A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
It's a well-accepted tenet of parenting that bribes are a bad idea, used only by desperate parents. But virtually all parents use them from time to time. So why do "experts" always give this advice? 1. Because children shouldn't be "rewarded" for behavior they should do anyway. I don't find this reason convincing. All of us need [...]
Divorce doesn't just affect younger kids, here's how it challenges adults as well. Conventional wisdom suggests that getting divorced when your children are adults makes for an easier transition and adjustment for the family than divorcing when the children are younger. This may be true in many cases, and in many different aspects. It is for this [...]
Certainly, young people do not have a corner on the market when it comes to lying. Adults lie too. Sometimes selfishly, other times selflessly, in order to preserve relationships. Yet regardless of the age of the deceiver, most people cannot detect deception. The truth about lies has been consistently explained by the scientific community. Flipping a [...]
Higher than average levels of impulsiveness, sensitivity to anxiety, sensation seeking and hopelessness. These four personality traits have been shown by researchers to predict those teenagers at high risk of becoming binge drinkers with 90 per cent accuracy. In the first Australian trial, a program targeting 438 year 8 students with one of these traits [...]
Have you seen a “depressed” baby? Withdrawn and quiet, uninterested in socializing or exploring? Such behavior might be convenient for stressed parents, but it is a bad sign for baby. Full blown depression may not be diagnosed until toddlerhood, but it can begin in babyhood. Modern parenting culture provides many reasons for babies to get [...]
It’s not simply ironic. It’s terribly sad. And at times it’s nothing short of tragic. When parents haven’t resolved their deeper psychological issues, or broken their bad habits, they’re likely to pass them on to their children. So what they’re still struggling with can become their offspring’s ordeal as well. If you’re a parent, perhaps the examples [...]
Narcissistic Personality Disorder? Narcissistic Personality Disorders are a byproduct of certain childhood family environments. All children want their parents’ approval and attention. Children adapt to their homes, and often the most productive and reasonable adaptation to some home situations is to become a Narcissist. Below are some common scenarios that can contribute to children becoming [...]
YOU’RE sitting around the barbie at home and you hand your 16-year-old son a beer. As a responsible parent, you think introducing moderate drinking practices early on is a sensible solution to under-age binge-drinking. You may not be breaking any laws in NSW — parents and legal guardians can supply their underage child with alcohol [...]
We are living in a time of evolving sensitivity to communities who have been dis-empowered. For instance, you don’t have to know someone with a disability to understand the burdens placed on people who look, or act differently, or need accommodations just to reach a level playing field. It is the sign of a vibrant [...]
The neurological dangers implicated in overusing our devices are well-established. From the incessant cognitive itching to allay novelty bias to a consistent uptick in distracted driving accidents and deaths to the circadian chaos of excessive blue light, our memory and attention are not the only skills being affected. While no long-term studies have traced these [...]
