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....