Boarding Schools for Girls

Cyberbullying is becoming a serious issue among teenagers -- girls as well as boys. More than one case of cyberbullying has ended with the bullied teen taking his or her own life. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center wants to help kids get help when they are being bullied.

In the U.K., Facebook is launching easy access to a mini-application for teens who believe they are being subjected to cyber-bullying. The button connects the user to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP), a semi-governmental organization in the U.K. [Source: News Factor]

Once they’re on the CEOP web site, they can answer a few questions aimed at helping them determine if their situation is serious enough to require intervention. Industry analysts believe it’s just a matter of time before a similar feature is made available on the U.S. version of Facebook.

Labels: cyber-bullying, online, internet

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Though films, television shows, online sources and other media may give the impression that teen sexual activity is commonplace, research paints a different picture.

• Most teenagers are already abstaining from sex, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control.
• Fifty-eight percent of never-married teenage girls and 57 percent of never-married teenage boys have never had sex, according to the latest CDC figures (from 2008).
• Seventy-six percent of the girls, and 80 percent of the boys, told surveyors that they had not had sex within the last 30 days.

In 1988, the percentage of teens with sexual experience peaked at 51percent, and has been declining ever since.
 

Labels: sex

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Summer jobs offer many benefits for teens -- but the workplace isn't without its risks. About one in four teens are sexually harassed at work, according to a study from the University of Southern Maine.

Professor Susan Fineran study of 515 people ages 13 to 18 years old who were working part-time during high school. None of them said they were sexually assaulted on the job. However, 25% have faced any of the 20 types of unwanted sexual behaviors, such as verbal harassment, sexist comments, and groping.

The Maine labor Commissioner plans to use the study to target the best training for employers, teenagers and their parents.
 

Labels: work, harassment

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The children who bully others online and their victims are both more likely to have physical and mental problems, according to a new study from Finland.

• Dr. Andre Sourander and his colleagues studied 2,215 teenagers ages 13 to 16 years old.
• About 5% were victims of online bullying, and 7.4% admitted to being cyberbullies.
• They tended to pick children their age to bully, and they tended to be boys.
• Sixteen percent of the girls had been bullied by boys, compared to 5% of boys bullied by girls. They also were more less likely than average to be living with both biological parents.

The bullies in the study had frequent headaches and felt unsafe at school. They had emotional difficulties, and problems getting along with other children and concentrating. They were more likely to have conduct problems, abuse alcohol and smoke, and to be hyperactive. What was interesting was that the victims had the same physical and mental health issues.

One problem with the rise of cyberbullying -- a prevalent form of harassment that is acute among girls as well as boys -- is that victims who used to feel safe at home now have a harder time escaping the reach of their tormentors.

The study appears in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
 

Labels: cyber-bullying, bullies, internet

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Young women who drink, smoke and use drugs may not only have a genetic tendency for substance abuse, but they also may have a genetic tendency to choose friends who also abuse substances. These friends in turn reinforce their habits, according to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis.

Professor Arpana Agrawal and her colleagues studied 2000 female twins. By comparing identical and fraternal twins, they found that selection of friends had a genetic basis, and that some young women also have a genetic predisposition toward drug abuse.

"Nature and nurture do not just combine to produce a woman who drinks, smokes or uses drugs -nurture can also increase the effect of nature," said Dr. Agrawal.

The study appeared in the journal Addiction.
 

Labels: friendships, alcohol

Posted By: Boarding Schools for Girls 0 Comments

Parents are increasingly worried about the phenomenon of cyberbullying, and according to a New York Times report, some are asking school officials to help curtail the problem.

Cyberbullying can begin as early as fourth grade, and becomes more sophisticated as children grow older.

Although 44 states have passed laws about cyberbullying, these statutes often do not spell out what schools' responsibilities are, and most schools do not have cyberbullying guidelines in their codes of conducts.

Some principals are willing to talk to the bullies; others are advising parents of victims to go to police.
 

Labels: cyber-bullying, bullying

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

An annual survey of teenagers found that girls are drinking more alcohol than boys, but they are less likely to use drugs. However, that too might be changing because the survey also indicated that girls are taking an increasingly more tolerant attitude toward drug use.

• MetLife Foundation and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America surveyed 3,300 teenagers in private, public and parochial schools in 2008 and again in 2009.
• The percent of girls who agreed with the statement, "Drugs help you forget your troubles," increased from 40% to 53% in one year.
• Only 33% of the girls said they do not want to "hang out" with drug abusers, compared to 38% in 2008.

Girls were more likely to associate drugs and alcohol as ways to deal with stress.

"Girls tend to be more internalizers with issues that are happening. It makes sense that if they have some stress in things that they are dealing with, they are going to take care of themselves instead of reaching out," said Dr. Leslie Walker, director of adolescent medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital.

Other experts point to changes in the culture.

"Women previously had more constrained roles in terms of the propriety of indulging in behaviors such as public intoxication and the like," said Dr. Marc Galanter, director of the division of alcoholism and drug abuse at New York University Langone Medical Center. "Now with women in the workforce and becoming more liberated, they are not so constrained."

The survey indicated that girls may be catching up with boys in terms of drug and alcohol use, because the boys' use is declining as the girls' use is increasing.
 

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European girls are entering puberty at younger ages, according to a new study from Denmark.

The study of 1,000 girls found that they began menstrual period at age 9 years and 10 months, an entire year earlier than 1991, when a similar study was conducted. Girls in the 19th century hit puberty at about age 15.

While some see this as a positive sign that nutrition has improved, others find the trend worries some, because hitting puberty early means longer exposure to estrogen, a factor in breast cancer. These girls are also at greater risk for heart disease.

"If girls mature early, they run into teenage problems at an early age, and they are more prone to diseases later on," said Dr. Anders Juul, of the Department of Growth and Reproduction at the University Hospital in Copenhagen. "We should be worried about this regardless of what we think the underlying reasons might be. It is a clear sign that something is affecting our children, whether it is junk food, environmental chemicals or a lack of physical activity."

Previous studies have identified childhood obesity as a risk factor for early puberty.
 

Labels: health, puberty

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Worried that your daughter is watching too much TV? The solution may be closer than you think.

Children will watch less television if they and their parents agree to limit it, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics:

• Dr. Susan Carlson, of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control, surveyed 5685 homes.
• The researchers asked parents and their children and television rules and how much time they spent watching it. n.
• About 27 percent of survey recipients watched more than two hours a day, a limit set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• This group tended to be male, African-American, and from low income families. 
• Children in the study tended to watch within limits set by their parents.

Experts have noted that excessive time in front of television sets and computer monitors has been associated with a range of problems among children and teens. The good news is that there are a range of effective ways parents can limit their children's screen time.

Labels: parenting, technology, television

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Girls who are allowed to drink soda at age 5 become teenagers who have unhealthy diets, according to a new study from Pennsylvania State University.

• Dr. Laura Fiorito and her colleagues followed 170 girls for ten years.
• Those who were allowed to have soda at age five showed much lower intake of fiber protein, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium magnesium, phosphorus and potassium throughout the ten-year study than those not allowed to have soda at age five.
• All the girls in the study had inadequate levels of recommended nutrients as teenagers.
• By age 15, nearly all were drinking soda, although the "early soda drinkers" were drinking twice as much.

"We think that the patterns develop when they are younger," Dr. Fiorito said. "Some studies show that children are already drinking soda or carbonated beverages by age two."

The study appears in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
 

Labels: teenagers, nutrition, children

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