A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Protecting children from harm online is high on the political agenda right now. The UK government has set out plans to make social media companies legally responsible for protecting users, and MPs have criticised social media platforms for relying on users to report abuse. This is a serious problem, especially if people who come across [...]
Childline has seen a 14% rise in the number of children contacting the charity about loneliness. In 2017/18, the charity delivered 4,636 counselling sessions on loneliness, compared to 4,063 the year before. Nearly 80% of sessions went to girls. Some said watching their friends socialise without them on social media made them feel increasingly isolated. This [...]
New University of Canterbury research into the behaviour of online trolls has revealed the many actors involved and a surprising number of benefits to trolling – and not just for the trolls. When University of Canterbury (UC) doctoral student Maja Golf-Papez left a marketing career in Slovenia to start her research into mischief-making consumer behaviours [...]
"Do you call that a haircut? I hope you didn't pay for it." "Oh please this is rubbish, you're a disgrace to yourself and your profession." These are just two examples of comments that have followed articles I have written in my career. While they may seem benign compared with the sort of violent and [...]
Cyber safety was at the forefront of a presentation for McGuire College students last week. Shepparton police Leading Senior Constable Dean Lloyd and Word and Mouth project manager Jim Gow were at the school, talking to years 7, 8 and 9 students about the importance of digital safety. ‘‘The tour covers a number of different [...]
A wildly popular anonymous messaging app has been removed from the Apple and Google stores after accusations that it has been facilitating bullying. But the company's chief executive denies the claims and says the app isn't meant to be used by younger teens. Katrina Collins was appalled by the anonymous messages her 13-year-old daughter was [...]
New research by Amnesty International has revealed the alarming impact that abuse and harassment on social media are having on women in Australia, with women reporting stress, anxiety, or panic attacks as a result of these harmful online experiences. The organisation commissioned an Ipsos MORI online poll which looked at the experiences of 502 women [...]
As more than 175,000 children go online for the first time every day – a new child every half second – UNICEF, the UN Children’s Agency, warned today that digital access means they are exposed not only to a wealth of benefits and opportunities, but also to a host of risks and harms. These risks [...]
A children's charity has criticised the UK government for failing to implement proposals to make young people safer online - 10 years after they were made in a government-commissioned report. The NSPCC says 11 of the 38 proposals were ignored and seven were partially implemented - four are now out of date. It says a [...]
In Australia 25 per cent of our children currently experience bullying and 33 per cent experience an online threat. We see the extreme outcomes of cyber bullying, in cases like the tragic death of Amy "Dolly" Everett, but what exactly are these kids going through? One case I've worked on involved a teenage girl who [...]
