March 5, 2014 – Weekly Roundup Archive

Posted on by The Boys Initiative
brothers

March 5, 2014

FOCUS: Obama Launches “My Brother’s  Keeper” on February 27
Presidential Memorandum

Coverage

News Clips

  • Young Black Men Suffer from High Rates of Depression
    Young African-American men suffer from much higher rates of depression because of trauma compared to their white counterparts, and many black men don’t recognize that they have been traumatized, Dr. Waldo E. Johnson Jr. said during a recent one-day symposium at the University of Chicago.
    Houston Forward Times, March 2, 2014
  • HPV: Time to Pay Attention
    But when I watched Mr. McConaughey’s Golden Globes acceptance speech and he said the film had been turned down 86 times before the financing came through, I couldn’t help but think about the taboos that still exist today for other sexually transmitted diseases. Namely, HPV.
    Huffington Post
    February 28, 2014
  • Low literacy scores plague minority male students in Colorado
    In Colorado, low proficiency scores are prevalent in both male and female African American and Hispanic students.
    9 News
    February 28, 2014
  • Affordable Care Act May Help New Jersey Parents of Addicted Teens
    James P. Curtin, Executive Director of Daytop New Jersey, the well-known adolescent recovery program and preparatory school located in Mendham, NJ says, “Everyone dealing with the care of addicted adolescents should be encouraged by precedents set by the Affordable Care Act even if they object to the Act itself.” Mr. Curtin points out that the Affordable Care Act has the potential to enable millions of young adults dealing with mental and substance abuse disorders to gain access to treatment. Treatment providers certainly hope to be able to provide highly effective care to the many that have previously been unable to access it.
    Digital Journal
    February 28,, 2014
  • Louise Slaughter tweets that four-in-five black and Hispanic fourth-graders aren’t proficient in reading: PolitiFact: “True”
    Government data backs up that depressing statistic, though it’s worth noting that the U.S. has at least seen improvements across all races since the early 1990s. We rate the statement True.
    PolitiFact
    February 27, 2014
  • No longer loyal to Scouts, boys join Trail Life
    But the Boy Scouts had decided to admit gays, and Ron Orr, a tall, soft-spoken man with a firm handshake, is clear about his Christian faith and what it says about homosexuality: It is a sin that cannot be tolerated. His son agreed. He would forgo the century-old BSA for Trail Life, which officially launched just last month. “It felt like I’d be hitting something higher than Eagle in terms of achievement,” Andrew said, in an interview.
    USA Today
    February 28, 2014
  • Boys’ health costs higher than girls – until age 14
    In an analysis of over 5.4 billion health insurance claims from 2009 to 2012, the Health Care Cost Institute, a nonprofit research group, found that before age 14, health-care spending was higher for boys than for girls. For boys of all ages, prescription-drug spending was higher than for girls. And out-of-pocket spending was also higher for boys ages 0 to 18: $440 per boy in 2012 and $414 per girl — a 6% gap.
    Wall Street Journal
    February 28, 2014
  • Spike in ADHD Meds, Antidepressants in Kids
    An increase in prescription drug use among US children and teens, particularly psychostimulants and antidepressants, as well as growing teen admission rates for mental health issues and substance abuse are among the top findings in a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), a Washington-based nonprofit, nonpartisan research group.
    Medscape Multispecialty
    February 27, 2014
  • Gene Study Offers Clues to Why Autism Strikes More Males
    Girls seem to tolerate more genetic mutations than boys do before showing symptoms of disorder
    A new DNA study begins to explain why girls are less likely than boys to have an autism spectrum disorder. It turns out that girls tend not to develop autism when only mild genetic abnormalities exist, the researchers said. But when they are diagnosed with the disorder, they are more likely to have more extreme genetic mutations than boys who show the same symptoms.
    Medline Plus
    Febuary 27, 2014
  • Too Often, Doctors Miss Suicide’s Warning Signs: Study
    Many victims saw a physician just prior to the suicide, but less than half got mental health diagnosis
    Nearly 37,000 Americans kill themselves each year, according to federal statistics. But many of those deaths might have been prevented if doctors had been better at picking up on the warning signs of suicide, a new study suggests. “A national suicide reduction goal may be met if more primary care doctors and specialists receive and use training to identify and treat patients most at risk,” study lead author Brian Ahmedani, an assistant scientist in the Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, said in a statement from the health system.
    Medline Plus
    February 27, 2014
  • Solving ‘the boy problem’
    Boys will be boys, goes the old adage, but it’s exactly this philosophy that has hurt young men in urban classrooms for more than a century, a Michigan State University scholar argues in a new book.
    Many boys have devalued academic success since schooling was made mandatory starting in the early 1900s, Julia Grant writes in “The Boy Problem.” Today, boys make up two-thirds of the special education population and black and Latino males in particular face high rates of suspensions, expulsions and imprisonment.
    MSU Today
    February 27, 2014
  • If you’re a Latino male, don’t miss your next doctor’s appointment
    The American Cancer Society released the results of a new study this week indicating uninsured adolescents and young adults–particularly those who were male and Hispanic or African American–were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage cancer compared to those in the same age group who had health coverage.
    Saludify
    February 27, 2014
  • Young steroid users at increased risk of heart disease
    Steroid abuse is associated with increased risk of heart disease in otherwise healthy young men, an Australian study of deaths involving the drugs has found.
    Medical Express
    February 27, 2014
  • Mayor Mitch Landrieu opens conference addressing violent crime among African-American men, boys
    New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Wednesday kicked off a two-day conference with representatives of 37 U.S. cities and municipalities, aimed at reducing violence and creating opportunity for African-American men and boys. Cities United, the brainchild of Landrieu and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, is an umbrella organization with 56 member cities already signed on.
    The Times Picayune
    February 26, 2014
  • Minority Male Students Face Challenge to Achieve at Community Colleges
    Although black and Latino male students enter community colleges with higher aspirations than those of their white peers, white men are six times as likely to graduate in three years with a certificate or degree, according to a report recently released by the Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas.
    Chronicle of Higher Education
    February 26, 2014
  • Suicide among apparently well-functioning young men
    Suicide among young men is a major public health concern in many countries, despite great efforts to find effective prevention strategies. By interviewing close relatives and friends of apparently well-functioning young men who unexpectedly took their own life, Norwegian researchers found there had been no signs of serious mental disorder. This contradicts previous research which suggests that depression or other mental illness is an important risk factor in suicide.
    Medical Express
    February 26, 2014
  • Boys-only short hair rule (for high school basketball players) = sex discrimination?
    Monday’s 7th Circuit panel decision in Hayden v. Greensburg Community School Corp.(7th Cir. Feb. 24, 2014) discusses the broad issue at some length, in the course of considering a grooming code on public high school basketball teams: Boys, under this code, are required to cut their hair quite short, while girls aren’t. And the court concludes that this code is unconstitutional. 
    Washington Post
    February 25, 2014

International News

SWAZILAND

  • Should school boys who impregnate girls be expelled (as pregnant girls are) ?
    This question unsettled many as issues of gender disparity and the promotion of stereotypes were discussed during the workshop on the validation of the training manual for school committees. It was noted that the manual had guidelines on how to handle issues of pregnant girls in schools and was rather silent on issues of what should be done to the boy child. Again, TSC’s Ncane Mtshali begged for clarity on the matter, stating that it seemed so biased to only discipline the girl child. 
    Swazi Observer
    February 28, 2014

UK

  • Calls for boys to be vaccinated as rise in mouth cancer is linked to changing sexual habits
    Campaigners are calling for boys to have the jab too in order to stem the “catastrophic rise” in cancers, given that it’s probably unrealistic to ask people to change their sex habits. Nigel Carter, Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, which compiled the figures from official data, said the rise was “very worrying”. He said there is a clear gap in public knowledge about what causes mouth cancer. Smoking and drinking to excess increase your chances of getting mouth cancer by 30 times. He added: “Of greater concern is the rise of the HPV.
    The Mirror
    February 28, 2014

NEW ZEALAND

  • Boys eat more when watching TV
    Researchers have found boys will eat a lot when placed in front of a television, computer or video game, and snacks are made readily available.
    Stuff.nz.co
    February 26, 2014