A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
40% of 2 to 4 year olds and 52% of 5 to 8 year olds using smartphones, video iPods, iPads A new study in the US by Common Sense Media Research has documented the use of digital media among young children. The startling results; toddlers today spend twice as much time in front [...]
Image Source: Sydney Morning Herald The world of online apps is not just a playground for games and music. It also has a serious side that is beginning to have a positive effect within our community. Australians are turning their attention to social needs and creating apps that help people. This includes Sydney [...]
20% of parents use a mobile devise to keep their child entertained* This year parents are under increasing pressure to buy their child an electronic device for Christmas. Even pre-schoolers are asking for the latest interactive media. Yet at $600 a pop, iPhones, iPads and iPods are not toys. So what dilemmas might [...]
Here is a snapshot of the lives of many teenagers in the last week and what they have consumed and where they have got it from. Cigarettes - Who smokes? One in twenty 12- to-15-year-olds and more than one in ten 16-to-17-year-old Australian students are current smokers but these numbers are lower than past figures, [...]
It is estimated that 1 billion people worldwide use the internet each day. Recent research in America has found that American teenagers, not dissimilar to Australian teenagers, spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes each day interacting with some kind of media. This shocking figure comes from a combination of: 31 hrs per [...]
Computer games and other online activities have become a multibillion dollar industry to rival hollywood. The evidence linking violent videogames with aggressive behaviour is now indisputable. In addition, the growing evidence for the addictive potential of such games is now causing concern amongst many mental health professionals with debate occurring at the highest levels about [...]
A recent survey of school children in NSW showed that young people are spending on average 3 hours per day in front of a screen (computer or tv), the majority of which is computer time. On weekdays about 44% of primary school and 61% of secondary school children spend more than the recommended 2 hours [...]
10% of girls self harm* Image Source: Youthbeyondblue A recent study published in The Lancet, The natural history of self-harm from adolescence to young adulthood: a population-based cohort study, took a group of 1,943 young people from 44 schools in Victoria and documented their lives from the age of 14 to 29 years old. During [...]
The law struggles to keep up with stores selling "legal highs" which are sometimes common substances such as caffeine pills but can also be more unusual and potentially dangerous ones for which there is no legal provision risk to health. Store operators are using legal loopholes to make profit often at the risk of young people's mental wellbeing.......young people are [...]
Binge drinking is a major health and safety issue affecting Australian young people, particularly females, this story is a clear illustration of how the pubs, clubs and alcohol industry is not only cashing in on the trend but driving it as well. "Anything that exploits the vulnerability of young people is contemptible and offering free vodka to [...]
