A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Sexualisation is not a problem about sex and sexuality, it is about turning people into objects - which does real harm to girls in obvious ways. Self-objectification is a key process of sexualisation whereby girls learn to think of and treat their own bodies as objects of others’ desires. In self-objectification, girls internalise an observer’s [...]
A survey of almost 3000 students has found 60% of girls in year 12 admit to binge drinking three or more times in the last fortnight, and half say they have had sex. Most alarmingly, 38% of the girls surveyed said they had endured unwanted sex. The most common reason for unwanted sex for women [...]
Here are the top ten “outs” that I have collected from teenagers over the years. Not all of them are great, but they cover a range of different ways of saying ‘no’, including excuses (often using information they have picked up in drug education lessons at school) and delaying or putting off the situation. ‘I’m [...]
A new program will educate Trainee teachers on how to monitor and manage cyber-bullying. The program from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will build on the Cybersmart Internet Safety Awareness presentations which have been presented to over 50,000 teachers, parents and students. A pilot of the program is currently being trialled at the [...]
Teenagers with parents open to talking about their drug and alcohol experiences are less likely to use drugs themselves, an American study has found. The survey found 63% of the teens aged 15-18 believed they would be more responsible with drugs and alcohol after hearing their parent’s stories. Over half of the teens said they [...]
A government report to be released next week will recommend children under the age of two not watch any television and children from two to five years of age be limited to one hour of television a day. "Based on recent research, it is recommended that children younger than two years of age should not [...]
Many of the symptoms of depression involve a deviation from normal behaviour, so it is important that you become the world expert on your child to watch for changes that may indicate the onset of depression. Symptoms of depression include: • frequent tiredness, • pervasive boredom (especially in younger children), • low mood, • sudden [...]
I’m a firm believe that you should start talking about drugs the minute you start giving them to your child. We live in a world where pharmaceutical companies have been able to convince us that for every problem we have, there is a drug that can fix it. If you are depressed, you take a [...]
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) last week launched Let's Fight It Together, a government resource designed to combat cyberbullying. The resource which is available to schools includes a 40-page teacher's guide, featuring lesson plans, follow up activities and support material to help teachers write classes to educate students about cyberbullying, and a DVD, [...]
It’s up to us to ensure that our kids get a balance in the stories they’re told. What’s also imperative is that among the stories told to our kids by others (through popular culture) and those that they ‘cobble together’, we include one about ourselves. Kids love to learn their family history through tales of [...]
