Psychological Bullying
Hits Just as Hard
School bullying doesn't
have to leave physical bumps and bruises to contribute to a hostile and potentially
dangerous school environment. Behavior that intentionally harms another individual,
through the manipulation of social relationships (or 'relational aggression'),
is just as significant a concern for adolescent psychosocial development and
mental health, according to Dr. Sara Goldstein from Montclair State University
and her colleagues from the University of Michigan. This study looks at how
other forms of aggression that target victims' relationships and peer standing
can lead to school-related problems.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/psychological-b.php
Children with Both Autism
and ADHD Often Bully, Parents Say
Children with both autism
and attention deficit or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders are four
times more likely to bully than children in the general population, according
to a study released today in the journal, Ambulatory Pediatrics. However,
the researchers caution against labeling these children simply as bullies.
The researchers did not find that children with autism had a higher rate of
bullying -- unless they also had ADD or ADHD.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/children-with-b.php
Family Favorite? Parents, Siblings See Imbalances in Parents' Attention
Differently
When parents treat their
children differently, siblings and parents often have very different ideas
about what's happening and why, says a University
of Illinois study. Even when children reported
that they and their siblings were treated differently, they often didn't agree
about exactly how or why they were being treated differently, Kramer said.
One thing, however, was clear: siblings got along better if they had a shared
understanding of why parents treated them differently and believed the treatment
was fair.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/family-favorite.php
Teaching Mediation Skills
to Parents Helps Siblings Resolve Conflicts
Children whose parents were
trained in mediation skills had better conflict-resolution skills than those
whose parents did not receive training. That's the finding of a new study
conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo. The study examined the effects of
parents' mediation of sibling conflicts on children's conflict understanding
and resolution skills. Mediation is a conflict management technique in which
a neutral third party (in this case, the parent) intervenes in a conflict
to help the people in the dispute reach a mutually satisfactory solution.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/teaching-mediat.php
Youth's Attitudes about
Women's Roles Influenced by Many Family Factors
By the time they are adults,
men and women have distinctive attitudes about the roles women should play
in society, but little is known about how these views develop. A Penn State
study tracked youth's attitudes for most of the school age and adolescent
years and found varying patterns of change according to gender, birth order,
parent's influences and other factors. The study charted the course of gender
attitudes over time, and studied characteristics of families and family members
that helped to shape the way youth's attitudes changed over time.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/youths-attitude.php
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Cigarette Use may Explain
Asthma Epidemic in Children
The rise in cigarette use
by adults over the past century may explain the asthma epidemic in children
according to a study by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health.
The study identified parallel increases in childhood asthma and cigarette
use among adults during the past century in the United States. The risk for the development of
childhood asthma was 2.5 times greater in young children with mothers who
smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day indoors compared with mothers who smoke
fewer cigarettes or not at all.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/cigarette-use-m.php
'Healthy' Children with
Smoking Parents aren't Really So Healthy
Children of smokers who
don't show any signs of respiratory problems may still be experiencing damaging
changes in their airways that could lead to lung disease later in life, according
to a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International
Conference. Everyone knows that children of smokers have more respiratory
problems---more puffing, wheezing, cases of pneumonia---but until now we haven't
known if lung function is impaired in children of smokers who don't have any
respiratory complaints or diagnosed lung problems.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/healthy-childre.php
**Civic Engagement
Naomi Tutu, Human Rights
Activist Offers Advice to Bentley College Graduates
Naomi Tutu, passionate advocate
for peace and human rights, a child of Apartheid and daughter of Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, told Bentley College graduates during the 88th undergraduate
commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 19, to beware of the myth of the self-made
person, reminding them of what her own parents often reminded her, "What
you achieve is not yours alone. It is actually a wonderful feeling to know
that you are a part of something larger than yourself."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/naomi-tutu-huma.php
**Community Development
Both Alcohol and Neighborhood
Characteristics can affect Intimate Partner Violence
Heavy drinking has consistently
been linked to an increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). New
findings from the Prevention Research Center indicate that drinking patterns as
well as neighborhood characteristics can influence IPV. While specific effects
differ by gender; women who are the heaviest drinkers are at elevated risk
for mutual IPV despite the context of their neighborhood.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/both-alcohol-an.php
**Economic Security
Recommendations to Strengthen
Title I of the Senate WIA Reauthorization Bill
The Center for Law and Social Policy reports that
as the 110th Congress turns once again to WIA reauthorization, a new opportunity
exists to ensure that our public workforce system is responsive to the diverse
needs of low-wage workers and low-income populations. This paper focuses specifically
on recommendations to strengthen the bipartisan Senate WIA bill that passed
in the 109th Congress which the Senate may use as a starting point for a new
bill.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/recommendations-2.php
Fast Food Commercial
is on Track
Having worked undercover
at seven fast-food restaurants across the United States, including McDonald's, Burger King
and Wendy's, the author of "My Secret Life on the McJob,"
says that McDonald's has the right idea in its newest television commercial.
Newman believes that the best way to change the negative image of a "McJob"
is by positively redefining the perception of the fast-food worker. The skill
sets that employees learn on the job will serve them well in the work force,
whether they choose to move on to another industry or stay in fast food.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/management-prof.php
Eligibility for Child
Tax Credit by Age of Child
According to the Urban Institute the
expanded refundability of the child tax credit (CTC)
makes it more valuable to many lower-income families, though many with very
low incomes were still left out. The child tax credit (CTC) is a $1,000 partially
refundable federal income tax credit for each qualifying child under age 17.
In 2007, tax filers may claim a refundable credit (over and above any tax
liability) equal to 15 percent of the excess of earnings over $11,750, up
to the $1,000 maximum per child. The earnings threshold means that families
with very low incomes get no benefit from the credit, and others will receive
only a partial credit.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/eligibility-for.php
**Education
Stereotype-Induced Math
Anxiety Undermines Girls' Ability to Perform in Other Academic Areas
A popular stereotype that
boys are better at mathematics than girls undermines girls' math performance
because it causes worrying that erodes the mental resources needed for problem
solving, new research shows. The scholars also found for the first time that
this threat to performance caused by stereotyping can also hinder success
in other academic areas because mental abilities do not immediately rebound
after being compromised by mathematics anxiety.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/stereotypeinduc.php
Building a Culture of
Evidence for Community College Student Success
Achieving the Dream is a
multiyear, national initiative, launched by Lumina Foundation for Education,
to help community college students stay in school and succeed. The 82 participating
colleges commit to collecting and analyzing data to improve student outcomes,
particularly for low-income students and students of color. This baseline
report describes the early progress that the first 27 colleges have made after
just one year of implementation.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/building-a-cult.php
Recommendations to Support
High-Quality Early Education Programs Through Reauthorization
of the No Child Left Behind Act
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, while states and local communities recognize
the importance of investments in early education, limited funding has constrained
policymakers' ability to create and expand programs that meet young children's
needs from birth through school entry. Title I funds are quite flexible;
they can be used to create a new early education program or to expand or improve
the quality of an existing one. Less than 20 percent of all school districts
that receive Title I funds choose to use these funds for early education.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/recommendations-4.php
Majority of Teachers
Graduate in the Top of their Class
It has been argued recently
that student performance lags because of poor teacher quality, and specifically
because teachers are drawn from the bottom half of the ability distribution.
But according to the Economic Policy Institute the facts don't support
this argument. For example, data for new female teachers show that well over
half of them come from the upper 40% of high school graduates. With teacher
salaries falling behind those in comparable occupations over the last decade
and other professions including medicine and the legal profession luring away
the best female college graduates, a competitive salary schedule for teachers
should be a top priority.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/majority-of-tea.php
'Teaching Gap' Exists
Among US and Asian Math Teachers
Compared to math teachers
in the high-achieving nations of Hong Kong and Japan, teachers in the United States offer less of certain supports that
could help students learn more. This could contribute to the lower performance
among US students on international math tests, a University of California, Irvine researcher discovered.
The study analyzed how analogies
-- a reasoning practice that involves connecting two concepts, often a better-known
concept to a less familiar one -- are used in the United States, Hong Kong and Japan.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/teaching-gap-ex.php
**Health
Healthy Body Weight throughout
Adulthood May Help Delay Disability
Maintaining a healthy body
weight throughout adulthood may help prevent or delay the onset of physical
disability as we age, according to researchers from Wake Forest University
School of Medicine and colleagues. The study, reported on-line by the International
Journal of Obesity, found that older adults with a history of excess weight
in midlife or earlier had worse physical performance than those who were normal
weight throughout adulthood or became overweight in late adulthood.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/healthy-body-we.php
Limiting Eligibility
for Medical Studies Can Omit Women and African-Americans
A new analysis has found
that many alcohol treatment studies are designed in ways that inadvertently
omit women and African-Americans from participation. The Stanford University
School of Medicine researcher who led the effort said the findings should
remind all scientists that strict study eligibility criteria can have unintended,
negative consequences. A review of data from a pool of 100,000 alcohol treatment
patients determined that women and African-Americans were substantially more
likely to be excluded from treatment studies than men or non-African-American
patients, because of eligibility requirements involving psychiatric problems,
employment and housing problems, and drug use.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/limiting-eligib.php
**Homelessness
Homelessness System Change
Efforts and Their Results, Los Angeles, 2005-2006
In 2004, the Hilton Foundation
awarded the Corporation for Supportive Housing a five-year grant of $8 million
to promote changes in city, county, and state systems that would reduce homelessness
in Los Angeles County, especially among people with serious
mental illness. CSH uses these resources to bring people together, facilitate
planning and implementation, provide expert advice,
and help span the boundaries of different systems that have long stood separate
and apart.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/homelessness-sy.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
Early Childhood Center Proves Children Dig Fruits and Vegetables
Grown in a Garden
Bennington College's Early Childhood Center proves kids will eat vegetables they
grow in a garden. Researchers interviewed about 1,600 parents of preschool-aged
children and found that children who were served homegrown fruits and vegetables
were more than twice as likely to eat five servings a day as those who rarely
ate homegrown produce. This practice supported findings which revealed that
students at schools with gardens learn about math and science, eat more fruits
and vegetables, and know more about eating healthy.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/bennington-coll.php
**Substance Abuse
Choice is a Key Element
in Success for Smokers Who Want to Quit
Smokers who have a say in
how they quit are more likely to try kicking the habit and are more successful,
according to new research at the University of Rochester. The new findings demonstrate that
patient involvement in a quit plan leads to smokers who are more motivated
to quit because they genuinely want to, not because they are being nagged
or bullied. Researchers found that smokers who were counseled in a manner
that encouraged them to reflect on whether they wanted to smoke or not, and
if not why they were trying to quit, were more likely to maintain their abstinence
for two years than those who received usual care.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/05/choice-is-a-key.php
