A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
You glance at your teen’s smartphone and see a text message light up the screen. Was that a sext you just saw? Questions flood your mind. Is this what kids are doing nowadays? Does this mean my child is having sex too? Sexting — the exchange of sexual messages, photographs or videos via technological devices [...]
Notice your kids acting out or not quite their usual selves? Chances are they might not be getting enough shut-eye, finds new study. According to new research published in the Journal Jama Pediatrics, kids who managed less sleep than their peers were likelier to engage in risk-taking behaviour such as using illicit substances and unprotected [...]
The New South Wales Premier has vowed to do everything she can to shut down Defqon.1, after two people died in suspected overdoses at the popular Sydney music festival on Saturday night. Police said a 23-year-old man from western Sydney and a 21-year-old woman from Victoria died in Nepean Hospital after collapsing at music festival [...]
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified 34 neural factors that predict adolescent alcohol consumption. The list, based upon complex algorithms analyzing data from neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging studies, was significantly more accurate —approximately 74 percent — than demographic information alone. A mix of social, psychological and biological mechanisms [...]
istockphoto A latest survey conducted by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) has highlighted that the number of Australians reporting distress, anxiety and depression is the highest it has been in the last 5 years, and concurringly, a significant proportion of them were engaging in risky behaviours to manage this heightened distress. The annual [...]
It is not uncommon for young people to feel overwhelmed and like they are unable to cope with what life has thrown at them. This is when they often come to the attention of teachers, school counsellors or health professionals – when they are in some sort of crisis. The crisis can be precipitated by [...]
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 [...]
