Generation Next Blog

August 2012

Childhood friendships may be key to adult happiness

By |2012-08-17T16:58:03+10:00August 12th, 2012|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Happiness in adulthood may be determined by the quality of relationships in your youth, not brain power or academic prowess, new Australian research suggests. "This shows that there is an enduring, significant relationship between being well-adjusted as a child and being well-adjusted as an adult," said Dr. Victor Fornari, director of child/adolescent psychiatry at North [...]

Police follow the Silk Road to online drug marketplace

By |2012-08-17T16:56:14+10:00August 12th, 2012|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

POLICE and customs officials are turning their attention to the online marketplace of illegal drugs, Silk Road, which is achieving an estimated $22 million a year in sales. Silk Road - started by ''Dread Pirate Roberts'' in February last year - functions like a black market version of eBay, complete with vendor feedback, dispute resolution [...]

Tips on how to educate teenage girls on sexualisation

By |2012-08-31T12:56:24+10:00August 12th, 2012|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today many teenage girls see themselves as potential sexual objects before they see themselves as people in their own right. This is greatly attributed to the portrayal of women in the media, from celebrities to ‘yummy mummies’. It seems that no female form is safe from being re-shaped into the now version of what’s hot. [...]

How to help teens with computer game addiction

By |2017-03-15T11:30:27+11:00August 12th, 2012|Categories: Cybersafety|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

90% of children play computer games. 10% of them are addicted. The dangers of computers games have been in the news again recently with the death of a teenager in Taiwan after playing for 40 hours straight without refreshments or leaving the computer. Internet computer games have and addictive dimension to them that some young [...]

Are students popping pills to boost performance? 

By |2012-08-17T17:17:45+10:00August 12th, 2012|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

RESEARCH is needed to determine whether significant numbers of Australian students are trying to improve their academic performance by taking diverted prescription stimulants, according to academics from three Australian universities and a Canadian research institute.  Dr Jayne Lucke, principal research fellow at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research, said there were anecdotal reports [...]

10 minute activist: Message on a bottle

By |2012-08-17T17:39:24+10:00August 12th, 2012|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Despite the fact that nearly a year has passed since the Australian and New Zealand Food and Health Ministers recommended that the alcohol industry be given two years to voluntarily implement alcohol warning labels, less than 16%* of alcoholic products carry a consumer information message. Of those that do, 98% take up less than 5% [...]

Music Or Books? Teen’s Choice Linked To Depression

By |2014-06-16T00:20:30+10:00August 10th, 2012|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Teenagers who whittle away their time listening to music are far more likely to suffer from depression than those who spend more time consuming other media, including books, say the authors of a new study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The researchers called 106 adolescents - 46 of whom had been diagnosed [...]

Teenage gamer collapses after fourth day of “Modern Warfare” marathon

By |2012-08-31T16:59:33+10:00August 9th, 2012|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

FOR four days a US teenager stayed shut in his bedroom, engrossed in his Xbox game. Then he collapsed. WBNS-TV reports that fifteen-year-old Columbus teen Tyler Rigsby collapsed and was taken to hospital on Tuesday after becoming severely dehydrated. His mother says he emerged from his bedroom during the four days only to pick up [...]

Marijuana and memory: study shows it’s not good news

By |2012-08-31T16:57:05+10:00August 9th, 2012|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Australian scientists say they have proved that persistent heavy marijuana use damages the brain's memory and learning capacity. Their study showed for the first time the earlier people developed a cannabis habit, the worse the damage. Scientists from Melbourne's Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI), Melbourne University and Wollongong University used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to [...]

Facebook supports racism

By |2012-08-31T16:59:08+10:00August 9th, 2012|Categories: Cybersafety, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A Facebook page filled with offensive comments about Aboriginal people, which is still online despite calls by the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to take it down. Facebook did flag the page as "controversial humour" in response to complaints yesterday and then briefly took it down. But now it is up and running again under a new [...]

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