Father Greg and the Homeboys

What happens when we show gang members we care?

Most don’t know the real story of life in an inner-city neighborhood where two ethnicities with gangs abut and overlap. Tensions and violence spiral to a point where those caught up in gang activity for defense as well as revenge reach a “don’t care” attitude and way of life. 

The neighborhood described by this LA Times journalist, who was captivated by Fr. Gregory Boyle’s story, is Pico-Aliso Neighborhood of East LA, and the nationally acclaimed hero is a Jesuit priest who becomes a father-figure to all Latino youths willing to accept his help.

Read more about Father Greg and the book on him by Celeste Fremon here. 

Gay Teens: New Topic and Helpful Resources

'Coming Out' Isn't Easy.

A national study of homosexual teens done over Myspace and Facebook in 2009 by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of some 7,261 self-reported homosexual students between the ages of 13 and 21 found that:

• 88.9% of students heard “gay” used in a negative way (e.g., “that’s so gay”) frequently or often at school, and 86.5% reported that they felt distressed to some degree by this.

• 72.4% heard other homophobic remarks (e.g., “dyke” or “faggot”) frequently or often at school. 62.6% heard negative remarks about gender expression (not acting “masculine enough” or “feminine enough”) frequently or often at school.

• 61.1% felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 39.9% because of how they expressed their gender.

• 84.6% were verbally harassed (e.g., called names or threatened) at school because of their sexual orientation and 63.7% because of their gender expression.

• 40.1% were physically harassed (e.g., pushed or shoved) at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 27.2% because of their gender expression.

• 18.8% were physically assaulted (e.g., punched, kicked, injured with a weapon) because of their sexual orientation and 12.5% because of their gender expression.

• 52.9% of LGBT students were harassed or threatened by their peers via electronic mediums (e.g., text messages, emails, instant messages or postings on Internet sites such as Facebook), often known as cyberbullying.  
  Read more in our new Gay Teens topic and overview page. 
  
  
  In addition, we've posted some helpful resources for both parents and teens here.
  
  
  
  

Anti-bullying Policy: A Hidden Agenda?

In a response to evidence that an increasing number of homosexual students have been victims of bullying, many school districts across the country are working to enhance current stringent anti-harassment rules with lessons in tolerance, teaching students early on that having “two moms” is acceptable and that some children will grow up to love members of the same gender. 

Yet there is ongoing debate as to whether or not these efforts to promote tolerance merely promote and endorse the lifestyle. A Montana pastor, for example, stated during a sermon that “we do not want the minds of our children to be polluted with the things of a carnal-minded society.” Still other parents argue that children at a very young age are not ready to hear explicit language regarding sexual activities and thus it should be left out of any discussion of tolerance in the classroom. 

Our Overview of the Recent New York Times Article on this can be found here. 

Also, what can popular musicians do to impact tolerance in public schools?

Is life getting better for gay teens? The answer, it seems, is yes and no. According to Joseph Kahn of the Boston Globe: “While physical assaults on gay teens may be declining overall — thanks to many factors, including tougher antibullying laws and more support systems for high schoolers who choose to “come out’’ — there’s ample evidence, too, that bullying and intolerance remain part of their daily lives.”

One of the many efforts to reach out to at-risk gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (known as GLBT) youth is a project known as the It Gets Better Initiative (found on the web at http://www.itgetsbetter.org/) in which concerned adults, including President Obama, have been posting messages telling GLBT youth that they are not alone in their struggles. 

Schools and Anti-Gay Bullying: The Ongoing Debate

The recent surge in teen suicides linked to anti-gay harassment, including that of an 18-year-old student from Rutgers University, is prompting much discussion, particularly around the issue of preventing bullying before it starts. The major and perhaps most public conflict among those in the debate is an ideological one: while Gay-rights supporters “insist that any effective anti-bullying program must include specific components addressing harassment of gay youth,” religious conservatives see this approach as a tactic used to sway teen’s views of homosexuality.

While some believe that bullying policy “should put emphasis on the wrong actions of the bullies and not on the characteristics of the victims” others see this approach as being dangerous. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, for example, holds strongly to the belief that policies “have to name the problem in order to have an impact.”

Yet while the debate rolls on regarding what effective anti-bullying programs look like, what is absolutely clear is that something needs to be done. In 2009 a survey conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found that only 18 percent of the 7,261 students surveyed attended schools which had a comprehensive anti-gay-bullying program. 

Read more on this issue here. 

What do Americans Know About Religion?

According to a recent survey released by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the answer to this question is quite surprising. It found that "atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tents of their own faiths." For example:

• 45% of Roman Catholics didn't know the church teaching that the bread and wine used in Communion were not just a symbol but actually become the body and blood of Christ.
• More than half of Protestants who took the survey did not recognize Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation.
• 43%, or around four out of every 10 Jews did not recognize that Malmonides, one of the most venerated rabbis in history, was Jewish.
• Only 45% of Americans who responded to the survey knew that the Dailai Lama is Buddhist
• 27% of Americans responded correctly when asked if the major religion of Indonesia (which has the world's largest Muslim population) was Muslim.

Read more on this here

Fatherlessness

The effects of fatherlessness have been documented from birth through childhood to adulthood. From lower birth weights to higher drop out rates to increased likelihood for incarceration, studies have repeatedly shown the negative effects of contemporary father absence. This is the issue that President Bill Clinton (in 1995) identified as “the single biggest social problem … because it contributes to so many other social problems.” Since then much has been done to understand the consequences of father absence, and the results are controversial but convincing. Fathers are important, if not necessary, for the good of children and the good of society.

Read our overview of this topic here, as well as compelling research and good resources on fatherhood and fatherlessness. 

The One Hundred Billion Dollar Man

In 1960 only 8% of children lived without his/her father. In 2006 34% of children lived without his/her biological father, and 23.3% lived with only his/her mother. 

Behind these statistics there is a cost. Read our recent research review on the financial cost of fatherlessness in America here. 

What is Creativity?

What is creative thinking? What is the difference between creative thinking and critical thinking? And more importantly, how is the decline of creative thinking abilities in America affecting our children? 

Without the ability to think creatively, new ideas and new ways of thinking will become things of the past. For those who believe in God, one of His stated attributes is creativity, and as beings created in His image we are obliged to cultivate creativity everywhere. Even if you do not believe in God, one can easily see how a world without constant and consistent innovation is one doomed to fail. Thus it is set to us as those who are called to work with youth in any capacity to cultivate creativity here and now. This is not an easy task in light of what was stated previously. Here are a few practical suggestions: 

1. Encourage the asking of questions. Live by the motto that "there's no such thing as a dumb question." Questioning the world around us has been a catalyst for innovation since the beginning of time. 

2. At every possible opportunity, give children and youth opportunities to problem solve on their own, unhindered and unaided by adults.  

Read more on this topic here, including results from recent studies on the American "Creativity Quotient" as posted by Newsweek. 

In addition, we have a new resources page on this topic with a few resources on creativity, it's development in children and ways to enhance your own creative thinking abilities. 

 

Refugees

According to the UNHCR 43.3 million persons were forcibly displaced in 2009, the highest number since the mid-1990s. Behind these cold statistics lie untold stories of beatings, mutilations, rape, and killings on land and sea. When one human being suffers, all, in some way or another, suffer—and should somehow become aware of it.

Check out our new Refugee Topic, which includes overviews of books such as:
- The Cross of Bethlehem: The intriguing, suspenseful and polemic memoir of a Christian Israeli military officer, currently a fugitive on the run from the Israeli national intelligence agency, or Mossad.
- The Other Side of the Sky: A Memoir: The memoir of a girl torn by war from her home in Africa and relocated to America. 


In addition, we look at several movies which relate directly to the topic. 

Fatherlessness

Why Fathers are Necessary

According to David Blankenhorn, author of the 1995 book "Fatherless America: Confronting our Most Urgent Social Problem," our culture is gradually losing its understanding of what good fatherhood looks like. Many Americans now consider fathers unnecessary for the good of society and child development.

Blankenhorn explains in detail why this is incorrect and why our views on fatherhood need to change. Read our review of his book here. 

Gang Leader for a Day

In the late-1980s, at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic in urban America, life in housing projects was very isolated from life in the rural and suburban areas of the country—and even from other parts of the cities. One had the feeling that politicians and media analysts who discussed the situation really had no idea what was going on in the projects, and the people who lived there could not easily find a voice on the national stage. 

But surely, one imagines, there must have been some person at some time, perhaps an adventurous researcher or journalist, who managed to cross the line and could explain life from both parties' perspectives. It turns out that such rare people did in fact exist, and one of them was University of Chicago graduate student in sociology Sudhir Venkatesh, now a professor at Columbia University. 

Read our review of his book "Gang Leader for a Day," which is a description of Venkatesh's experiences, by clicking here. 

Bullying in Cyberspace

Is technology hurting our youth?

Stopping or curbing physical and/or emotional bullying in schools is no easy task, but add to it the newest form of bullying to emerge in this technological age and it is near impossible to keep kids from being impacted by bullying both in and outside the school. According to a study done in 2010 by the Cyberbullying Research Center, one in five middle school students in the United States have been affected by cyber bullying (defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through phones and computers.”)

A recent New York Times Article brings this issue to the forefront. Read our synopsis of it here.

Surveys

In working effectively with contemporary youth there is great value in understanding what motivates and/or influences their thoughts and actions. With this in mind the Center for Youth Studies has created three surveys; one on happiness, one on concerns, and the other on influences. These surveys were designed to give youth themselves an opportunity to creatively reflect on their own motivations and influences as well as to give others a greater understanding of overall trends in motivations and drives among the youth in our culture. It is our hope that these results and the continued studies of youth and youth culture will better equip both youth themselves and those who work with them to effect change in the cultures and localities in which they live and work. 

Concerns Survey

Happiness Survey

Influences Survey

We invite you to take these back to your youth, either in electronic or print format (to print blank surveys, simply print directly from your internet browser). We predict that if done in a mindful way, they will take from 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

This might also be a good opportunity to talk to your youth about their values.

We've also developed a short survey for youth workers. This is designed to promote thought and discussion about the issues youth workers face on a daily basis.

Urban Youth Violence

Urban youth violence has become important and threatening enough to be declared a public health issue: a threat to the physical safety of urban dwellers (especially youth). 

The recent epidemic of youth violence began during the 1980s, a period of economic prosperity.  Since then, homicide rates—the most obvious indicator of youth violence—have declined significantly since their peak in 1993. But other indicators (such as aggravated assault rates as well as youths' confidential self-reporting of violent crimes) are still much higher than pre-epidemic levels.  Youth are still engaged in consistently violent behavior, indicating that there is still a strong possibility violence could again spiral out of control. 


View our recent review of the 2001 Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence, as well as an extensive resource page, including links to national youth violence statistics from the FBI, youth violence intervention programs, as well as recent studies of youth violence in Boston, Massachusetts. 

New CYS Website is Up!

The new and improved CYS website is now up!
We are excited to announce that our new site is now live. There are still a few glitches that need to be worked out, so we ask your patience as we work diligently to improve this resource over the coming days and weeks. As always your input is greatly appreciated.

More updates to come soon....

Updated Troubled Youth Resources Page

About 10 percent of most of our communities are teenagers. Our experience leads us to assume that 20 percent of these teenagers are unusually mature and well adjusted...perhaps leaders among their peers and in the community. About 60 percent of these young people may be considered average young people experiencing the ups and downs of teenager life; they live threatened by what we might consider a normal amount of risk factors. But around 20 percent are experiencing problems with which they need help. Of these, some 5 percent of all young people are in danger of doing serious damage to themselves or others if there is no special intervention. 


To look for ways to help, view our newly updated Troubled Youth Resources Page with resources for parents, educators, and anyone working with youth. 

Latest Encyclopedia Updates

As mentioned in the previous post, all Center for Youth Studies updates will be posted here. Normally, new encyclopedia articles will be posted here as they are posted. However since Facebook has not been updated in a while, we wanted to let you know of some recent additions over the last month or so:

Bullying
What is bullying and how can we respond to it?

Why must bullying be stopped?


Crime/Criminal Justice Programs
Does the DYS work?


Emotional Intelligence
What is Emotional Intelligence?


Family
Multigenerational households: How big is too big?


Nigerian Youth
What causes violence?


Subcultures
How far will youth go to express themselves?

We Need Your Help!

THE CENTER FOR YOUTH STUDIES HAS A NEW BLOG!!

From now on, updates, news, announcements about new articles, etc. will be posted here, and will appear automatically on both FaceBook and Twitter. 

Over the past few months, The Center for Youth Studies has been working on a a new "facelift," both of our website and of the tools and services we provide. We are excited to announce that over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out a new and improved website which will include new media tools and many updates and/or improvements to some of our old resources. These will include, but are by no means limited to:
- More audio and video content
- Changes to our Resource Centers
- A "how to" tutorial on how to best utilize the Encyclopedia

As we move forward, we've created a "test" site with some sample content to give others a chance to view and comment on these changes before they are official. This new site can be found by clicking here. Please note that this site is only temporary.

We appreciate your feedback as we implement these changes. We are also viewing this is an opportune time to review the content of our current website  with a critical eye and make changes that would be most beneficial to those working with youth. If you have any comments or suggestions on either the new website or the content of the old website, we would appreciate your comments on this post. Please note that all comments posted will be reviewed before they will appear on the site.

We appreciate your help.

Stay tuned for further updates on the latest exciting updates to the Encyclopedia.