tinkerbell 1952,
Yes it is one thing to put out a reprt, however how much faith can be had in a report, when the yanks don't even institute their own report? The yanks are the most dysfunctional socieity on Earth, in the western world.

How can you make ANY report work in a State based enviroment, without Federal funding for any progress, let alone a positive change.

One need only to look at Federal Education budget breakdowns, to see what proirity Johhny "Bonsai" Howard gives the the majority of school students. Pulic Education continues to be grossly underfunded, with the obvious outcomes, despite the Federal Government having a forecast budget surplus of $17 billion. This government seems to be able to disregard the nation's Health and Education and have the apathy work for them, in as much as the lunatics still vote for them.

Bonsai is a little Bush.

Andrew Leigh chants the mantra of every trendy lefty. All social problems can be solved if the Australian taxpayer just keeps funding ever more social workers. But "Buggins Law" of social work states that "Social problems increase in direct proportion to those social workers hired to solve them." Perhaps Andrew is touting for business for his friends?

Here is a couple of solutions Andrew, which won't cost the Aussie taxpayer a penny.

With 50% of inmates in French jails Muslims, and with certain notorious ethnic groups in this country very much over represented in Australia's jails and dole queues, considerable outlay on future social catastrophes can be avoided by simply instigating a more discriminating immigration program.

Second. Tightening up our censorship laws to stop entertainment industry moguls from targetting our most vulnerable children for programs which they, like the tobacco companies before them, know are dangerous to them. We can no longer allow these filthy rich corporations to use sophisticated marketting techniques to by pass parental controls and target children for shows which endorse violence, drug abuse, criminality and anti social behaviour.

Redneck I endorse your second comment entirely. The deliberate and subversive advertising is just sickening. It's worse than the worst Cold War propaganda machine (on either side) that anyone can think of.

However, your opening comment belies an ignorance of the siphoning of funding away from social programs, including education. It's not that "more money" or "more social workers" are needed - it's that we need to return the funding to the levels at which we once had them!! I keep thinking of Jonathan Kozol's comment from his wealthy Republican friend - "Do you really think we can help these people just by throwing money at them?"

SHONGA, You don't have to go to the feds to start to fix the Qld education system.
My kids have been trying to get an education through this joke for 18 years.
About 15% of the teachers not competent in the subjects they teach, in country senior high schools.
Maths C teachers who have no Calculas, Physics teachers, with such poor english, the kids have trouble getting the words, let alone the concepts. Then there are the foreign qualified ones, with no clue at all. We don't just hire dud doctors from offshore.
2 of my kids have had coaching from a good teacher who quit, when he was ordered to teach Senior maths. He said, "how can I teach it, when I can't do it"?
Sort out the sheltered work shop that the Queensland Education Dept. has become, [sound familiar] before you start wasting even more funds.
Hasbee

Excellent piece!

Intervention is one thing, but the situation has much wider ramifications than the disadvantaged. Let's look at all children.

Any school teacher can tell you that parents in droves are outsourcing their parental responsibilities onto schools. More and more, teachers are having to try to take up basic child rearing deficiencies, on top of their teaching roles. And its not just reading to them. It is developing values, exerting discipline, coping with aggression, unhealthy eating habits... the list is very long. This, in turn, is debilitating the ability of schools to undertake their core functions of classical education - another critical issue of these times.

The problem for teachers is that they can compensate, in part, for poor parenting, but at the end of the day the child is principally a product of family.

Why is this trend growing so alarmingly? And why is it invading all social strata?

I am no expert, but it must partly come down to the lives we lead in this increasingly competitive economy. Two-income families find they have inadequate quality time with their kids. (Kids can't thrive on love alone.) Simultaneosuly, our latchkey kids are more and more exposed to powerful consumer messages. Instant gratification, instant food, instant everything.

Should we blame parents for this? Well, yes and no. Parents themselves do need basic education on effective child rearing. But in the main, economic pressures and government policy is forcing well-intentioned parents away from effective child rearing.

It may be socially much more desirable, for instance, for single mothers to devote their energy into their children, rather than for be shoehorned into the workforce.

Is anyone out there going to argue that stability in familes - a secure bread-winner job, marital fidelity, family support - is the only real answer? Yeh, but such a propsition relies on people acting selflessly & in co-operation for a common goal!

When society sees strong families as a policy option based on the myriad personal choice lifestyles rather than an integral element for a succesful society to pursue with matters economic and societal falling into place etc.

This 'patriachal' paradigm is based on modern society's inability to judge certain options as 'illegitimate.' This judgmental approach has its downsides, but, if everything is relatively "ok" then where does the line get drawn?