Madonna King – författare

'In this insightful and practical exploration of female young adulthood, Madonna offers a remarkable way of understanding and sharing the realities of growing up for so many of our daughters.' - Dr Justin CoulsonA must-read guide for parents of teenage girls that explores what our girls need us to know in order to support them through the unprecedented pressures of growing up in today's world.The world is a very different place from two years ago. And the impact on our 16-, 17- and 18-year-old girls is huge. At one of the most critical times in their development - an age when they're ready to spread their wings and look to the future - they have had to deal with enormous disruption and dislocation, and come to terms with living life from their bedrooms. The long stints of remote learning and the anxiety of at-home exams has compounded with the ever-present pressure of the ATAR and worries around friendships and relationships, who they want to be, gender identity, alcohol, vaping, and sex, body image and mental health. Self-harm and eating disorders have risen dramatically. For school-leavers, the uncertainty around university study and the jobs market only adds to the heavy toll.To support our girls, we need to understand the pressures this generation is under by listening to what worries them and what they need - and journalist and social commentator Madonna King has done just that. Having consulted 1000 young women, along with parents, senior educators, and health care professionals in her research for this book, L Platers delivers the answers we need as parents to help our girls on the road to adulthood.'Madonna tells us the truth about what Australian tween and teen girls are feeling and thinking. Best of all, she equips parents with useful tips on what our girls need from us and wish we knew.' - Rebecca Sparrow, author of Ask Me Anything

The crime of sextortion has reached epidemic proportions, fuelled by both sex offenders and organised scammers targeting our most vulnerable online. Children are some of the internet's most prolific and most naive users, and increasing numbers are finding themselves caught in an evil web of networked manipulators. Up to 70 percent of all new sexual exploitation content online is victim-produced, and much of it follows the same script. An adult abuser tricks a child into thinking they are a peer, the child produces the content themselves and the abuser then blackmails their victim - for money or for more content. It's a script well-known to Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, who, for three decades, headed up Taskforce Argos, the expert arm of Queensland Police dedicated to hunting down online predators and rescuing children from abuse. In collaboration with Rouse, Madonna King tells the story of their investigations, from undercover cases to operations on a global scale, exploring what makes a victim and what makes an abuser, and distils the work that goes into bringing down perpetrators. Saving Our Kids highlights the dangers lurking in every child's smartphone, web browser and computer game. It is the story of the tireless work of saving children from the online manipulation that is stealing their innocence, and raises awareness on how we can all protect the children in our lives.

Is your daughter 14? Are you struggling to know what's going on inside her head? Are you worried?This is the book that can help you understand how she's feeling, what she's thinking and what you need to do to help her navigate her tricky teens to grow and become a fabulous woman.BEING 14 gives a voice to every teen girl. Madonna King has interviewed 200 14-year-old girls, talked to successful school teachers, psychologists, CEOs, police and neuroscientists to reveal the social, psychological and physical challenges every 14-year-old girl is facing today.- How much independence do they need?- What is the power of a friendship group?- How do you help build self-confidence?- Why the obsession with selfies, social media and FOMO?- How are parents unknowingly making life so much harder for them?Overwhelmingly, these young girls - on the brink of womanhood - struggle to tell their parents how they feel. That's why BEING 14 gives you the answers you are looking for. It's your daughter, talking to you. And her hope, beyond anything, is that you will listen.