Week of September 30, 2013

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

  • Sex crimes with young male victims underreported
    Cases of statutory rape where the abuser is a woman have rarely been prosecuted in Calhoun County, but victim's advocates say young males are under-researched sexual abuse targets.  An estimated 10 percent to 30 percent of men who were sexually abused as boys were abused by women, LePore said.
    SFgate.com
    September 29, 2013

  • Many children lack mental health interventions after maltreatment investigations 
    Children whose families have been investigated for maltreatment by child protective services are not getting the developmental and mental health interventions that they need, says a new report from RTI International and the U.S Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. “The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing” report was announced on September 26, 2013.
    Examiner.com
    September 26, 2013

  • Researchers Tie Increased Throat Cancer Cases to HPV Infection
    The sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) may be behind the sharp rise in cases of throat and mouth cancers among young American adults, researchers say. In a new study, investigators from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit analyzed U.S. government data and found that cancers of the base of the tongue, tonsils, soft palate and pharynx among adults aged 45 and younger increased 60 percent between 1973 and 2009. Collectively, these cancers are called oropharyngeal cancer.
    Healthfinder.gov
    September 26, 2013

  • Heart docs call for help for severely obese kids
    Rates of overweight and obesity in U.S. children and teens may be leveling off, but kids at the extreme - the severely obese - are still swelling in numbers and need attention, according to a new statement from the American Heart Association (AHA). Between 4 percent and 6 percent of youth in the United States are severely obese, with serious accompanying health problems, the researchers say.
    Baltimore Sun, September 26, 2013

  • Panel urges awareness of student-athlete mental health
    Athletic trainers should be on the lookout for mental health problems among student-athletes, a panel said on Wednesday. Representatives from the National Athletic Trainers' Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations said athletic trainers are in a unique position to reach out to college athletes and refer them to counseling.
    Medline Plus
    September 25, 2013

  • Justice Department Pushes New Thinking On Kids And Crime
    "It's important for everyone to recognize that the trauma that comes from exposure to violence is multifaceted," Listenbee says. "Children who are sexually assaulted, boys and girls, experience the trauma very differently from other kinds of exposure. Children who experience community violence ... also have a different kind of trauma. Each one requires a specific type of treatment. ... We are [at] the beginning of this era of understanding the impact of exposure to violence and the kinds of treatment that are needed ... and we're going to be dealing with this for a long time."
    Minnesota Public Radio
    September 25, 2013

  • REPORT: Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
    New report on adolescents and young adult substance use
    Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, September 2013

  • Chronic Aggressive Behavior In Boys: Epigenetic Sources?
    Chronic aggressive behavior exhibited by some boys from disadvantaged families may be due to epigenetic changes during pregnancy and early childhood. This is highlighted by two studies.
    Red Orbit
    September 23, 2013

  • Racism Takes a Toll on Kids' Mental Health, Research Shows
    Review found strong links between discrimination and anxiety, low self-esteem in minority teens
    Being a victim of racism may trigger poor mental health, depression and anxiety in children and teens, according to a new review.
    Medline Plus
    September 22, 2013

International News

AUSTRALIA

  • Mental health services failing children
    WA child and adolescent mental health services are so overstretched they are reaching fewer than one in eight of the children who need them, the sector's governing body has warned.  The annual report of the Child and Adolescent Health Service's governing council, which was set up a year ago, said community mental health services treated 2480 children in 2011 - 0.6 per cent of all children in Perth.
    thewest.com/au
    September 28, 2013

CHINA

  • China, too, worries that boys are being left behind
    Just as in the United States, one of the main concerns is that girls are outperforming boys in school. According to “Save the Boys,” Chinese girls outscore boys on college entrance exams, are more likely to go to college and are winning more scholarships. A study in Zhejiang province, near Shanghai, found that 60 percent of primary school boys thought that girls were smarter than they were.
    Miami Herald
    September 23, 2013

INDIA

The Boys Initiative 900 Second St, NE, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20002
(202) 567-3531 | info@theboysinitiative.org | www.theboysinitiative.org

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.

Cigarette photo credit: mi-sio