Counsellors Corner 

Social Media and Teen Mental Health

What Parents Need to Know

• Why Social Media Is So Hard for Teens (and Adults) to Put Down
• Why Teens Are Especially Vulnerable to Social Media
• How Social Media Impacts Teenage Mental Health
• Body image, comparison, and the Filter Effect
• The loneliness beneath the "Connection"
• What parents can actually do about social media and teenage mental health
• Start with Connection (and honesty), not control 
• Help teens rebuild what social media has replaced
• Think long-term: self-regulation over policing 

Watch the video: Social Media And Teen Mental Health - What Parents Need To Know

Does Handwriting Improve Memory and Learning?

Professor of Psychology, Dr. Shoaib Ahmed at Dow University of Medical Sciences explains that our brain has two parts that perform different functions. The left hemisphere controls bodily functions largely related to movement, while the right hemisphere is associated with creative abilities. He explained that when we type, it is more of a mechanical process. The brain does not pay attention to the structure or formation of letters and words because it knows that pressing a key will produce them; there is no need to shape them manually. 

However, when we write with a pen, the right side of the brain also becomes active, and the act of handwriting engages both hemispheres together. Dr. Shoaib further explained that when we write on paper by hand, the writing is not only being inscribed on paper but also being imprinted in our memory. 

This is why students who prepare notes by hand tend to remember them better than those who type them. He says that when you write by hand, the part of the brain associated with creativity is also involved. That part pays attention to the structure of words. When you focus on something, it is transferred into our memory. (Further research is needed).