Images of Today and Current Issues

If we look honestly at who we are as a nation, we see a culture where:

Family Breakdown

Statistics show that 45% of first marriages end in divorce, increasing to 65% for second marriages and 75% for third marriages.1 About 50% of all divorces involve children under the age of 18.

In 2003, 22% of all children aged 0–17 years lived with only one natural parent and their other parent (in most cases their father), lived elsewhere. Just over three quarters (77%) of children with a parent living elsewhere lived in one-parent families, 14% in step families and 9% in blended families. (4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2006)

Hugh Mackay comments

Only about 50% of those children have face-to-face contact with their non-residential parent, at least once per fortnight. For 26% of them the contact is less than once per year or never. … These children are regularly switching from one parental worldview to another…. Conflicting values and divided loyalties lurk in their path like landmines.2

The increase in single parent and blended families can create loss of identity, role confusion, divided loyalties, contention between the separated parents over boundaries and discipline issues for their children. Family break-ups traumatise children often causing grief, confusion, anxiety, fear, rejection, anger and identity crises often leading to self-destructive behaviours.

Loss of Family Community and Social Cohesion

Commenting on the relationship between community and social structure, the report “Measures of Australia’s Progress” states

Families and communities are core structural elements in society - basic building blocks of national life. Families provide guidance on the social values underlying civil society and the care generated within family supports the development of healthy functioning individuals. The vast range of services provided within communities by groups, clubs and charitable organisations are a crucial adjunct to support the role of the family. The quality and strength of people’s relationships and bonds with others – their families, friends and the wider community – are important ingredients of the level of social cohesion. And a more cohesive society is one in which communities are strong and inclusive.3

Whereas previous generations enjoyed the benefits of extended families and community associations, today, these close ties are often non-existent, whether through family breakdown, relocation or busyness. We are facing the shrinking household dilemma, in which the benefits of close ties with previous generations are lost to the detriment of children in particular and the community in general.

General Health

The health of Australia's youth is in decline according to Canberra-based health expert, Richard Eckersley, from the Australian National University. He says adolescent health - in particular mental health - is deteriorating. The rates of obesity, depression and diabetes are all increasing, linked to family conflict and breakdown, work, life pressures and increasing inequality. 4

Although the rates of most major diseases have fallen, Indrani Pieris-Caldwell of the Institute of Health and Welfare says the level of psychological distress has gone up between 1997 and 2004-2005 for both males and females, and the level of obesity has risen. The report states that less than half of young people were meeting recommended physical activity levels and only eight per cent of those in their early 20s eat enough vegetables. High levels of drinking and smoking are also causing concerns.5

Busyness and the Lack of Connectedness

How many times today do we hear parents saying ‘I am always so busy’. The relationship between connectedness and life skills in adolescents is addressed in a recent article in the Australian Medical Journal.6

Many of the studies looking at health in adolescent boys and girls suggest that the fostering of resilience, derived from a sense of “belonging”, is of prime importance. This is in accord with recent endocrinological findings which demonstrate that, being social mammals, humans have a genetically programmed need for “bonding” mediated by the hormone oxytocin, which is generated by touch and sex. Such bonding is not just to a sexual partner but involves a web of belonging that permeates multiple strata in the total community. The feeling of belonging results from many things, including connections with parents and families, and adult support for independence and competency.

The full flowering of capitalism / consumerism has generally increased the level of family debt and the need to generate greater income. With the demands of business often requiring employees to work long hours, it is easy for parents to seek relief from the stress of the day through the evening entertainment provided by television. In this case, children often spend independent time alone busily involved with the internet. In both situations, time thus spent can easily encroach on precious time for parents to build relationship bonds and influence their children, as well as connection with relatives and friends.

Influence of Computer Technology

Lack of parental control and/or interaction allows the internet to fill the void within many lonely children who become more comfortable with impersonal contact rather than personal interaction with members of their family or society.

Many children in this situation use television iPods computer games and mobile phones as security blankets.7

The internet enables children, especially, to access information that can be potentially detrimental to their future worldview and consequent behaviour especially without adequate supervision.

Lack of Suitable Role Models

An ever growing number of children suffer from a lack of role models - often through the “absent father syndrome”. According to Hugh Mackay, about 700,000 Australian children are being raised in homes where no income is earned; they simply have no example of a working parent.8

Similarly, bad role models are constantly seen through the media, such as

• Abusive parenting and siblings
• Media and advertising imagery
• Violence personified in television and cinematography
• Exposure to internet pornography
• Party stereotypes depicted in teen magazines
• Corporate business leaders and even law enforcement officials

The responsibility for sport stars to be good role models is well defined in the following extract from an article entitled “A Good Sport Has a Social Conscience9

Like it or not our sporting heroes are role models for millions of young Australians. They are recognised in the street, their autographs are sought and their posters adorn the wall of thousands of kids' bedrooms. Remember, these sporting heroes have chosen their careers. They are not drafted against their will to play football, race motor cars or swim for gold medals. But it is not only fame, money and adoration that come with sporting success. With it also comes personal responsibility. Sadly, in the past couple of years the responsibility side of the equation has been profoundly lacking in a number of high-profile cases.

Self Image Problems

The Mission Australia survey of 29,000 young people, aged 11 to 24, found body image was the number one concern, above family conflict and stress.10

Self-dissatisfaction has complex roots, with major influences including family and friends. Perhaps magazines and television are just reflecting what society holds as attractive, in which case we need to ask ourselves the hard questions about why there is such a narrow view. Excessive emphasis on stereotypical body image can lead to:

• Eating disorders such as anorexia11 & bulimia
• Cosmetic surgery in teenage girls 12
• Excessive purchase of clothing and makeup

The Bulletin Newsweek reported research findings that 18% of girls aged 12-18 starved themselves for two-day stints to lose weight - almost double the proportion from six years earlier. About 11% made themselves vomit (up from 3.4% in the previous survey) and 8% (up from 2.4%) reported smoking cigarettes to suppress hunger. The survey covered 8,900 teenagers from 57 schools. Most of the girls affected were either at a healthy weight or slightly overweight.13

Sexual Issues

In the last thirty years, the sexualisation of our culture has spread like a rampant fire through media and internet. Nowhere has it effect been so dramatic than with our youth. According to one survey, 53.5% of girls 12 and under have seen porn, and by the age of 16, this rises to 97%. Boys start earlier: 70% have seen it by the age of 12 and 100% by the age of 15. Around 58% of girls and 87% of boys are sexually excited by porn, which is viewed as much on films and videos as on the internet - which means a "net nanny" is inadequate as prevention.14

Other figures show that one in 10 teens have had sexual intercourse before the age of 13. By Year 10 about a quarter of students have had sex, with the figure climbing to half by the end of high school. The revelations come as anecdotal evidence suggests older adolescents are shunning condoms provoking fears of a surge in sexually transmitted diseases which could cause infertility. Further

• more than 4% of Australian women aged 15-19 become pregnant
• about 40% of teen pregnancies are terminated, but more girls are keeping their babies and not adopting out because they want someone to love them
• one out of every five women aged under 25 have been victims of sexual abuse
• about a quarter of people with HIV are under 25 years.

Evidence indicates that sexualisation has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health– including eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression - sexuality and beliefs.15

Extremes of adult sexual behaviour increasingly reported in the media include sexual abuse of children, child pornography, rape and molestation in the workplace

Respect, Rebellion and Lack of Shame

The Code of Ethics and Conduct of the Murdoch University contains the following definition “respect”.

This principle requires that people are treated as individuals with rights that are to be honoured and defended or, when necessary, that people are empowered to claim their rights. This respect for the rights of other people is the basis upon which individuals become members of communities and accept their social responsibilities to behave honestly and with integrity, to tolerate and respect the views of others and to cooperate with other members of the community. To be a member of a community means that individuals not only have rights but that they also have duties and responsibilities to others.16

The functioning of community depends on mutual respectful interaction between participants. This also involves a balance between rights and responsibilities – without which, discord is certain.

Sadly, the absence of respect at all levels of society has seen a proliferation of rebellion against authority and societal values, including even a lack of shame, remorse or contrition for illegal actions such as:

• abuse of power in business, government and law enforcement agencies
• discrimination of people in regard to race or socio-economic position
• verbal abuse and open rebellion against the instructions of people in authority
• violence, rape and crime in general
• willfull damage of both private and communal property
• driving while disqualified or without a licence, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• excessive speeding causing accidents
• substance abuse – binge drinking, smoking and illicit drugs

Aggressive Behaviour

Daily, the media reports aggressive behaviour in its many aberrations. Television and cinemas thrive with images of violence and crime - wars, uprisings, shootings, bomb blasts of terrorism, road carnage and the like – images of bloodied bodies abound.

Reports disagree whether television images and / or games increase the likelihood of violence in children. While the British medical journal, the Lancet, reported there was consistent evidence of an association between younger children watching media violence and showing more aggressive play and behaviour, the underlying message of the article was that if you want to understand aggressive behaviour in children, look to the social and emotional environment in which they are growing up, and the values they bring to the viewing experience.17

• Some of the many and varied aggressive behavioural patterns of concern, seen in our society today include
• Domestic violence at both parental and child levels
• Intimidation of both fellow students and teachers at school
• Physical, emotional and cyber bullying
• Workplace intimidation by ‘superiors’, especially against those who report injustice
• Gang assaults on innocent victims
• Drunken violence and sexual assault in public
• Road rage
• Destructive behaviour, even rioting at parties

Consumerism / Hedonism

Consumerism could be described as the chronic purchasing of new goods and services, with little or no analysis of the purchaser’s need of them, their quality, durability, lifecycle, or the environmental consequences of manufacture and disposal.

Consumerism appears driven by manipulation, where advertising encourages self-gratification from the purchase of the “latest and best”. Slogans such as “Want it, Get it”, or, “Like it, Buy it”, even “You Deserve it” promote the idea that merchandise should be purchased because we have earned the right to own what is promoted.

As one commentator reflects

Consumerism robs us of precious time. Time is exchanged for money to buy things that there usually is less and less time to enjoy. We spend our time working for 'things' and in the little time we have to relax, spend that time in front of the television where we watch mediocre filler programs inserted in between ever-more-spectacular commercials whose purpose is to create more desire for more things - that we have to work longer hours to purchase. By robbing us of time, consumerism has a deleterious effect on family life.18

Today's children and teenagers have become the most marketed-to generation in history19 since they not only have their own disposable income, but strongly influence their parents’ buying decisions. Approximately one fifth of television is devoted to advertising in an effort to convince (children especially) they are hungry, bored, ugly and unpopular and they need to spend money to alleviate this situation. The intentional pre-programming of their minds and attitudes is intended to pay further dividends when they become adults.

However, there is growing evidence that increasing materialism and individualism which are the defining cultural qualities of Western societies like Australia are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of adolescents.20

Commentators are beginning to ask why consumer spending has not declined after several interest rate rises. This leads to the question as to whether materialism has driven people so far toward hedonism that gratification21 is associated more with “things” rather than with relationships.

Self Harm

The SANE Australian factsheet defines self-harm as any behaviour which involves the deliberate causing of pain or injury to oneself. This includes cutting, burning or hitting oneself, overdosing on prescription or illegal drugs, or even binge-eating or starvation, abuse of drugs or alcohol or repeatedly putting oneself in dangerous situations…. While people who self-harm do not necessarily mean to kill themselves, it often becomes a compulsive and dangerous activity, and requires careful professional help.22

New research by Prof Diego De Leo, director of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, has revealed schoolchildren are injuring themselves to look “cool” in front of peers. Parents and health workers say growing numbers of youngsters are cutting themselves as the trend sweeps through Queensland schools as students imitate this behavior to fit in with their peers.23

Substance Abuse

The problems associated with alcohol and illicit drug abuse reaches not only adults but even to children. A US study has revealed nearly 40 per cent of primary school-aged children have consumed alcohol, some without their parents' knowledge - and Australian experts think the figure here would be even higher.24

According to Vic Health, one in 10 Australians aged 14-19 drink at high-risk levels at least once a week, and the proportion of high-risk drinkers aged 12-15 has doubled in 20 years.

The Australian National Council on Drugs has found that about one in eight Australian children (nearly 250,000) are exposed to binge drinking and drug abuse in their own homes. 25 The chairmen Dr John Herron stated that it is known that alcohol, tobacco, cannabis use and the experimentation with those drugs is extremely common in adolescents and young adulthood.

The 2007 annual report by drug and alcohol rehabilitation group Odyssey House shows younger people are checking in with addictions linked to coping with a difficult family life and having easier access to illegal drugs. The report also shows alcohol has outstripped illicit drugs like ice and heroin as the main drug of concern for people entering treatment programs. The average age at which people first try drugs, including alcohol, has dropped dramatically from between 17 to 19 to around 12 to 13.

It would seen appropriate to question whether a major cause for the rampant abuse of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs is an underlying inner dissatisfaction with life situations rather than simply the ease of obtaining drugs in the first place.

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For further details of Australian culture today, the reader is referred to the following books:

“Advance Australia Where? – How we’ve changed, why we’ve changed and what will happen next” by Hugh Mackay, Hatchette, Sydney, 2007.

“Thrilled to Death – how the endless pursuit of pleasure is leaving us numb”, by Dr Archibald Hart, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2007 (Although written within the American culture, the psychological and physiological reactions in individuals are posited to occur universally).