A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Children have endless access to video games via their devices and consoles, and for many it has become a key activity in their daily routine. According to the Digital Australia Report 2018, an astounding 97 per cent of homes with children have access to computer games and 60 per cent of households have five or [...]
THE horrific Momo WhatsApp ‘suicide game’ linked to the death of at least one teen has appeared in popular online game Minecraft. The terrifying bird-woman icon associated with Momo has been added to Minecraft, an online game that is wildly popular with kids and teens. The sick icon has been added by so-called modders, people [...]
Psychiatrists have issued a warning over the link between depression and video game addiction, after MRI scans revealed for the first time the potential damage caused to young brains. The images showed the signals between the different parts of gaming addicts’ brains were disrupted, driving them to continue playing but also worsening their depression. The “emotional” [...]
As the community in Santa Fe, Texas, continues to mourn the loss of 10 people killed during the country's latest mass shooting, one of the survivors says the issue has nothing to do with gun laws. A 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and pistol opened fire in a Texas high school on Friday, claiming the lives [...]
Noor Huda Ismail went to an Islamic boarding school that was opened by the founders of Jama'ah Islamiyah. Photo: Kate Geraghty As an individual, this boy will be nobody. But if he joined Islamic State to fight, he will be hero to some. Who doesn't want to be hero? For them, being part [...]
Stress is the reason why we find it hard to empathise with someone we do not know, researchers suggest. In separate tests in mice and people, empathy towards strangers increased when stress hormones were blocked by a drug. Playing a fun video game with a stranger was found to have a similar effect to the drug. [...]
Target Australia has pulled R-rated video game Grand Theft Auto V from its shelves and says it will no longer sell it following feedback from customers about the game's depictions of violence against women. The decision to pull the game — which sparked an immediate backlash from gamers — appeared to be in response to [...]
Can kids learn empathy on an iPad? This is the somewhat unfair but inevitable question surrounding this week's release of a new tablet game called IF. Designed for 6 to 12 year olds, IF aims to help children manage their emotions, cope with stress and conflict, even deal with bullies. It comes with big expectations [...]
A person playing a first-person shooter video game like Halo or Unreal Tournament must make decisions quickly. That fast-paced decision-making, it turns out, boosts the player's visual skills but comes at a cost, according to new research: reducing the person's ability to inhibit impulsive behavior. This reduction in what is called "proactive executive control" appears [...]
