A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
"8% of kids are playing games at a level where it impacts negatively on their life," says Dr Warburton. Many parents and teaching professionals are concerned about the effects of exposing growing children to violent music (rap/hip hop and heavy metal) and violent media (games such as Grand Theft Auto). “Although media is just one [...]
Jessica Barlow, a 20 your old student in Melbourne has got the ball rolling by setting up a petition to demand that magazines like Cleo and Cosmopolitan stop altering the images they feature in photo spreads because of the damage it can cause to young girls by increasing any body image issues that they might [...]
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% [...]
10% of children have problems coping with anxiety* Some children are very easy going and nothing seems to bother them. However many other children worry about all sorts of things, and when these normal everyday worries turn into anxiety it can be very difficult for a young person to participate in and experience school and [...]
A separation or divorce in the family is all too common now days with the divorce rate in Australia at almost 50%*. Many young people are placed in a situation where they need to learn new skills to cope with the changes. It can often bring out a mixture and extremes of emotions from sad [...]
The next time you walk into a room and forget why you're there, blame a monkey. That kind of distraction is a classic case of "monkey mind", according to Ramesh Manocha, a senior lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Sydney. "The mind is understood, at least in the east, to have a monkey-like nature," [...]
65% of year 4 students experienced covert bullying It seems ironic that a young student in the USA, Jessica Barba, was recently suspended for highlighting the dangers and traumas that many students struggle with when they become the targets of cyber bullying. What started out as a school assignment ended up as an online anti-bullying [...]
25% of adolescents experience depression Dr Jules Bemporad, of Harvard Medical School, describes childhood depression as: a painful state of having lost, or being unable to attain, something that is essential for maintaining a sense of wellbeing (such as the absence of a loved one, frustration of some aspiration or curtailment of some meaningful function [...]
27% of 18 to 24 year olds suffer mental health issues* The transition of young people into adults is no doubt an awkward phase for most teenagers. It is a time when they are most vulnerable to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and addictions. Their understanding of these states of being [...]
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 [...]
