KANGAROO MINDS

Whether you use social media for advocacy, dispelling myths, or even posting some great selfies, developing an online presence can open a world of support from others around the globe. However, because everyone is entitled to an opinion, it can also result in messy debates depending on what you decide to share, or even better, what you decide to ‘Cancel’. In recent years, social media, online communities and platforms have made sure no one is a stranger to ‘cancel culture’. N

Given that there are approximately 6 billion emojis, emoticons or stickers flying around the world every day in our conversations and through the apps we use, it is no surprise that the emoji has made its way to appearing almost everywhere we look, be it in dictionaries, chats, workplace emails or even presidential campaigns! The term ‘emoji’ comes from the Japanese word which literally means “picture word” (e = picture and moji = word). Emojis are those small icons - the smi

A compulsive need to know. The fear of missing out (FOMO). The fear of hate comments. The counting of likes. Mindlessness or numbing out. The freedom to say hateful things under cover of anonymity. Just like all other things, too much of social media can also be bad for us. While many of us enjoy staying connected and keeping up with the world on social media, excessive use can often fuel feelings of anxiety, depression, isolation, inadequacy, and FOMO. We humans are social b

We’ve all grown up on the age-old adage, ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’, but how often have we tried to apply this to the various realms of life? How often do we question the apparent happy realities to scrape beneath the surface? The same idea applies to the concept of Family businesses - we look on the outside and see those magazine covers, press interviews, those tall and progressive claims, picture-perfect smiles in photoshoots it is easy to be caught up and believe t

Have you ever seen someone getting beaten up? Have you ever seen someone get harassed, ridiculed, ‘punked’, or humiliated? Of course you have! We’ve all seen it! At some point in our lives, we’ve witnessed bullying. For some of us, we’re the victims themselves. If you’re a human being, you’ve probably committed an act of hostility or aggression at some point in your life. That doesn’t make you a bully. Bullying may be defined as any hostile act which annoys, intimidates, coer

There’s a lot of information out there dedicated to protecting our kids from bullying and enforcing policies to ensure it doesn’t happen, but the real key to stopping this problem is understanding it. Bullies are definitely people like the rest of us, so what’s so different about them that their social skills are so drastically different? Bullies do not fit into a neat little box. They come from all walks of lives, all ages, all genders, all races, and all cultures. When we u

Bullying can affect everyone - those who are bullied, those who bully, and those who witness bullying. There is plenty of research which suggests that bullying is linked to many negative outcomes including impacts on mental health, substance use, self harm and even suicide. Bullying creates a culture of fear and has a negative impact on everyone involved. Being bullied can seriously affect a person’s physical, emotional, academic and social well-being. Many sufferers of bully

Once a troll, forever a troll? Or is it possible to break out of this vicious habit? When behind the computer screen, it’s easy for people to engage in behaviours they would never do in real life. The anonymity of the Internet offers a shield because of which some people feel as if they can be aggressive, and in some cases abusive, toward others because they don’t feel as though they are hurting a real person. One strange thing about the Internet is that while we are incredib

Imagine that a stranger yelled a cruel insult at you in the middle of the food court... Your first thoughts are most likely to be, “What kind of person does that? What is their problem?” - Those who are victims of online trolling experience the same bewilderment and astonishment, as do the rest of us when we witness someone being viciously attacked online. The relationship between an troll and their target is one of the most toxic relationships online. Trolls roam the interne

Ever wonder what leads someone to attack others on social media? Why do some people hurt others? How does the Internet become the perfect platform for negative and malicious people? “Just don’t look at the comments” - how many times have we heard this phrase while posting our opinion on Social Media? What is that which resides in the world of the comment section which we are told to avoid? Therein often lies the internet's dark side - the one that reeks of venomously upbrough