A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
What drives you to Facebook? News? Games? Feedback on your posts? The chance to meet new friends? If any of these hit home, you might have a Facebook dependency. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, says Amber Ferris, an assistant professor of communication at The University of Akron's Wayne College. Ferris, who studies Facebook [...]
Owen feels compelled to make himself tiny, standing small in the corner with his arms folded while the family watches a movie. And he apologizes — a lot. This summer, as the 12-year old and his little brother Craig, 10, were gathering fallen apples near their home in the Salt Lake suburb, Craig decided to [...]
Do teenagers who frequent Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites perform worse academically? Scientists from Germany have looked into these worries. "Concerns regarding the allegedly disastrous consequences of social networking sites on school performance are unfounded," says Professor Markus Appel, a psychologist who holds the Chair of Media Communication at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) [...]
A comprehensive Australian study examining the global impact of suicide prevention approaches in young people has found that youth-specific interventions conducted in clinical, educational and community settings can be effective in reducing suicide-related behaviour in young people at risk. The review, by researchers at Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, has [...]
Some 80% of young people will experience a traumatic event by the time they become an adult. Rates of exposure to trauma peak during adolescence. The stress from traumatic events can result in a loss of interest in school, friends, hobbies, and life in general. The types of traumatic events include a wide range of [...]
Developmental pediatricians are telling parents to reconsider the age-old practice of forcing children to hug or kiss members of the extended family when gathering at the holidays. They say doing so takes away the child's autonomy over their own body and sends a message that it's OK for others to demand affection. The Girl Scouts [...]
During a recent date night with my husband, my beloved babysitter let my 4-year-old daughter take a few (unpublished) pictures with a Snapchat filter that added blush and eyelashes while smoothing out her already blemish-free skin. My daughter was transfixed, and started referring to those pictures as “the pretty ones.” My jaw instantly dropped, as [...]
It’s that time of year again when you receive your child’s school report. For some parents and carers, understanding what it means can be challenging. Some children will be happy and others may be disappointed. Parents and carers need to interpret the information in the report so you can determine the strengths of your child, [...]
Debbie Vitany is fighting a losing battle against Fortnite. Her 17-year-old son, Carson, has been logging 12 hours a day on the video game, searching for weapons and resources in a post-apocalyptic world where the goal is being the last person standing. Teachers complain he falls asleep in class and his grades have plummeted. "We'd [...]
For many children, the holidays are the best time of the year. There are countless holiday parties, big extended family dinners, special religious ceremonies, parades, cookie exchanges, and so much more to look forward to. For other children, this flurry of activities sets off the alarm bells. Big crowds and unfamiliar faces can be incredibly [...]
