Woman and Child First

Art Monthly Australia

There has been a lot of media attention here recently around issues of child images, "corporate paedophilia" and art. Bill Henson's exhibition was shut down in May before it opened due to including images of a naked 13 year old girl.

Art Monthly Australia (July Issue) has just released it's July issue. The cover is shown. It's a current subject of controversy.

The girl's father has defended the whole thing by saying that we are inadvertently encouraging a "higher level of repression" by not embracing this as art. "We have art to liberate the mind.." 

 I agree repression is problematic and that art (can, though no guarantee's) liberate the mind.

The girl's father goes on to say that he has a fear: "That artists will desert the field of childhood...and I think that is going to be a really sad cultural development for this country".

The girl's father is a wanker. The only sad cultural development we have to fear is that this dickhead gets any more media attention. Please someone lock him in a cafe in Darlinghurst for the next 50 years.

This whole defense is really about how "interesting" and "artistic" the girl's father is when he gets in front of a camera, certainly not about the beauty of childhood. The girl herself gets little to no airspace. I hope this link shows you what I mean. Press Conference.

Mr. Incredibubble And He Is!

I found this on my new favourite blog Hoyden About Town. It needs to be seen by every living person. What a guy!

(Note to self: Get red cape, 20 litres detergent and two long sticks).

The Arrival: Me, Ben and Shaun Tan

My curiosity whetted, I nailed the local librarian and came home with this book.

Whooee. This guy is a REALLY GOOD DRAWER.

Believe him when he says his drawings are 'visually complex'...and 'for older readers'. I was stumped by the sequence of pictures and hey I'm really old.

My really young (9 year old) son said when I showed him a page:

                            "I don't get it".

Ah hee hee, I love kids. However, The Arrival is a darkly beautiful  depiction of a migrant experience with an almost breathtaking visual imagination behind every frame. I will continue to seek this man's work out. He's very very good.

Girls Into Women

"Are we are losing the war for girls' self-esteem? We are fighting the media, popular culture, teenage stresses and peer pressure for the minds, values and habits of our girls. Girls' self-esteem plummets around age nine:

• Girls face depression twice as often as boys by age 15.
• 20–40% of girls aged ten have started dieting.
• Girls as young as 10 confront "teen" issues such as sex.
• Eating disorders among the most common mental health problems in girls.
• Low self-esteem leads to dangerous sexual behavior.

The good news is that despite these pressures, parents have more influence on their kids than they think." - article from NYU Child Study Centre.

I always love to read that last sentence. Let's be positive and firm with our girls. Let's show them how it is to live as a strong and self-determined person. They need that from their parents now more than ever. This article has some good reminders about creating confidence within our daughters.

The strongest messages come from us, their parents. This is good to remember!

Andy Warhol in Queensland: The Silver Factory

This is a picture of my kids, Anna and Ben, taken at a photobooth that's part of the Warhol exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane until 30 March.

They became bored with the main rooms (filled with Andy's paintings, films, and collections that he'd made - Oh I so could have spent another hour there) but they adored the kid's section.

Apart from this photo experience, there was a chance to have their "15 seconds of fame". You can sit down in front of a camera and then 15 seconds later see yourself on the wall in beautiful black and white film, slowed down.

There was also a drawing spot where you could display your own art.

And of course, Andy's "Silver Clouds" - a room full of silver balloons.

High quality children's experience that I loved as well.

GoMA Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.

Resilience

I went to a really inspirational gathering today. The large room was full of primary school teachers. There was an Australian psychologist out the front who was smart, tuned in and really funny. Lots of laughter filled the room and oodles of head-nodding.

His name is Andrew Fuller. He runs a private practice out of Melbourne for kids, adolescents and families. He's written a number of books. He works with/in a lot of schools.

He was talking about resilience training for the young. He mixed it up with current brain research. Spent the best part of 2 hours inspiring the desire in everyone to become more resilient themselves. Suggesting that the best this to do is to become more like who want to be - first.

Then the kids will get it. Perfect simple psychology.

Here's a sample. He said there are four rules (to remember, to teach):

1. Anything is possible

2. Nothing is easy

3. When things get difficult, remember Rule No. 1

4. If something looks easy, remember Rule No. 2

He also advocates encouraging "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" again, for all of us. I really enjoy being a psychologist when I see another one being so damn good. Check his site out, buy a book or resource. He's great.

The Dore Program For LD, ADHD And More

If you have a child with a Learning Disability or behavioural problem like ADHD, then you know how difficult schooling can be for them.  These kids have average to above-average intelligence yet fall behind significantly in one or more areas of schoolwork. The self-esteem issues are huge. Many programs designed to help them just don't.

So it's obvious that if a program comes along purporting to "cure" your child of his/her LD, ADHD and more,  then you take notice. You may be more than willing to part with vastly large sums of money in order to help your child. The Dore program has offered this opportunity and for many, it's worked. For other's it hasn't and it's really very expensive.

Four Corners, a documentary show consisting of very good journalism and a long history of being well-respected has recently presented a bunch of scientists, psychologists, teachers and LD specialists slamming the Dore program. See Dr John Rack, Dorothy Bishop amongst others.The claims largely revolve around the lack of decent, validated research to back up claims of "cure" for Learning Disabilities. That's a big NO NO in psychology. One must have good research data!

The owner of the program, Wynfred Dore,  however is unphased by the outcry.  He says he has enough anecdotal  evidence, through satisfied clients, to confirm the success of his work.

So who's right? Well I think both of them are probably in charge of bits and pieces of fact. I don't think there is a right and wrong here. The Dore program will work wonders for some kids. It won't work for others.

But I do agree, the research needs a thorough doing over. And parents need to be made aware. The whole issue of LD, ADHD and other behavioural and learning difficulties is extremely stressful for parents and children. Things that work, even just for some, need more objective attention.

Anna Turns 11

Tonight is the eve of my daughter's 11th birthday, and I found a book, an old favourite, to read to her. It was given to her on her Christening Day in 1996 by Maree, Martin and Emily.

"May your life be as mystical and magical as the Midnight Cat" reads the blessing.

So I am once again reminded of this endearing and sweet story of John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat by Jenny Wagner... And of how time passes but what always remains is the love of true friends and my love for my girl.

Being With Adolescents: The Urgency Of Our Future

Today I was lucky enough to watch Dr. Michael Carr-Greg (Adolescent Psychologist) speak to a room of 400 people, most of whom were High School teachers in the public system of North Coast, NSW, Australia.

Carr-Greg is a high profile Oz psych who writes articles for such publications as the Sydney Morning Herald and Girlfriend magazine ( I heard the teacher sitting next to me groan with ignorant disapproval to that last one).

He is passionate about people, more specifically educators, knowing about what the brain research in the last 5-10 years has found. I've written about this myself, on this blog, and I can tell you: This man was like a long lost friend to see in action.

He put this to his audience:

The teenage brain secretes melatonin (sleep inducing chemical) at around 11pm each night, some kids get it at midnight. This we know. What we now also know is that the same teenage brain needs 8 hours sleep per night. So work it out... They stay up late and then we get them out of bed at 7.00 am to start school at 8.30. This actually means  they are sleep deprived 5 times a week by 1 - 1 and a 1/2 hours.

Moreover, that last 1 hour sleep is REM sleep - the period of time that the brain dreams, processes all the day (before's) info, gets rid of the junk it doesn't need and completes the whole "good" night's sleep.

He said (I I love this guy), " I challenge every school principal in this room to delay your school's starting time till 10.00 am and take it through till 4.00pm.... Oh! I know!~ This is going to inconvenience all the adults. BUT WHO ARE YOU THERE FOR? ISN'T IT THE KIDS?"

There's more, so much more and I will post on what other things this man said, all the same stuff I've been reading up on for the last 2 - 3 years. We need people to fight for our young. It was a great inspiration to me to experience this.

Watch this man, he knows his stuff. Michael Carr-Greg.

ps. He asked the audience at one stage to put up their hands, if they themselves had never made a mistake as a teenager. One teacher, thinking he was being funny, did so. Carr-Greg gestured to him and said, "There's always one IDIOT in every audience".

Just in case You've Forgotten

                                                                                                            

Watch it again!