A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
When you think of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kid, or in fact any kid, imagine what’s possible. Don’t define us through the lens of disadvantage […] Expect the best of us. – Excerpt from the Imagination Declaration, August 2019. A group of school students from across Australia have just shown what real leadership [...]
Children who care for a family member with a disability, mental illness or dependence on alcohol or other drugs are less likely to complete, or do well in, secondary school compared with young people without caring responsibilities. Our study, published in the journal Child Indicators Research, compared the levels of school engagement among children who [...]
In 2019, headspace is promoting a number of ‘Self-Care September’ strategies and approaches for Australian school staff. These activities are aimed at strengthening wellbeing, resilience, engagement, connection, help seeking, and early access to support. Download the resource here>>
Increased digital participation has provided many positives for young people with disabilities, but greater potential risks can also be found lurking online for those who live with a disability, according to latest research from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. The potential risks – such as exposure to inappropriate content, excessive use, and image-based abuse [...]
We have never been more aware of the prevalence of child sexual abuse, but unfortunately this has yet to translate into a reduction of new cases. How can parents keep their children safe without being overwhelmed by paranoia? According to child safety experts, it comes down to awareness of 'grooming'. Predators will take various, but [...]
Fitness and health tracking devices are becoming increasingly popular and a huge variety of wearable tech and apps now exist. Indeed, many smartphones and smart watches now come primed and ready to track our activity, sleep and nutrition. Research has for a long time highlighted how monitoring behaviours can help to lead to positive changes [...]
Memorising poetry was once common in classrooms. But it has, for the most part, gone out of style. There are good reasons for this. Memorisation can clash with creativity and analytical thought. Rote learning can be seen as mindless, drone-like, something done without really thinking about why we’re doing it and what the thing we [...]
In recognition of National Child Protection Week and National eSmart Week, youth wellbeing charity Generation Next is running a free webcast A detective steps into the predators lair disguised as a child with Internet Safe Education founder Brett Lee. This webcast contains important information about grooming and how to keep young people safer online. Generation Next [...]
Grace Tame has finally won the right to speak publicly about being groomed and sexually assaulted by her high school teacher Nicolaas Bester in 2010. After being outraged by Bester's comments about the abuse and media allegations that she had been complicit, the Tasmanian 24-year-old embarked on a two-year legal battle to be exempted from [...]
We are researchers who coach parents to communicate with children with disabilities. Here are five strategies families can use to help children with autism spectrum disorder build their communication skills, along with examples of how to use them. Autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children nationwide. 1. Motivate the child to communicate Create opportunities [...]
