A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Margherita Malanchini, Queen Mary University of London Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is arguably the most celebrated child prodigy in history, composing his first pieces of music aged five, his first symphony at eight and his first opera at 11. After a study in 1993 found that listening to Mozart could improve spatial IQ – prompting [...]
Shane Rogers, Edith Cowan University Students’ mental health is one of the biggest challenges facing schools. In Australia, half of all adult mental health challenges emerge before the age of 14. It is also estimated that more than 50% of children experiencing mental health challenges are not receiving professional help. Schools are increasingly being [...]
Annabel Blake, University of Sydney; Eduardo Velloso, University of Sydney, and Marcus Carter, University of Sydney In 2022, the founders of chatbot startup Character.AI launched a platform where anyone could create interactive characters powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The app exploded, quickly growing to more than 20 million users who created more than 10 [...]
Yaqoot Fatima, University of the Sunshine Coast; Danielle Wilson, University of the Sunshine Coast; Jasneek Chawla, and Nisreen Aouira, University of the Sunshine Coast For many families, the holidays mean sleep routines go out the window. Bedtimes drift later, screens stay on into the late evening, sleep-ins become the norm. But as term time [...]
Susanna Trnka, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Health isn’t what it used to be – namely the absence of being sick. Ask any teenager today what it means to them to be healthy, and you’re likely to hear about the vast array of areas in their lives they are “working on”. This can [...]
Vlad Glăveanu, Dublin City University Many girls with ADHD aren’t diagnosed until their late teens or adulthood. My recent research points to a possible explanation for this. The study, published with my colleague Sorcha Walsh, found that while many of the women we interviewed may have displayed signs of ADHD while at school, these weren’t [...]
Naomi Zouwer, University of Canberra; Ann Hill, and Bethaney Turner, University of Canberra School holidays can be stressful for families. Particularly when the enthusiasm of the first few days wears off and kids keep saying “I’m bored, I need the iPad” while refusing point blank to go and play outside. We are environmental humanities researchers [...]
Catherine Page Jeffery, University of Sydney From December 10, those under 16 will only be able to see publicly available content on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube. They will not be able to have their own accounts. For example, they could look up Taylor Swift’s latest music video on YouTube, [...]
Bronwyn Milkins, The Kids Research Institute Australia and Helen Milroy, The University of Western Australia You call your teen’s name, but they don’t respond. They’re staring past you. You call again, louder this time. Nothing – how rude. But what if they’re zoning out? For some teens, this can be a sign of dissociation, a [...]
Christiane Kehoe, The University of Melbourne and Elizabeth Westrupp, Deakin University Watching your teenager grieve the loss of their social media account can be confronting. Many are genuinely distressed or struggling with the change, and many parents are unsure how to respond. Australia’s social media ban, which started this week, means teens under the age [...]
