A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Police in capital cities around Australia and New Zealand are tonight preparing for a weekend of high-visibility policing aimed at reducing alcohol fuelled violence. The two day blitz titled Operation Unite will start tonight at 6pm, and will focus on tackling alcohol fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour, especially violence. Thousands of extra police will be [...]
Last night I was watching TV and saw a news advertisement about young people and drug use. Over the top of an image or a group of young people was superimposed the words One third of all young people have used an illegal drug. That statistic sounds pretty scary for parents, and it is – [...]
A study of 1,200 people has found that half of parents believe 15 to 17 year olds should be allowed to consume alcohol at home under parental supervision. The study by a national health insurance provider found that Western Australian parents were the most in favour of allowing under-age drinking. Dr Christine Bennett, who worked [...]
It is important to tell your children that if they are in doubt, they should not hesitate to call for medical assistance. It’s hard to be too specific here as it’s not always easy to say what constitutes a ‘medical emergency’. Young people need to know that they won’t get in trouble for calling an [...]
The results of the largest annual survey of young people in Australia were released yesterday by Mission Australia. The National Survey of Young Australians 2009 obtained the views of almost 48,000 young people across Australia and found that the young people rank drugs, suicide and body image as the most concerning issues they face. The [...]
Australia seems to be in the grip of a teen binge drinking Ebola. The contagion slips insidiously from family to family, school to school, suburb to suburb. You can't see it or smell it but it burrows in to teenage psyches and then roars into life. The public health doctors have no cure. They've thrown [...]
Calls for tighter underage drinking laws have been made by drug body The Australian Drug Foundation, who believe the current laws allowing underage drinking on private property without parental consent are too lax. The foundation proposed that adults should only be allowed to provide alcohol to minors with their parent’s consent, the adults should only [...]
We can’t forget that not all young people are the same, and this is particularly true when it comes to attitudes and values of around drugs. Even when it comes to alcohol use, young people are not one homogenous group. When I talk to groups of teenagers I usually divide them into three key categories, [...]
Over the years I have attended a number of Schoolies Week celebrations and although there have always been incidents, usually linked to excessive alcohol consumption, for the most part I have found the young people to be very well behaved and reasonably sensible. The most concerning aspect of the event is the social pressure on [...]
Generation Next is coming to Perth! Featuring speakers such as Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Julie Gale, Paul Dillon and Susan McLean, the seminar will provide solutions to the challenges facing generations Y and Z. The seminar will cover a range of topics including cybersafety (including cyberbullying and sexting), the sexualisation of our children in the media, [...]
