Illinois Teens Tell Teachers They Want Better Sex Ed Curriculum

A Student Advisory Council in Illinois has suggested changes in the state's sex education curriculum. The students noted that the current curriculum, which emphasizes waiting to have sex until you are married, does not take into consideration the fact that half of all Illinois high school students are already sexually active.

The teens on the council recommended that schools have mandatory sex education classes that cover sexually transmitted diseases and birth control. They also advised teachers to use more up-to-date materials, such as YouTube videos and presentations by unwed teenage mothers.

Girls who become sexually active at a young age put themselves at increased risk for myriad health and emotional problems. But at a boarding school for girls such as Copper Canyon Academy, female students develop the self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-awareness that prepares them to resist pressures related to teen sex, teen substance abuse, and a wide range of other problematic behaviors.

Michigan Girls Celebrate Successes with 5K Run

More than 700 girls from the Traverse City, Michigan, area completed a 5K run May 22 as the culmination of a six-week program that was designed to build self-confidence and encourage emotional, social, mental, and physical development.

Girls on the Run is a unique program that brings healthy ideas and ways of living to girls based on specific goals with running the catalyst to learning lifelong lessons… The nationwide program, started in 1996 by four-time Hawaii Ironman triathlete Molly Barker, has set objectives to reduce the potential display of at-risk activity among its participants. (Source: Traverse City Record Eagle)

Local program coordinators and coaches have found that the Girls on the Run program helps reduce instances of depression, eating disorders, anxiety, and even suicide attempts among the girls who participate.

A number of experts have discovered that sports and other activities can help overcome girls' self-esteem issues and confidence problems, and can lead to greater success in the classroom as well as in many other areas of life.

Study Says Facebook Won't Ruin Students' Grades

Using the popular online social networking site Facebook does not cause students to have lower grades, according to a study from Northwestern University.

This study refutes a previous one from Ohio State University, which found that the grade point averages of Facebook-using college students were 0.5 points lower than were the GPAs of students who didn't use Facebook.

Northwestern Professor Eszter Hargittal studied 1,000 undergraduates from the University of Illinois, along with a broad cross-section of students ages 14 to 22 years old, and found no negative relationship between grades and Facebook.

"I suspect that basic Facebook use -- what these studies measure -- simply does not have generalized consequences for grades," Prof. Hargittal said.

Millions of teens, young adults, and adults have flocked to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter in recent years. Though the Northwester study indicates that regular use of these sites won't impair students' academic progress, many experts continue to advise parents to monitor their children's computer use to ensure that they are not showing symptoms of computer or video game addiction.

Finnish Study Finds High Burnout Rate Among Girls in Upper Secondary Schools

After evaluating 1,800 young people, researchers with the Academy of Finland's Centre of Excellence in Learning and Motivation Research have concluded that high-achieving older girls are at increased risk for suffering from burnout. According to a May 14 article on the ScienceDaily medical news website, school burnout is "a chronic school-related stress syndrome which manifests as exhaustion, cynicism about school and feelings of inadequacy."

Success-oriented female upper secondary school pupils are at the greatest risk: Up to 20 percent of them suffer from school burnout. Burnout is a phenomenon to be taken seriously, as it can lead to depression. The study focused particularly on students' trajectories to well-being or problems during transitional stages in their education.

"Transitions from one stage of education to the next have an impact on the well-being of young people and they need support during these life stages. A healthy level of self-esteem is a protective factor," [Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro of the University of Jyvaskyla, who is in charge of the research] says.

At Copper Canyon Academy, the school's comprehensive therapy program for girls is designed to help students avoid burnout, overcome problems such academic frustration and feelings of inadequacy, and work toward a brighter and more hopeful future.

Tips for Staying Close to Your Daughter

During the teenage years, while your child is exerting her independence, she still needs you to stay close. Not too close, but close enough to influence, to guide, and to support. Writer Debra Kent expounded on this topic in an article that appeared on the Good Housekeeping website:

"Strengthening your relationship with your teen during her adolescence should be your top priority," says family therapist Carleton Kendrick, author of Take Out Your Nose Ring, Honey, We’re Going to Grandma's. "It's your best chance to forge a lifelong relationship anchored in love and respect. That’s the payoff most parents are after."

Rather than trying to create moments together, take advantage of the time you’re already together, Kent advised. Potential "bonding moments," she explained, include while you're making dinner together, when you're together in the car, or during volunteer activities. Also, having a shared task or goal can make conversation flow more naturally, because the focus won't be solely on the conversation.

Effective parent-child communication has been cited as one of the most important positive influences on a teenager's life, and can reduce the risk that your child will become involved in a range of unhealthy teen behaviors.

Improved Communication Skills May Reduce Teen Pregnancies

A study conducted by the PARIS Foundation has found that teen pregnancy rates can be significantly reduced if teenagers are taught basic communication skills like conflict resolution.

The PARIS foundation study involved delivering brief classes on communication skills, emotional understanding, and healthy conflict resolution to teenage girls in Miami-Dade County over a five-week period. Four months later, PARIS assessed student improvements in areas previous research has identified as critical to preventing teen pregnancies. (Source: PRWeb)

The following areas had been identified by researchers as critical to preventing teen pregnancy:

• The ability to say "no" to unwanted sexual advances
• The ability to talk with parents or guardians about sex
• The ability to talk to significant others about sexual issues
• The likelihood of insisting on birth control.

Communication in these areas was improved by at least 50 percent, and some by as much as 86 percent, among the students who participated in the PARIS study. Improved communication skills, enhanced self-esteem, and increased self-confidence are among the core skills that are taught at many private therapeutic boarding schools for girls.

Teen Girls Sinking Under Pressure to be Perfect

Today, many girls feel that they aren't expected be one thing, they're expected to be everything. They are student body presidents, captains of their sports teams, and homecoming queens ... all at the same time. But the high achievement comes with a high price:

Teen suicide, depression, cutting and eating disorder rates are soaring. In 2004-05 suicide rates jumped 76 percent for tweens and 32 percent for teenage girls ages 15-18, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And some experts say the troubling mental health statistics have much to do with the crushing burden society puts on teenage girls. [Source: Alameda Times-Star]

While girls are responding to extrinsically motivated pressures, the teenage years are supposed to be a time of exploration and self-discovery, and for psychological and emotional development. Self-exploration can't happen in a perfectionist environment.

Parents need to advocate for their daughters and encourage healthy discovery through activities -- but they need to make sure that their daughters aren't being exposed to the stresses and pressures that can lead to teen depression, teen substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, and a range of other unhealthy teen conditions and behaviors.

Columnist Praises Benefits of Equine Therapy

A May 13 column on the website of the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal describes the many ways that young people (especially girls) can benefit from working with horses in a summer camp or similarly well supervised environment:

One of the best features, from a parent's perspective, is the fact that the campers will do barn chores and care for the horses, as well. ...

This well-rounded experience teaches them responsibility. Riding improves children's balance and coordination and as they progress in their skills, their confidence improves too. In addition to learning respect and care for an animal, patience is required as well.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of attending a camp like this is the friends (two-legged type) who kids will meet. Pam believes -- and research shows -- that teens (particularly girls) who get involved with horses tend to stay out of trouble. And for troubled teens, horses can offer life-changing opportunities.

In 2008, a Copper Canyon Academy counselor documented the many benefits of equine therapy with a study of students who did and did not participate in Copper Canyon's renowned equine therapy program.

Lawyer Tells Parents to Educate Selves About Prevalence, Effects of Teen Sex

In a commentary that appeared in the May 8 edition of the Heber Springs, Ark., newspaperThe Sun Times, attorney Richard Mays called on parents to educate themselves about the prevalence of teen sex -- and to use that education to help their children make healthy decisions:

Estimates are that 750,000 American girls ranging in age from 15 to 19 will likely become pregnant this year. Of those, about 567,000 births are the result of pregnancies that the women themselves say they did not want at the time of conception or in the future. ...

Nationally, 32 percent of ninth graders are having sex, and that percentage increases by ten percent each year, so that 62 percent of high school seniors are sexually active. While teen sex declined from 54 percent to 47.8 percent overall between 1991 and 2007, it increased three percent from 2005 to 2006.

"Eight out of 10 fathers don’t marry the teen mother of their child, and daughters of teenage mothers are more likely to become teen mothers themselves," Mays wrote. "Teen pregnancies are more likely to result in premature births and low-birth-weight babies. Babies with a low birth weight are more likely to have [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] and are less likely to graduate from high school."

Teen sex has been associated with a wide range of health and emotional problems among U.S. youth.

Int'l Group Helps Girls Run Toward Brighter Tomorrow

An international nonprofit organization is attempting to improve the quality of girls' lives (and boost their self-esteem) with a program that will prepare them to run a 5K race. According to the Girls on the Run website, the program is about much more than athletic achievement:

Girls on the Run is a life-changing, experiential learning program for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the programs are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual, and physical development.

The Girls on the Run objective is to reduce the potential display of at-risk activities among its participants. The goal is fewer adolescent pregnancies and eating disorders, less depression and suicide attempts, as well as fewer substance/alcohol abuse problems and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.

Participants in the program complete 24 sessions in 12 weeks, then complete a 5K race to celebrate the completion of the program and the development of important new skills.

Docs Say Teens Need Comprehensive Sex Ed

For the second year in a row, the number of U.S. adolescents having babies has increased. In response, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has reiterated its belief that teenagers need comprehensive, accurate sex education:

"ACOG supports comprehensive sex education that provides scientifically accurate information about sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), contraception, and preventive health care; promotes abstinence from sexual intercourse for adolescents; aims to increase effective use of contraceptives, including latex condoms, by sexually active adolescents; and involves the teen’s parent or guardian."(Source: Medical News Today)

The United States still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy of any industrialized nation. Births to adolescents had been declining until 2005, but have been steadily increasing since.

Teen sex has been associated with a wide range of troubling behaviors and outcomes, including substance abuse, yet statistics show that efforts to curtail the prevalence of teen sex have not been as effective as hoped for in recent years.

Colorado Parents Warn Others about Dangers of Choking Game

The parents of a Colorado teen who died while playing "the choking game" have begun an effort to warn others about the dangers of the risky-yet-popular behavior.

Michelle Rivera, whose 16-year-old daughter, Samantha, died in July 2008 after choking herself, has started the "Remember 2 Breathe" campaign in order to raise awareness among other parents about the potentially deadly activity their kids may be taking part in.

According to a May 1, 2009, article by Colorado Connection writer Danielle Leigh, the choking game (which is also referred to as the pass-out game, airplaning, the American dream and blackout) is "played" by teens who choke themselves or a friend in order to experience the brief high that results from oxygen deprivation and altered blood flow from the brain.

Leigh's article notes that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have identified 82 teens who have died as a result of the choking game, while the nonprofit anti-choking group Games Adolescents Shouldn't Play (G.A.S.P.), estimates the death toll exceeds 400 young people.

Signs that a young person has been playing the choking game include unexplained marks or bruises on the neck, bloodshot eyes or red spots on the face, disorientation or confusion after being alone, raspy breath and headaches, and an obsessive (and unexplainable) need for privacy.

Winslet Recalls Being Bullied, Encourages Healthy Body Image

In an interview that appears in the June issue of the British version of Marie Claire magazine, Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet recalled being harassed because of her weight during her student days, and emphasized that young women should not attempt to achieve the unrealistic standards of beauty that are promoted among the popular media:

It's well documented how she suffered throughout her childhood and into her teenage years for being overweight. "I was bullied for being chubby. Where are they now!" she half jokes. Her nickname was Blubber and the other pupils would lock her in the art cupboard. ...

One aspect of her personality she defiantly refuses to change is that of being an outspoken and unofficial advocate for real-sized women the world over. "I do think it's important for young women to know that magazine covers are retouched. People don't really look like that. In films I might look glamorous, but I've been in hair and make-up for two hours."

Winslet, who acknowledged to Marie Claire writer Harvey Marcus that she still sees herself as "the fat kid at school," is a strong advocate for promoting the acceptance of realistic body shapes among girls and women.

Several studies have documented a relationship between distorted body image and eating disorders among girls and young women.

Students' Facebook Use Linked to Less Studying, Lower Grades

A controversial study has found that college students who participate in the popular online social networking site Facebook are more likely to study less and get poorer grades than are peers who don't frequent the site.

Researchers Aryn Karpinski and Adam Duberstein surveyed 219 Ohio State University students, and found that students who kept up with their friends on Facebook studied ten hours less per week, and had grade point averages 0.5 points lower, than did students who were not on the social networking website.

Opponents of the study's conclusions claimed that the research was biased, because it did not take into account that using Facebook could simply be another way that procrastinators postpone doing their work.

Karpinski and Duberstein presented the study in San Diego at a meeting of the American Educational Research Association.