Heather du Plessis-Allan: There's a strong case for regulating social media for kids

I'm fascinated by the fact that around the world, there seems to be a growing acceptance from parents that we have got to limit kids’ access to social media.

There's a poll out of Australia today showing more than two thirds of voters over there support raising the minimum age of social media from 13 to 16.

And this comes off the back of the Australian Government and the UK Government and various states in the US all trying to figure out how to force the social media companies to stick to the rules and make sure there are no under-13s using the platforms.

Alwyn Poole: The Mental Health of Our Children and Young People

It is to the shame of New Zealand’s adult community that news came out last week that in the last five years the number of anti-depressants issued to children and teens has increased by 53 per cent.

My memory of the mental health situation for children and young people five years ago was that it was not that things were utopian. It looks like the disappearing $1.9 billion for mental health is still on the way to being a solution.

Life is always difficult for someone, somewhere and every human being will have their share of that. Tragedies happen: sometimes deliberate or caused by the negligence of others, sometimes through sheer accident or illness. People get hurt in relationships or do the hurting.