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News & Views - Mar, 2000 Issue #67
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TEENS WHO’VE LOST CONNECTION
(April 23, 1999) The Washingtonpost.com, in an article by Laura Sessions Stepp titled “Teens
Who’ve Lost Connection” reviews statements by numerous professionals concluding that there are about the same percentage of youths
curently alienated as there was in the past, but the disaffection goes deeper and lasts longer than past generations of youth. “When
the disengaged teens come to therapy today, they exhibit more serious problems at their very first visit. Many already are using drugs
heavily. While treatment used to be confined to months or maybe a year, many of today’s alienated youth stay in therapy for several
years.” Wayne Wooden in his book, Renegade Kids, Suburban Outlaws, says “Today’s group is full of gloom and doom, and nothing is worth
saving. Some have so internalized their bleakness that they strike out and back, using the very instruments of rage and power that
the broader culture is using.”
INSIDE THE TEEN BRAIN
(August 9, 1999) A U.S. News article by Shannon Brownlee, reviewing recent research on the development of teenagers’
brains, offers a possible explanation for moody and risky behavior in teens: teenagers’ brains are still undergoing major growth that
continue into their late 30s. In terms of development, a teen’s brain in many ways resembles that of a child more than that of an
adult.
TEACHERS WAGE GAP INCREASES
(Jan, 13, 2000) According to Education Week’s analyst of U. S. Census Bureau data, in 1998, Teachers with a master’s
degree earned an average of $42,156 while Non-teachers with master’s degrees earned $72,385, a gap that has been growing in the Education
field for years. A further analysis (p. 37) shows that nationally, the average teacher’s salary was $35,048, the average accountant
received $40,775, the average executive, $39,419, while the average engineer received $54,417. This suggests as in the economy at
large, technology might be the major driving force behind the professional salary levels with which educator’s salaries are being
compared.
ALTERNATIVE TEACHER CERTIFICATION
(Jan, 13, 2000) Lynn Olson, in “Taking a Different Road to Teaching,” EDUCATION WEEK, reports alternative routes to
teaching have become widely accepted, especially in New Jersey, California, and Texas, though still controversial nationwide. Studies
also found teachers arriving through alternative routes perform at least as well, if not better, on state licensing exams, as do traditional
graduates. Critics like Linda Darling-Hammond, use the term “educational malpractice” when such alternatives become merely “shortcuts
into the classroom.”
25 STATES CONSIDERING VOUCHER BILLS
(Jan. 31, 2000) Michael Janofsky in a New York Times article, “Parents Lead Way As States Debate School Vouchers,”
states over 25 state legislatures are considering bills to create some type of system for public dollars to be used for private and
parochial schools. Experts in public and private educational financing say support for school vouchers is growing rapidly, especially
in poor neighborhoods where more cities and states eventually will implement programs through legislation or statewide ballot initiatives.
CRIME TIMES ON INTERNET
(February, 2000) Crime Times, is a fairly new website publishing
articles and research regarding “evidence of the importance of the biological aspect of crime and violence….” They are currently publishing
Volume 5, No. 4, 1999 on the net; a brief review of the contents online describes research regarding ADHD, as well as aspects of violence
relating to teen behavior.
CHILD & ADOLESCENT BIPOLAR FOUNDATION
(February, 2000) A fairly new web page, www.bpkids.org, is, as
its name indicates, devoted to information regarding intervention and treatment for children with the bipolar disorder.
HORSES DON’T LIE
(Feb. 2000) A book by Chris Irwin titled Horses Don’t Lie:
The Magic of Horse Whispering is now available (800-505-7428). Linda Myers writes in the February issue of Equine Assisted Growth
and Learning Association about this book and its author known as Canada’s “horse whisperer.” Calling it “one of the best books available
on horse psychology, communication, and the horse-human relationship,” she states “I believe that what we learn from horses is becoming
a necessary stage of human evolution.”
GAP BETWEEN IDEAL AND ACTUAL SIZE OF WOMEN GROWS
(February 1, 2000) The Center for Change, Orem, Utah,
801-224-8255, info@centerforchange.com, a center devoted to eating disorders, featured
a newsleter article by Nicole Hawkins, Ph.D., stating the “discrepancy between the thin-ideal (i.e., 5’10”, 110 lbs) and the average
woman (i.e., 5’4”, 142 lbs) has increased.” Also, “Only 4% of women genetically have the ideal body image that is currently presented
in the media, the other 96% of women must go to extreme measures to try to reach this unobtainable image.”
DRUG AWARENESS PROGRAM FOR PARENTS
(February 7, 2000) Debbie Delp, Doylestown, Penn., 215-348-9298, announced her drug awareness program for parents,
called Don’t Be An Ostrich. Delp, a mother and nurse, also provides
these workshops: Parent In Crisis Support Series Curriculum, and a Recovering Teens Speak Out!
US JAIL POPULATION CONTINUES TO GROW
(Feburary 15, 2000) A BBC News article titled “Anger
grows at US Jail Population,” stated the US jail population is expected to reach 2 million on Feb. 15th; and though the US comprises
5% of the total world population, it accounts for 25% of the world’s prisoners. “About 1.3 million of the current jail population
have been imprisoned for non-violent crimes, usually drug offences.” “The annual bill for incarceration: almost $26 billion; about
50% more than the government’s entire spending for welfare and social security programs.” Jenny Gainsborough stated “Most of it is
due to longer jail sentences for drug offenders.”
TOTS ON DRUGS UP 50 PERCENT
(Feb. 27, 2000) A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported a survey of more than
200,000 preschool-age children revealed “The number of 2 to 4-year olds on psychiatric drugs including Ritalin and anti-depressants
like Prozac soared 50 percent between 1991 and 1995.” One reason presented by Julie Magno Zito, the lead author and an assistant professor
of pharmacy and medicine at the University of Maryland was with an increasing number of children attending day care, parents may feel
pressured “to have their children conform in their behavior.” Dr. Joseph T. Coyle of Harvard Medical School’s psychiatry department
sees a troubling trend “given that there is no empirical evidence to support psychotropic drug treatment in very young children and
that there are valid concerns that such treatment could have deleterious effects on the developing brain.”
YOUTH IMPRISONMENT DOUBLES
(Feb. 28, 2000) The Associated Press reported a Federal Justice Department study stating: “The number of criminals
under 18 serving time in adult prisons more than doubled between 1985 and 1997 as states steadily prosecuted more under-18 year olds
as adults.” It reported 3,400 young people incarcerated in 1985, with 7,400 “committed to adult prisons” in 1997, with “37% jailed
for robbery, 32% for murder and 13% for aggravated assault.” Only the “5% of all young offenders punished in this country serve sentences
in adult facilities.” A major reason presented for the increasing number of youth in adult prisons the state laws “that take away
their legal status as minors and make them more accountable.”
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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