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News & Views - Jan, 2000 Issue #65
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ASTHMA INCREASING
(1995) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that, between 1982 and 1992, asthma increased 52 percent for
persons between the ages of five and 34 years old, and deaths from asthma increased 42 per cent.
BOOT CAMPS LOSE LUSTER
(November, 1999) Youth Today, The monthly “newspaper on youth work,” published in Washington D.C., 202-785-0764, in their cover story,
focuses on boot camp results as being high cost with low impact. David Allschuler, at Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies is
quoted as saying “I think the fad is over” and Barry Holman, director of research and public policy for the National Center for Institutions
and Alternatives is quoted as saying “The screaming doesn’t work and never has worked.”
MANSLAUGHTER & CHILD ABUSE CHARGES
(November 17, 1999) The ArgusLeader online version newspaper, printed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota reported the filing of five counts
of manslaughter and four counts of child abuse against staff of a boot camp for juvenile offenders near Plankinton, South Dakota run
under the authority of the South Dakota Department of Corrections.
TV SURVEY
(November 29, 1999) Newsweek reported the results of their survey: 65% of children 8 and older have a TV in their bedroom; the TV
is usually on at mealtime, and 61% report their parents have no rules about TV watching.
DRUG CONVICTIONS CAN COST FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID
(November 30, 1999) IECA member Lora Block, CEP, Bennington, Vermont, 802-447-0776, raised concerns that new Department of Education
regulations, based on recent federal legislation, might prevent students from getting federal financial aid if they have drug convictions.
ASPEN YOUTH SERVICES AWARDS
(December 3, 1999) Elliot Sainer, President of Aspen Youth Services, 562-467-5500, announced the Academy at Swift River won the Aspen
Youth Services President’s 1999 Award for outstanding achievement in creating and implementing an innovative educational and therapeutic
curriculum, and that Ruth Moore, Senior Director for Special Education Services Business Development won the 1999 Superstar Award
for her outstanding performance in working with Aspen’s five special education day schools.
STUDY LINKS TEEN SEX TO DRUG USE
(December 7, 1999) Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University released
a report based on nationwide data of more than 34,000 teen-agers. Overall, the report found 63 percent of teen-agers who use alcohol
have had sex, compared with 26 percent of teens who don’t drink. Also, about 72 percent of teens who use drugs have had sex compared
with 36 percent of those who don’t use drugs. Califano pointed out that while it is clear there is a linkage, there is as of yet no
way to tell which comes first. In comparing a study done in 1970 to the statistics for 1997, the percentage of 15-year-old girls who
had sex had risen from less than 5 percent to 38 percent. The increase for boys over the same time period was from 20 percent to 48
percent.
CONGRESS ADOPTS SMALL HIGH SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY
(December 12, 1999) According to an Associated Press story, in the end of the year budget by Congress, $45 million was set aside “for
school districts to create programs and make physical changes at large high schools so students attending them have a more intimate
experience.” This is one of the Congressional reactions to the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, and the program’s
sponsor, Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., stated “Smaller is better,” and that smaller spaces “create this feeling that kids know their teachers…
and that they feel connected again.” Mike Cohen, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the Education Department
speaking about the new program stated, “…it can help them [educators] think why it’s important to create smaller high schools.”
Copyright © 2000, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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