Generation Next

Narendar Manohar, Black Dog Institute; Hiroko Fujimoto, Black Dog Institute, and Peter Baldwin, Swinburne University of Technology; UNSW Sydney Many Australian children struggle with their mental health. Recent data shows around one in seven children (13.9%) aged 4–17 experiences a diagnosable mental illness. So what can actually help? Our research shows the most powerful influences on children’s wellbeing begin at home.

Kylie Message, Australian National University More than half of Australia’s universities dropped in global rankings this week. Individual results always bounce around. But this drop, via the Centre for World University Rankings, suggests the decline of Australia’s standing in many global rankings systems is more than a blip.

Linda J. Graham, Queensland University of Technology and Callula Killingly, Queensland University of Technology New data shows 27.2% of Australian students are receiving an adjustment for disability at school. This is up from 25.7% in 2024 and 18% in 2015. An educational adjustment helps students participate on the same basis as their peers without a disability. Adjustments can include a wide range of measures, such as allowing rest breaks or noise-cancelling headphones.

Brendon Hyndman, Charles Sturt University and Vaughan Cruickshank, University of Tasmania For Year 12 students, final exams are getting closer and applications for university and other courses are opening. So naturally, conversations at home and with wider family and friends are turning to what’s going to happen next year. Some young people will not have an answer yet when asked, “what are you doing next year?” This can really worry parents.

Linda J. Graham, Queensland University of Technology and Callula Killingly, Queensland University of Technology New data shows 27.2% of Australian students are receiving an adjustment for disability at school. This is up from 25.7% in 2024 and 18% in 2015. An educational adjustment helps students participate on the same basis as their peers without a disability. Adjustments can include a wide range of measures, such as allowing rest breaks or noise-cancelling headphones.

Fotini Vasilopoulos, University of Sydney Pretend play is a significant and often magical part of childhood. Children have huge imaginations and use these to turn rocks into spaceships, tables into forts or pens into fairies. They might pretend to be “mum” or to “cook dinner”. Or they may invent their own characters, worlds and concepts that have no bearing on anything adults are able to come up with. The ability to pretend play generally first emerges at 15-18 months.

Ken Purnell, CQUniversity Australia This year, students at The King’s School in Sydney are starting lessons later on Wednesdays. The start of the usual day has been pushed back from 8.50am to 9.40am. This is to allow students to do self-directed learning at home or school before formal lessons begin. While the school hopes the move will build independence, later school times also better complement teenagers’ sleep patterns.

Nathalie André, Université de Poitiers For decades, psychology and neuroscience have suggested that if humans and animals naturally try to make as little effort as possible, it is because putting in the effort is not enjoyable. Another possible interpretation: is that it’s not the actual effort that individuals avoid, it’s the effort wasted – effort that leads you nowhere or whose benefits do not justify putting in the effort.

Lucía B Palmero Jara, Universitat de València; Eva Mª Rosa Martínez, Universitat de València; Javier Roca, Universitat de València; Marina Pi-Ruano, Universitat de València, and Pilar Tejero Gimeno, Universitat de València While some of us enjoy curling up with a good book, others prefer watching a series or playing videogames. But from the perspective of neuroscience, reading is much more than just entertainment. This is especially true for children and teenagers.

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 million chatbot characters. Many of the users creating those characters were young people – until they weren’t.