A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Dr Justin Coulson Rae is a funny, bubbly, precocious, and remarkably talented 13 year-old girl. She is talkative, clearly intelligent, and insightful. She is also a victim of psychological and emotional abuse. She is regularly yelled at, called names, threatened, and shamed. Rae’s step-father uses his physical presence to instill fear in Rae, even when [...]
While drugs can take their toll on both physical and mental health for young and old, teenagers are particularly vulnerable to the effects that these addictive substances have on their developing brain. As a result, this may lead to long-term problems for their mental function and place them at increased risk of mental illness. Young [...]
Researchers said exposure to sexual content could be part of the reason for a historical decrease in the age young people were first having sex. "Sexualised content such as pornography has become normalised in today's society and provides a private and easily accessible way for young people to learn about sex and sexual norms," they [...]
Every year there appears to be another framework, resource or program on offer to assist schools with enhancing student wellbeing. Some are fantastic whilst others make claims that probably warrant further investigation. However, the Victorian Department of Education has released an excellent resource. Entitled Building Resilience: A Model [...]
The world today is often portrayed as being less kind, friendly or giving than it used to be. So-called Gen Me, today’s teens and young adults, are the poster-children of moral decline, routinely characterised as narcissistic, selfish and hedonist. Despite such concerns we know relatively little about the social composition of kindness and how it [...]
By Dr Colin Mendelsohn, Tobacco Treatment Specialist, Sydney www.colinmendelsohn.net.au Waterpipe smoking is becoming increasingly common among young people in some parts of Australia. However there are many misconceptions about waterpipe use. In the waterpipe (hookah, shisha, narghileh), air is drawn through heated charcoal, then through perforated aluminum foil and moist tobacco (‘Maassel’) in the head [...]
How old were you when you decided that you weren’t any good at sport? Or that you couldn’t sing? When did you decide that you weren’t a maths person or that you couldn’t draw to save your life? Was it last week? In your late 30s? Early 20s? Late teens? Early teens? In primary school [...]
What are the rights of the child in the digital space? Just mention the phrase, “Kids Online” and immediately the subject shifts to today’s generation of teens seemingly fused with their phone, gaming console and the net. Experts lament the loss of privacy, while others warn of terrible consequences of spending so much time online. [...]
The United Nations hosted a "High Level Meeting on Happiness and Well-being" in New York this week. The confab's point was that judging the success of societies solely by material measures such as Gross National Product fails to capture everything that goes into a life well-lived. True enough, but I do wonder how accurate a [...]
On Friday 30 May, NSW Mental Health Commissioner, John Feneley addressed teachers, nurses, social workers, police and mental health professionals as he officially opened the Sydney Generation Next seminar. Held at the Sydney Town Hall, the Generation Next seminar saw more than 1000 professionals from across multiple disciplines come together to learn how to support [...]
