A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Youth homelessness is Australia’s national disgrace, with 44,000 kids sleeping rough right now YOUNG people with a mental illness are three times more likely to wind up homeless, after which their prospects of positive health and social outcomes dwindle significantly. A new report by the charity Mission Australia will be released, identifying the major risk factors that [...]
Have you talked to your kids about race and racism? Maybe you think they’re still too young or that a specific conversation isn’t really necessary? They’re never too young, and an ongoing dialogue about race and racism is a really good idea, says Rachel Berman, graduate program director of the School of Early Childhood Studies [...]
When we think about refugee children’s health, we tend to assume bad news. But refugee children are highly resilient. This means they can thrive, mature and develop despite poor circumstances, and can adapt despite severe and long-term hardship. Our newly published research is the first of its kind to track the long-term health of newly arrived refugee children in Australia. We [...]
Parents need to lead by example in teaching their children financial literacy, according to a Brisbane academic. It comes after a survey of high school students from around the country found most were confused about credit cards and how to calculate repayments and interest rates. There is growing concern that increasing moves toward a tap-and-go cashless society [...]
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children and teens should be "physically active for at least 60 minutes per day," although they stress that it doesn't have to be 60 minutes of continuous activity. As most parents know, along with a healthy diet, regular exercise is the best way to lose weight and prevent childhood obesity. Regular exercise [...]
Too much exposure, especially in boys, may stunt social development. Brains at every age, especially developing ones, adapt to the environment in which they find themselves. What worries a growing number of advocates are the potential risks of heavy screen exposure, including, they believe, the hastening of autism in the young and attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in older children. Dangers [...]
These days it seems like children prefer to sit in front of screens rather than engage with old-fashioned print. Here are a few easy and effective ways you can encourage kids to pick up a book and read. Reading enriches our lives in so many ways, from its ability to reduce stress and help us relax to [...]
At any given time, you’ll find four or more parenting books on my Amazon wish list, a few by my nightstand, and an email inbox chock full of insightful parenting theories and approaches. Granted, child development is my career, but I speak with plenty of parents in my practice who find themselves in similar circumstances. [...]
Problem gambling is a significant societal concern that is set to get bigger. Game and gambling operators are chasing the proliferation of new technologies readily accessible via your phone or tablet. This is breaking through traditional barriers to advertising, leaving the switched-on generation in the firing line. Gambling operators may feel they have hit the [...]
Baby Clementine was burning with fever, coughing and sleeping almost around the clock. Her parents, Emily Ritchie and Lachlan Barnes, had no idea their 15-month-old had fallen ill with the flu. Like more than two-thirds of Australian parents, they hadn't immunised their daughter against the potentially deadly virus. The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne has seen an alarming [...]
