A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
David John Hallford, Deakin University We’ve all done it – you’re walking around going about your business and suddenly you’re thinking about that time in high school you said something really stupid you would never say now. Or that time a few years ago when you made a social gaffe. You cringe and just want [...]
David Armstrong, RMIT University At a press conference last week, paralympian Dylan Alcott recalled the pain of being a child with a disability. “I had no friends when I was five,” the Australian of the Year told reporters. “I even got goosebumps saying that.” He said one of the positives about the National Disability Insurance [...]
Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer and Head of Gambling and Social Determinants unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine In Australia, advertising for online wagering is permitted. Such ads are subject to what the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) describes as “strict rules”. Many parents might think their “strictness” highly debatable. The Victorian Responsible Gambling [...]
Em Bould, Senior Research Fellow, Occupational Therapy There’s no doubt loneliness and social isolation are a problem for many people. A 2017 Relationships Australia survey found more than one-third (34%) often felt isolated, and a further 43% felt isolated some of the time. There’s also little doubt that most of us enjoy the companionship of [...]
Joanne Orlando, Western Sydney University Has your child’s screentime increased since COVID? If you were to estimate by how much would you say 20%, 30% or even a 50% increase? A newly released review comparing children’s screentime before and during COVID, shows children’s screentime spiked by a whopping 52% between 2020 and 2022. Increases were [...]
Janneke Blijlevens, RMIT University It’s been a long day. Your partner messages you: “let’s just order in, I don’t feel like cooking”. With a sense of relief, you open your usual takeaway app and start scrolling through the many restaurants and dishes available. Thai, pizza, burgers, Korean, Lebanese… oooh this one has free delivery! Hmm, [...]
Faith Gordon, Australian National University Prison is no place for a child. Putting children in youth justice facilities can have long-lasting consequences for their physical, psychological and emotional health, wellbeing and development. Prison can aggravate existing health conditions and result in new ones, such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and post-traumatic stress disorder. We heard this [...]
Ana Leite, Durham University; Damien Ridge, University of Westminster, and Nisreen Alwan, University of Southampton Imagine you’re young, healthy and active. Then, one day, the rug is pulled out from under you. You initially have symptoms akin to a cold, so you take a lateral flow test, which shows you have COVID. But it’s nothing [...]
Joseph A Carpini, The University of Western Australia; Deena Ashoorian, The University of Western Australia, and Rhonda Clifford, The University of Western Australia Chances are you live within 2.5 kilometres of a community pharmacy and visit one about every three weeks. You don’t need an appointment. The wait time is usually short. These factors make [...]
Josephine Barbaro, La Trobe University and Marie Camin, La Trobe University With better awareness and acceptance, approximately one out of every 50 children is receiving an autism diagnosis. More and more families are deciding when to share this information with their child. Some parents worry that doing so will “label” their child, or make [...]
