adolescent health

Anorexia’s More Insidious Scourge

Often masked as a health-kick a new form of the eating disorder, anorexia, is manifesting itself in teenagers. When John and Julie Armstrong's 12-year-old son, Jed, told them that he wanted to get fit in the summer of 2014, neither thought anything of it. A keen footballer, Jed designed a regime of exercise for himself [...]

Tips on how to build bonds with girls

Famous for his book Raising Boys, author and Generation Next speaker Steve Biddulph has just published a new book Raising Girls. He wrote the book out of concerns for increased mental health issues which many girls now face and are facing earlier and earlier. "Anxiety and depression have doubled in the last 10 years. Girls' [...]

Tips on how to build bonds with boys

Steve Biddulph, author of Raising Boys and Generation Next speaker talks about the importance of giving boys different bonding experiences as they grow. He says that boys experience 3 main developmental stages as they go through life:   0-6 years old: bonding with mum and learning to love A recent study published in the journal [...]

Top online resources for building positive body image

Media is everywhere. Increasingly children are directly targeted and marketed to by media and advertising who are projecting images that are age inappropriate. The sexualisation of children by the media can be seen in adult style clothing for young girls, sexual references on clothing for boys and girls, music videos, billboards and magazines. Melinda Tankard [...]

How to help kids who are hooked on online gaming

97% of children play video games* 2% are addicted The recent story of an Adelaide mother who is struggling with her 17 year old son’s addiction to the online fantasy game Runescape probably rang alarm bells with many parents who suspect or know their teenager is in front of a screen far too often and [...]

Teen smoking: 10 ways to keep teens smoke free

70% of smokers say they want to quit. Most smokers start when they are teenagers. Tobacco is addictive, out of the 3 million smokers in Australia, 70% want to quite but find the habit very hard to kick even though they are aware of the health risks. Saturday 1 December 2012, saw a new turning [...]

Tips on how to encourage safe ‘risk taking’ in teenage boys

It seems that for boys ‘risk taking’ is all part of growing up and is needed to test their skills, strengths, weaknesses and independence in the world. Andrew Fuller, child psychologist and Generation Next speaker, says "We have a world that sanitises away risk, so that means risk becomes even more alluring. Boys are going [...]

10 minute activist: help stop violence against women

48% of women have experienced physical violence 34% of women have experienced sexual violence* 14% of young women aged 12 to 20 have experienced rape or sexual assault** Join over 60,00 Australians, including many celebrities like Rove, Keith Urban and Andrew O’Keefe and take an oath to end violence against women.  It is important to [...]

5 tips for forgiveness: empowering children to deal with anger

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Gandhi. A lot is written about youth angst and displays of aggression, however the tools needed to help them deal with anger, their own and other peoples, is not very often addressed. One of the most important aspects of empowering a child to [...]

4 foundation stones to building positive thinking and resilience

Is your cup half empty or half full? Experts say that it is not so much what happens to us but what we think about what happens to us that determines how we feel. This is important when teaching children resilience and how to handle life’s challenges. Andrew Fuller is a clinical psychologist and Generation [...]

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