1. Get your kids off Facebook.
A NSW high school principal has used his entire column in the school newsletter – normally 800 words – to send one simple message. In large font he simply wrote: Get your kids off Facebook. This verbal sewer is harming your children. Nothing else. Just that over half a page. He said he was spurred into doing it after helping a 16-year-old deal with terrible abuse and said the feedback from the community was ‘overwhelmingly positive’. Do you reckon he was on the money?
2. Hey Gen Y? You’ll never own a home
Just one in 40 of today’s Gen Y will own properties when they retire. That’s the latest grim forecast, according the an Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute survey. The survey’s co-author said the results were “more alarming than we expected”. Only five years ago, 40 per cent of over-65s owned their homes outright. Overpriced property markets, high rates of divorce and rising personal debts and cost of living were said to be the reasons behind the results.
3. Bald penguin rejected by its mother.
Yes it’s another abandoned baby animal story. But this one story has a happy ending. And look how cute the little guy is! This baby penguin’s chances of survival looked grim after it was abandoned by its parents just days after it’s birth. But keepers from an aquarium in China’s Liaoning Province set up a group to care for the feather-less youngster and eventually – and successfully – reintroduced it to its family. And the story gets even better – the penguin has since grown ‘fur’. [Which is, of course, technically known as down. Before the proper feathers come in].
The ease of thinking dollar for dollar might be over for Australians shopping online. The Aussie dollar took a turn for the worst yesterday when it briefly dipped below parity. It sunk to 97 US cents on the back of concerns about the future of the US economy. The dollar has traded above $1.07 as recently as the start of September.
5. Miley Cyrus, actress, singer, political activist
Want a government to change its mind about something? Just have a celebrity tweet about it. That’s the message we can all learn from this story. US teen star Miley Cyrus tweeted her concern about a planned housing development near her boyfriend’s Victorian hometown of Phillip Island. Days later (and coincidentally?) the Victorian government scrapped its plans to extend the towns boundary.
People took to Twitter yesterday asking if Miley had any opinions on the Middle East or public servants’ pay packets. It begs the question – how can Miley help you?
6. Check your emotional baggage, get a song
There’s a nifty little website that’s popped up called Emotional Bag Check which lets users anonymously submit something that’s wearing them down. Other online users can respond by recommending songs to listen to or helping bear some of the burden. Some of the top songs recommended? Keep your Head Up by Andy Grammar and The Middle, by Jimmy Eat World. What songs do you listen do when you’re feeling off-kilter?
Here are all the pics you need to see this week. (Just be wary, there’s one image in here that’s probably not safe for work). News and pics brought to you by Lucy.
Top Comments
I banned my 15 yo daughter from facebook about 2 months ago (although she is allowed restricted time in the holidays) not because of bullying but because it sucked all her energy. She felt a need to be constantly available often having 5 chat boxes going at a time. It was becoming obsessive for her, she couldn't self manage how much time she gave to it. After being really angry at me for shutting it down she later said she felt relief that she could go back to things she enjoyed before like reading and making art. If you're a parent and you feel uncomfortable about facebook then shit it down, it's your right and responsibility.
Facebook is yet another opportunity or place where people can show the worst side of their character, and as someone who counsels people aged 12-25 i've seen some shocking things done on facebook. However I've also seen shocking things done in playgrounds, at the Mall, on a phone, on the bus at a party, in dance class........
The point is let your kids have a page when you believe they are old enough to understand the risks, their rights and responsibilities, educate them, that's your job, monitor them, again your job, help them when things go wrong (yep you guessed it, your job). Ban it? Suddenly it becomes even more attractive.