Generation Next Blog

October 2017

Heard Of ‘Sextortion’? Here’s 6 Things You Need To Know To Protect Your Child

By |2021-02-22T16:47:49+11:00October 30th, 2017|Categories: Cybersafety, Society & Culture, Technology|Tags: , , , , , |

Angela Reynolds's daughter Ashley was a high school freshman in 2009 when a stranger calling himself "Captain Obvious," with a profile that made it look like he was a teenager, messaged her through social media. He claimed to to have nude pictures of her. Ashley ignored him at first, but he became more insistent, threatening [...]

“A Volcano Inside of Me”

By |2021-03-03T17:29:39+11:00October 30th, 2017|Categories: Cybersafety, Mental Illness, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , |

"A washing machine tummy”; “a volcano inside of me” – these are some of the ways young children can describe anxiety and other mental health issues, according to staff at YoungMinds, a mental health charity. In 2016, Childline reported a 15 per cent in suicidal calls, with children as young as 10. There has been a steep [...]

Virtual reality headsets could put children’s health at risk 

By |2021-02-22T16:47:08+11:00October 29th, 2017|Categories: Technology|

The researchers found no child experienced serious deterioration in their eyesight. However, in two cases their stereo-acuity – the ability to detect differences in distances – was disrupted, while another child showed a “drastic worsening” of balance immediately after finishing the VR game. These effects were short-lived but were nevertheless noticeable, even though the children [...]

How Childhood Trauma Changes Hormones

By |2021-03-03T17:29:24+11:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Mental Illness, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , |

Exposure to traumatic experiences in childhood can have a negative impact on the development of the brain when it’s most vulnerable. Cases of childhood maltreatment are more common than reported; conservative estimates show over 45,000 Australian children were exposed to maltreatment in 2015 and 2016. Adversity in childhood can include experiences such as emotional, physical, and sexual [...]

‘Panic Button’ Mental Health App Released

By |2021-02-22T16:47:03+11:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Technology|Tags: , , , |

An app that allows teens battling mental health issues to send an alert to a personalised support crew is set to launch. Wellington firm Melon Health, formerly Social Code, has designed and developed Code Blue to encourage youth struggling with bullying, anxiety or depression to reach out in their time of need. The app has been years in [...]

Half of NSW Businesses Have No Mental Health Strategy

By |2021-03-02T15:38:02+11:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Mental Illness, Society & Culture|Tags: , , |

NSW employers are failing to address the mental health of their workers appropriately, with the construction and scientific industries among the worst performers, a rigorous new benchmarking tool shows. Fewer than one in 10 (8.8 per cent) of the state's workplaces have an integrated and sustained approach to mental health, according to an independent survey [...]

Using Hip Hop To Build Resilience

By |2017-10-23T12:29:38+11:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , |

It's a genre of music that has its origins in the Bronx in New York in the 1960s, but hip hop has been embraced around the world as a potent form of youth culture. Although the form does have its critics — sexist, violent or homophobic language is one common complaint — the genre is [...]

From A Teenage Boy With Anorexia

By |2021-03-04T15:25:56+11:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Eating Disorders, Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , |

Not all silence on mental health problems is down to stigma. Sometimes it’s difficult to articulate what’s wrong. You can’t talk about mental health without talking about stigma. Personally, I don’t like talking about stigma – the more you talk about something, the more you entrench it. People often cite fear of stigma as the [...]

Teenagers Engaging In ‘Digital Self-Harm’

By |2021-03-04T15:13:50+11:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Anxiety, Bullying, Cybersafety, Depression, Society & Culture, Technology|Tags: , , , , , , |

In past decades, teenagers struggling to deal with their emotions might have coped by taking a razor blade to their forearm or extinguishing cigarettes on their skin. Today’s teens, products of the internet era, have found an additional outlet. Approximately 6% of adolescents between 12 and 17 years old engage in a practice known as [...]

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