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News & Views - June, 2001 Issue (page
1)
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Page 1 of 3 - Next
STUDY SHOWS PARENT-CHILD TALK WORKS
(April 30, 2001) The Washington Times reported a study by The Alan Guttmacher Institute that concluded “Teens who did
abstinence-education homework with a parent became more dedicated to postponing sex than teens who didn’t do such homework....The
study is one of the first to demonstrate that a program that focuses on parent-child communication can make a difference in the child’s
sexual attitudes.”
EVEN LOW LEAD LEVELS CAUSE DECREASE IN IQ
SCORES
(May 5, 2001) Science News, Vol. 159, No. 18 reports “lead can damage a young child’s ability to learn and reason…at
exposures far lower than the limit deemed acceptable by the U.S. government.” Study leader, Bruce P. Lanphear, epidemiologist at Children’s
Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, says, “this is a bombshell” explaining the new results of studies indicate “there is no threshold
for the adverse effects of lead on cognition.” Even subtle poisoning can have lifelong impacts, notes Joel Schwartz, of the Harvard
School of Public Health in Boston.
TEACHERS IGNORE CHEATING
(May 9, 2001) Education Week,
a survey by a professor at Rutgers University reported that almost half of 4,500 high school students believed teachers choose to
ignore students who are cheating. Possible reasons include fear of “retaliation by the parents...They’re afraid they’ll be sued
by parents, and that schools don’t have the resources to back them up [in court].” 54% of the students surveyd “admitted to
using the Internet to pirate others’ material.”
PRIVATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS ARE UP
(May 8, 2001) The Christian Science Monitor article, “More
knock at the doors of private schools”, describes a significant increase in applications for many private schools. Reasons that parents
are switching to private schools include individualized attention, a feeling their kids are not suitable for big-schools, concerned
about competitive college admissions, a desire for high-quality education, and increasing concerns about public schools.
ARREST RATE FOR GIRLS UNDER 18 INCREASING
(May 1, 2001) In The Washington Post, an American Bar Association
study concluded “girls under the age of 18 have become the fastest-growing segment of the juvenile justice population...Arrest, detention
and custody data show an increase in both the number and percentage of girls in the juvenile justice system - a trend that runs counter
to that of boys. Delinquency cases involving girls jumped 83 percent between 1988 and 1997.”
RECREATIONAL USE OF RITALIN GROWING
(May 2001) Teacher Magazine,
reported a study by the Massachusetts Department of Health that found nearly 13 percent “of high school students surveyed admitted
to using Ritalin recreationally at least once.” Students often call them “Smarties” since students tend to think the drug “will pump
up their academic performance."
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