A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Ioana Ramia, UNSW Sydney and Zid Niel Mancenido, Harvard University There are many ways to teach school students. But research shows only some will significantly improve learning. While most teachers want to use evidence-based practices, they face many challenges that can limit their ability to use them in their classrooms. These include time pressures, [...]
Professor Helen Marshall, University of Adelaide Parents and doctors alike fear meningococcal infection, which has been in the news again. Doctors never want to miss a diagnosis, as early treatment with antibiotics may be life-saving. Parents fear the disease because up to 10% of children who become infected die from the disease and its [...]
Ben Arnold Lohmeyer, Flinders University Content warning: this article contains explicit language. School bullying is a huge and distressing problem. In 2015, 43% of Australian year 8 students experienced bullying each month. A 2022 Mission Australia survey of Australians between 15 and 19 found 47% were “extremely” or “somewhat” concerned about bullying. The picture is [...]
Rachael Sharman, University of the Sunshine Coast There’s an annual underground phenomena happening right now around Australia: couples who have decided to separate, but are putting on a happy face to perform their final Christmas as an intact family. January is known by family court lawyers as “divorce month” for this very reason. Compared [...]
Tim Pitman, Curtin University and Madeleine Ferrari, Australian Catholic University Over this week and next, year 12 students around Australia will receive their exam results. This is a time of great expectations and intense pressure for many young people. For some, their individual subject marks and university admission rank (ATAR) will be a cause for [...]
Sharon Horwood, Deakin University A ping from the pizza company. A couple of pings from your socials. Ping, ping, ping from your family WhatsApp group trying to organise a weekend barbecue. With all those smartphone notifications, it’s no wonder you lose focus on what you’re trying to do do. Your phone doesn’t even need to [...]
Alex Sully, Dr George Disney, Dr Glenda Bishop, Dr Zoe Aitken and Professor Anne KavanaghFor many people, being able to engage in everyday life is something they take for granted. Gaining employment, finding a place to live and pursuing travel, leisure and social activities become more about ‘which’ movie to see rather than ‘if’ they [...]
Helen Skouteris, Monash Warwick Alliance Joint Professor of Health and Social Care Improvement and Implementation Science; Rachael Green, Research Fellow, Health and Social Care Unit, Monash University Despite years of research, discussions and advocacy in relation to nurturing children’s development through healthy eating and active living, there’s been very little in the way of [...]
Marg Rogers, University of New England; Laura K. Doan, Thompson Rivers University, and Navjot Bhullar, Edith Cowan University On Wednesday, federal parliament passed Labor’s bill to reduce childcare fees for many Australian families. More affordable childcare for families is great, but it will not solve all the issues in the sector. Schools are not the [...]
Amanda Niland, University of Sydney and Marianne Fenech, University of Sydney The decision about whether to send a child to school “early” or “hold them back” can be a tortuous one for families who have a child born in the first half of the year. So a recent New South Wales proposal that all children [...]
