Welcome. My name is Kerry Brown, and I am the School Counsellor standing in for Mrs Jarrett while she is on maternity leave.
I want to speak to you about issues that we tend to be reading about more and more and seeing in the news. The awareness that surrounds the topic of social media and the impact it is having on the younger generation. From the government trying to place a minimum age on owning smartphones, to the tragic death of 12-year-old Charlotte O’Brian, a Year 7 student who recently tragically took her own life in Sydney after facing bullying.
Did you know that you are able to check how many times you have picked up your Apple smartphone? Just simply go to; Settings>Screentime; All App and Website Activity.
Did you check to see how many times that you have picked up your phone so far today? Now I want you to have a quick think about your daughter and how much time she may probably spend on her mobile phone.
If you have not got it turned on, you can use the slider to switch it on so you can check it later.
If you have an Android device, you also can see how much data you have used in the day, but the android does not provide as much information, such as pick up’s, but it will give you a sense as to how much time your daughter spends on her device.
The Teenage Brain
I want to discuss the teenage brain and highlight not only the significance of educational timing but also the physiological changes occurring within their bodies. There are so many physiological changes that are occurring from the start of periods, growth, facial and body changes, and physical changes, and to extend this even more, I wanted to add in what is also occurring inside their brains.
Did you know that there are two periods in life where neural development is most important? No neither did I! The first one is during the first year of life and the second is during adolescence until early adulthood.
Even though the brain stops growing by early adolescence, the teen years are all about fine-tuning how the brain works. The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid to late 20’s. This part of the brain is known as the prefrontal cortex and this part of the brain is one of the last areas to mature.
This brain area is responsible for planning, prioritising, and decision making.
Changes to these areas of the brain are responsible for social processes and this causes teenagers to focus more on peer relationships, social groups, and experiences. This causes teens to have a great emphasis on peer relationships; engaging in more risk-taking behaviour, which can be seen as a positive thing to your teen due to the social benefits of engaging in these kinds of things, when it may not be the best decision for them to make.
The teen brain has a fantastic ability to adapt and respond to new experiences and situations. Engaging in challenging classes, exercising and engaging in creative exercises such as art or music can strengthen the neural connections in the brain and help it mature. This process is known as synaptic pruning.
As the teenage brain develops, teens can respond to stress differently than adults. This could increase their chances of developing stress-related mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Educating teenagers to recognise their triggers and to help them build better coping techniques can help them deal with stress better. Despite all the stresses and challenges that occur during adolescence, most teens develop to become healthy adults.
Another important thing is for teens to get adequate sleep. The sleep hormone melatonin works differently in teens than adults. During adolescence, melatonin levels stay high later at night and drop later in the morning. This may explain why teens stay up late and struggle to wake up early in the morning. Many teens do not get enough sleep, leading to reduced attention span, decreased impulse control, and lower school grades. Getting a good night’s sleep can significantly help to support their mental health. Teens go through so many significant changes that occur in the brain, along with the physical, emotional and social changes, and this can result in a risk of developing mental health problems.
The fact that all these changes happen at one time may explain why many mental illnesses - such as schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and eating disorders - begin to emerge during adolescence.
The latest research from 2023 indicates that suicide and self-harm are the third leading cause of death amongst 15–19-year-olds, and excessive time on devices can have a detrimental effect on teens health and wellbeing. The most addictive social media platforms are Tik-Tok, YouTube and Facebook. Did you know that they use Algorithms to direct content towards what the user is interested in, to keep them online longer?
A study conducted by the American Psychological Association in 2024 concluded that strong parental relationships and monitoring significantly cut the risk of mental health problems among teen social media users, even among those with significant screentime usage and that 60% of highest frequency social media users had low parental control and poor parental relationships.
So, what can we do to support our teens? There are a few things that we can do to help our teens grow safely in the online digital world. We as parents, need to learn to be adaptive and to grow with the everchanging digital advances that are developing rapidly.
Firstly, there is a program that can help parents, The triple P parenting program which is free for parents in Queensland. It has free courses on sleeping, screentime, anxiety, tantrums, staying connected with teens and more. It gives parents a toolbox of information and strategies to help them manage their challenges, and it provides you with information worksheets. It even has a specific teenage section, which has been designed to help parents better understand and create a better environment for your daughter's development.
Additionally, there are parental controls that you can use for your child’s device, this gives your child the sense of freedom that they need to grow and develop but at the same time it keeps them safe. Children thrive on routines, structure and boundaries, and naturally as they develop they will test boundaries as well. This is a normal developmental part of transitioning to a young adult.
The top eight parental control apps in Australia are Bark, Qustodio, Mspy, EYEZY, Net nanny, Boomerang and Family Keeper. Apps such as these provide custom times for browsing, apps, data usage, bedtimes and more.
These can also help with parents to open difficult conversations which would not happen organically with teens, as their desire for independence grows more during the years of adolescence. This will provide a safe platform for children’s brains to develop healthily.
The most important thing that we want is to be aware as a community and to keep children safe, by allowing them to safely explore and develop a sense of identity in the digital world, and by putting safety measures in place that will allow them to grow into independent and self-aware young adults.
Kerry Brown
School Counsellor
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