The Roundup contains information about all of the latest news, commentary, reports, surveys, issue briefs, charts, and fact sheets related to boys' issues collected by our staff during the preceding week.

News Clips

• Sleepy Teens Reach for Fast Foods First
  "Not only do sleepy teens, on average, eat more food that's bad for them, they also eat less food that is good for them," study leader Lauren Hale, an associate professor of preventive medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.
  Health Day
  July 4, 2013

• Boys with sisters are more likely to be 'sexist and Republican because they are never made to cook or clean' research claims
  Having only female siblings makes boys more likely be Republicans as adults, new research claims.
  Professors from Loyola Marymount University and Stanford University analyzed surveys completed by more than 3,000 individuals when they were aged ten plus in 1987 and again a decade later.
  They concluded that men in their 20s and 30s who grew up with sisters and no brothers were 8.3per cent more likely to identify as Republican because they developed 'more traditional views of gender'.
  Daily Mail
  July 3, 2013

• Treatment for troubled teens
  Two Georgia youth offenders respond to intensive, at-home family-focused treatment.
  Over the past three decades, adolescent development scholars, criminologists and mental health practitioners have achieved a breakthrough – or rather two breakthroughs. They have developed two different approaches to the care and supervision of troubled and delinquent children that consistently work better and cost less than correctional confinement and other commonplace services.
  Center for Public Integrity
  July 2, 2013

• Study Finds High Poverty, Arrest Rates Among Some Asian American Males
  Sub-groups of Asian Americans are falling behind in life as a result of "deepening economic inequality, racism, failing public education systems, increasingly punitive and intolerant criminal justice laws, and insufficient culturally competent health services and prevention."  These were the findings of "Widening the Lens on Boys and Men of Color," a new report from Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP).
  Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
  July 2, 2013'

• Boys in Custody and the Women Who Abuse Them
  "What was a genuine shock to many was the finding that in the vast majority of instances, it was female staff members who were targeting and exploiting the male teens in their custody."
  Pro Publica
  July 2, 2013

• Male melanoma survival disadvantage found in young, too
  New research shows that adolescent and young adult males with melanoma fare worse than their female peers. Their risk of dying from the disease is 55% higher.
  Cure Today
  July 1, 2013

• A Better Model of Male Sexuality in the World of Gay Pride
  Due to the simple fact that our ideas of gender are so deeply tied to heterosexual sex, LGBT individuals have done a much better job of personally advancing past outdated, unnecessary, and unjust gender ideology than a lot of the rest of us have. That progress is not an accident.
  The Good Men Project
  June 29, 2013

• Does adding exercise to a diet help heavy kids?
  Tacking regular exercise on to a diet program for obese kids and teens typically doesn't help them lose any more weight, a new review of past data suggests.
  Reuters
  June 30, 2013

• Boys Don’t Cry: In Praise of Sentiment
  Why is it that at the slightest hint of emotion most critics accuse the writer of being "sentimental"? Novelist Andrew Sean Greer, author of The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, takes a stand for emotional fiction and against lazy criticism.
  Daily Beast
  June 30, 2013

• Boys With Sisters Are Less Likely to Do Chores When They Grow Up
  According to a paper in the latest issue of theJournal of Politics, siblings can have a noticeable impact on how a person sees the world as an adult. The paper, "Childhood Socialization and Political Attitudes: Evidence from a Natural Experiment" by Andrew Healy and Neil Malhotra, analyzes decades of longitudinal data on families and finds that the effect sisters have on their brothers is particularly striking.
  The Atlantic
  June 28, 2013

• Sex and the H.I.V. Morning-After Pill
  More than 30 years since AIDS emerged, and two decades since antiretroviral drugs transformed that epidemic into a chronic but manageable disease, conversations about H.I.V. remain awkward, especially for gay men.  When were you last tested? Did you test only for antibodies, or was it a full polymerase chain reaction test? What have you done sexually since you last tested negative?  It can be tough to rekindle any bedroom passion after such questions come up.  Two recent developments could make these conversations less awkward, or even render them moot. But they also raise troubling questions about promiscuity and responsibility that are reminiscent of debates from the 1980s.
  New York Times
  June 28, 2013

• What About the Boys?
  Abigail Rine has a mission: Let’s empower our children, especially our boys, to speak out. And let’s listen when they do.
  Good Men Project
  June 28, 2013

• Teen Athletes, Drinkers, And Marijuana Smokers At Greater Risk for Concussions [Video]
  Concussions aren't only for athletes anymore — at least that's what a new study is saying. Researchers in Ontario found that concussions are more common in adolescents than they expected, and when they're not from sports, they're likely to be from drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.
  MedicalDaily.com
  June 26, 2013

• Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2012

  A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. It provides the most current detailed statistical information to inform the Nation on the nature of crime in schools.
  National Institute of Education Sciences
  June 26, 2013

• Time to skip P.E.? A FIFTH of teenagers have suffered a brain injury while playing sport at school
  The first large-scale study to measure the number of students' self-reported concussions at school, rather than just hospital-reported cases. The high figure has shocked researchers because multiple brain injuries can lead to lasting cognitive impairment.  In Canada, where study was carried out, 50% of injuries that kill and disable young people are caused by brain trauma
  Daily Mail
  June 26, 2013

• Boys High School Basketball Coach, In Still-Rare Move, Tells Team He's Gay
  It wasn’t a big deal in that, at least initially, the response from Nicodemo’s players was, by all accounts, either positive or treated like it was as shocking as the coach saying he was going to buy some milk on the way home. One of Saunders’ top players, sophomore-to-be Derrick Felder, tweeted: "Saunders just became a stronger team love my team." Newly minted Saunders graduate and former Nicodemo player Steven Ayanrouh sent the message: "you’ve supported us all these years and now it’s our turn to support you! Proud to have played for you. Much love and respect".
  Forbes.com
  June 25, 2013

• Only half of U.S. youth meet physical activity standards, NIH study shows
  Only about half of U.S. adolescents are physically active five or more days of the week, and fewer than 1 in 3 eat fruits and vegetables daily, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health. In a survey of youth in 39 states, NIH researchers questioned nearly 10,000 students between 11 and 16 years old about their activity levels and eating habits. They also asked the students to describe their emotional health, body image, and general satisfaction with life.
  National Institutes of Health
  June 25, 2013

• Weight Talk At Home Leads To Teen Eating Disorders
  Researchers from the University of Minnesota have found a link between the way food is discussed in the home and the likelihood that a teenager will develop disordered eating.  The study was just published on Monday by JAMA Pediatrics.  Mothers and fathers who engaged in weight-related conversations had adolescents who were more likely to diet, use unhealthy weight-control behaviors, and engage in binge eating. Overweight or obese adolescents whose mothers engaged in conversations that were focused only on healthful eating behaviors were less likely to diet and use unhealthy weight-control behaviors. Additionally, subanalyses with adolescents with data from 2 parents showed that when both parents engaged in healthful eating conversations, their overweight or obese adolescent children were less likely to diet and use unhealthy weight-control behaviors.
  Blisstree.com
  June 25, 2013

• Bullied Bus Monitor, One Year Later
  A woman who was verbally abused by a group of kids on a school bus last year is now using her newfound fame–and cash–to do some good. Karen Klein was working as a bus monitor in New York when a group of teenage boys began bullying her, making fun of her hearing aid and body before taking things to a terrible low.
  Web Pro News
  June 24, 2013

• ADHD In Kids: Fewer Minority Children Diagnosed With The Disorder (STUDY)
  Black and Hispanic children are half as likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as their white peers, according to a new study that followed U.S. kindergarteners through middle school.
  Reuters
  June 24, 2013

• Researchers investigate link between boys and computer screen time
  The University of Newcastle is leading a research project into the link between adolescent boys, the amount of time that they spend in front of a computer or TV screen and their level of physical fitness.
  HealthCanal
  June 24, 2013

• The Boys Initiative Hails Recent Findings about HPV Vaccine Use
  Use attributed to major decline in HPV infection among teen girls
  Challenge remains to more fully vaccinate boys
  The Boys Initiative is greatly encouraged by recent findings, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, indicating that the infection rate of the human papilloma virus (HPV) among teenage females has dropped by half in recent years. Federal officials attribute that decline to more widespread use of a vaccine for teenage females that prevents infection with HPV, which was approved for use in teenage females in 2006. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended routine use of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine in males aged 11 or 12 years. However, the most recent data indicates that the full vaccination rate among teenage males is only 1%.
  The Boys Initiative
  June 24, 2013

• CDC now considers bullying a public health problem (Video)
  In its July 2013 edition the Journal of Adolescent Health has reported, Bullying and Suicide: A Public Health Approach. An association between bullying and depression or bullying and suicide-related behaviors has been found in several recent studies.
  Examiner.com
  June 23, 2013

• MacGyver Says: Don't Mix Teenage Boys And Homemade Bombs
  They're sometimes called MacGyver bombs, in an homage to the 1980s TV hero who could make a bomb out of everyday items like a cold pill, blow an escape route through a wall and save the day.  But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would probably call these homemade chemical bombs "stupid things that teenage boys come up with to injure themselves and others."  The public health agency has been tracking the misadventures of amateur MacGyver bomb makers, and it is not amused.
  NPR
  June 20, 2013

• Young Adults Value Health Insurance, Poll Finds
  A strong majority of young adults, whose participation in the health law may be key to its success or failure, strongly believe health insurance is important for them and worth the money, according to a new poll.
  Washington Post
  June 19, 2013

• Apple's Siri Can Be First Call for Users Thinking of Suicide
  Apple's snarky assistant has been updated with a helpful, serious feature.Siri will now respond to suicidal statements with useful suicide prevention information.  Prior to this week if you had told Siri "I want to kill myself" or "I want to jump off a bridge," the service would either search the web or worse search for the nearest bridge. Now, Apple has directed the assistant to immediately return the phone number of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
  ABC News
  June 19, 2013

• Motivation Matters More Than Ever
  Stanford’s Carol Dweck has found that teaching kids that their brains are muscles and get stronger with use significantly boosts perseverance. Meanwhile, training children not only to set a goal, but to devise a plan for overcoming specific, inevitable obstacles to that goal, increases self-control, according to research by the University of Pennsylvania’s Angela Lee Duckworth. These lessons should be the new ABCs: taught from a very young age, repeated often, and made impossible to forget.
  The Atlantic
  June 19, 2013

• Doctors Don’t Talk About Birth Control Often Enough With Teen Boys
  Medical professionals aren’t bringing up sexual health information about birth control and condoms often enough with their teen patients, a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health finds. Doctors especially need to start bringing up these topics more with young men. Nearly one in five sexually active boys report that they’ve never heard anything about condoms or contraceptives from their teachers or their doctors.
  ThinkProgress.com
  June 18, 2013

• Stop Penalizing Boys for Not Being Able to Sit Still at School
  Instead, help them channel their energy into productive tasks.
  Something is rotten in the state of boys' education, and I can't help but suspect that the pattern I have seen in my classroom may have something to do with a collective failure to adequately educate boys.
  The Atlantic
  June 18, 2013

International News

NEW ZEALAND

• Questions over sex education raise eyebrows
  A boys' puberty quiz asking whether a lack of chest hair indicates a man is gay is raising eyebrows among sex educators. The question was included in a test given to intermediate-aged boys at an Auckland school last week, and came from a sex-ed kit provided by healthcare giants Johnson&Johnson.
  Stuff.co.nz
  June 30, 2013

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The Boys Initiative is a groundbreaking national nonprofit campaign to shed light on documented trends in recent years pertaining to boys' underachievement and young men's failure to launch. For more information about The Boys Initiative, visit www.theboysinitiative.org.