On average, Australians watch more than three hours of television a day, compared with 12 minutes a day spent by the average couple talking to each other.

Parents should be encouraged to read to their children, and teachers should be equipped with all available techniques for teaching literacy, so the varying needs and capacities of individual kids can be taken into account.

Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.

It's Australian to do such things because, however uncivilised they may seem, it's human to do them.

So, if falling crime rates coincide with the rise of violent video games and increasing violence on TV and at the cinema, should we conclude that media violence is causing the drop in crime rates?

Although we love the idea of choice - our culture almost worships it - we seek refuge in the familiar and the comfortable.

Actually, I can't imagine anything more tedious than a perfect person, especially if it was someone who also demanded perfection from me.