Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Teen Boys Who Attempt Suicide More Likely to Abuse as Adults

Men who attempted suicide before age 18 are much more likely to abuse their girlfriends or wives, according to a study from the Oregon Social Learning Center in Eugene.

The U.S. study included 153 males from relatively high-crime neighborhoods who were assessed annually from ages 10 to 32. The men's romantic partners were added to the study when the men were aged 18 to 25. Researchers found that 58 percent of males who tried to kill themselves before age 18 went on to injure a girlfriend or wife, compared with 23 percent of males who didn't attempt suicide when they were youths.

The association between attempted suicide and later aggression toward partners remained even after the researchers controlled for a number of other factors, including aggression, depression, substance abuse and a family history of abuse. The study documented partner abuse through several types of data, including domestic violence arrest records, women's and men's accounts of injuries and live observations of couples.

The findings, published online in the journal Psychological Medicine, offer evidence of the need for intervention programs for suicidal teens, said study co-author David Kerr, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University (OSU).

"The study began when these men were kids, before anyone knew who was going to be violent," Kerr continued. That is quite different from research that starts with violent men, or women from a domestic violence shelter, and tries to look back in time for explanations."

Source: Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/640054.html

CDC Study: 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results

Since 1991, The U.S. Center for Disease Control has surveyed teens every two years in order to identify trends in risky adolescent behaviors. The results of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey have just been released.

First, let's look at the percentages on some of the areas surveyed:

• Have had at least one drink of alcohol (during their life): 72.5%, down from 75% in 2007.
• Have had at least one drink within 30 days of the survey: 41.8%, down from 44.7% in 2007.
• Have had five or more drinks within a few hours, within 30 days of survey: 24.2%, down from 26% in '07.

• Have used marijuana at least once (during their life): 36.8%, down from 38.1% in 2007.
• Have used marijuana at least once within 30 days of the survey: 20.8%, up from 19.7% in 2007.

• Have tried cigarette smoking (during their life): 46.3%, down from 50.3% in 2007.
• Have smoked cigarettes at least once within 30 days of the survey: 19.5%, down from 20% in 2007.

• Have had sexual intercourse (during their life): 46%, down from 47.8% in 2007.
• Have had sexual intercourse with 4 or more persons (during their life): 13.8%, down from 14.9% in '07.
• Have had sexual intercourse within 30 days of the survey: 34.2%, down from 35% in 2007.
• Drank alcohol or used drugs before last sexual intercourse: 61.1%, down from 61.5% in 2007.

• Seriously considered attempting suicide during 12 months before survey: 13.8%, down from 14.5% in '07.
• Made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during 12 mos before survey: 10.9% down from 11.3% in '07.
• Attempted suicide during 12 mos before survey: 6.3%, down from 6.9% in 2007.

• Rarely or never wore a seat belt: 9.7%, down from 11.1% in 2007.
• Rode with a driver who had been drinking within 30 days of survey: 28.3%, down from 29.1% in 2007.
• Drove when drinking alcohol within 30 days of survey: 9.7%, down from 10.5% in 2007.

While on the surface it appears that there are broad, although slight decreases in at-risk behaviors, the study indicates that in terms of trends, most changes are statistically insignificant, amounting to "no change." The areas noted above where changes in trends were indicated were:

• Have had at least one drink within 30 days of the survey - decrease
• Have tried cigarette smoking (during their life) - decrease

To view the extensive overview of the report, click the source link below.

Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/us_overview_yrbs.pdf

20 Percent of Teen Girls Abused on Dates

A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that one in five high school girls has been abused by a dating partner. Unfortunately, parents are often unaware their daughter is being abused.

More than 80 percent of parents do not even acknowledge teen dating violence as an issue. The majority of parents said they have never discussed dating violence with their child, and only 8 percent know of a student at their child's school who has been physically assaulted by someone they were dating.

Nearly 80 percent of girls who have been physically abused in their intimate relationships continue to date their abuser.

It's not always easy to recognize if a teen is in a violent relationship. Surprisingly, abusers are often charming in public, especially to the girl's parents -- so pay closer attention to how he treats your daughter and less to how polite he may be to you.

Source: Post-Tribune
http://www.post-trib.com/lifestyles/2293450,tween0521.article

What Kills Teens?

A new report out from the National Center for Health Statistics finds that in the period of 1999-2006, of the more than 16,000 teenagers that die annually, most are killed in auto accidents, but other accidents, murder, suicide and disease also take their toll.

Key Findings:

• An average of 16,375 teenagers 12-19 years died in the United States every year from 1999 to 2006. This is less than 1 percent of all deaths that occur every year in the United States.

• The five leading causes of death among teenagers are Accidents (unintentional injuries), homicide, suicide, cancer, and heart disease. Accidents account for nearly one-half of all teenage deaths.

• As a category of accidents, motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of death to teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths.

• Among teenagers, non-Hispanic black males have the highest death rate (94.1 deaths per 100,000 population).

• Homicide is the leading cause of death for non-Hispanic black male teenagers. For all other groups, accident is the leading cause.

Sources: Businessweek, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/638802.html
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db37.htm

Teen Girl-on-Girl Fighting Goes Online

If you thought only men engage in fist fights, you'd be wrong.

CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson reported there aren't any statistics yet, but experts say there's a growing problem with teenage girls letting disputes with one another turn violent.

Increasingly, Johnson reported, girl fights are being recorded and posted on the Internet, which can make the problem even worse.

A video popped up on YouTube more than a week ago that showed two teenage girls in a violent fist fight -- with two adults allegedly watching -- and another minor videotaping the entire thing. The fight took place in Baton Rouge, La.

Days later, in Lowell, Mass., local authorities discovered similar videos online.

Gerry Leone, the district attorney of Middlesex, Mass., told CBS News, "We found three different videos posted to YouTube, and it was female-on-female violence, where young females were fighting in a very violent way, and being exhorted to do so by friends who were both boys and girls."

Leone says local educators report about 80 percent of school fights are now girl against girl, a trend he says is fueled, in part, by the Internet.

Leone said, "They see friends getting a lot of attention from the posting of these violent attacks, and being young and impressionable kids, they figure that's one way of getting attention themselves." 

A recent search for "girl fight" on YouTube turned up 267,000 videos.

Experts say the fights can also lead to cyberbullying, as tech-savvy teens look for more ways to torment one another.

Source: CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/02/earlyshow/main6165570.shtml

Young Criminals Anticipate Early Death

As Atlanta officials aim to tackle the city's safety problems this year, some of their toughest criminals to stop maybe young offenders whose desires to commit crimes are being fueled by an anticipation of dying early.

Georgia State University Criminal Justice experts Timothy Brezina, Volkan Topalli and economist Erdal Tekin, have released a unique study that indicates that although young criminals are aware of the risks of violent injury, death or punishment, the possibility of a shorter life span encourages them to focus more on the "here and now."

"It turns out that if you boil it all down the more you think you are going to die young the more likely it is that you are going to engage in criminality and violence," Topalli said. "This is the opposite of what most people think, because most people think that if you think you're going to die soon you become depressed and you wouldn't commit crimes."

Source: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100113104255.htm

1 in 3 U.K. Teenage Girls Tell of Sexual Abuse by Their Boyfriends

One in three U.K. teenage girls has suffered sexual abuse from a boyfriend and one in four has experienced violence in a relationship, according to an in-depth study published recently.

The survey, by the NSPCC and Bristol University, found that of the 1,353 teenage girls and boys questioned across the UK, nearly 90% of girls aged 13 to 17 had been in an intimate relationship. A similar number of boys had been in relationships.

A quarter of girls had suffered physical violence, including being slapped, punched or beaten by their boyfriends, according to the study.

Source: The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/sep/01/teenage-sexual-abuse-nspcc-report

Study Has Mostly Good News About Online Predator Risk

The stereotypical online predator just might be a myth, according to new research released by the Crimes Against Children Research Center. Of note, there was no evidence that online predators used personal information obtained from social networking websites to stalk or abduct unsuspecting victims. Rather, most underage sex crimes involving online predators (who were arrested) were with adolescents that knew they were communicating with older adults who wanted sex, and willingly went to meet the offenders face-to-face.

The news from a new online predator study is mostly good. Researchers from the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center (CCRC) found only a modest increase in the number of adults arrested for solicitation of actual minors, which could be accounted for by the growth in the number of youth Internet users.

In 2006 there were 615 arrests for soliciting a real child, compared with 508 in 2000 and during that interval the percentage of young people using the Internet grew from 73 percent to 93 percent. The study defined young people as ages 17 and below. (To put that into some kind of perspective, there were more than 25 million 12- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. in 2006 based on U.S. Census Bureau data as reported on ChildStats.gov.)

The time span covered by this new study coincides with the advent of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, which weren't around in 2000. And considering the numbers, it should help dispel the hysteria about the so-called predator dangers on social-networking sites.

The study did reveal a very significant number of sting operation arrests in which the offender approached an undercover police officer posing as a minor. That's a crime and, says CCRC Director David Finkelhor, these sting operations may have played a major role in helping to reduce the number of actual victims by taking predators off the street and deterring others from even trying.

The study found that during 2006, 87 percent of the arrests involved solicitation of undercover cops, and 13 percent of the cases involved actual minors. To put this into perspective, online predator arrests that year accounted for only 1 percent of all arrests for sex crimes against children.

Source: CNET News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10208135-238.html

To read the report of the National Juvenile Online Victimization study from the Crimes Against Children Research Center, click here.

Popular Youth Web Sites Expose Teens, Tweens to Risky Behaviors

Director of National Drug Control Policy, John P. Walters, recently released a startling data compilation indicating the extent to which Internet sites -- particularly those that post user-generated content -- can spread misinformation and facilitate dangerous behaviors among teens, tweens, and younger children. These behaviors can include drug and alcohol use, self-mutilation, extreme violence, and anorexia and other eating disorders. While many parents are becoming aware of the risks of online pedophiles and other sexual predators, the majority of parents are unaware of the nature and extent to which their children are exposed to or engaging in dangerous behaviors online.

"Parents read news stories about Internet pedophiles, and they understandably worry about their children being exposed to online pornography. But they may not be aware how pervasive this content is, and how young the children are who are being exposed to this for the first time. And research shows parents aren't worrying about drug, alcohol, and other dangerous content online and how it impacts their child's behavior," said Director Walters. "Teens, tweens, and even younger children, are barraged by risky material on the Internet. Parents need to get online and see for themselves what their child has access to. It's time for them to upgrade their parenting skills."

ONDCP's data snapshot of teen online exposure shows that:
-- Nearly one in 20 teens online viewed drug-related videos during a one- month period; 35 percent were under age 16 (Nielsen Online Custom Study);
-- Almost 40 percent of drug-related videos contain explicit use of drugs and/or intoxication (Nielsen Online Custom Study);
-- Even the youngest kids have access to dangerous online content. Over 8.9 million (8,934,000) two to eleven year olds viewed video online in August (Nielsen Online, VideoCensus);
-- The average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old. Eighty percent of 15- to 17-year-olds have been exposed to hardcore porn multiple times (Internet-Filter-Review.com);
-- More than one in eight teens say someone has spread a rumor about them online. Nine percent of teens who use social networking sites say someone has posted an embarrassing picture of them online without their permission ("Cyberbullying and Online Teens." Pew Internet &American Life Project: Data Memo);
-- Nearly a third of students say their parents would disapprove if they knew what they were really doing on the Internet (i-SAFE Survey);
-- Drug use and underage drinking don't make parents' top 10 list of concerns of their kids' online computer use (State of Internet Security: Protecting Children Online." Webroot Software).

Today's tech-savvy teens are targets for those promoting substance abuse and other risky behaviors by posting pictures to their social-networking pages or uploading video on sites like YouTube.com. The Web and image-sharing technologies available on cell phones have exponentially expanded teens' abilities to see and engage in dangerous behaviors.

Source: Market Watch
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/popular-youth-web-sites-expose/story.aspx?guid=%7BE58DA462-843B-4F1C-9D8C-25FB148F6730%7D&dist=hppr

For Young Adults, Relationship Violence Peaks in High School

Another study (unrelated to the one I posted about on 7/9/08) shows that teens are experiencing violence in relationships...

More than four in 10 college students have been the victim of relationship violence by a partner, friend, or acquaintance, according to a new study.

"All forms of relationship violence are prevalent among male and female college students; almost half of the students had experienced relationship violence at some point in their lives, more than one-third had experienced violence before college and one-quarter had experienced violence during college," write researcher Christine M. Forke, MSN, CRNP, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The results showed 42% had been the victim of relationship violence by a partner, friend, or acquaintance either before or during college, and 17% had been the perpetrator. Rates of relationship violence were higher before college than during college.

Emotional violence was the most common type of relationship violence reported before college (21%), while sexual and emotional violence were equally common during college (12%).

Source: CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/08/health/webmd/main4242422.shtml