A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Almost half of the poorer mental health we see in teenagers with a disability is due to bullying, our new research shows. If we could stop the high levels of bullying that adolescents with a disability experience, we could make a big difference to their health, learning and wellbeing. So school anti-bullying programs need to [...]
Navigating life as a teenager can be hard, and when you need support, asking for it can be the biggest challenge. One tool - an app called MeeTwo - offers a way to seek help from behind a screen. It allows users to post questions anonymously and get answers from their peers and from undergraduate [...]
“Are you sure you want to eat that?” For many teens, adolescence is a period marked by self-consciousness about body image, and it can be daunting for parents to find the right words to say when talking to teens about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This is especially true in cases where kids are struggling with [...]
Parents can often find themselves more distracted by their devices than their teens. This is especially true during the slow moments throughout our day. Slow moments are those moments where you can be with your thoughts and feelings, instead of pulling out your phone to check email, read the news, or scroll through your Facebook [...]
In Australia, approximately one student in five is bullied at school every few weeks or more often. Many of these students suffer serious emotional and psychological harm, such as persistent anxiety, depression and suicidal thinking, and are unable to concentrate on their school work. It is clear they need help. Teachers routinely inform students that [...]
When a new study surfaced a few weeks ago revealing that, of all the major social media networks, Instagram was the most detrimental to young people's mental health, it made alarmist news headlines around the world. But for Sydney-based online safety expert Leonie Smith, it was business as usual. "I've seen more porn, more drug [...]
With around half of the Australian population logging into Facebook on a daily basis (yes, that's 12.2 million of us), it's safe to say social media plays a large role in many of our everyday lives. Of course, while there are numerous benefits to social media use, what you get out of it corresponds rather [...]
Earlier this week, Harvard University revealed that it had rescinded admissions offers to at least 10 students who shared offensive images within what they thought was a private Facebook group chat. The students posted memes and images that mocked minority groups, child abuse, sexual assault and the Holocaust, among other things. It is easy for [...]
Depression is usually considered an issue parents have to watch out for starting in the turbulent teenage years. The CW channel, full of characters with existential angst about school, friends and young love, tells us so, as do the countless parenting books about the adolescent years in every guidance counselor's office. But what if by that time it's already too late? A [...]
Severe mental illness is challenging enough for adults to manage. Many spend years seeking treatment before they find something that works. For children, the picture is even grimmer. New research suggests that the rate of suicide and suicidal thoughts among children is skyrocketing. What’s behind this crisis in child mental health? Here are five key [...]
