Myths About Mothers and Work: A Fact Sheet From the Council on Contemporary
Families
Every mother's day, pundits
and op-ed contributors debate whether mothers can or should leave the workplace.
Some writers urge mothers to stay home if they can afford to. Others argue
that such advice only ratchets up parental guilt, since most mothers cannot
afford to quit. Still others worry about the "brain drain" that
occurs when educated, high-paid mothers quit their jobs. Such debates are
often based false assumptions about which mothers work and which stay home,
and what the trends are among both groups.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/myths-about-mot.php#trackbacks
Parents Preach Prudence
-- Peers Promote Pleasure
If you have teenage boys
and are unsure about what topics to cover when discussing "the birds
and bees" with them, it may be worth reading the latest piece of research
about sexual communication and teenage boys. The study, just published in
the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, shows that parental communication focuses
on the negative aspects of sex compared to the rather more positive sexual
messages teenage boys receive from the media and peers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/parents-preach.php#trackbacks
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Proposed Regulations
Would Ease Burdens, Assure State Accountability to Help Infants, Toddlers
with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education
proposed regulations to ease bureaucratic burdens, increase flexibility and
assure accountability by states in helping prepare America's infants and toddlers
with disabilities for success in school. In proposed rules for Part C of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to be published in
the May 9 Federal Register, the department sought to ensure that states provide
early intervention services to children birth through age 2 in a timely and
effective manner.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/proposed-regula.php#trackbacks
Childhood Obesity Intervention
Shows Promising Results
Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart. Play Hard. A community-based
environmental change intervention to prevent obesity in culturally diverse,
early elementary school children reduced weight gain over one school year.
The multi-faceted program was designed and implemented by researchers from
the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Read
more from this post.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/childhood-obesi.php#trackbacks
Stress of Deployment
Increases Risk of Child Abuse, Neglect in Military Families
Rates of abuse and neglect
of young children in military families in Texas has doubled since October
2002, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows, raising concerns
about the impact of deployment on military personnel and their families across
the country. The study, published in the May 15, 2007 issue of the American
Journal of Epidemiology, was designed by UNC School of Public Health researchers
to measure the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on military and non-military
families.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/stress-of-deplo.php#trackbacks
Many Children of HIV-Positive
Parents are Not in their Custody
A new joint study by UCLA
and the Rand Corp. shows that more than half of children with an HIV-infected
parent are not consistently in that parent's custody. Researchers found that
during the two-year study period, 42 percent of children were not in the HIV-infected
parent's custody at any time. "Children of HIV-infected parents are
at risk for behavioral and emotional problems. A stable home may help these
children and their parents cope with the effects of HIV on the family,"
said the lead author a doctoral candidate in the department of health services
at the UCLA School of Public Health and a researcher at the UCLA/Rand Center
for Adolescent Health Promotion.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/study-shows-tha.php#trackbacks
**Civic Engagement
Cisco to Host Second
Annual NetSquared Conference, Facilitating a Bridge Between Philanthropy and the Social Web
Cisco will be hosting TechSoup's
NetSquared Conference May 29-30 for the second consecutive year, renewing
its commitment to further the adoption of Web 2.0 tools in the global nonprofit
community. The three top projects, as decided by a vote of conference participants,
will divide most of the $100,000 Technology Innovation Fund. NetSquared's
mission is to spur responsible adoption of social Web tools by social benefit
organizations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/cisco-to-host-s.php#trackbacks
New Womenstake.org site
Addresses Women's Rights Issues
The National Women's Law
Center (NWLC) is launching a multi-issue blog to provide updates and commentary on pressing women's
rights issues. The blog, Womenstake.org,
will promote and inform timely discussions of a broad range of issues affecting
women including family economic security, education, employment, health care
and much more.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/new-womenstakeo.php#trackbacks
**Community Development
Bipartisan Legislation
Would Build On Housing Voucher Program's Success
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, bipartisan leaders of the House Financial
Services Committee introduced H.R. 1851, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act
(SEVRA). SEVRA would make significant changes to the housing voucher program
and also institute related changes in laws governing other housing assistance
programs. Studies have shown that vouchers reduce homelessness, overcrowding,
and frequent moves from apartment to apartment. Vouchers have also been found
to help families move to lower-poverty neighborhoods with better schools and
less exposure to crime.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/bipartisan-legi.php#trackbacks
**Economic Security
Trends in the Low-Wage
Immigrant Labor Force, 2000-2005
According to the Urban
Institute, as Congress debates the fate of more than 10 million unauthorized
immigrants living in the United States, their impact on the U.S. low-skilled
labor force is an important consideration. In 2005, immigrants overall represented
more than a fifth of low-wage workers---those earning less than twice the
minimum wage---and almost half of workers without a high school education.
This report, underwritten by the Hitachi Foundation, describes recent trends
in the immigrant labor force and their implications for the U.S. economy.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/trends-in-the-l.php#trackbacks
**Education
Complementary Learning
Concept - A Linked Network of Learning Supports
According to the Harvard
Family Research Project, to help close the achievement gap and for children
and youth to be successful from birth through adolescence, there must be an
array of learning supports around them beyond school. This network of supports
can be categorized as complementary learning. There are numerous complementary
learning linkages that can enrich children's cognitive and social development
throughout their preschool and school years, and beyond.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/complementary-l.php#trackbacks
National Summit on America's Silent Epidemic - Graduation Rate
Report
Secretary Margaret Spellings
delivered remarks at the "National Summit on America's Silent Epidemic" in Washington, D.C. on the federal role in ending the
high school dropout crisis. In Little Rock, Arkansas 50 years ago nine African-American
teenagers braved violence, ridicule, and prejudice to claim their right to
a quality education. Today, the struggle is about what's going on inside
the classroom, and the stakes are just as high. Of these dropout factories
a majority of the students trapped in them are minorities, and their high
school experience looks vastly different from what most kids encounter. Forty-four
years later, the dropout rate for African-American, Hispanic, and Native American
students approaches 50 percent.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/secretary-spell-3.php#trackbacks
Academic Competitiveness
Council Finds Little Scientific Evidence Backs Federally-Funded Math and Science
Education Programs
The U.S. Department of Education
released the findings of the Academic Competitiveness Council (ACC) and its
recommendations to integrate and coordinate federal education programs in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Deficit Reduction
Act, signed into law by President Bush in February 2006, established the Academic
Competitiveness Council, led by the Education Secretary, to review all federal
programs with a focus on math and science education and to report its findings
to Congress
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/academic-compet.php#trackbacks
**Health
Women Struggle More with
High Cost of Health Care
Reporting from the Commonwealth
Fund finds that although men and women have some similar challenges with
regard to health insurance, women face unique barriers to becoming insured.
More significantly, women have greater difficulty affording health care services
even once they are insured. On average, women have lower incomes than men
and therefore have greater difficulty paying premiums.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/women-struggle.php#trackbacks
States' Spending May
Help Keep Childless Seniors Independent
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago report that living in a state with
higher spending on home- and community-based services is associated with a
lower risk of nursing home admission among childless seniors. "Traditionally,
long term care has been provided in nursing homes, but there is a movement
to help older people live at home and in the community," said an associate
professor of community health sciences at the UIC School of Public Health
and lead author of the study.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/states-spending.php#trackbacks
Study Shows Inevitability
of Men's Infidelity across Cultures
For a growing number of
women in rural Mexico -- and around the world -- marital
sex represents their single greatest risk for HIV infection. According to
a new Mailman School of Public Health Study, because marital infidelity by
men is so deeply ingrained across many cultures, existing HIV prevention programs
are putting a growing number of women at risk of developing the HIV virus.
The findings, indicating that globally, prevention programs that take a "just
say no" approach and encourage men to be monogamous are unlikely to be
effective, underline the need for programs that make extramarital sex safer,
rather than---unrealistically---trying to eradicate it.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/new-mailman-sch.php#trackbacks
Study Evaluates Why Blacks
do not Successfully Donate Kidneys
In one of the first studies
of its kind, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine explored
why blacks are less likely than other races to become living kidney donors,
and the reasons are obesity and failure to complete the donor evaluation.
"Obesity is a growing problem in the African-American community, particularly
among women, and this reflects what we found in the study. The other issue
is the social reasons for non-donation, including failure to complete the
donor evaluation process.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/study-evaluates.php#trackbacks
**Hunger and Nutrition
Study Confirms Health
Benefits of Whole Grains
A diet high in whole grain
foods is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular
disease, including heart disease and stroke, according to an analysis conducted
by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. "These findings
suggest that we should redouble our efforts to encourage patients to include
more of these foods in their diets." In addition to protecting against
cardiovascular disease, which accounts for one-third of deaths worldwide,
there is evidence that whole grains also project against diabetes and other
chronic conditions.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/study-confirms.php#trackbacks
**Substance Abuse
More than 10 Percent
of Adults Abuse or Become Dependent on Drugs During
their Lifetime
Approximately 10.3 percent
of U.S. adults appear to have problems with drug use or abuse during their
lives, including 2.6 percent who become drug dependent at some point, according
to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals. Drug abuse refers to the intense desire to take drugs
at the exclusion of other activities, and dependence occurs when the body
becomes physically dependent on an illicit substance.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/more-than-10-pe.php#trackbacks
Cigarette Marketing Practices
in Retail Stores Associated with Teen Smoking Habits
Tobacco display advertising
in retail stores appears to be associated with teens experimenting with cigarette
smoking, while promotional giveaways and price breaks may be associated with
the transition to regular smoking among youth, according to a report in the
May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/cigarette-marke.php#trackbacks
Spiritual Beliefs, Practices
May Help Smokers Quit
Unlike many traditional
alcohol and drug dependence treatment programs, mainstream smoking cessation
programs generally exclude spiritual practice and beliefs from the treatment
process. But a study by Oregon Health & Science University Smoking Cessation Center researchers reveals many smokers are
receptive to and may benefit from their own spiritual resources, when attempting
to quit. For decades, the OHSU research team encountered some patients in
clinical practice who reported that in addition to the treatments provided
by the team, they used personal spiritual beliefs and practices in their quit
attempts.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/spiritual-belie.php#trackbacks
State Attorneys General
Call on Anheuser-Busch to Stop Marketing to Youth
Calling Anheuser-Busch's
latest drink "distressing" and a "starter drink" for teens,
Attorneys General from 29 states across the country called on the company
to reform its marketing practices for "Spykes" and its other alcohol-laced energy drinks. Public
health advocates and alcohol policy researchers commend the National Association
of Attorneys General for this effort.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/state-attorneys.php#trackbacks
