Some parents have become obsessed about giving their offspring the added edge, writes Peter Lyons. Choice of school often dominates dinner party conversations.

Two of the Cunliffe donors have had their money refunded to preserve their anonymity - and who could blame them, writes Brian Rudman. For the small amounts, who needs the hassle.

Australia's teenagers are increasingly becoming trapped in a culture of booze, drugs and gambling.

Auckland's historic Greys Ave flats will be refurbished, but the carpark behind them may be sold off for commercial development.

Architecture students have imagined how Auckland will look sporting a new super-brothel, and Wellington's future if sea levels rise.

Respectful attitudes to sex would become a core part of sex education in schools under an overhaul recommended to the Govt.

If the issue of inequality and poverty is to loom large in this election year there are a couple of cherished beliefs on both sides of politics that need to surrender to evidence, writes Brian Fallow.

Never has the downside of social media been more apparent than over the past week, after TV presenter Charlotte Dawson was found dead in her apartment.

Once a luxury for the rich and famous, having a nanny is becoming an affordable childcare option for NZ families.

Online abuse can range from one-off racist, sexist or otherwise distasteful comments to threats of rape and violence and sustained campaigns of harassment, writes Troy McEwan.

A specialist scheme to identify high-risk violent spouses needs a consistent national approach, says a report into fatal domestic abuse.

The school that excluded an Asperger's student after a row with a teacher says the decision to remove the boy was not taken lightly, but it'll work with his family.

One definition of a bogan is someone who fails to conform to middle-class standards of taste, dietary habits, leisure activities, styles of dress and speaking, writes Christopher Scanlon.

The family of an Asperger's child who was excluded from his high school after a dispute with a teacher hope he will be able to return to the school.

In the second of our three-part education series we investigate what's gone wrong - and how more time with better-trained teachers could help our kids lead the world again.

The brief of this column is to write about events that have been in the news during the week.

We may not have beaten the Cowboys when it mattered but our economy is in a stronger position than that of our Aussie mates, writes Eric Watson.

Big business is buzzing about New Zealand's economic prospects. Confidence is at a 20-year high and only China is more bullish than our captains of industry.

Treating gambling addicts who commit crimes would be much cheaper than jailing them, and would reduce reoffending, says a New York judge.

Eleven employers have been accredited as the country's first living wage employers - among them, former Cabinet minister turned restaurateur, Laila Harre.

The controversial Neknomination craze has reportedly led to the death of another young British man, after a rugby player mixed two pints of gin with teabags and said to the camera: "This is how you drink."

Twenty-two families who have mostly been doubling up with relatives in overcrowded homes finally have room to breathe in a new housing project opened by a Tongan princess in Mangere.

The mother of tortured Rotorua three-year-old Nia Glassie will be released from prison after being granted parole.

Simon Collins takes a look at the 'state of our nation' report, a stock-take of New Zealand's social trends.

Taxpayers have spent nearly $30 million targeting vandalism at schools in the past two years, while thieves have made off with items such as plastic guttering and wooden seats.

Harvard Business School researchers find striking variances between the gender profiles of directors.

A leading group in the campaign against methamphetamine use says a planned rental housing warrant of fitness should test whether a house has been used as a P-lab.

'We told him no, it's pretty much suicide.' A young dad ended up in hospital after downing an entire bottle of absinthe in the 'neknominate' booze craze.

A breakdown of results from the latest census shows how Aucklanders are more religious, smoke less ... and they're well behind Nelson for divorces.

Labour's push for universal welfare will not resonate widely. People earning $150,000 and, indeed, much less, simply do not need a baby bonus.