October 22, 2012
News Clips
- Boys Now Enter Puberty Younger, Study Suggests, but It’s Unclear Why
The study, widely considered the most reliable attempt to measure puberty in American boys, estimates that boys are showing signs of puberty six months to two years earlier than was reported in previous research, which historically taught that 11 ½ was the general age puberty began in boys.
New York Times
October 20, 2012 - Newark debuts N.J.’s only all-boys public school amid high hopes, criticism
The brand new neckwear was more than an adornment for the boys’ powder blue and navy uniforms. It was an award students at the Eagle Academy for Young Men of Newark earned through class participation and attendance. The tie meant Amir and the other boys were now “Eagles.”
nj.com
October 19, 2012 - Gay teen from Moraga denied Eagle Scout submits petition asking Boy Scouts to change policy
A gay teenager denied his Eagle Scout award because of his sexuality turned in an online petition with more than 400,000 signatures Wednesday urging the National Boy Scouts of America to change its policies against allowing gay members.
mercurynews.com
October 18, 2012 - Boy Scout Files Give Glimpse Into 20 Years of Sex Abuse
Details of decades of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America, and what child welfare experts say was a corrosive culture of secrecy that compounded the damage, were cast into full public view for the first time on Thursday with the release of thousands of pages of documents describing abuse accusations across the country.
New York Times
October 18, 2012 - Obese Boys at Risk of Infertility: Study
Childhood obesity does make parents worried and uncomfortable, but a new study might give all the more reasons for parents to try and prevent their children from being overweight. According to a new study, obese teenage boys have up to 50 percent less testosterone than their slimmer counterparts, increasing their risk of infertility later in life.
Counsel and Heal
October 18, 2012 - Boy Scout files reveal pattern of molestation
a close look at nearly 1,900 confidential files opened between 1970 and 1991 revealed a pattern: Many suspected molesters engaged in what psychologists today call “grooming behavior,” a gradual seduction in which predators lavish children with attention, favors and gifts.
Los Angeles Times
October 17, 2012 - Girls and boys: Separate but educated
Brian, 15, attends the Young Men’s Preparatory Academy, a Miami-Dade all-boys public school. Students wear ties and blazers and the goal is to hone boys into young men, ready for college. It is one of a growing number of single-gender public schools in South Florida.
Miami Herald
October 17, 2012 - Former NFL quarterback shares insights on depression, suicide prevention
The former Detroit Lions quarterback recently spoke at Barberton High School about his personal struggles with depression, his career in the NFL and the tragic loss of his 15-year-old son Jeff to suicide. Hipple chronicled his own journey to mental fitness in his book “Real Men Do Cry.†In it, he talks about the undiagnosed symptoms he experienced as a young boy. At first, his depression surfaced as his inability to fall asleep at night. Once he was older and attending Utah State University, he started having even more serious symptoms.
Akron Legal News
October 15, 2012 - Kids with ADHD have dimmer prospects: study
Children with ADHD symptoms tend to fare worse as adults than do kids without problems in school, according to the longest follow-up study of the disorder to date.
Reuters
October 15, 2012 - Why teen drinking and driving has been cut in half in past 20 years
Nine out of 10 high-schoolers chose not to drink and drive in 2011 – a 54 percent decrease since 1991 – according to an October Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Christian Science Monitor
October 11, 2012
Opinion
- Shades of Gay
The poll found that nonwhites are more likely than whites to answer “yes  to the question of whether they personally identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. And, although, in general, younger people were more likely to answer affirmatively than older ones, young black men (those between 18 and 29 years old) were 56 percent more likely than young white men to answer yes. Young Hispanic men were 49 percent more likely than young white men to answer with a yes and young Asian men were 23 percent more likely than young white men to answer yes.
Charles M. Blow, New York Times
October 20, 2012 - Cuddle Your Kid!
One University of Minnesota study that began in the 1970s followed 267 children of first-time low-income mothers for nearly four decades. It found that whether a child received supportive parenting in the first few years of life was at least as good a predictor as I.Q. of whether he or she would graduate from high school.
Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times
October 20, 2012 - A Right to Choose Single-Sex Education
For some children, learning in girls-only or boys-only classes pays off. Opponents of the idea are irresponsible.
Education proponents across the political spectrum were dismayed by recent attempts to eradicate the single-gender options in public schools in Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Maine and Florida. We were particularly troubled at efforts to thwart education choice for American students and their families because it is a cause we have worked hard to advance.
Kay Bailey Hutchison and Barbara Mikulski, Wall Street Journal
October 16, 2012
International News
AUSTRALIA
- The next big thing in sex-ed: the evil of heterosexism
A report in the Australian Daily Telegraph today reveals that a programme teaching that it is wrong to regard heterosexuality as the norm for relationships is being piloted in 12 schools in the Australian state of New South Wales. There’s a similar programme in the state of Victoria. Academics and sexual libertarian groups such as Family Planning have had a heavy hand in them.
mercatornet.com
October 17, 2012
CANADA
- Just 27 extra minutes of sleep can improve kids’ behaviour: Study
“A modest extension in sleep duration was associated with significant improvement in alertness and emotional regulation whereas a modest sleep restriction had opposite effectsâ€
thestar.com
October 15, 2012
GERMANY
- German cabinet approves bill allowing circumcision of boys
Germany’s cabinet approved a draft law on Wednesday protecting the right to circumcise infant boys, which it says will end months of legal uncertainty after a local court banned the practice, causing outrage among Muslims and Jews.
MSNBC
October 15, 2012
PAKISTAN
- Dying for education in the Swat valley
In Pakistan, both girls AND boys aspire to an education. One young boy from the Swat would show me just how much.
harretz.com
October 15, 2012
SINGAPORE
- Girls outperform boys in PSLE: Heng Swee Keat
Over the past decade, from 2001 to 2011, girls have out-smarted boys in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Channel News Asia
October 15, 2012
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
- Dumas on education in T&T: System not training boys to be men
Former People’s National Movement (PNM) minister Rennie Dumas says the education system is destroying boys by treating them like girls.
Guardian Media
October 15, 2012
UK
- School trying to stop boys lagging behind
WITH boys outnumbering girls three to two at Dry Sandford Primary School, the challenge is on to make reading cool. The school, which has just 130 pupils, is the latest to sign up to the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign.
oxfordmail.com
October 19, 2012 - Thousands of young boys ‘struggling to write their name’
More than one-in-seven boys is unable to write his own name at the age of five amid fresh warnings over an emerging gender gap at an early age. Boys are already lagging far behind girls at the age of five, according to data published by the Department for Education.
The Telegraph
October 14, 2012