Monday, September 20, 2004
Recent items from Family Edge
A whole host of significant items in the latest newsletter from Family Edge. You can read the full newsletter at their website.
TV turns teens on: Teenagers who view large amounts of television containing sexual content are twice as likely to have sexual intercourse as their peers who have little exposure to such programmes, according to a new study published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics. The study also found that young people who watched even average amounts of programmes like That 70's Show, Sex and the City, and Friends were more likely to initiate sexual activities other than intercourse, behaving like teens 9 to 17 months older. Sexual talk in programmes had just as much impact as images.
Japan questions youth culture, family, as kids turn to killing: The killing of a 12-year-old girl, Satomi, at school by an 11-year-old girl classmate in June this year is part of a surge in youth violence which has rocked Japan. Some people are blaming the trend on a violent and sexually charged youth culture, now exported worldwide through animation, comic strips and video games. Satomi's killer was an avid fan of Battle Royale, a popular teen movie turned internet game in which students kill one another through blood sport. The girl, who had slit the throat of her victim with a box-cutter, is believed to have been enraged by Satomi's calling her "prissy" and "overweight" on a website. There were no warning signs in her behaviour and the killing is seen as an example of "kireru" - sudden acts of rage. Experts blame the trend on low self-confidence among children arising from pressures on family life during Japan's 13-year economic slump. Traditional restraint on expressing affection is also being questioned, and the government has launched a campaign urging parents to hug their children. "We are confronting a serious problem of how to reach out to our children and teach them the difference between right and wrong," said Kohichi Tsurusaki, an education official.
Rules rule in the classroom, OK?: Rowdiness, disrespect, bullying, talking out, lateness and loutishness are poisoning the learning atmosphere in many American public schools, causing frustration to teachers and worry to parents, according to a survey by the think tank Public Agenda. Some 4 in 10 teachers said that in their schools, teachers spend more time trying to keep order in the classroom than actually teaching. Both parents and teachers in the survey said strictly enforcing the little rules in classrooms and hallways can create the right tone and stave off bigger problems. In similar vein, two-thirds of the 90 teachers who answered a website poll by the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers Association wanted panic buttons in classrooms because of their concern about increasing verbal and physical attacks.
No time to dream, or go to granny's funeral: Another grass-roots rebellion is brewing in the US - a revolt against the "over-scheduling" of children through after-school lessons and hobbies. Nationally there is already a "Take Back Your Time Day" on October 24, and there are many community initiatives with names like Putting Family First and Ready Set Relax! Anecdotes indicate the problem: the girl who missed her grandmother's funeral because it clashed with a tournament; the family who didn't visit grandparents on Thanksgiving Day because of football practice; and 4-year-olds who practice hockey at 5a.m. Some critics say the pressure is coming from elite universities like Harvard and Yale, or at least parental perceptions of what it takes to get into the top schools.
Italian pensioner willing to pay to be a granddad: "Elderly retired school teacher seeks family willing to adopt grandfather. Will pay." Lonely Girogio Angelozzi, 79 published his appeal in the classified pages of the daily Corriere della Sera at the end of August, tugging at heart strings across Italy. The former classics teacher has lived alone outside Rome with seven cats since his wife died in 1992, and his one daughter, a doctor, he believes is a volunteer in Afghanistan. But dozens of replies to his ad signals an end to his loneliness. "So many families want to adopt me as their grandfather," he told Corriere. So many families answered my appeal and want me to teach their children about Horace and Catullus." Mr Angelozzi offered €500 a month to the family who accepted him. Among those who responded was popular Roman singer Antonello Venditti, one of Mr Angelozzi's former students. "I was not expecting so much warmth, so much interest in my story," said the now internationally famous pensioner. "But remember that my problem is one that affects so many elderly people in Italy."
Younger women's marriages more likely to break down: Women who marry in their 20s are leading the divorce statistics in Britain, their marriages breaking up at twice the national average rate by the time they are 30. The overall rate of divorce in England and Wales has reached a seven-year high, marriages that end in divorce lasting on average 11 years. The growing rate undermines the theory that, because fewer people are marrying, those who do are more committed to making the marriage last. De facto relationships have an even higher breakdown rate. A counsellor from Relate marriage guidance suggested people were not prepared for "coming together in one relationship" and the adjustments that demanded.
A whole host of significant items in the latest newsletter from Family Edge. You can read the full newsletter at their website.
TV turns teens on: Teenagers who view large amounts of television containing sexual content are twice as likely to have sexual intercourse as their peers who have little exposure to such programmes, according to a new study published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics. The study also found that young people who watched even average amounts of programmes like That 70's Show, Sex and the City, and Friends were more likely to initiate sexual activities other than intercourse, behaving like teens 9 to 17 months older. Sexual talk in programmes had just as much impact as images.
Japan questions youth culture, family, as kids turn to killing: The killing of a 12-year-old girl, Satomi, at school by an 11-year-old girl classmate in June this year is part of a surge in youth violence which has rocked Japan. Some people are blaming the trend on a violent and sexually charged youth culture, now exported worldwide through animation, comic strips and video games. Satomi's killer was an avid fan of Battle Royale, a popular teen movie turned internet game in which students kill one another through blood sport. The girl, who had slit the throat of her victim with a box-cutter, is believed to have been enraged by Satomi's calling her "prissy" and "overweight" on a website. There were no warning signs in her behaviour and the killing is seen as an example of "kireru" - sudden acts of rage. Experts blame the trend on low self-confidence among children arising from pressures on family life during Japan's 13-year economic slump. Traditional restraint on expressing affection is also being questioned, and the government has launched a campaign urging parents to hug their children. "We are confronting a serious problem of how to reach out to our children and teach them the difference between right and wrong," said Kohichi Tsurusaki, an education official.
Rules rule in the classroom, OK?: Rowdiness, disrespect, bullying, talking out, lateness and loutishness are poisoning the learning atmosphere in many American public schools, causing frustration to teachers and worry to parents, according to a survey by the think tank Public Agenda. Some 4 in 10 teachers said that in their schools, teachers spend more time trying to keep order in the classroom than actually teaching. Both parents and teachers in the survey said strictly enforcing the little rules in classrooms and hallways can create the right tone and stave off bigger problems. In similar vein, two-thirds of the 90 teachers who answered a website poll by the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers Association wanted panic buttons in classrooms because of their concern about increasing verbal and physical attacks.
No time to dream, or go to granny's funeral: Another grass-roots rebellion is brewing in the US - a revolt against the "over-scheduling" of children through after-school lessons and hobbies. Nationally there is already a "Take Back Your Time Day" on October 24, and there are many community initiatives with names like Putting Family First and Ready Set Relax! Anecdotes indicate the problem: the girl who missed her grandmother's funeral because it clashed with a tournament; the family who didn't visit grandparents on Thanksgiving Day because of football practice; and 4-year-olds who practice hockey at 5a.m. Some critics say the pressure is coming from elite universities like Harvard and Yale, or at least parental perceptions of what it takes to get into the top schools.
Italian pensioner willing to pay to be a granddad: "Elderly retired school teacher seeks family willing to adopt grandfather. Will pay." Lonely Girogio Angelozzi, 79 published his appeal in the classified pages of the daily Corriere della Sera at the end of August, tugging at heart strings across Italy. The former classics teacher has lived alone outside Rome with seven cats since his wife died in 1992, and his one daughter, a doctor, he believes is a volunteer in Afghanistan. But dozens of replies to his ad signals an end to his loneliness. "So many families want to adopt me as their grandfather," he told Corriere. So many families answered my appeal and want me to teach their children about Horace and Catullus." Mr Angelozzi offered €500 a month to the family who accepted him. Among those who responded was popular Roman singer Antonello Venditti, one of Mr Angelozzi's former students. "I was not expecting so much warmth, so much interest in my story," said the now internationally famous pensioner. "But remember that my problem is one that affects so many elderly people in Italy."
Younger women's marriages more likely to break down: Women who marry in their 20s are leading the divorce statistics in Britain, their marriages breaking up at twice the national average rate by the time they are 30. The overall rate of divorce in England and Wales has reached a seven-year high, marriages that end in divorce lasting on average 11 years. The growing rate undermines the theory that, because fewer people are marrying, those who do are more committed to making the marriage last. De facto relationships have an even higher breakdown rate. A counsellor from Relate marriage guidance suggested people were not prepared for "coming together in one relationship" and the adjustments that demanded.
