Youth Studies Australia articles from March 2008

Youth Studies Australia archives from March 2008

Sorry.(Editorial)(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... It is just a word, and the consequences of injustice continue to be experienced by subsequent generations, but the apology was crucial. Without it, attempts to provide justice to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia...

Body image causes most concern.(ATTITUDES & OPINIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Body image became the top concern of young Australians last year, according to the results of Mission Australia's National Survey of Young Australians. Nearly 29,000 young Australians aged 11-24 years took part in the survey, which covered...

Mum and dad are still top role models.(ATTITUDES & OPINIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Even Spider-Man and Avril Lavigne were no match for mum and dad in this contest: an online survey of close to 2,500 7-14-year-old Australians and New Zealanders has found that a majority of young people nominated one of their parents as their...

Mateship, safety and democracy win out.(ATTITUDES & OPINIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The Centre of Educational Research at the University of Western Sydney has released preliminary findings from its national identity survey. Thus far, around 5,000 people have completed the online survey, including 2,500 young people aged 15-25...

Studies shed light on internet bullying.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... In December 2007, the Journal of Adolescent Health published a special edition highlighting the growth of internet bullying among young people in recent years and the negative consequences suffered by its victims. A study of 10-15-year-olds...

New findings on mobile phone bullying.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)
March 1, 2008... Preliminary results from a Queensland study suggest that almost all teenagers experience mobile phone bullying. In the Queensland University of Technology study of 218 Queensland teenagers, 93.6% had experienced mobile phone bullying in some...

Foundation promotes cyber safety.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)(Telstra Foundation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The Telstra Foundation has established a $2 million Cyber Safety program to help address technology-related safety problems among young people such as cyber bullying, internet addiction, identity theft and mobile phone bullying. The foundation...

More violence in the streets of Melbourne.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)(Australia)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Police, ambulance officers and hospital emergency staff working in Melbourne and several other Victorian cities have noticed a significant increase in the number and severity of assaults, particularly those involving young people, that have...

Aussie pride = brand loyalty.(CULTURE)(Australian)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... An article published in the Herald Sun on Australia Day this year investigated a patriotic fashion trend among young people: tattoos with an Australian theme, particularly the Southern Cross. According to the tattoo artists interviewed for the...

Knowing the risks doesn't help ...(DRUGS)(stopping youth smoking)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... An awareness of the dangers of smoking may not be enough to convince young smokers to quit, a new Australian study has found. The study of 2,671 Australian teenagers from both public and private schools indicates that while those who smoke are...

... Neither do fear campaigns.(DRUGS)(college students unaffected by anti-smoking campaigns)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A pilot study by researchers from the University of Canberra suggests that, like their high school counterparts (see previous story), university students who smoke remain largely undeterred by anti-smoking campaigns. 'There appear to be two...

Anti-drug campaigns may have negative effects.(DRUGS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Anti-drug advertising campaigns that use scare tactics to warn young people about the negative effects of drugs may themselves have negative effects, according to a paper published in the November 2007 edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and...

A bad mix.(DRUGS)(cocktails with energy drinks)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Cocktails which combine spirits with caffeinated energy drinks pose more health and safety risks for their drinkers than alcohol alone, according to a US study. The study--which involved 4,271 students from 10 American universities--found that,...

Cigarette exposure affects academic performance.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A retrospective study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health in October 2007 indicates that teenagers exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke in the home face an increased likelihood of failing standardised academic achievement tests. The...

Almost half aren't studying.(EDUCATION)(18-20-year-olds)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... An analysis of data from the most recent Australian census indicates that close to half of Australia's 18-20-year-olds were not engaged in any form of education in 2006. Only half of those young people not engaged in education were working full...

Uni too costly for regional students.(EDUCATION)(university)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A joint report released by Charles Sturt University and Monash University in November 2007 recommends that all young people who must leave home to attend university be made automatically eligible to receive full Independent Youth Allowance and...

Year 12 not for all students.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Completing Year 12 may not be beneficial to all young people, and the broadening of school curricula to increase student retention rates may be counterproductive, according to Gary Marks, a researcher with the Australian Council for Educational...

Second-chance learners fail to finish.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... While vocational education and training (VET) courses are successful in providing early school leavers with a second chance at education, just 10% of early school leavers (aged 24 years and under) who enrol in certificate III or higher VET...

Loneliness a problem for international students.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A new Australian study recommends that universities provide ways for international students to bond 'more effectively' with domestic students in order to address problems of loneliness and isolation among those who come to Australia to study....

The lasting effects of divorce.(FAMILIES)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A long-term study of 52 Californian families who have experienced divorce indicates that many children whose parents have divorced suffer academically, socially and psychologically for many years following a divorce, even those whose parents...

SA students up the ante.(GAMBLING)(South Australian)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The final report from the South Australian Government's Youth Gambling Research Project was released in February this year. The project surveyed 3,000 students (aged 12-17 years) from metropolitan and regional secondary schools around South...

Dangerous practices start early.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Young girls should be taught about puberty and body image while they are still in primary school, according to Australian dietitian and health educator Dr Jenny O'Dea from the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. In...

Young singles wanted.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Private health funds are trying to recruit more young, single members in order to subsidise the more frequent and more costly claims of older members. Only 27.5% of single Australians aged 25-34 years have private health insurance, and only...

US findings prompt stimulant warning.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... An Australian child and adolescent psychiatry specialist has warned doctors that they can no longer consider stimulant drugs to be a 'silver bullet' for treating hyperactivity disorders in young people, particularly in light of findings from an...

Link between state care and homelessness.(HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Preliminary findings from an RMIT University study suggest a direct link between homelessness and being in state care in childhood or adolescence. The study also indicates a link between higher numbers of care placements and an increased risk...

A didjeridu a day ...(INDIGENOUS YOUTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A six-month pilot study involving 10 Aboriginal schoolboys with asthma has found that regularly playing wind instruments such as the didjeridu may improve the respiratory function of asthmatics. The boys who participated in this study, most of...

Sleep deprivation and mental health.(MENTAL HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Research conducted into the effects of a lack of sleep on the human brain suggests that there may be a link between sleep deprivation and a number of psychiatric disorders. A study conducted by researchers at Harvard University and the...

Omega-3 may prevent schizophrenia.(MENTAL HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Omega-3 fatty acids may delay or prevent the onset of schizophrenia among young people at risk of developing the illness, according to research into the benefits of fish oil led by Professor Paul Amminger, who now works with the Orygen Research...

Omega-3 may also prevent depression.(MENTAL HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Researchers from the Australasian Research Institute at Sydney Adventist Hospital and the University of NSW are preparing to conduct a study to determine whether the combination of low levels of omega-3 fatty acid consumption and high levels of...

Headspace expands.(MENTAL HEALTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... In January, the new federal government announced an allocation of $19 million in grants to expand the headspace youth mental health program established by the previous government. This funding will be used to set up 20 new one-stop mental...

Alternative beliefs place young people at risk.(RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Young people who hold alternative spiritual beliefs are at a greater risk of experiencing 'poorer mental health and deviant social behaviour' than those who do not hold such beliefs, according to new Australian research released in January this...

Early and late starters face problems.(SEXUALITY)(Survey)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... An analysis of data on age of 'sexual debut' and sexual health taken from a cross-sectional survey of over 8,000 American adults indicates that people who first have sex when they are relatively younger or older than the average age of sexual...

Sex ed protects against early intercourse.(SEXUALITY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A study conducted by America's Centres for Disease Control suggests, contrary to previous research, that sex education delivered in schools reduces the likelihood of teenagers engaging in sex at an early age. The study, which did not analyse...

Mobile game causes controversy.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The Australian Family Association has criticised a new mobile phone game aimed at teenage girls as being 'toxic' and 'grossly irresponsible'. The game Coolest girl in school, developed by Adelaide-based mobile entertainment company Champagne...

Tackling gaming addiction.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... * In November, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a feature on gaming addiction, outlining the approach to this issue taken at the Wild Horses Centre in the Netherlands, which treats a range of addictions and has treated gaming addicts from all over...

No change in electronic use.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The amount of time young people spend using electronic devices for entertainment has not changed in the past decade, according to a study released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority in December 2007. Data from the Media and...

Watch your electronic footprint!(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Survey results released in November 2007 by the British Information Commissioner's Office suggest that many young Britons may be leaving themselves open to identity fraud and potentially damaging their future employment and education prospects...

Corey's 15 minutes ...(TECHNOLOGY)(Corey Delaney)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Oh yea party at Mine Saturday 12th Jan. BYO chicks and grog No knives, rents will crack it at me Melbourne teenager Corey Delaney (also known as Corey Worthington) got a little more than he bargained for by posting this party...

The bleedin' obvious: long-term support reconnects at-risk young people.(Report)
March 1, 2008... Twenty young people with a history of incarceration, substance abuse and disconnection provided Whitelion with insight into 'what worked' in changing their at-risk behaviours. The answer was obvious--state support beyond 18 years of age,...

Youth homelessness 2006.(Report)
March 1, 2008... The third national census of homeless school students, conducted in 2006, found that the number of homeless students had decreased since 2001. There were 9,389 homeless students in 2006 compared with 12,227 in 2001. Three groups were...

Financial management and young Australian workers.(Report)
March 1, 2008... In two studies of young Australian workers, participants generally displayed positive attitudes towards financial management practices; however, a substantial proportion failed to display positive financial management practices, experienced...

Hanging in there: what makes a difference in the first year of an apprenticeship.(Report)
March 1, 2008... A 2006 study of apprentices commencing with a Group Training Organisation in an Australian regional centre identified factors that appear to support apprentices in their first year. The research demonstrates that school subject selection and...

The PATS peer support program: prevention/early intervention for adolescents who have a parent with mental illness.(Paying Attention to Self)(Report)
March 1, 2008... PATS (Paying Attention to Self) is a peer support program for adolescent children of parents with a diagnosed mental illness. The program aims to promote positive mental health, reduce the likelihood of mental health difficulties, increase...

Playing for the future: the role of sport and recreation in supporting refugee young people to 'settle well' in Australia.(Report)
March 1, 2008... The Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI) held a series of consultations and forums in 2007 to explore the role of sport and recreation in supporting refugee and migrant young people to 'settle well' in Australia. This article presents...

Does childhood sexual abuse have an effect on young adults' nicotine disorder (dependence or withdrawal)? Evidence from a birth cohort study.(ABUSE)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Addiction, v.102, n.7, 2007, pp.647-54. Data from 2,571 young adults (51.1% female) who completed the 21-year follow-up of the longitudinal Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy were analysed to investigate the association...

The social contexts of bullying and victimisation.(BULLYING)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Journal of Early Adolescence, v.27, n.2, 2007, pp.145-74. Student bullying and cooperative behaviours were examined in relation to three 'less-structured venues associated with school': the school cafeteria at lunchtime, the locker/hall...

Feeling the beat: the meaning of rap music for ethnically diverse Midwestern college students--a phenomenological study.(CULTURE)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Adolescence, v.42, n.166, 2007, pp.337-51. A purposive sample of ethnically and racially diverse rap music fans was obtained from among students at a large university in Midwestern USA for this qualitative investigation of 'how individuals...

Does it matter that my body is different? Disabled children, impairment, disability and identity.(DISABILITY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Childrenz Issues, v.11, n.2, 2007, pp.25-30. Employing the social model of disability, in which disability is viewed as the 'unnecessary isolation and exclusion from full participation in society' experienced by people with impairments,...

Problem alcohol use in young Australian adults.(DRUGS & ALCOHOL)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, v.41, 2007, pp.436-41. Risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption are classified as either short term, assessed on the basis of daily consumption, or long term, assessed on the...

Climbing over the rocks in the road to student engagement and learning in a challenging school in Australia.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Educational Research, v.49, n.3, 2007, pp.273-95. An ethnographic methodology was used to investigate reforms instituted by a secondary school in the Northern Territory. This school had a high proportion of disadvantaged students and a...

Catherine Freer Wilderness Therapy Expeditions: an exploratory case study of adolescent wilderness therapy, family functioning, and the maintenance of change.(FAMILIES)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Child and Youth Care Forum, v.36, n.2-3, 2007, pp.111-29. There is little conclusive evidence in regard to the effects of wilderness therapy (WT) interventions on family functioning. This research attempted to gauge the effects on family...

Migraine in adolescents: association with socioeconomic status and family history.(HEALTH)
March 1, 2008... on behalf of the AMPP advisory group, Neurology, v.69, n.1, 2007, pp.16-25. In order to ascertain whether socioeconomic status influenced the prevalence of migraine headaches in adolescents, headache questionnaires were mailed to 120,000...

The needs of students in Youth SAAP Services accommodation.(HOMELESSNESS)(Supported Accommodation Assistance Program )(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Parity, v.20, n.7, 2007, pp.33-34. Researchers from an Adelaide-based Youth Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (YSAAP) undertook an investigation of the educational and training needs of their clients, conducting qualitative...

A complex but increasingly coherent journey? The emergence of 'youth policy' in Europe.(POLICY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Youth & Policy, n.95, 2007, pp.57-72. This paper traces the beginnings of pan-European youth policy development to political attempts to 'accommodate and incorporate the aspirations of young people in wider structures of governance'...

Young farmers, masculinities and the embodiment of farming practices in an Australian setting.(RURAL YOUTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Rural Society, v.17, n.1, 2007, pp.19-33. Qualitative focus group discussions were conducted with 10 young male dairy farmers (average age = 23 years) from northern Victoria in order to examine how young male farmers 'reflect on their...

Addresses of abstracted publications.(Website list)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Addiction ISSN 0965-2140 www.addictionjournal.org Adolescence ISSN 0001-8449 www.abe.pl/html/english/ detailsj.php?id=0001-8449 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine ISSN 10724710 ...

International representatives of Australian youth.(Youth Initiatives)(Conference news)
March 1, 2008... IN LATE 2007, THERE WERE TWO MAJOR INTERNATIONAL FORUMS THAT PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INVOLVEMENT BY AUSTRALIA'S YOUNG PEOPLE. THE FOUR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO REPRESENTED AUSTRALIA'S YOUTH WERE SUPPORTED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT'S YOUTH...