Troubled Girls Rebuild Their Lives

Cassandra Watson recently celebrated her graduation. Instead of bidding farewell to high school friends, she said good-bye to a life of drug abuse, homelessness, and prostitution. Cassandra was one of seven girls to be the first graduates from a program called Wraparound.

"The intensive, four-month Wraparound program targets girls ages 12 to 18 from Wilmington to Dover who either are transitioning out of the state's Grace Cottage detention facility or being diverted from incarceration. Services aim to 'wrap around' the girls with a support team of key people in their lives, to help them return to their homes and prevent further involvement with the law by improving self-esteem and family relationships."

Parents and guardians are also involved in the program, and counselors help them rebuild healthy support systems.

Read more at DelawareOnline.com.

Teen Girls Inundated with Sex Signals

According to Josie Weiss, assistant professor of nursing at Florida Atlantic's Treasure Coast campus, teenage girls are inundated with so many sexual messages that they think sex is commonplace among people their age. Weiss interviewed 20 girls who were living in a residential intervention program for at-risk teens.

"The teens had all been sexually active, and many had unplanned and unprotected sex. While they said their parents and teachers encouraged them to make responsible sexual choices, the sexually explicit messages were more powerful in shaping their attitudes."

Though Weiss' study may not contain any new information, it's an important reminder of the effects media and music can have on young people. It also reinforces the importance of monitoring what teens are watching and hearing. Read more at Courant.com.

Copper Canyon boarding schools for troubled girls offers therapy for girls who have engaged in risky behaviors. Learn more about their therapeutic program and how they help girls and their families >>

Twenty Percent of Teenage Girls Suffer Date Abuse

Violence in teen relationships is more common than many would like to believe. According to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, approximately one in five female high school students reported being abused physically, sexually or both by a dating partner.

"Numerous studies show that abuse in teen dating relationships is common and even considered normal by many young people. The problem exists across lines of race, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation and disability in urban, suburban, and rural communities, according to the resource center."

If your teen, or teens that you know, are dating, there are signs to look for which may indicate the relationship is abusive. Sudden isolation, changes in mood or personality, and changes in school attendance and performance are just some of the indicators. Read more at EACourier.com.

Preadolescent Weight Surge in Girls

If your child is starting to look a little chunky at nine years old, it's time to seek the help of her doctor to address the issue - before it's too late. According to recent research reported in the Journal of Pediatrics, new onset of overweight between the ages of 9 and 12 is likely to follow girls into adulthood, leading to a risk for high blood pressure and other heart problems.

The first step is to ask her doctor to determine if she is overweight. Then, focus on small changes to work toward a lifestyle of healthy eating and frequent physical activity.

Teens with Mental Disorders at Risk for Sexual Acting Out

If doctors and mental health professionals used a screening tool called the adolescent risk inventory (ARI), they could easily identify teens at risk for self-destructive behaviors, a new study indicates.

Researchers at Brown University administered the ARI to 134 teenagers with psychiatric disorders. The ARI has questions about sexual history, self-harm habits such as cutting, and attitudes about anger and acting out. They found that teens seen for mental health issues also have behavior risk issues that are neglected during routine exams.

Dr. Celia Lescano, author of the study, said there were intriguing relationships between emotional distress and high-risk sexual behavior. Teens who had suicidal thoughts and self-cutting habits were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors.

This study appears in Child Psychiatry and Human Development.

Adolescent Girls More Likely to Abuse Prescription Drugs

Boys use street drugs because they want to get high, but girls are more likely to abuse prescription drugs because they want to cope with problems or lose weight.

A new analysis of data by government researchers shows that teenage boys used substances like marijuana and cocaine at higher rates than girls. However, nearly one in ten adolescent girls reported using a prescription drug at least once in the past year compared to one in 13 of the boys.

Girls accounted for 55% of emergency room visits involving prescription drug abuse and for the majority (56%) of those treated for dependence on sedatives and antidepressants.

John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy, said that the study indicates that girls use drugs and alcohol to increase confidence, reduce tension, cope with problems, and to lose weight. However, boys typically abuse drugs and alcohol for "sensation-seeking" purposes.

The teenage girls at Copper Canyon Academy residential boarding schools for troubled girls participate in an extremely comprehensive therapeutic program to help them with a variety of issues included alcohol and substance abuse. Visit Copper Canyon Academy to learn more.

Sexual Harassment by Co-Workers Common Among Working Teens

Teens who take summer jobs are more likely to be subject to sexual harassment than older workers, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Inexperience, youth and low status on the job puts teens more at risk, and yet they are less likely to report incidents.

In fact, many parents file sexual harassment complaints with the EEOC in behalf of their teens. Last year complaints ranged from lewd comments to actual assaults by co-workers, employers and customers. About half the complaints were about co-workers. Females reported that other employees bit them, watched them change clothes, lifted up their skirts, etc.

About seven million teenagers are in the workforce.

Getting Rid of Guns in the Home could Prevent Teen Suicides

Those states with the most guns also have more suicides, according to a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health. The same report also indicates that removing guns from homes where adolescents live could have an impact on preventing suicides among teenagers.

Dr. Matthew Miller and his team analyzed data from the Center of Disease Control collected in 2001. At that time, about one-third of all American households had guns. Dr. Miller calculated the relationship between gun ownership and suicide and found that twice as many people killed themselves in the fifteen states with the highest level of gun ownership. He took out risk factors such as poverty, urbanization, chemical abuse, unemployment and mental illness when he made his calculations.

"Removing firearms may be especially effective in reducing the risk of suicide among adolescents and other potentially impulsive members of a home," Dr. Miller wrote in the April issue of the Journal of Trauma.

Congressional Study Indicates Abstinent-Only Programs Don’t Work

A study commissioned by Congress found that students who took part in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not. They also started sex at about the same age (14.9 years) and had about the same number of partners as those who did not attend such classes.

The study by Mathematica Policy Research Inc. polled over 2000 students from both urban and rural areas who attended one of four sexual abstinence programs in 1999 and a control group who had no such classes. The average age of the students was 12 years old. Then Mathematica did a follow-up survey in 2006 and found that half of the abstinence program students and half from the control remained abstinent. The researchers also found that the programs had no effect on the use of condoms.

The federal government spends over $176 million every year on abstinence-until-marriage programs.

Girls Who Mature Early More Likely to Have Sex & Do Drugs

Girls who mature early and who have romantic partners at least two years older are at higher risk for sex and drug use, according to a new study performed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Researchers analyzed data from 4000 adolescents under age 14 years who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The girls who matured earlier than their peers and who had older romantic partners were more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as sexual intercourse and substance abuse. There were not enough boys with older partners to include in the study.

Professor Carolyn Halpern said that while "parents of all teenagers have a responsibility for talking to their children and guiding them through romantic relationships and the risks of drug use... parents of girls who reach puberty ahead of their peers and who have an older boyfriend should take special interest."

This study appears in the March 2007 issue of Prevention Science.

Study Suggests More Screening For Dating Violence Needed

A new study from Brown University Medical School suggests that child and adolescent psychiatrists should screen for dating violence as a way to help victims recover and to treat perpetrators.

Dating violence is very common among teenagers. One-half of child and adolescent psychiatrists reported cases of it last year. Research indicates that about one in four female adolescents experience physical and/or sexual violence from a dating partner every year. Yet only 21 percent of psychiatrists actually screen for it.

"Screening is the first step in identification, diagnosis and proper treatment,"said Dr. Larry K. Brown, lead author of the study. "Screening will lead to a reduction in further dating violence and proper treatments."

This study appears in the April issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Almost Half of College-Aged Women At Risk for Sexually-Transmitted Cancer

Forty-five percent of American women ages 20 to 24 years carry a sexually transmitted virus that leads to cervical cancer, according to a new study by the Center for Disease Control. The CDC recommends that all girls and women ages nine to 26 years receive a new vaccine that protects against two virus strains that cause 70% of all cervical cancer cases.

Dr. Eileen Dunne, lead author of the study, said that about 20 million Americans have some form of human papillomavirus (HPV). This percentage translates to 27% of all American women. The new CDC study found HPV is most common in the youngest female group surveyed: ages 14 to 24 year-olds.

Merck Pharmaceutical Company's new vaccine, Gardasil, was approved in June 2006. Some states including Texas are making the vaccine available through public health services and schools.

The CDC study appears in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association.

Psychologists Say Sexy Media Images Of Women Lowers Girls' Self-Esteem

A new report from the American Psychological Association concludes that the "Sexualization of Girls" is harmful to their mental health. The authors write that media images depicting women and girls only as sex objects contribute to eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, and lower cognitive functioning.

The 72-page report cites images of "barely legal" women such as Brooke Shields in the Calvin Klein jeans ads, the half-naked girls in the Abercrombie and Fitch catalog, Christina Aguilera Skechers ads, and Paris Hilton hamburger commercials.

"Such images are so pervasive that all of us begin to think they are normal," said Deborah Toman, director of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality at San Francisco State University and a member of the task force.

The task force found that images in all forms of media, including television, movies, magazines, music videos, video games, music lyrics, and the Internet portray women as sex objects. Even the depiction of women athletes is sexualized. The task force encourages adults to teach girls to understand the negative effects of these images and to offset them by positive examples of female strength and intelligence.

"The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls' healthy development," says Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, chair of the APA Task Force. "We have ample evidence to conclude that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and healthy sexual development."

Read the study at the APA website.

What Is Copper Canyon Academy?

Some of our readers may be parents whose daughters attend Copper Canyon Academy, but because we intend to put up posts that will be helpful to all parents, you may just be someone who has a teen daughter and is looking for some insight into her behavior. For those visitors, here is a brief "About Us" so you understand our perspective on the Copper Canyon blog.

Copper Canyon Academy is a therapeutic boarding school for girls. We are very much like a traditional boarding school in terms of the environment. We have beautiful dormitories and a great campus. We pride ourselves on the academic progress teen girls make at Copper Canyon, as many of these girls were struggling in school previously. The school is located in Arizona and has both high school and middle school campuses.

We offer some unique therapeutic programs at Copper Canyon, including an equine / horse program. This type of therapy is known as equine-assisted or animal-assisted therapy. This program is particularly great for girls who do not respond well to "talk" therapy.

Soon we will be posting some of the great stories happening at Copper Canyon Academy, such as the fact our girls' basketball team took fourth in the state and one of our students was named to the all-state team!

We will also let you know about events the girls are participating in, such as their work with the U.S. Forest Service to maintain trails in the forest around our community.

Thank you for dropping by!

Copper Canyon Academy Blog

We are pleased to offer this as a place to find stories about Copper Canyon Academy as well as tips for parents and news that is relevant to anyone who works with teens.