Society & Culture

It’s Never Been Easy Being A Teenager. But Is This Now A Generation In Crisis?

Image: Mark Mawson/Getty Mollycoddled and cosseted or stressed and over-pressured. Energised and engaged or bored and turned off. Young people have so many labels and stereotypes slapped on them it’s a wonder these are not visible on their endless selfies. What is undeniably true is that the evidence suggests that rates of depression, [...]

Talking Consent: Where We’re Going Wrong With Our Boys

Pixabay Images They're the frontline in domestic violence prevention, but new research reveals the major mistakes Australian parents are making when talking to their kids about healthy relationships. When it comes to discussing consent and identifying controlling behaviour in relationships, parents are talking to their teenage kids about the issues more, but they’re [...]

82% Of Australians Say Loneliness Is Increasing

Milos Kreckovic/Getty Images Are you lonely? Chances are, according to a Lifeline survey, the answer is yes – but you’re unwilling to talk about it. The national survey, released on Tuesday, found about 60% of the 3,100 respondents said they “often felt lonely” and 82.5% said they felt loneliness was increasing in society, [...]

The Best Headspace For Making Decisions

Flickr Images Let’s say you’re making a hard choice, one that could impact your life significantly. Every time you think you've settled on something, the other option tugs you back to its side. You end up where you started: It's a draw. Should you make ever-more-detailed lists of pros and cons and seek [...]

Why Teens Need Later School Start Time

Pixabay Images Sleep deprivation in teenagers as a result of early school start has been a topic of concern and debate for nearly two decades. So, are teenagers just lazy? I have been researching the impact of later high school start times for 20 years. Research findings show that teens' inability to get out [...]

Beware Your Biased Brains

Flickr Images Our brain can move very fast, and that can be a real problem. The tendency to make split-second assessments of people can lead to disastrous outcomes. A growing body of research is showing that what we see when we see a face is so strongly shaped by stereotypes, beliefs, and attitudes [...]

Teen Boys Are Blind To Rape Culture

Stocksy/Helen Rushbrook "Oh boy," my son said, rolling his eyes. "Not rape culture again." We were sitting around the dinner table talking about the news. As soon as I mentioned the Stanford sexual assault case, my sons looked at each other. They knew what was coming. They've been listening to me talk about [...]

The Unique Body Image Problem Posed By Social Media

iStock Images Social media is a strange beast. Consider the app, Facetune, which makes the application of Valencia seem like child's play. Facetune is the Photoshop of selfies; it allows you to retouch your skin, add make-up, whiten your teeth, widen your mouth, change your eye colour, change your hair and basically make [...]

The ‘Tyranny’ Of Positive Thinking Can Threaten Your Health And Happiness

Images: MichaelBlann/Getty Everyone has heard “Just look on the bright side!” or “Happiness is a choice—so choose to be happy!” Countless self-help books on choosing happiness line the shelves of bookstores; You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero has been on the New York Times best-seller list for 32 weeks; and The Power of [...]

Parents’ Mental Health Linked To Violence In Kids

Flickr Images Kids who have a parent who has been diagnosed with certain psychiatric disorders may be at increased risk for attempting suicide or committing a violent offense, a new study of people in Denmark suggests. These kids are at even greater risk of these behaviors when both parents have the disorders, the study [...]

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