A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
7% of young people reported that they had met someone offline, after meeting them online* It is a sad reality that children and young people are increasingly becoming exposed to cyber stalking, online grooming and sexting. The advent of social media has meant that they are comfortable making friends online and this can sometimes make [...]
How can we bring more trust into the lives of our young people? Here are a few suggestions: Never make promises that you are not able or do not intend to keep Admit your own failings and mistakes - it is hard to trust someone who always thinks they are right! Watch your words - [...]
While the traditional three Rs (reading, writing & arithmetic) were only aimed at the students, these alternate three Rs could serve as a guiding philosophy for the whole learning community; students, staff, parents and the wider community. Relationships - Humans are social beings and as such positive relationships are key to human flourishing. As well as [...]
Rates of depression and anxiety among young people in America have been increasing steadily for the past fifty to seventy years. Today five to eight times as many high school and college students meet the criteria for diagnosis of major depression and/or an anxiety disorder as was true half a century or more ago. This [...]
90% of 15 to 17 year olds own a mobile phone* Girlfriend magazine: 40% of girl readers had sent explicit photos Mental Health & Wellbeing of Young People seminar speaker and Cyber safety expert Susan McLean defines sexting as: the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between mobile phones, but can [...]
The huge importance of nurturing children has been validated as research into brain development has expanded. What many people know instinctively is now verified by many studies and advances in brain imaging. A new study recently completed at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., has shown that children who are nurtured have larger hippocampus areas [...]
Women who cut red meat out of their diet are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, according to a study. Those who eat less than the recommended amount of lamb and beef were twice as likely to be diagnosed with the mental health disorders, researchers in Australia have found. The study of more [...]
Dr Peter Vajda, a cognitive psychologist, sees gossip as a form of “workplace violence”. He reasons that people who gossip do so out of fear. They use gossip as a defense mechanism to protect themselves from divulging their true self. In other words, by attacking others, they don’t need to fess up to their own [...]
STATE and federal police will begin using sophisticated image-matching software to tag and track child pornographic images in an attempt to reduce their distribution across the internet. The technology, developed by computer giant Microsoft's research group along with scientists from Dartmouth College, creates a unique signature on a digital image that could be compared with [...]
Alcohol, cannabis and tobacco are the 3 most commonly used drugs by teenagers.* The teenage years are a time of experimenting and trying new things, this can be on the sports field, a new interest or more risky behaviour. This can lead to some young people trying illicit drugs. Their reasons are many including peer [...]
