How to talk to your children about porn: It’s not one conversationPart 3: With the virtual world at everybody’s fingertips, accessing or stumbling across pornography has never been so easy for youngstersTue Oct 03 2023 - 06:01
How to talk to your children about sex: Start at an early age and build from therePart 2: Following on from our piece on puberty, most of us want open conversation about sex with our children. Achieving that can be complexTue Sept 26 2023 - 06:01
‘Get off my son you little s**t’: Some adults appear to forget they’re attending children’s matchesJen Hogan: I wouldn’t feel comfortable allowing my children to partake in a match without one of their parents presentMon Sept 25 2023 - 06:01
How to talk to your children about . . . pubertyThe puberty talk: ‘We need to deal with our own embarrassment if we want to have an open conversation with them’Tue Sept 19 2023 - 06:01
Does homework have any benefits for primary school children? Jen Hogan and Dr Leah O’Toole discussHomework is an emotive and divisive issue among parents and children. The evidence doesn’t support traditional approachesTue Sept 19 2023 - 06:00
School uniforms: We are back to the days of making children dress like adults of old. Why?Jen Hogan: Schools have returned to pre-Covid days by putting children in itchy, scratchy uniforms while the rest of the world continues in more comfortable waysMon Sept 11 2023 - 06:01
With the kids back in school, here we are with the return of the dreaded homeworkJen Hogan: The sun may be splitting the stones, but maths and Gaeilge wait for no boy or girlSun Sept 10 2023 - 06:01
‘Children have learned to read the calendar so they know when their next book comes’World Literacy Day: It can be very difficult to find the time and space to give attention and quiet time to your childFri Sept 08 2023 - 11:29
Doug Beattie: ‘I suddenly found it really difficult to talk to my 13-year-old daughter or my 13-year-old son’Parenting in My Shoes: The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party says he felt as his children got older that he was replicating what he saw as his own father’s failings, and he ‘really had to work’ at changing thatTue Sept 05 2023 - 06:01
‘The world is divided into two types of people - those who are organised and those who are not’Jen Hogan: Some who are a tad delusional about their place in world believe themselves more organised than they areMon Aug 28 2023 - 05:31
How are schools coping with the minefield of smartphones?There’s plenty of scope for conflict between students, parents and teachers over how to deal with the issue of smartphones. How can everybody involved reach common ground on this vexed subject?Wed Aug 23 2023 - 05:31
Adults and smartphones: ‘I lose about six to eight hours a day on my phone’More than half of adults wish they spent less time on their smartphones, a study published last year has foundTue Aug 22 2023 - 11:01
Why are crested uniforms still the norm at so many primary and secondary schools?Jen Hogan: Schools should do more to keep back-to-school costs to a minimumMon Aug 14 2023 - 06:01
‘When you master a skill, then you believe that you can master other things as well’Equine therapy has provided physical benefits for a young horse-rider along with boosts to her confidence and self-esteemTue Aug 08 2023 - 05:31
Bullying at work: ‘There can be so much shame associated with being bullied’As an adult is responsible for themselves, this may make it very difficult for them to get out of the clutches of a bullysWed Aug 02 2023 - 05:31
Bullying in the workplace: ‘My boss had it in for me from the start’Being an adult is no guarantee that bullying won’t be part of your lifeTue Aug 01 2023 - 06:01
‘I’m a proud Dub but I dread when my teens go into town’ Jen Hogan: I secretly hope my kids won’t have the same grá for the city centre that I once didMon Jul 31 2023 - 06:01
Claire Byrne: ‘I had lived an adult life up to the age of 38 not having had children, so I know what that freedom is like’Parenting in My Shoes: Broadcaster was child-free until age 38, but now adores having youngstersTue Jul 25 2023 - 05:31
The van I drive commands a certain degree of respect on the road and unwanted ‘help’ from some menJen Hogan: ‘Have you encountered helpful men on account of the van being huge too?’ I asked my husband. Strangely, he hadn’tMon Jul 17 2023 - 06:01
Bullying: ‘I was isolated ... I was sitting by myself every day. I would walk into a room and conversations would stop’For teenagers experiencing bullying, it can be a particularly lonely and devastating time, not helped by social mediaTue Jul 11 2023 - 06:01
Bullying: Putting the work into having students ‘who are upstanders, not bystanders’Parental response crucial as ‘it’s about trying to work out a strategy that works for both the parent and the child’Tue Jul 11 2023 - 05:31
Bullying: School days can be the best days of your life – but what about when they’re not?In a new series, we’ll be looking at how bullying affects people, the lasting impacts and asking how we can best support those affectedTue Jul 04 2023 - 05:31
Five tips for parents to help survive the summer breakJen Hogan: The break from routine is fabulous and the unpredictability is chaotic but school holidays can also be a time of stress when trying to be all things to all peopleMon Jul 03 2023 - 06:01
Tips for a stress-free family holiday: Write packing lists and don’t be afraid to do things separatelyFrom savvy packing to factoring in some alone time, here’s how to ensure your family holiday goes as smoothly as possibleThu Jun 29 2023 - 06:00
How often do we give our children mixed messages?Jen Hogan: I hadn’t prepared my kids for what to do if a stranger asks a perfectly reasonable questionMon Jun 19 2023 - 05:31
Jen Hogan: Why this time of year specifically makes me feel unsettledNot even a DeLorean with a working flux capacitor can take you back to those times you wish weren’t overMon Jun 05 2023 - 05:01
‘Who works 10am-1pm?’ Parents share their frustrations with finding the right summer campsMany activities run for just a few hours per day, meaning not only that the cost per hour is higher, but parents still have to navigate around working hoursTue May 23 2023 - 05:31
Jen Hogan: I’m doing the Leaving Cert for the third timeThis is not my first rodeo at the main State examinations. You’d think after all this time it’d get easier thoughMon May 22 2023 - 06:01
Andrea Mara: ‘Dark stories were always rattling around in my head’The crime writer how her latest thriller was inspired by a real-life event from her own childhoodSun May 21 2023 - 05:00
‘Period poverty’ is a misleading term that gets bandied about. I think it has become very, very trendyIf a woman can’t buy period products, it’s just one aspect of her poverty as she will be struggling to buy all basic necessities, from food to fuelTue May 09 2023 - 06:01
Pat Shortt: ‘My daughter didn’t recognise me at the airport. I got very upset’Parenting in My Shoes: The actor believes losing his mother at the age of seven has partly shaped his approach to parenthoodTue May 09 2023 - 06:01
Flights were booked quicker than you could say, ‘but what about the one doing his Leaving Cert’?Jen Hogan: Children grow up so fast, I’m glad we’ve made memories that will lastMon May 08 2023 - 05:31
That challenging time for parents, when you have to be everything to everyone, is on the horizonJen Hogan: Summer holidays throw up the perennial dilemma of trying to work and take care of the children at the same timeMon Apr 24 2023 - 05:31
Bean an tí shortage means Gaeltacht experience may not be available for many Irish studentsNumber of host families in the Gaeltacht region has declined by 30% since 2018Tue Apr 18 2023 - 05:01
Jen Hogan: I have a love/hate relationship with WhatsApp groupsIn ways we never quite credit, amid the relentless beeping, perhaps there is a virtual village in the makingTue Apr 11 2023 - 06:01
‘The stuff they wear leaves nothing to the imagination’: At what age should teenagers be allowed go to parties and discos?These are the times those rules you made get called into question, often sooner than you were prepared forFri Apr 07 2023 - 06:01
‘My 14-year-old daughter was stared at by adult male’: When should teenagers use public transport alone?Parents worry about the safety of their teens on the bus, Dart and Luas - and the concerns are greater for those with teenage girlsThu Apr 06 2023 - 06:01
‘We’re not French’: Irish teens and alcohol – what exactly should they be allowed to do?The dreaded drink is often one of biggest fears parents have for their childrenTue Apr 04 2023 - 06:01
‘I wouldn’t let an under-16 babysit my child’: At what age should teenagers be allowed to mind children?A series looking at the freedoms we should or should not allow for our childrenFri Mar 31 2023 - 06:01
‘I’ll check their phones until they’re 18′: What should our teenagers be allowed to do on their mobiles?A series looking at the freedoms we should or should not allow for our childrenThu Mar 30 2023 - 05:01
Jen Hogan: Maybe my kids will look back and think their childhood was grand (in spite of dropped balls)Jen Hogan: I obsess about wanting my kids to be happy and contentMon Mar 27 2023 - 05:30
Parenting tweens: What exactly should our children be allowed to do?A series looking at the freedoms we should or should not allow for our childrenThu Mar 23 2023 - 06:01
Parenting under-8s: What exactly should our children be allowed to do?A new series looking at the freedoms we should or should not allow for our children - starting with those aged eight and underThu Mar 16 2023 - 05:31
Paul Murphy: We don’t want to limit our baby by saying you’re a boy or you’re a girl. Let them decideParenting in My Shoes: As a politician and a father, Paul says he’s conscious of respecting Juniper’s privacyTue Mar 14 2023 - 06:15
There are those who know how to fill a dishwasher, and those who don’t careJen Hogan: My husband rearranges the dishwasher after I’ve loaded it. Amazingly, I haven’t divorced him yetMon Mar 13 2023 - 05:31
What age would you allow a child to use a swimming pool dressingroom on their own?Some pools require children to use gendered changing rooms from aged seven, which may be well before parents feel their child is readyMon Mar 06 2023 - 06:01
Peace Proms return with strong message on harmony and inclusivity Children’s Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland to perform wide-ranging selection of musicWed Mar 01 2023 - 05:01
Another year, another child due to make his Communion or ConfirmationJen Hogan: ‘Bouncy castle Catholics, I think my sort is called. I prefer to go by a la carte Catholic’Mon Feb 27 2023 - 05:31
Amongst women: Why are there so few men in caring roles? What’s it like to work in a women-dominated profession? A nurse, SNA, drama teacher, childcare worker and occupational therapist share their experiencesSat Feb 18 2023 - 05:00
Woman says she was shocked to be asked to stop breastfeeding her baby at UCDMarguerite Simmons was reportedly asked to move to a cubicle at swimming pool if she wanted to continue to feed her babyThu Feb 16 2023 - 16:19
