Fewer Teens Driving at 16-Years-Old

Good news for parents worried about the accident statistics. According to the Federal Highway Administration, in 2006 only thirty percent of 16-year-olds held driver's licenses. Some of the reasons include tighter state laws about when teenagers can drive, the price of automobile insurance, and the shift from drivers education in school to private companies. in most states it is much easier to get a license after you are 18-years old.

There are fewer than 20% of high schools teaching drivers education now, with most families doing on-line or in class private lessons, as well as private behind-the-wheel lessons before the 50 hours of practice in the family car (in California). Once all the practice is done, the insurance rate is similar to the adult rate, in spite of the fewer hours driven by the teen. The highest rates are for teens who own their own car.

Many states have some form of graduated driving restrictions keeping youth practicing with parents longer, and from driving with other teens in the car, or during late night and early morning hours. In addition, many employers cannot hire teens to do any jobs that require driving.

Another related change is the extent to which parents stay involved with their teens activities and are willing to drive them to lessons, sports, and after school activities. Knowing where kids are and knowing they are not driving with other teens is a comfort to many parents, especially given the fact that car accidents account for one-third of the deaths of 16-to18-year olds.

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Labels: Driving, Teen Development

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Book Review: Now What Do I Do? A Guide to Help Teenagers with Their Parents' Separation or Divorce

Lynn Cassella-Kapusinski wrote this book in 2006 to share her own experiences and help teens deal with the feelings that naturally accompany the family changes that divorce brings with it. She is also the author of "Making Your Way After Your Parents' Divorce," and the founder of Faith Journeys Foundation.

Now What Do I Do? is a workbook to help teens identify and process their feelings, and provide comfort as well as strategies to handle feeling guilty, ashamed, lonely, sad, and left out of an absent parents life. This book is the most appropriate for Christian-identified youth who have experienced a divorce in which one of their parents becomes an absent parent. There is nothing in this book about families that divorce and then attempt to co-parent on a daily basis or share daily or weekly custody. There also is nothing about gay, lesbian, or alternative family structures of any kind, limiting the audience.

The strengths of this book include her suggestions for letting anger out, understanding and encouraging forgiveness, and some great communication guidelines, particularly in Chapter 5. She acknowledges that parents should be the adults and responsible for keeping the communication healthy, but some parents cannot "be there" for their kids during divorce, and she basically says, get over it and learn how to be a healthy communicator for your own sake.

A couple of things I wish the author focused more on are that all of the feelings teens experience are "normal," and getting teens into a group or working with a counselor is really important. Parents see their kids through a "filter" of their own experiences and most teens need an outsider to help them stay out of the issues related to the divorce and the middle of any conflict. I personally do not believe teens have any place talking about infidelity, emotional maturity of parents, or the emotional baggage parents bring into relationships. I also was concerned that this author suggests that the impact of divorce will give the teens baggage in their own relationships, and never get over their grief, which does not give them much hope.

My own advice is that parents not talk to teens about the reasons the relationship failed or any of the conflict surrounding money, new relationships, or parenting decisions. Kids will be happier and healthier if parents handle the conflict and encourage kids to have the healthiest relationship they can with the other parent. Every child is better off having as many positive relationships with adults as they can, and each parent is responsible for supporting the relationship with the other parent.

There should never be any bad-mouthing or anger in front of the kids - and that is a bottom line. Granted, some parents are unable to do this, because they are depressed, or unable for whatever reason to move on with their own lives, and if that is the case, the children should be encouraged to seek the support of their counselors and other adults to set limits and boundaries on the negative behavior.

Divorce is tough on every family and the more resources we can provide our teens, the better. This is a good resource for teens who relate it to the situation of having a newly absent parent and identify as Christian.

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Labels: Book Review, Divorce, Healthline, Teen Development

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Early Pubertal Development - Girls

Of the 1,250 women answering a recent poll on the We're Talking Teen Health Web site, 37% of them had started their period before they were 13, and 9% had started when they were only 9 years old. In addition, in another poll, 76% of 617 people reported that they started developing hair under their arms and on their genitals before they were 14, and 28% of them had started before they were 11.

There was a time when an 8- or 9-year old girl who started to develop breasts would have been considered abnormal, but that is no longer the case. More and more pediatricians are seeing breast development in younger girls. Now it is only breast development under age 8 that prompts a referral to to an endocrinologist for evaluation. Another change is the length of time between breast development and the onset of periods. It used to take about a year, but now it is not uncommon for there to be a three year gap between breast development and the beginning of periods.

What we do not know is why puberty is starting earlier, particularly in girls. There are theories out there that the early trend in pubertal development is related to better nutrition and health care, or the chemicals in our air, food, and water, which is mighty scary. There is also a tie between obesity rates and early development, with estrogen rates higher in heavier girls (the traditional early developers). There are also some health risks, for example, earlier breast development, and therefore a longer lifetime exposure to estrogen, is a known risk factor for breast cancer, but with the age dropping, "early" might now mean age 6 or 7.

There are three stages of puberty: breast development, pubic hair growth, and finally, menstruation. The average age for menstruation in the U.S. is now 12.5 for white girls, 12.06 for black girls, and 12.09 for Latinas. Another interesting change I have noticed is that we used to say that periods can be sporadic when they start - a young girl might only have one or two during the first year, but more and more I notice that when young girls start, they are quite consistent, with 21 - 35 day cycles.

The parenting implication for this drop in the age of puberty is that we have to have "the talk" with kids who seem way too young to be worrying about reproduction. However, if your daughter is starting to have breasts in third grade, then in 4th grade it is time to start keeping a calendar of mood swings and headaches that may be cyclical, give her the heads up about what her period will look and feel like, give her a Period Pack to start carrying with her, and start talking about growing up.

Sorry, but it's true - whatever the explanation, our daughters bodies are maturing when we still want them to be little girls.

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Labels: Healthline, Preteens, Teen Development

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The Muscle Cramp

I am not talking menstrual cramp, I am talking about the common cramp (a charley horse) - when out of the blue a muscle contracts violently and will not let go - until it is good and ready. Most people have experienced a cramp, which usually comes as a surprise, and can drop even the strongest athlete to their knees. Cramps can happen during or after exercise, up to six hours later, and during sleep (called night cramps). The cramp can last seconds or up to 10 minutes and the muscle can be sore up to 24 hours later.

What causes cramps - who knows! It seems to be a medical mystery. More importantly, what can you do about them? Everyone seems to have an answer - including taking potassium, zinc and magnesium, drinking plenty of water, stretching before and after exercise, turning your toes toward your head, and massaging it out. One theory that seems reasonable to me is that we need more fluid - simple dehydration, Another is that we really need sodium and potassium and when we sweat too much the fluid that bathes the connection between the muscle and nerve is depleted of sodium and potassium, which are lost through sweat, so the nerve becomes hypersensitive.

Preteens and teens who are growing a lot seem to get more cramps, which is not really explained by any of the common explanations, and are not worrisome unless they happen frequently. If they happen at night, try stretching your legs before bed, particularly the calf muscles, keeping blankets loose around the feet, and not sleeping with knees bent and toes pointed down, which shortens the calf muscles.

There are medical reasons cramps occur, particularly in adults, so they should not be brushed off, especially if they are recurring. Narrowed blood vessels, usually from atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), compression of a nerve, possibly from spinal stenosis, hypothyroidism, and potassium deficiency can cause cramps, as can medications like diuretics used to lower blood pressure.

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Labels: Health Fact, Healthline

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HPV Update

The Kaiser Family Foundation has published a new fact sheet about the HPV vaccine, and below is a summary of some of the information in the fact sheet. HPV remains widespread in the United States. Recently the CDC reported that approximately one in four women ages 14-59 in the U.S. have HPV (27%), with the highest rates among women ages 20-24 (45%). There are more than 100 strains of HPV with over 30 types that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts.

The new vaccine, Gardasil, approved for use in women ages 9 to 26, prevents infection of four strains of HIV - 6, 11, 16, and 18. Strains 16 and 18 are associated with 70% of cervical cancer cases, while strains 6 and 11 are associated with 90% of genital warts cases. The vaccine is administered in three doses and has been shown to be effective up to five years, and it is not known yet if women will require a booster shot.

The 3-dose vaccine can cost $360, and many insurance companies cover it 100% as preventive care. There are also several federal programs that will pay for the vaccines including the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, the Immunization Grant Program for children who do not qualify for the VFC program, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and Merck's recently established vaccine assistance fund for uninsured women 19 to 26 years old.

A recent CDC survey found that only 10% of women ages 18 to 26 had received the HPV vaccine as of the summer of 2007. In addition, public awareness and knowledge about HPV is limited. While the federal government has recommended universal vaccination for girls and young women in the United States, there are still financing, public acceptability and awareness issues to be overcome before that goal is met.

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Labels: Healthline, HPV, Teen Health

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Thank You - Grand Rounds 4.22

Thanks to Barry at Daily Interview for including a post about teens and obesity from Teen Health 411 in Grand Rounds 4.22 this week.

This week was interesting and informative!

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Unconditional Love: How Hard Can It Be?

Continuing with the theme about the impact of advertising, I set out trying to find an explanation about why advertising works so well on the American people. What I found was a book that could have a profound impact on how we parent. "Real Love," by Greg Baer (2003) suggests that we are all lacking "unconditional love," so we seek out experiences (and products) that give us feelings of power, pleasure, praise, and safety, which are "imitation love," and leave us feeling empty and miserable. Using example after example, from his own life, and the lives of others, Dr. Baer points out that people who do not feel unconditionally loved will do anything to eliminate the pain of their emptiness, making us vulnerable to advertising and manipulation by others.

Here is the sad part: it is our parenting that creates humans with this vacuum, so happily filled by advertising and consumer goods, and leading to unfulfilling intimate relationships in which people trade "imitation love." Seeking power, pleasure, praise and safety, goes hand in hand with not accepting responsibility for our mistakes, chasing praise, and feeling disappointed and angry that there "is never enough." Dr. Baer suggests that being ungrateful is a natural result of having expectations, which we set up to fill our sense of "emptiness," and "fear that we will be alone. If we expect anything from other people, we will always be disappointed instead of grateful.

Dr. Baer suggests that without meaning to do it, we convey to our children that we accept them only when they do what we want. When we are disappointed in them, our sighs, frowns, and even words tell them that at that moment we love them less, they are unacceptable, and even defective. Feeling this way, children learn to protect themselves with lies, anger, acting like a victim, and running away, and look for something to make themselves feel better. Here is a tough concept: If we love someone and genuinely accept them, we never feel disappointment or anger.

Good parenting is not a technique, nor is it an opportunity to manipulate children to behave in ways that are convenient for us. Families should provide a place where children feel unconditional love and learn to love others. However, a child cannot feel that unconditional love or happiness while carrying the burden of making his or her parents happy. "No parent ever has the right to expect love from a child. It is the responsibility of the parents to teach and love their children, not the other way around."

It may not be a popular answer, but according to this book, we cannot blame our children's problems on them, their peers, the school, television, advertising, video games, or anything else... we own the problems of our children. Luckily for us, he is not mean about this - as he provides unconditional love to all of us - and suggests it is never too late to provide happiness to ourselves and our children. By finding unconditional love ourselves, we can help our children be happy, too.

This does not mean that there is no discipline, it just means there is no disappointment and anger when we provide that discipline, or correction. To eliminate feelings of disappointment and anger, he suggests five steps, and describes how to use them:

• Be quiet
• Be wrong
• Feel loved
• Get loved
• Be loving

I do not know about you, but a little unconditional love sounds like just what the doctor ordered - healing old wounds and creating a generation of people who are truly happy and therefore have no need to drink, smoke, have indiscriminate sex, yell at anyone, fight with their siblings, act out in school, or use extreme forms of entertainment to "feel good" sounds like a noble goal worth trying. Of course, he has a newer book (2005) which about parenting, so stay tuned for another review.

Happy parenting!

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Labels: Healthline, Parenting

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Metabolic Syndrome and Teens

As the rates of obesity rise in teens there is also a rise in a cluster of heart disease and diabetes risk factors known as metabolic syndrome. Obese teens are the most likely to have metabolic syndrome, which includes high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and excess belly fat.

Metabolic syndrome is known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in adults, and is related to a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet. No matter what is causing it, the treatment is the same: more exercise, less sitting, and a healthier diet. It is all about lifestyle and setting in place the habits teens will need a s healthy adults. This cannot be treated with a pill, and the older teens get before they start dealing with it, the greater their chances are of developing diabetes, and heart disease.

When it comes to changing lifestyle, parents and family members all have to get on the same path. Families are systems and each system supports the habits - good or bad. If you have a teen who needs more exercise, fewer carbohydrates, less sugar, and more fruits and vegetables, chances are goo the whole family needs those things, and together you can make different decisions.

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Labels: Healthline, Obesity, Teen Health

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Happy Valentine's Day

Parents, Valentine's Day is your opportunity to spoil your teenagers! Make them a nice breakfast, or a cup of tea before school, take them out for gelato, see a family-friendly movie, share a special dinner, give them a love gift, or tell them they are wonderful!

Teenagers, today is an opportunity to remind your parents that you do love them, when they are not embarrassing you, hassling you, nagging you, pressuring you, or expecting too much! Deep down, you remember that they love you - so say thanks today! Tea in bed, a love note in a briefcase, a flower in the kitchen, a chocolate, doing a chore without being asked, or just a big hug will do - and get you a lot of brownie points!

Valentine's Day is all about feeling the blessings of the love we share - at least most days - and remembering to celebrate the relationships we value and work so hard to sustain. Have fun, remember what you love about each other, and spend a little time together - you will all feel better!

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Labels: Healthline, Holidays, Parenting, Teen Health

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Thank You - Grand Rounds 4.21

Thanks to David at HealthBlawg for including a post about the impact of advertising from Teen Health 411 in Grand Rounds 4.21 this week.

The Valentine's Day theme was really interesting and the posts very creative! A great way to start my day!

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Labels: Advertising, Grand Rounds, Healthline

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Rainbow Project GLBTQ Book List

The Rainbow Project has announced the first annual bibliography for young readers from birth through age 18. This new bibliography contains 45 fictional and informational books copyrighted between 2005 and 2007 that validate same-gender lifestyles and experiences.

Here is the 2008 list, and you can get more information at the Rainbow List on MySpace.

Beginning Readers
Considine, Kaitlyn. Emma and Meesha My Boy: A Two Mom Story. Il. Binny Hobbs. 2005. unp. Two Moms Books, $10.95. (9780615189253). Pre-K. When Emma's two moms teach her to be nice to her cat, Emma enjoys being told yes instead of no.

Gonzalez, Rigoberto. Antonio's Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio. Il. Cecilia Concepcion Alvarez. 2005. 32p. Children's Book Press, $16.95. Gr. 1-3. Antonio comes to terms with his classmates' ridicule of his mother's partner, Leslie.

Jopling, Heather. Monicka's Papa Is Tall. Il. Allyson Demoe. 2006. unp. Nickname (9780978073909). Pre-K. Monicka's papa and daddy are very different, but the puzzle pieces show that both of them love her very much.

Jopling, Heather. Ryan's Mom Is Tall. Il. Allyson Demoe. 2006. unp. Nickname Press, (9780978073916). Pre-K. Ryan's mom and mummy are very different, but the puzzle pieces show that both of them love him very much.

Lindenbaum, Pija. Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle. Trans. Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard. 2007. unp. R&S Books, $16.00. (9789129667349/9129667348). K-Gr. 2. Jealous of her uncle's new partner, Fergus, feisty Mia plays tricks to drive him away until the day Uncle Tommy isn't feeling well and she decides to accept his relationship with Fergus.

Richardson, Justin and Peter Parnell. And Tango Makes Three. Il. Henry Cole. 2005. unp. Simon & Schuster, $15.99. (9780689878459/0689878451). K-Gr. 2. At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins parent an egg and start a family.

Middle/Early Young Adult Fiction
Burch, Christian. The Manny Files. 2006. 296p. Atheneum, $15.95. (9781416900399/141690039X). 296p. Gr. 5-8. Shy Keats Dalinger learns from his unconventional male "nanny" to be more self-confident and out-going while the "manny" becomes more and more a part of the family.

Hartinger, Brent. The Order of the Poison Oak. 2005. 211p. HarperTeen, $15.99. (0060567309). Gr. 7-10. Tired of being the school freak, gay 16-year-old Russel tries to escape as a summer camp counselor in a rural summer camp only to be attracted to the same counselor as his bisexual friend Min.

Howe, James. Totally Joe. 2005. 189p. Atheneum/Ginee Seo Books, $15.95. (978068983573/068983597X). Gr. 6-8. In 13-year-old Joe's alphabiography assignment—the story of his life from A to Z—he bares his soul about his parents, teachers, friends, and enemies--and his coming out.

Larochelle, David. Absolutely, Positively Not 2005. 219p. Arthur A. Levine Books, $16.95. (0439591090). Gr. 7-10. Fifteen-year-old Steven conscientiously collects photos of girls in bikinis and dates his female classmates in this humorous attempt to fit into his Minnesota high school, only to find out some surprising things about the people around him—and himself.

Limb, Sue. Girl Nearly 16, Absolute Torture. 2005. 216p. Delacorte, $15.95. (0385732163). Gr. 7-10. Forced to leave her boyfriend and visit with her father for two weeks, 15-year-old Jess finally learns the reason her father left her mother.

Peters, Julie Anne. Between Mom and Jo. 2006. 232p. Little, Brown/Megan Tingley Books, $16.99. (0316739065). 232p. Gr. 7-10. Fourteen-year-old Nick has a great life with his two moms until they split up and he's caught in the middle with no support.

Selvadurai, Shyam. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. 2005. 280p. Tundra, $18.95. Gr. 7-10. Fourteen-year-old Amrith finds his life in Sri Lanka turned upside down when his Canadian cousin visits and Amrith falls in love with him.

Non-Fiction
Marcus, Eric. What If Someone I know Is Gay: Answers to Questions about What It Means to be Gay and Lesbian. 2007. 183p. Simon Pulse, $8.99. (9781416949701/1416949704). Gr. 7-12. This radically updated resource covers basics and not-so-basics in a question-and-answer format.

Miller, Calvin Craig. No easy answers: Bayard Rustin and the civil rights movement. [Portraits of Black Americans Series]. 2005. 160p. Morgan Reynolds, $27.95. (9781931798433/1931798435). Gr. 7-10. Although a leader in the US civil rights movement, Rustin's arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment for a homosexual encounter were used to discredit his work.

When I Knew. Ed. Robert Trachtenberg. Il. Tom Bachtell. 2005. 120p. Regan Books, $22.95. (0060571462). Gr. 9-12. More than 80 contributors briefly describe their self-discovery "eureka moment" regarding their sexual orientation in a fun book with a magazine style.

Young Adult Fiction

Alvarado, T. I. Wanted. 2006. 190p. Alyson, $14.95. (9781555839451/1555839452). Gr. 10-12. Bounty hunter Ladybird "Bird" Blacker has too much to deal with, from a pacifist partner to a six-foot-, seven-inch-tall business rival who wears a scowl you couldn't scrape off with a chisel—and then her little sister comes to town.

Berman, Steve. Vintage: A Ghost Story. 2007. 148p. Haworth , $12.95. (9781560236313/1560236310). Gr. 10-12. Rejected by his parents because he's gay and sent to live with his aunt, a teen is haunted by a handsome boy—in more ways than one—and only black magic will help.

Cameron, Peter. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You. 2007. 229p. Farrar/Frances Foster Books, $16.00. (9780374309893/03743098920. Gr. 10-12. Holden Caulfield, meet James Sveck, a white, middle-class New Yorker who disdains his peers and most of the adults in his life, except for the gay man who manages his mother's art gallery,

Davis, Will. My Side of the Story. 2007. 243p. Bloomsbury, $14.95. (9781596912946/1596912944). Gr. 10-12. Only 16, cheeky Jarold a.k.a. Jazz, hits the gay bars to escape the misery of his life.

Garden, Nancy. Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope,1950 to the Present. 2007. 230p. Farrar, $18.00. (9780374317591/0374317593). Gr. 8-11. Fact and fiction show the struggles for lgbt teens in America during the past five decades.

Goobie, Beth. Hello, Groin. 2006. 271p. Orca, $17.95. (9781551434599/1551434598). Gr. 9-12. Wanting to be normal, 16-year-old Dylan Kowolski tries to hide her lesbianism and develop sexual feelings for her boyfriend at the same time she has a passionate crush on her best female friend.

Humphreys, Helen. Wild Dogs. 2005. 185p. Norton, $13.95. (0393060152). Gr. 10-12. Alice, in love with a wildlife biologist, gathers at the forest's edge with her and four other people to save their dogs that have become feral.

Hyde, Catherine Ryde. Becoming Chloe. 2006. 215p. Knopf, $15.95. (0375832580). Gr. 9-12. Attempting to protect Wanda (aka Chloe), another homeless teenager, 17-year-old Jordan finds the brutality and beauty in life on their road trip across the country.

Levithan, David. Wide Awake. 2006. 221p. Knopf, $16.95. (9780375834660/0375834664). Gr. 9-12: In a future American when gay Jewish Abraham Stein is elected president, lovers Jimmy and Duncan join the throngs of people traveling to Topeka to protest the governor's threat to change votes.

Moore, Perry. Hero. 2007. 428p. Hyperion, $16.99. (9781423101956/1423101952). Gr. 10-12. Thom Creed, the son of superheroes, has to hide the fact that he's gay if he's going to fit into the League—but he finds a lot more problems than that facing him.

Noyes, Katia. Crashing America. 2005. 249p. Alyson, $14.95. (1555839118). Gr. 10-12. Afraid that she will kill herself at age 18 as her mother did, 17-year-old Girl (formerly Gretchen) flees San Francisco on a road trip to the Midwest, searching for a place where she belongs.

Peters, Julie Anne. Far from Xanadu. 2005. 282p. Little, Brown, $16.99. (031615881X). Gr. 9-12. Mike Szabo--ace softball player, weightlifter, a.k.a. Mary Elizabeth--has enough trouble surviving in her small town before a new girl, Xanadu, turns Mike's life upside down.

Peters, Julie Anne. grl2grl. 2007. 151p. Little, Brown/Megan Tingley Books, $11.99. (9780316013437/0316013439). Gr. 9-12. The young women in this collection of ten short stories are at different levels of self-discovery, searching for satisfying relationships.

Rucka, Greg. Gotham Central: Half a Life. 2005. 168p. Il. Michael Lark et al. DC Comics, $14.99. (1401204384). 168p. Gr. 9-12. Police detective Renee Montoya's secret lesbian life, which she must keep from not only her co-workers but also her family, puts her in great danger when she is implicated in a murder and her main defender is the psychopathic criminal Two-Face.

Sanchez, Alex. Getting It. 2006. 210p. Simon & Schuster, $16.95. (9781416908968/141690896X). Gr. 9-12. Hoping to impress a sexy female classmate, 15-year-old Carlos secretly hires gay student Sal to give him an image makeover in exchange for Carlos's helping to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at their Texas high school.

St. James, James. Freak Show. 2007. 298p. Dutton, $18.99. (978052547799-0). Gr. 9-12. Outrageously over-the-top teen drag queen Billy Bloom, a new student at the very conservative Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy, finds that life is not easy for him among the rich white students with their brutal homophobia.

Steinhofel, Andreas. The Center of the World. Trans. Alisa Jaffa. 2005. 467p. Delacorte, $16.95. (038572943X). Gr. 11-12. Seventeen-year-old Phil navigates his complicated family dynamics and his first sexual relationship in a lyrical novel first published in Germany.

Vickers, Lu. Breathing Underwater. 2007. 251p. Alyson, $24.95. (9781555839642/1555839649. Gr. 10-12.
In 1970s Florida, it's literally sink or swim for12-year-old Lily who struggles for self-acceptance while dealing with her mother's mental illness.

Wittlinger, Ellen. Parrotfish. 2007. 294p. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. (9781416916222/9781416916228). Gr. 9-12. When Angela, who has never felt comfortable as a girl, finally comes out as transgendered and begins life as a boy, she isn't prepared for everyone's reactions.

Nonfiction
Baez, John and others. The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life. 2007. 391p. Random/Princeton Review, $13.95 (9780375766237/037576237). Gr. 10-12. College life for GLBTQ students—financing, the right school, being out or not, dealing with GLBTQphobia, and more—is the focus of this guide for both students and those who love and care about them.

Beam, Chris. Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers. 2007. 323p. Harcourt, $25.00. (9780151011964/0151011966). Gr. 10-12. Four transgendered girls share their world with a volunteer in a Los Angeles school for gay and transgender students.

Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. 2006. 240p. Houghton Mifflin, $13.95. (9780618477944/0618477942). Gr. 11-12. Bechdel reveals her childhood experiences with a closeted gay father and her coming out as a lesbian in this powerful graphic-style memoir.

Carlip, Hillary. Queen of the Oddballs and Other True Stories From a Life Unaccording to Plan. 2006. 273p. Harper, $13.95. (9780060878832/0060878835). Gr. 10-12. This hilarious offbeat memoir chronicles the escapades of an unconventional girl surrounded by artists and rockstars in the 1960s and 1970s.

Cart, Michael and Christine A. Jenkins. The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004. 2006. 205p. Scarecrow Press, $42.00. (978810850712/0810850710). Gr. 9-12. This overview of young adult glbtq fiction 1970 to 2004 includes lists of books for teens.

The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing. Ed. David Levithan and Billy Merrill. 2006. 272p. Knopf, $9.95. (9780375832901/0375832904). 288pp. Gr. 8-11. This collection of essays and poetry from a wide diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered teens shows the complexity of today's LGBTQ youths.

Hear Me Out: True Stories of Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia. Planned Parenthood of Toronto. 2005. 197p. Second Story Press, $12.95. (1896764878). Gr. 9-12. Twenty teens from a variety of social, economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds give personal accounts of gay, lesbian, queer, transgender, transsexual, and questioning young-adult experiences.

Keen, Lisa. Out Law: What LGBT Youth Should Know about Their Legal Rights. [Queer Action/Queer Ideas Series] 2007. 158p. Beacon, $11.00. (0807079669). Gr. 9-12. LGBT young adults can make a difference

Patterson, Romaine, with Patrick Hinds. The Whole World Was Watching: Living in the Light of Matthew Shepard. 2005. 289p. Advocate, $24.95. (1555839010). Gr. 9-12. After young gay Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in Laramie (WY), the author of this book formed a group of "angels" who surrounded the bigoted Fred Phelps of Topeka (KS) when he and a small group picketed outside the killer's trial with such signs as "Matthew in Hell": this is the autobiography of the young woman who conceived and carried out this idea.

Rouse, Wade. America's Boy: A Memoir. 2006. 340p. Dutton, $24.95. (9780525949343/0525949348). Gr. 10-12. Growing up in southwestern Missouri in the 1970s and hopelessly out of step with the redneck masculinity surrounding him, Wade tries to hide the fact that he is gay by overeating.

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Labels: Book Review, GLBT, Healthline

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Book Review: Can't Buy My Love (How Advertsing Changes the Way We Think and Feel)

Have I said lately how much I love having a great excuse to read a book? For the last two weeks I told myself "I have to finish that blog post," and I got to read a whole book. As a parent I know it can be hard to make time to read, but this book is worth the effort.

Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel (1999) is by Jean Kilbourne, the woman who brought us great videos like "Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women (2000)," "Slim Hopes: Advertising & The Obsession with Thinness (1995)," "Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies & Alcohol (2004)," and "Deadly Persuasion: The Advertising of Alcohol & Tobacco (2003)." As you can see by her other work, this author is about awareness, and as a behavioral psychologist, I know that awareness is the first step in behavior change, and this book brings it on! Have fun reading!

Be warned - this book is dense and hopefully will inflame your sense of decency and inspire social protest! The message of the book is that whether or not we admit it, we are each profoundly influenced by advertising, and our children are growing up in a toxic cultural environment. Adolescents and children are inexperienced consumers, and that makes them prime targets for the power of advertising. This author helps us realize that the messages we get from advertising (about 3,000 a day) are inside our heads, relationships, hearts, offices, and homes. Advertisers use every emotion we have to first undermine our sense of selves, beauty, efficiency, productivity, ability to function as a person, parent, spouse, employee and community member - and then sell us products that transform our weaknesses and make us superior to others.

I think the most disconcerting thing about this book for me was the realization that to the advertising industry, we are all just sheep, being fed to the wolves, particularly, young women. None of us can withstand the pressure to believe in "happily ever after stories," where roses and affection are enough! Who could love us for who and what we are, when there is always someone better out there? Advertising undermines our ability to love ourselves and others. We are constantly told that we are not good enough: our skin, wrinkles, nails and hair are beyond even a dermatologists help, our butts and thighs are way too big, our breasts are never big enough, and we need better cars, homes, clothing, and activities if we want to have a good, long, lasting relationship, which by the way is impossible, because when something gets old, our society replaces it!

If everything we aspire to can be bought, then why are there so many broken hearts? If we can smoke and eat like a bird to be thin, drive the fastest car, "deal" with our fertility using better birth control pills, drink alcohol to make us fearless, rebellious, independent, and invincible, and buy products guaranteed to transform even an old goat into a beauty, then why are our health care costs soaring?

This book brings home the fact that everywhere we look, we are offered false excitement and pseudo-intensity. Not only does this inevitably disappoint us, it also contributes to the general belief in our culture that every moment of our lives should be exciting, fun, sexy, passionate, and intense, suggesting that the things we do everyday for the people we love are worthless, mundane, and "what we settle for," instead of what we value. We are addicts and the messages from the advertising industry is our drug. Without the products they are selling, we will all be isolated, alone, ugly, and depressed.

When will we get it through our thick skulls that Internet, TV, radio, billboard, and print advertising are teaching our children to consume, escape, be greedy and violent? Eating disorders, depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug use, smoking, and cosmetic augmentation are increasing, and the advertising industry is not helping. What can parents, teachers, adolescents, and health care policy do to change this, and when will we demand it?

Resources
All of the videos are available at MediaEd.org and Ms. Kilbourne's website includes some great resources, as well.

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Labels: Advertising, Book Review, Healthline, Parenting

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Carbohydrate Counting at Starbucks: Teens Beware

Teens and obesity is going to be a theme this week, so while my daughters and I were frequenting Starbucks last week I made the mistake of picking up a brochure called "Nutrition by the Cup." We learned that there are 87,000 different drink combinations available at Starbucks, and as the brochure states, "choice is a big part of any healthy lifestyle."

Out of those 87,000 combination, there are only 20 choices listed in the brochure that are under 200 calories - excuse me? Yes folks, most of what my kids consider fair game at Starbucks are enough carbohydrates and calories to be complete meals - or even two meals. So, back to those drinks under 200 calories ... they include plain brewed coffee and tea, nonfat caramel macchiatos (140 calories), steamed apple juice (170 calories), nonfat iced vanilla lattes (120 calories), and a coffee frappuccino (180 calories).

But oh no, those are not the things we go to Starbucks for, we like the mocha frappuccinos, and now we know that the venti size packs in 380 calories and 78 grams of carbohydrates. For those of who who do not count carbs, that is more than a meal consisting of roasted chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy, and homemade bread.

So, I try a healthy one - how about a venti soymilk vanilla latte - well, that gives me only 300 calories and a mere 52 grams of carbohydrates - so, with a heavy sigh, I guess I'll stick to the plain brewed coffee.

The moral of the story, is teens beware - you may be undoing healthy choices by not knowing what's in your favorite drinks. Be conscious! Be healthy!

Resources
www.mypyramid.gov
www.nationaldairycouncil.org

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Labels: Healthline, Nutrition, Obesity

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College Applications and Facebook/MySpace Pages

As more teens create pages on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, it is important for parents to remind them that what they post is visible to anyone in the world with Internet access. For some reason, teens seem to believe that only their intended audience is accessing their pages and do not think that potential employers and colleges they apply to can see those pages and use the impression they get in admission or hiring decisions, but they can and do!

It costs employers money to hire new employees and they want to attract good employees, similarly to universities that want students who will reflect well on their reputation. It is in the best interest of the colleges and employers to learn everything they can about a person, so all information is fair game.

It is interesting to note that although it is illegal to ask about personal life, disability, religion, etc.. during the hiring process, it is not illegal to look at a Facebook page, which may include all of that information.

A new study "The Game Has Changed..." done at the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (CMR) reported that 21% of colleges and universities sometimes review students and social-networking profiles and more than 26% look for information about student using standard search engines. Be smart!

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Labels: College, Healthline, Parenting, Teen Health

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Thank You - Grand Rounds 4.20

Thank you to Amy at Diabetes Mine for including my post about The Rising HIV Rates in Aging Baby Boomers in Grand Rounds 4.20. I learned a couple of things and the links were really interesting and the post was well-organized. Thanks!


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Labels: Grand Rounds

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HPV Vaccine - For Boys?

The sexually transmitted human papillomavirus is not only linked to cervical cancer in women, but more recently it has been linked to oral cancer in men. The vaccine Gardasil is being given to young women and girls, but Merck plans to ask for permission to offer the shot to boys, as well.

There are several reasons to vaccinate boys:

• If boys are vaccinated, they are less likely to transmit the virus to women;
• HPV can cause genital warts, as well as penile and anal cancer in males;
• HPV has been linked to cancer in the tonsils, lower tongue, and upper throat in both genders; and
• The rates for those cancers are increasing.

Parents may want to start thinking about the conversations now - how to convince your teenage son that he is willing to get three shots during a year to prevent a disease spread mostly by oral sex will take some thought!

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Labels: Healthline, HPV, STD

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Mentors Make a Difference

If you are trying to find a way to give back to the community. Please consider being a mentor. Many of us may remember our own mentors - a team coach, neighbor, boss, teacher, minister, or relative - who we trusted to provide us with guidance, encouragement, and skills to help us succeed. A mentor is an adult who helps us become competent by providing an example, listening and bringing out the best in our character.

Mentoring is based on the belief that all children have the potential to succeed in life and contribute to society. However, not all children get the support they need to thrive. Research tells us that nearly half of the population of young people between the ages of 10 and 18 years old do not have a caring adult mentor to encourage and support them. Without caring adults, these youth could make choices and decisions that could undermine their futures, but in the long run, undermine the well-being of our whole nation.

Mentors can help:

• improve attitudes about peers, parents, and teachers;
• encourage students be motivated and focused on school;
• provide positive activities for free time;
• help youth face daily challenges; and
• provide exposure to possible careers.

Mentoring programs can provide the link, but they need volunteers. Is community service part of your new years resolution? If you want to learn more, check out Mentor.

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Labels: Emotional Health, Healthline, Mentoring

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HIV and Your Grandparents

It may be time for teens or parents to sit grandpa down and talk about HIV prevention. Not for the benefit of the teen, but for the protection of grandpa and grandma. The over-50 crowd is a relatively small part of the at-risk group for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, but the number of HIV infected seniors and aging baby boomers in increasing.

There is a huge group of the over-50 crowd who never got sexuality education in school and who ignore HIV prevention messages that are targeted at the more traditional high risk groups like gay men, youth, women, injection drug users, etc... Anyone in public health can tell you that if a person does not perceive themselves to be at risk, they are not going to hear prevention messages.

Jane Fowler is a 72-year-old HIV prevention advocate, and has been since was infected with HIV in her 50s. According to Jane, people need to get over their embarrassment and start taking. We know that people are staying sexually active longer and living longer, so the risk is there - it does not disappear if we fail to discuss it. Doctors, friends, kids, grandchildren, and everyone else should be checking on the HIV prevention knowledge, motivation and skills of the older crowd.

If people are over 50, they should be tested (I suggest at an anonymous testing site so it is not in your medical record) for HIV, understand how it is transmitted between people, and have a plan for preventing it with condoms, abstinence, or testing/monogamy. This news may come as a very unwelcome surprise, so get busy and start talking. Once you get started, the possible topics are endless.

Resources
HIV Wisdom for Older Women
NAHOF (National Association on HIV Over Fifty)

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Labels: Health Care, Healthline, HIV

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