14 May 2022
Instant Gratification Is A Toxin Poisoning Our Kids
This is an edited extract from Dr Tanveer Ahmed‘s essay Self-Reliance, Youth, and The Task of Character. This article was originally published in The Australian. Snowflakes, easily triggered or unfairly maligned, the worsening mental health of young people became a sensitive topic during the pandemic lockdowns. In the battles over safety, children became a political football tossed about in debates
5 April 2022
Self-reliance, Youth, And The Task Of Character
The Institute of Public Affairs has published a new report by Sydney-based psychiatrist and author Dr Tanveer Ahmed entitled Self-reliance, Youth and the Task of Character. All human beings need meaning and purpose in one form or another to strive forward in life. It is central to who we are – psychologically, socially, and physically – for us to believe that
9 August 2017
Big Government’s War On Young Australians
The major parties, unions and the bureaucracy have declared economic war on young people which threatens to create an invisible underclass locked out of economic participation. In March, the Brotherhood of St Laurence reported that labour force underutilisation (underemployment plus unemployment) of people aged between 15 and 24 was at its lowest point since the ABS started measuring it in
8 April 2017
Young People Need Hope And Jobs, Not Gesture Politics
Calls from two Nick Xenophon Team parliamentarians and Independent Member for Indi Cathy McGowan to establish a Federal Minister for Young People proves that bad ideas in Federal politics are not the exclusive domain of the major parties. NXT MP Rebekha Sharkie has justified the idea by claiming that “children and young people feel like they’re being spoken at, not
21 February 2017
Refusing A Handshake Is An Affront To Our Basic Values
An early test for Education Minister Rob Stokes comes with the news that Hurstville Boys Campus, a public school in Sydney’s west, has adopted “an agreed protocol” which effectively excuses some of its male students from shaking hands with females is yet another attack on our values and has no place in our taxpayer-funded schools. This decision came about following
17 February 2017
New Minister Must Get Curriculum Right
The latest NSW Cabinet reshuffle has resulted in some significant front bench arrivals and departures in the new Berejiklian Government. One of those changes is the replacement of Adrian Piccoli, Minister for Education, with Rob Stokes, previously Minister for Planning. During Piccoli’s six years in office, which have been described as everything from disappointing to a debacle he seemed to
2 February 2017
Why We Shouldn’t #ChangeTheDate
Last Friday, the University of Western Australia Student Guild voted overwhelmingly in favour of changing the date of Australia Day and proposed to ban all future campus celebrations on January 26. Just hours before the general meeting was to set to begin, the Western Australian Students Aboriginal Corporation (WASAC) had requested that the motion to join the #ChangeTheDate campaign be raised and discussed at the Guild Council meeting. Even though the official submission date had closed the week earlier, the Guild allowed WASAC to
9 January 2017
A New Breed Of ‘Historian’
In the next few weeks, thousands of young Australians, having just finished 12 years of schooling, will be preparing themselves for what should be their first, exciting foray into higher education. Their minds should be expanded, their eyes opened to new ideas and concepts. Many of them will have applied to study history. It appears however, that if they don’t
30 December 2016
Young Australians Full Of Optimism About The Future
The IPA’s “Growing Freedom: Survey of Young Australians” report has identified that young people are overwhelmingly positive about their own future, and also positive about the future of Australia. The IPA’s “Growing Freedom: Survey of Young Australians” is a wide-ranging study of over a thousand young Australians aged between 16 and 25. Respondents were asked a series of questions about
5 December 2016
Learning When To Catch Blackfish
The NSW draft curriculum released last week glosses over thousands of years of western development and progress, in favour of teaching students about climate change in mathematics class. The NSW Board of Studies, slavishly following the National Curriculum, has adopted three so-called cross-curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and sustainability.
