 The question is, will we continue to fight what may be a rearguard action to defend universal literacy as a central goal of our education system, or are we bold enough to see what's actually happening to our culture? |
| So, if falling crime rates coincide with the rise of violent video games and increasing violence on TV and at the cinema, should we conclude that media violence is causing the drop in crime rates? |
| Despite the availability of cheap and effective contraception, it looks as if we are not as careful in our decisions about reproduction as all the talk of family planning might suggest. |
| Recounting their histories, people often sound like interested bystanders to their own lives. |
| Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational. |
| Parents should be encouraged to read to their children, and teachers should be equipped with all available techniques for teaching literacy, so the varying needs and capacities of individual kids can be taken into account. |
| The copycat effects of media violence, similar to those previously attributed to westerns, radio serials and comic books, are easy to exaggerate. |
| I'm in total sympathy with Dick Smith's sentiments; I only wish there were grounds for saying we Australians would never tolerate such appalling treatment of refugees being carried out in our name. |
| It seems inevitable that the magic of the written word will fade. |
| Far more people have enjoyed Jane Austen's work on television than will ever read her books. |
| I suspect the secret of personal attraction is locked up in our unique imperfections, flaws and frailties. |
| But the rule seems to be that the bigger and more life-changing the decision, the less it will seem like a decision at all. |
