A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Yeslam Al-Saggaf, Charles Sturt University and Julie Maclean, Charles Sturt University Most Australian teenagers have their own smartphone. According to a 2023 survey, 91% of young people between 14 and 17 owned a phone. At the same time, there is huge community concern about young people being exposed to harms online – this includes the [...]
Carmel Taddeo, University of South Australia and Barbara Spears, University of South Australia Many parents are worried about how much their children use social media and what content they might encounter while using it. Amid proposals to ban teenagers under 16yrs from social media and calls to better educate them about being safe online, how [...]
Join Andrew Fuller as he chats with guest Brett Lee on internet safety for young people. **CONTENT WARNING** This episode contains discussion and case studies describing disturbing predatory behaviour online. This program has been put together with the utmost care, with the intention of providing useful information to better support the wellbeing of [...]
Join Andrew Fuller as he chats with guest Brett Lee on internet safety for young people. **CONTENT WARNING** This episode contains discussion and case studies describing disturbing predatory behaviour online. This program has been put together with the utmost care, with the intention of providing useful information to better support the wellbeing of young [...]
Renee Carey, Curtin University and Jonine Jancey, Curtin University Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook overwhelmingly show vaping in a positive light. This messaging makes it seem that e-cigarette use is common and socially accepted. Traditional tobacco advertising has been banned in Australia for decades. However, e-cigarettes are widely promoted on social [...]
Elisa M. Trucco, Florida International University and Julie Cristello, Florida International University Viral social media trends started innocently enough. In the early 2010s there was planking, the “Harlem Shake” dance and lip syncing to Carly Rae Jepsen’s summer anthem “Call Me Maybe.” Then came the ice bucket challenge, which raised an estimated US$115 million for [...]
Catherine Jane Archer, Edith Cowan University and Kate Delmo, University of Technology Sydney Parents share content of their children for myriad reasons, including to connect with friends and family, and to seek validation or support. However, some parents also do this for commercial gain. They manage their children as social media “kidfluencers” – allowing them [...]
Sumudu Mallawaarachchi, Deakin University and Sharon Horwood, Deakin University From learning numbers to learning how to brush your teeth, it seems there’s a kids’ app for everything. Recent US statistics indicate more than half of toddlers and three-quarters of preschoolers regularly access mobile apps. So it’s no surprise there has been an explosion of options [...]
Joanne Orlando, Western Sydney University This week, one Sydney high school made headlines for banning mobile phones during school hours. Phones can come to school but must stay in locked pouches allowing teachers to “focus on educating students”. This follows other recent phone bans at both public and private schools around Australia. In 2020, Victoria [...]
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) is warning that Australia is seeing a global trend in the crime of sexual extortion, with a spike in the number of Australian boys being preyed on by international sex offenders, who are grooming them into producing explicit images and then extorting them for money. The ACCCE [...]
