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Sex Education

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  Family Tree Education Why sex education doesn't have to be awkward (Image credit: Prashanti Aswani) By Sophia Smith Galer 31st August 2022 In the digital age, kids need a trusted source they can turn to with questions about love and sex – and research shows how parents can get it right. I never got the opportunity to do something that's almost a rite of passage among British teens – spend a sex education class peeling a condom out of its stiff foil packet and rolling it down a banana. It wasn't until I was 27 years old that I would finally get to do it, but in a very different capacity. I wasn't learning how to put a condom on. I was learning how I'd teach somebody else to put it on.  About 15 newly trained sex educators and I sat in front of our computers, condommed-bananas in hand. "We often use flavoured condoms," explained our teacher over Zoom, "because the smell is a bit more appealing than normal condoms."  He took a moment
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Future Cities

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The 'spongy' cities of the future (Image credit: S E Barbour/Getty) By Kate Evans 24th August 2022 Cities need to become more ‘spongy’. Auckland is leading the way. Article continues below T Tangled mats of muddy vegetation line the footpaths of Underwood Park, a narrow stripe of green winding along a creek beneath the small volcanic cone of Ōwairaka (Mt Albert) in Auckland, New Zealand. In the water, clumps of sticks and the occasional plastic bag are marooned on protruding rocks and branches. A winter storm swept through the city overnight, dropping heavy rain, and Te Auaunga (Oakley Creek), one of the city’s longest urban streams, has overflowed its banks. "But that’s supposed to happen," says Julie Fairey, chair of the Puketāpapa local board, who is showing me around Underwood and the neighbouring Walmsley Park. The connected parks are designed to collect excess stormwater, soak it up like a sponge, and slowly release it back into the creek. The debr
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Why You Need A Wellbeing Wardrobe

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  Future Planet   Sustainability Why you need a 'wellbeing wardrobe' (Image credit: lechatnoir/Getty Images) By Samantha Sharpe, Monique Retamal and Taylor Brydges 14th September 2022 From The Conversation People are buying more clothing than ever before in some countries, but it's not sustainable. Could a "wellbeing wardrobe" help? If things don't change fast, the fashion industry could use a quarter of the world's remaining global carbon budget to keep warming under 2C by 2050, and use 35% more land to produce fibres by 2030. While this seems incredible, it's not. Over the past 15 years, clothing production has doubled while the length of time we actually wear these clothes has fallen by nearly 40%. In the EU, falling prices have seen people buying more clothing than ever before while spending less money in the process. This is not sustainable. Something has to give. In our recent report, we propose the idea of a wellbeing wardrobe ,
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Right Age For A Phone

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Family Tree Mobile phone What's the right age to get a smartphone? (Image credit: Adam Berry/Redferns/Getty Images) By Kelly Oakes 15th September 2022 Smartphones have become near-universal among children, with up to 91% of 11-year-olds owning one. But do children miss out without a phone – or experience surprising benefits? It is a very modern dilemma.  Should you hand your child a smartphone, or keep them away from the devices as long as possible? As a parent, you'd be forgiven for thinking of a smartphone as a sort of Pandora's box with the ability to unleash all the world's evils on your child's wholesome life.  The bewildering array of headlines relating to the possible impact of children's phone and social media use are enough to make anyone want to opt out.  Apparently, even celebrities are not immune to this modern parenting problem: Madonna has said that she regretted giving her older children phones at age 13 , and wouldn't do it again.
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