A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
At any age friends play an integral part in people’s lives. For young people the forging of friendships is important for their social and mental development. However the process of making and keeping friends is not always easy. Children who feel they do not have friends may become withdrawn, exhibit antisocial behaviour and even become [...]
While there appeared to be a more ‘retouch free zones’ in this issue of Dolly (you may recall I said I’d like to see more of these), there also seemed to be even less body diversity. I couldn’t see one girl who didn’t fit the mould. Dolly has so many pages of fashion and shopping [...]
Every year NAPLAN tests come under the microscope and last year the media was awash with allegations of teachers cheating, parents refusing to allow their kids to take the test, and principals selecting new enrolments based on NAPLAN scores. With stories like this it’s not surprising that anyone who wanted to condemn NAPLAN got their obligatory 3 minute [...]
Researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand just published promising results of a study comparing a video game they designed to help treat depression in teenage kids against traditional face-to-face counseling. Called SPARX, the game guides the players through a number of challenges that help practice handling various life situations and emotions that [...]
You can take comfort from the fact that there is now academic underpinning for the effect known commonly as "beer goggles". In scientific terms, even a little alcohol reduces the ability to assess facial symmetry, which plays a key role in attractiveness and human mate selection.The effect is particularly pronounced in women, with female drinkers [...]
A chemical messenger called oxytocin accounts for why some people give freely of themselves and others are coldhearted louts, why some people cheat and steal and others you can trust with your life, why some husbands are more faithful than others, and why women tend to be nicer and more generous than men. In our blood [...]
Don Weatherburn, the director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, said the Young Offenders Act 1997 needed to be overhauled with a huge cultural shift away from a ''hands-off attitude''. ''We now know that youth justice conferencing doesn't work to reduce reoffending, which was the centrepiece of the state government's response to [...]
Alcohol, Resilience, Pop Culture and the Brain, Assoc Prof Mike Nagel, 14 mins from Generation Next on Vimeo. Associate Professor Mike Nagel Duration: 14 mins Assoc Prof Mike Nagel will be speaking at our Mental Health and Wellbeing Seminars on applying the new brain science to working with young people. The remaining seminars for this [...]
This week I read a story out of – where else – the USA. It was the story of a girl aged six, who was handcuffed by police after she had thrown a tantrum in school. Apparently the school decided to call in the law when she began [...]
The story of most significance to the health and wellbeing of girls this issue is the reporting of results of a survey of 1000 of Girlfriend’s readers who were asked how they felt about their appearance. Among the findings are: 25% don’t like what they see in the mirror Only 9% “proud of the way [...]
