Bunkum to That

Year 12 has become a year of vastly out-of-proportion significance and, according to Michael Carr-Gregg, the media, parents and, to a lesser extent, schools are to blame for the pressure on young students to achieve that all-important, life-determining ENTER score. Bunkum to those last two sentiments says Carr-Gregg, and so do I, having been through it twice with my children, and having taught first-year undergraduates for years, many of whom change courses or life trajectories when they are exposed to what tertiary education or the workforce can offer. In a book filled with research, anecdotes and practical information, Carr­Gregg provides students with sensible strategies for ignoring the hype and for getting on with managing a busy year in their lives. He addresses diet, relationships, drugs, exercise, managing stress, ‘smart’ studying tactics and approaches to exams in a manner that treats young people as capable and intelligent. A lively, conversational style, plus Tandberg’s witty cartoons, avert any preachy tone. Carr-Gregg advises parents to be supportive but to ‘bite their tongues’.

While this book is full of sensible information, it implies a certain demographic in its recommendation for students who are uncertain about doing Year 12 to take a year off and travel overseas, for parents to take out a gym membership for their children, and in the importance of having a quiet, well-equipped study space. Perhaps this is recognition of where pressure and its consequences come from in the main, but one can’t help thinking of students for whom these would be unavailable in their school, family and work lives.