Sydney scores 8% lower than the "place to be" in a survey released today by recruiter Talent2.

A survey by Talent2 has found that Brisbane and the Gold Coast top the list of cities that Australians would like to work in. Fairly close behind was Melbourne. Sydney....well it was a whole 8% lower than the "place to be".

Sadly, in the current climate of rising housing prices, troubled public transport systems and the like, it's not surprising that people are thinking of relocating. I have thought about living in Canberra from time to time, but embarrassingly for me (and any resident who might care in Canberra perhaps) the place wasn't even mentioned in the survey. Darwin had the lowest number of votes at 2%, so I suppose you could just fill in the blanks as to where the ACT landed.

One doesn't want to put too much emphasis on surveys such as these, because there is a whole range of other factors to consider amongst the applicants: age, marital status, income and so on. Being a born and bred Sydney girl, however, I must admit I was a little saddened by the statistic that if they were given the opportunity, 63.5% of respondents from Sydney would move elsewhere.

The act of smacking children has evolved over the past few years into a debate over whether it's an essential and effective form of discipline, or simply a less obvious form of physical and psychological abuse.

Decades ago, children received the whip at school if they did the wrong thing. This was not only accepted by the parents as a way of teaching the kid right and wrong in the school environment, but a necessary aspect of making sure a child knows who is boss. Not to say this form of punishment should be re-introduced (it shouldn't), but somewhere along the line, a bright spark decided that somehow the "damage" done to a child that has been given the occasional little whack on the lower half of the body equated to consistently beating them black and blue. It has become such a frowned upon act that parents who do it today feel horribly guilty afterwards.

In 2007, the Howard government offered $2.5 million dollars worth of funding to support an "anti-smacking" campaign. The whole idea is built around the belief that being smacked plants a mental seed in the child's mind that violence is an acceptable form of communication.

In an odd way it’s comforting to know that despite the “effort” to break down the social and cultural stereotypes and unflattering tags that have attached themselves to various geographic areas of Sydney, at the end of the day many of them live on with vengeance. Thanks to the media, you know your place in practically every facet of life and even though you may disagree with it, at least you know where to align yourself if ever in doubt.

Take this year’s HSC results. The “high achievers” were honoured a day earlier than everyone else, which is fine – except when there is obvious and particular emphasis from one television network on the shock factor that the kid who topped Mathematics was from – wait for it – Macquarie Fields High School.

Yes, where the riots happened a few years back. Where there is no social order, one can only assume. It really is a double whammy. Western Sydney is one thing to digest, but a public school – surely only dumb poor kids live way out there and have no hope of ever making it anywhere (it is “the sticks” after all, right?).

Though many of us like to consider ourselves modern individuals of the 21st century, it will always be difficult to remove the traditional idea of "family roles" from the public eye ...

"Stay-at-Home Dad" is a loaded term. As I don't know any personally, I have to be honest in that the initial feelings I have when I read or hear someone mention it is intrigue. Though I admire them like any hard working parent, so many questions spring to mind....

Why does a man want to give up his career prospects (or maybe he doesn't, but has little choice)? Why does a woman want to head back to full-time work and miss out on the early years of her children growing up, or perhaps she doesn't have a choice either (or maybe she just loves her job)? What is the social network of a stay-at-home Dad (are males accepted in mothers' groups)? Has someone taken the initiative to start some fathers' groups, or has the "trend" not yet gained enough traction?