A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
By Margaret Kristin Merga, Edith Cowan University Parents at a loss to find activities for their children during COVID lockdowns can encourage them to escape into a book. New research shows how reading books can help young people escape from their sources of stress, find role models in characters and develop empathy. Recent media reports have [...]
“Stranger danger” has always been the go-to parenting mantra to let kids know to be careful with people they don’t know, especially if the “stranger” behaves inappropriately. The stereotype was the bad man in a van picking up vulnerable children off the street. But, as disturbing new research conducted at the Victorian Forensic Paediatric Medical [...]
This article is based on research carried out by Jane Fisher, Karin Hammarberg, Maggie Kirkman, Thach Tran, Heather Rowe, Jayagowri Sastry, Ruby Stocker, Hau Nguyen, and Sally Popplestone, on behalf of the Monash COVID-19 Mental Health Research Group, Global and Women’s Health Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. As millions of Australians adapt [...]
Dr Simon De Deyne and Professor Nick Haslam Mental health and wellbeing are in our cultural spotlight as never before. The psychological toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been front of mind for the past year, but that concern is superimposed on others that preceded it. The distinction between mental health and wellbeing is compelling. [...]
Susan Collings, University of Sydney; Irene Wardle, University of Sydney, and John Gilroy, University of Sydney Quotes in this research are from participants who cannot be named due to research ethics requirements. Pandemic-induced lockdowns have provided stories of both hardship and resilience. This extends to families in the community caring for children in out-of-home care, [...]
Suku Sukunesan, Swinburne University of Technology There’s no shortage of people online looking to exploit and manipulate the vulnerable among us. One such group is anorexia coaches, or “anacoaches”. They are typically middle-aged, male sexual predators who go online to find impressionable young people to exploit under the guise of providing weight-loss “coaching”. I have [...]
Dr Andi Horvath and Professor Sarah Wilson The COVID-19 pandemic has caused uncertainty and stress for so many university students. So how can universities support and reach out to students? And how do students build up their resilience? Professor Sarah Wilson is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Life at the University of Melbourne and an internationally [...]
Dr Niels Wouters and Professor Jeannie Marie Paterson With more than one billion users since 2017, TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social networks. Its audience base is rapidly expanding beyond Gen Z’s early adopters, now including boomers and retirees. Despite its growth, TikTok has been unable to stop a stream of rumours and leaks. [...]
Ken Purnell, CQUniversity Australia New South Wales recently announced it would trial different start and finish times for various year levels in primary schools. The reported aims include reducing traffic congestion and providing more flexibility to certain families, including shift workers. In Queensland, principals already have the option to stagger the start of their school [...]
David Roy, University of Newcastle and Jill Duncan, University of Newcastle With more infectious variants of the COVID-19 virus emerging, teachers and students have been required to wear masks in high school classrooms. It was mandatory in Greater Sydney and all of Victoria before the recent switch to remote learning under lockdowns. Mask wearing has [...]
