A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
For young adults, social media may not be so social after all. Among people in that age group, heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram was associated with feelings of social isolation, a study finds. The results surprised study co-author Brian Primack. "It's social media, so aren't people going to be socially [...]
Fitness trackers and mental health apps could be doing more harm than good because they are not based on sound science, researchers have warned, comparing some health app developers to “snake oil salesmen of the 1860s”. Greg Hager, professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, said that in the absence of trials or scientific [...]
Children now spend more time on the internet than watching television, according to a survey of young Australians aged six to 13. In 2016 kids spent an average of 12 hours a week online compared to 10.5 hours spent in front of the TV. The online figure is nearly double the time reported in 2008 [...]
Scene One: It’s December 2015, in Melbourne, and the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital releases the results of its first Australian Child Health Poll. Excessive screen time has emerged as the top ‘big problem’ for the health of Australian children and teenagers ahead of obesity; not enough physical activity; unhealthy diet; bullying; illegal drug use; family [...]
Flickr Images It was nearing midnight when she slipped out of bed, padded across the wood floors and peered into the room across the hall. Her 15-year-old son was still awake, like she knew he would be, sitting in his bed, staring at his laptop screen. This had long been his nightly ritual: [...]
TongRo Images Inc./Getty Images If there's one rule that most parents cling to in the confusing, fast-changing world of kids and media, it's this one: No screens before age 2. As of today, that rule is out the window. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which first issued that recommendation back in 1999, has [...]
Pixabay Images Recently a primary school in Brisbane informed its Prep (Foundation) parents that all of its students would be required to have an iPad for school and this would be done at the parent’s expense. Needless to say this raised much discussion and debate. As part of this discussion I found myself [...]
Pixabay Images I admit we were naive. We didn't quite get when computers entered their classrooms and their bedrooms ("the teacher said I have to do it online mum!"), that the Net – while holding incredible opportunities for learning – also opened up a whole new nefarious world of shallows and shoals, of [...]
JGI/Tom Grill/Getty Images/Blend Images Our love of social media seems to have grown and grown in the past decade, but recent studies show the tide may be turning for some platforms, with young people in particular ditching Facebook. One study claims that more than 11 million teenagers left Facebook between 2011 and 2014. [...]
Flickr Images Susan* bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought, ‘Why not let him get a jump on things?’ ” she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades — and his technology teacher had [...]
