A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Paul Dillon Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) With the discussion around alcohol-related violence reaching a fever-pitch over the Christmas/New Year period it was not surprising to once again see the issue of raising the legal drinking age brought up once again. Over the years that I have been working in the alcohol [...]
I’ve never received such a response to a Generation Next article like the one I received to last week’s column, 3 Common Myths About Positive Psychology. I was overwhelmed by the amount of emails I got, the majority of which were saying, “I’ve heard of positive psychology, but where can I find out more?” So [...]
In my work with schools, I’m finding more and more interest arising in the area of Positive Psychology and its offshoot Positive Education. And as the interest around these grow, so do some of the more common misconceptions. I’ve found some teachers to be a little cynical, and why wouldn’t we be? After [...]
1. It can be hard to talk about love in scientific terms because people have strong pre-existing ideas about it. The vision of love that emerges from the latest science requires a radical shift. I learned that I need to ask people to step back from their current views of love long enough to consider [...]
This article was originally written for PediaStaff, a provider of pediatric therapy services. A friend of mine, and fellow music therapist, Kat Fulton shared a story with me recently: I utilized drumming at a camp for kids who have parents with cancer. We sang, chanted, and drummed. At the end of it all, I invited each child one by one to [...]
Do today’s teens really love themselves? This article goes over the ever-fertile ground that is Kim Kardashian’s preference for sharing her every – ever so deep – thought accompanied by the ubiquitous selfie via social media. You all know what a selfie is by now. And it’s likely that you all know that selfies [...]
Mindfulness essentially involves the passive observation of internal and external stimuli without mental reaction. Ever been unable to sleep because you can’t switch off that stream of thoughts that seems to flow incessantly, mercilessly through your head? When your mental noise distracts you from the task at hand, makes you forget why you walked into [...]
Strengths-based-approaches are nothing new in education. Tap into what I student is good at, and use that to leverage their ability across the curriculum. But what if I asked you, “What is a strength? What are your strengths?” As adults we sometimes find it hard to articulate. What do you mean strength? Do you mean [...]
You’d be well aware that late last year, the OECD published the latest of their PISA tables. But did you know that as this article shows, the tests are not all about numeracy and literacy? As part of the tests, students were asked to agree or disagree with a whole range of statements. One of which was: [...]
Alcohol-related violence: Can it be prevented? Paul Dillon – Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) With yet another teenager in a critical condition in hospital in NSW after being 'king-hit' (that so shouldn't be how we describe this violent act) in Kings Cross, the community is yet again debating what should be [...]
