A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
© Bubbles Photolibrary / Alamy At Ravenswood School for Girls on Sydney's north shore on a recent Friday, the playgrounds were full of girls who were not texting or even updating their social media status. A large group of year 10 girls was shrieking with delight over a skipping game where at least [...]
I’m regularly asked about my views and concerns of school formal after-parties, particularly those where every aspect of the after-party is outsourced to a private company. I want to share with you an emerging concern for some of these parties that is particularly of interest to schools, parents and teachers. In some cases, a private company contracts a photographer and videographer as part of the after-party package. The video footage and photos are then uploaded on the company’s social [...]
One in two teenage boys and girls have used a mobile phone to send a sexually explicit image of themselves, according to the biggest sexting survey undertaken in Australia.Teenage girls are using their mobiles to send sexual images of themselves because they think it's fun and sexy, rather than because they feel pressured by boys, the new research from [...]
The physio digs her thumbs into the crook of my shoulder. "So when you're sitting on the computer at home on Twitter or Facebook, you can do these neck exercises." Like many adults, this physio has immediately made the presumption that because I'm a teenager, I obviously spend all of my time huddled in a [...]
In a time of unlimited opportunities more young people than ever have mental health issues. How can it be that the western world is more technologically advanced than ever and yet at the most basic level of supporting our young adults we are in major crisis? At the same time as we have the entire globe digitally connected [...]
My Problem, Your Problem, Our Problem. Let’s face it; the Internet is here to stay as are all the associated devices that provide us with instant connectivity 24/7. Whilst there are numerous benefits that come with technology use, there are also many things that can go wrong. Often a young person’s technical skill far outweighs their cognitive development, which means that they are [...]
Social media has opened up a new digital world for psychology research. Four researchers will be discussing new methods of language analysis, and how social media can be leveraged to study personality, mental and physical health, and cross-cultural differences. The speakers will be presenting their research during the symposium "Finding Psychological Signal in a Billion [...]
12 is the average age of ownership. 10 year olds spend an average 14.7 hours on their phones. 17 year olds spend an average 26.3 hours on their phones. More than half (54 per cent) of those who own smartphones also own a tablet. Facebook, instant messaging and Snapchat are the most distracting apps, according [...]
"When you've got a simpler phone you become more liberated by the fact you don't have something consuming you all the time. You kind of forget about your phone sometimes."Studies show smartphones can disrupt sleep and focus, damage relationships and make users more selfish, stressed and depressed. A 2013 study found smartphone users check their [...]
A new report released by Australia’s Telstra sheds light on the rampant use of smartphones in the country by kids aged three to seventeen and according to the report over 66 per cent of these kids spend almost an entire day on a smartphone out of a week. According to the report children spend an [...]
