, Reconciliation Week, being revisited in my posts for NAIDOC Week in a month or so. That’s because, as I mentioned in my previous post, Reconciliation Week sort of snuck up on me, and that means I don’t have a great deal of [...]

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How our system protects rights – an example

I was cheered to see the report of the decision of a judge of the Land and Environment Court, upholding the decision of a commissioner of that court, granting approval to an Islamic school in Bankstown. I don’t particularly agree with the idea of religious schools at all, but the real issue here is the [...]

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Calling all academic mothers!

Are you, or have you ever been, a mother academic? There’s a call for papers out for a collection of both narratives & articles about academic motherhood. (That takes you to a pdf, so if you don’t like those, try the general page here – the “Being a Mother Academic” link takes you to the [...]

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I always thought Hillsong were scary

Now I know they are. The program, called Shine, was created by the Hillsong Church. It is being run in at least 20 NSW public schools, numerous small community organisations and within the juvenile justice system. Hillsong describes Shine as a “practical, life-equipping, values-based course” and its website is awash with glowing testimonials from young [...]

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