Children's status and children's rights, historically and cross-culturally

In this thesis, my goal is to construct a vision of an ideal setting for children. By examining different ways of thinking about children and childhood, and by considering different approaches which have worked or do work practically, I will seek to envision something better for children. Trying to reach a better context for children will also include an inherent criticism of current conditions. Based on these criticisms, I will identify the elements that I believe can contribute to an ideal setting in which children can not only lead safe, healthy and happy lives, but also develop their own unique potential. The discipline of the history of childhood as well as cross-cultural studies show the relativistic nature of childhood. The concept of childhood, expectations of children, and societal roles for children have changed drastically over time and differ across cultures today. Children's advocates and the children's rights movement both reflect and promote changes in the context of childhood. As attitudes about childhood change, efforts arise to bring reality into line with the new ideals and images. Efforts toward improving children's rights also spread new ideas about children through the society.

Technologies and considerations for developing internet and multiplayer computer games: a tutorial (extended abstract)

Games are universal and probably as old as humankind. Today the development of computer technology, especially the development of fast networks and the Internet, brings games a faster growth than ever before. Game design and development is now a fast-growing entertainment field, with a lot to offer professionally and creatively. In fact, from IT professional’s point of view, creating computer games provides us with all the usual technical challenges associated with software development, such as requirement analysis, architectural design, rapid prototyping, HCI, parallel and distributed processing, code reuse, programming, performance evaluation, testing and maintenance. It also provides challenges on other exciting aspects, such as storyboarding, screenplays, illustration, animation, sound effects, music, and social impact. By developing a computer game from start to finish, one would be able to acquire multi-disciplinary knowledge to become an IT professional for the modern era.

'Learning to cooperate': a study of how primary teachers and children construct classroom cultures

This paper reports on the findings of a study, the 'Constructing Classroom Cultures' project, funded by a small Australian Research Council grant at the University of Melbourne. Located in three primary school classrooms in Melbourne, Victoria, this study investigated how teachers and grade 3-4 students develop shared values and understandings concerning formal and informal codes of behaviour. Drawing on classroom observations, individual interviews with teachers and focus group interviews with children, this paper discusses the ways that teachers and children together build classroom cultures. Practices that work to produce supportive classroom environments as well as problem areas are identified. Examining classroom cultures at the micro-political level offers scope for considering how power relations can contribute positively to educational processes. Additionally, the ways in which informal interactions between teacher and students and among students call into play collaboration, compliance and resistance are opened up for examination. These case studies aim to contribute to understanding how productive classroom cultures are constructed in day-to-day interactions, a significant area of concern for teachers and teacher education students.

Mobile phones and children : an Australian perspective

Mobile phones in Australia record one of the world’s highest rates of ownership among children under 18. This paper examines issues of mobile phones and Australian children and the various discourses (systematic frames) used in discussing their effects. These are the optimistic (gains); pessimistic (losses, costs or harms); pluralistic (technology per se is neutral but how it is used matters); historical development (importance and skills learnt); futuristic predictions (promises and dangers); current uses (connectivity, convergence and interactivity); and techno-realist view (as a mixed blessing). Taking the Justification View of Technology that sees technological adoption as a gamble and borrowing from Joshua Meyrowitz, it examines how mobile phones have eroded parental power over how, when, where and with whom their children communicate, while at the same time, becoming a ‘digital leash’ for parents to re-establish their control and an ‘umbilical cord’ of children to remain connected with parents at all times.

Socioeconomic position and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviors : longitudinal findings from the CLAN study

Background: This study aimed to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between socioeconomic position (SEP) and physical activity and sedentary behaviors amongst children and adolescents.

Methods: Maternal education was reported by parents of 184 5-6 year-old and 358 10-12 year-old children in 2001. In 2001 and 2004, physical activity was assessed by accelerometry. Older children self-reported and parents of younger children proxy-reported physical activity and television (TV) viewing behaviors. Linear regression was used to predict physical activity and sedentary behaviors, and changes in these behaviors, from maternal education.

Results: Among all children, accelerometer-determined and self/parent-reported moderate and vigorous physical activity declined over three years. Girls of higher SEP demonstrated greater decreases in TV viewing behaviours than those of low SEP. In general, no prospective associations were evident between SEP and objectively-assessed physical activity. A small number of prospective associations were noted between SEP and self-reported physical activity, but these were generally weak and inconsistent in direction.

Conclusions: This study did not find strong evidence that maternal education was cross-sectionally or longitudinally predictive of children’s physical activity or sedentary behaviors. Given the well-documented inverse relationship of SEP with physical activity levels in adult samples, findings suggest that such disparities may emerge after adolescence.

Internet and competitive advantage in Australian professional sport organisations

The electronic revolution has proven to be a powerful stimulus for change in business practice. As a business tool however, the Internet must endure the same scrutiny under which other business activities are placed. If the use of the Internet in business is a sound strategy, then it must contribute toward competitive advantage. The sport business industry has not been isolated from the vagaries of Internet applications. Moreover, as the industry has become more competitive, forcing sporting organisations towards unprecedented levels of accountability and business practice, the Internet has been increasingly seen as a potential 'holy grail' for sport organisations struggling for revenue (Stewart & Smith, 1999). This research is a response to these pressures. It seeks to identify Internet based opportunities for competitive advantage, and to provide strategies and recommendations for the successful use of the Internet in Australian professional sport organisations. In realising this objective, a newly developed and integrated Business Activity Model has been constructed. The model assists in the identification of specific Internet based competitive advantage strategies, and provides a theoretical framework for this research. The Business Activity Model conceptualises, for the first time, the relationships between the value chain, constituents of electronically enabled competitive advantage, and the Internet. With Australia's limited group of fully professional sports capable of sustaining the human resources and budgets necessary to implement comprehensive e-commerce strategies, the organisations selected to participate in this research represent the pinnacle of Australian professional sport clubs. Specifically, the 55 clubs competing in the Australian Football League (A.F.L.), National Basketball League (N.B.L.), National Rugby League (N.R.L.), and National Soccer League (N.S.L.) constituted the research sample and population. In concert with the 87% participation rate, sampling approached a census. A telephone-administered survey, based primarily on the rigorously tested instrument developed by Sethi and King (1994), was employed for data collection. This research employs a comprehensive set of descriptive statistics, and is bolstered by a confirmatory and an exploratory factor analysis, undertaken on one component of the data. The outcome of this research was the identification of seven practical recommendations for Australian professional sport organisations seeking to improve competitive advantage via the Internet. These recommendations were based on an inventory of the 'gaps' between the strategies proposed by the literature, and the practices of the sample, and relate to both overall Internet strategy, and specific web site applications. The development of the new Business Activity Model and the identification of key online strategy themes support and complement these recommendations. An examination of variations in the practices of participating organisations, and some comparisons against United States sporting organisations, also provides depth and context to the findings. This research provides a platform for sport managers to effectively harness the potential of the Internet, through their web sites in particular, and realise significant competitive advantages. The Business Activity Model provides managers in all industries with a tool for the detection and understanding of potential elements of competitive advantage, and incorporates all activities critical to business in the new digital economy. Seven practical recommendations for improved online performance based on identified competitive advantage and strategies fulfils the primary objective of this research. E-commerce continues to grow at astronomical rates, and with the Internet poised to become the life-blood of 21st century sporting organisations, these recommendations will assist managers in their ongoing search for competitive advantage.

Contact with nature and children's mental, emotional, and social health

This research investigated the benefits of children's contact with nature as perceived by adult educators. It was found that contact with nature is perceived to: increase self-confidence and self-esteem; provide opportunities to experience mystery, privacy, and sensory engagement; connect children with school; and accommodate different learning styles and abilities.

Mental reinstatement and children's memory of a repeated event

The efficacy of mental reinstatement of context in facilitating six-year-old children's recall of one occurence of a repeated event was explored. Results demonstrated a beneficial effect of mental reinstatement of a unique contextual feature of one occurence of a repeated event on children's recall of details specific to that occurence.

Plagiarism, the internet and student learning : improving academic integrity

Written for higher education educators, managers and policy-makers, 'Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning' combines theoretical understandings with a practical model of plagiarism and explains why and how plagiarism developed.

Urban–rural comparison of weight status among women and children living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods

Objective: To compare the weight status of women and children living in socioeconomically disadvantaged rural and urban neighbourhoods in Victoria.

Design, setting and participants: Cross-sectional study of data collected between August 2007 and July 2008 as part of the Resilience for Eating and Activity Despite Inequality (READI) study. Women aged 18–45 years living in 40 rural and 40 urban socioeconomically disadvantaged Victorian areas were surveyed by postal questionnaire. Data from a subset of their children aged 5–12 years were also analysed. Weight and height were self-reported for women and measured for children.

Main outcome measures: Women’s weight status based on body mass index (BMI): underweight; healthy; overweight; or obese Class I, II or III; children’s weight status based on International Obesity Taskforce BMI cut-off points.

Results: Of 11 940 women randomly selected, 4934 (41%) replied to a postal invitation to participate. After exclusions for various reasons, data were available on 3879 women and 636 of their children. Twenty-four per cent of urban and 26% of rural women were classified as overweight; a further 19% of urban and 23% of rural women were classified as obese. Twenty per cent of both urban and rural children were classified as overweight; a further 10% of urban and rural children were classified as obese. In crude analyses, rural women had higher odds of Class I and II obesity (odds ratio [OR], 1.34 and 1.72, respectively) compared with urban women. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors (age, number of children, country of birth, education level, employment status and marital status), there was no difference between urban and rural women in odds of overweight or obesity Class I, II or III. No significant urban–rural difference in odds of overweight/obesity was evident among children.

Conclusions: The higher prevalence of obesity in rural women compared with urban women was largely explained by individual-level sociodemographic factors, such as age, number of children, country of birth, education level, employment status and marital status. This suggests that higher obesity levels among women in rural areas may be attributable to the sociodemographic composition of these areas.