A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Micah Boerma, University of Southern Queensland and Daniel You, University of Sydney In less than four months, world-first legislation will ban Australian under-16s from certain social media platforms. Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, X, Reddit and YouTube will all be off limits for children and teens. It’s still not clear exactly how the restrictions will be [...]
Timothy HoYuan Chan, Australian Catholic University My travels with autism started long before my diagnosis at the age of three years and three months. My family noticed autistic features from around 15 months of age. I never looked at people and did not respond when called. I lined up toys instead of playing with them. [...]
Download article as a PDF Another dispatch from 2040. The arrival of virtual and augmented reality didn’t just enhance education—it transformed it. No longer were students merely learning about a subject. They were immersed in it. Biology students didn’t just study human anatomy; they travelled inside a virtual human body. History wasn’t confined to [...]
Ben Edwards, Australian National University and Jessica Arnup, Australian National University The federal government wants to increase the number of Australians who complete tertiary study from 60% to 80% by 2050. To do this we will need more young people going to university after they finish school. But this is not necessarily straightforward or easy. [...]
Eugene Lee Davids, University of Pretoria Each day we make thousands of decisions, starting with what to have for breakfast and what to wear. We make so many decisions that we don’t keep count. But it’s important to understand the way we make choices. This is because the approach we take can influence our mental [...]
Andrew J. Martin, UNSW Sydney; Emma Burns, Macquarie University; Joel Pearson, UNSW Sydney; Rebecca J. Collie, UNSW Sydney, and Roger Kennett, UNSW Sydney If you had to do a test, how would you respond? Would you relish the chance to demonstrate your knowledge? Or worry you were about to fall short of the mark and [...]
Gemma Sharp, Monash University Following a particular diet or exercising a great deal are common and even encouraged in our health and image-conscious culture. With increased awareness of food allergies and other dietary requirements, it’s also not uncommon for someone to restrict or eliminate certain foods. But these behaviours may also be the sign of [...]
Download article as a PDF Greetings from 2040, past-lings. Some days, it feels like we’re living in a mash-up of The Jetsons and Harry Potter. School drop-offs and pick-ups are unrecognisable from what you experience in the 2020s. Look up, and you’ll see the swarm—drones delivering everything from textbooks to lunches, medical supplies to [...]
How new legislation and expert insights are reshaping online safety for young Australians In 2024, the Australian Government made headlines by announcing its intent to raise the minimum age for access to major social media platforms. The reforms would restrict young people’s access to platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat until the age of 16 [...]
Download article as a PDF This is the time of year when motivation slumps, energy evaporates and your get up and go has got up and gone. With about 10 weeks to go till the end of the year (for senior students) this is the time when the largest gains or losses will be [...]
