Journal article

It is in the family that children learn the skills and knowledge necessary to get along. Most children in fact become pretty competent in both their own family group and in larger social groups such as school. However, some families manage to help their children to be competent better than others. Perhaps there are ways to assist.

'The more socially unacceptable smoking becomes in adult society the more attractive it appears to the younger generation'. This was the comment of a South Auckland intermediate school principal whose school I visited during a nation-wide Health Department survey of Form One (Year 6) students' smoking. On the affluent northern shores of metropolitan Auckland, I again became aware of an air of pessimistic despondency.

RECORDS, tapes and radio are central to adolescent experience and a key part is MTV - musical television - and its staple, the music video clip. 'MTV' itself is a 24-hour, non-stop, commercial cable television channel, beamed by satellite across the United States; devoted to screening rock videos.

Improved energy management in schools would produce significant cost savings. Only a small number of schools will make big savings but a large number of schools will be able to make worthwhile savings. However, many schools should look for savings in other areas, for example, text-book management, which may give a better return. The first step in improving energy management is to identify to which category a school belongs.

The stress on 'getting your qualifications' has become such a dogma that in New Zealand secondary pupils recently received a personal letter from the Minister of Education encouraging them to stay on at school. In this he gives support to the prevailing wisdom. Unfortunately staying at school is promoted by many others too: academics, school principals, the press, careers advisors, parents, and even by young people themselves who often blame their unemployment on their failure to get their school qualifications.