An Interview with Australian Author Melina Marchetta

Melina Marchetta (pictured) is the author of the much loved books Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, and On the Jellicoe Road. Her latest novel The Piper’s Son, takes up the story five years later of the group of best friends from Saving Francesca. Only this time it’s Tom Mackee who needs saving from the grief that threatens to tear both him and his family apart.

Whether it’s through reading her novels, or interviewing the author for a feature article, former high school teacher Melina Marchetta (pictured), still has a lot to teach those of us who are willing to learn. As I’ve become more short for time and more practiced in the art of ‘winging it’ during interviews, I have completely dispensed with the need to prepare a set of questions. I always knew this cardinal sin of journalism would catch up with me someday. How appropriate then that I should be caught out by a former high school English teacher. Read the story »

The Darker Side of Facebook: Cyber-Bullying

Facebook has become a positive part of many of our lives, but there is a darker side of Facebook that all parents and educators need to be aware of: cyber-bullying.

It is inevitable that bullies will try to use social networking sites as a tool. It gives them a platform to humiliate their victims not just in front of a schoolyard full of kids but potentially a global audience, with little chance of being held accountable.

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Girls in Trouble in a Post-Feminism World

Parents, teachers and educators everywhere know in our hearts that girls and young women are in trouble and need our support. And the evidence is mounting to prove that we are right to be concerned.

A 19-year-long Scottish study published recently in the journal of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology showed that teenage girls are now the most depressed section of the population. 

The study, by Helen Sweeting, showed that girls were reporting mental disorders at a rate of 44%. Read the story »

Domestic Bullying: the emotional and psychological abuse of women

You’ve heard of school yard bullying, cyber bullying and workplace bullying. But did you know the most common type of bullying actually occurs in the home? Domestic bullying, or the psychological and emotional abuse of a partner or close relative, is the silent epidemic and while most of the research has focused on the violence perpetrated by a male toward a female partner, it is important to note that domestic violence can happen to anyone.

Home is suppose to be our sanctuary from the world, the one place where we feel safe and secure. But for some people, home can became an emotional and psychological prison from which they cannot escape. Read the story »

My Business took me to the Oscars

When former school teacher Sharon Thurin (pictured with Jai Rodriguez) created Slim Secrets, she had no idea the company she started would one day take her all the way to the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. After seeing a gap in the market, the wife and mother of 3, just wanted to offer a healthy range of snack foods that didn’t taste like cardboard. She never imagined her business would one day see her rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous at Elton John’s famed Oscars Party in 2008, or that she would be invited back again this year for the 82nd Academy Awards next month.

In image conscious Hollywood, there aren’t too many snack food companies that can honestly say they’re a favourite among celebrities. Read the story »