Week of June 17, 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

  • Do the Health Benefits of Neonatal Circumcision Outweigh the Risks?
    These days, approximately 57% of boys are circumcised in U.S. hospitals, with the procedure generally being more common among whites and less common among black and Hispanic populations, according to estimates. Other boys are circumcised in religious ceremonies shortly after birth.
    Wall Street Journal
    June 16, 2013

  • High School Dropouts More Likely to Have Drug and Alcohol Abuse Problems
    Adolescents that drop education for a bottle, pill or needle end up having lots of troubles. Recovery Associates’ Adolescent Track gives them structure, support and counseling to stop their drug use.
    PRWeb
    June 15, 2013

  • Black carbon linked to attention problems in boys.
    Exposure to traffic-related air pollution was associated with decreased attention skills in a group of Boston-area boys studied by researchers. The study is the first to link exposure to black carbon to attention difficulties in low-income, urban children and to report differences between the genders.
    Environmental Health News
    June 13, 2013

  • Pregnant Boys: Shocking Ads Target Teen Pregnancy (video)
    A provocative new ad campaign in Chicago, a city that has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country, is garnering a lot of attention with its shocking images of teenage boys pregnant.
    ABC News
    June 12, 2013

  • UC Irvine researchers to study how maternal signals and care impact adolescent cognitive behaviors
    With $10 million in new federal funding, UC Irvine researchers will study how maternal signals and care before and after birth may increase an infant's vulnerability to adolescent cognitive and emotional problems, such as risky behaviors, addiction and depression.
    Medical.net
    June 12, 2013

  • Bridging the male education gap
    American women are making gains; men aren't. Why?
    The reality is that the slowdown in U.S. educational gains is predominantly a male affair, and one that drags down the overall competitiveness of our workforce and workers' ability to land (or create) good jobs.
    Los Angeles Times
    June 11, 2013

  • Seven Surprising Facts About Asian-American and Middle Eastern Boys
    A new report released Monday by Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy takes a rare look at an often overlooked subgroup of young people: Asian American, Pacific Islander and AMEMSA boys and young men. AMEMSA stands for Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian—it’s a handy acronym worth remembering in a post-Sept. 11 U.S. context, where members of these communities often have overlapping experiences, but more typically, are seen as indistinguishable from each other.
    colorlines.com
    June 11, 2013

  • The JedFoundation Announces JedCampus Initiative to Help Colleges and Universities Assess and Enhance Campus-Wide Mental Health Programming
    The Jed Foundation Launches New JedCampus Program
     The Jed Foundation, a leading organization working to promote emotional health and prevent suicide among college students, today unveiled its JedCampus program—a nationwide initiative designed to help colleges and universities assess and enhance mental health promotion and suicide prevention programming on campus.
    The Jed Foundation
    June 11, 2013

  • America's 50 Healthiest Counties for Kids
    America's 50 Healthiest Counties for Kids, a new set of rankings by U.S. News, highlights counties that feature, among other child-friendly data, fewer infant deaths, fewer low-birth-weight babies, fewer deaths from injuries, fewer teen births and fewer children in poverty. 
    USNews
    June 11, 2013

  • Group targets teens with texts about smoking
    Instead of sending teens the traditional tobacco cessation literature, one program sends teens a text saying something like: “Smoking 1 may seem like the answer but you know its not. Stay strong! Cravings fade even without smoking & youll be proud for staying focused.” The specific wording of the messages, and their timing, depends on texts submitted by the participating teens themselves, describing their moods or tobacco cravings after they sign up for the program.
    Politico
    June 10, 2103

  • Repeat Concussions Require Longer Recovery Time In Children And Young Adults, May Throw Two-Week Rule 'Out The Window'
    The Boston's Children Hospital found that kids and young adults ages 11 to 22, who have had previous concussions, reported a longer recovery time than those with their first concussion. 
    Medical Daily
    June 10,2013

  • Kids Who Overcome Poverty Are Still In For A Lifetime Of Medical Problems
    A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia finds that young teenagers from poor communities who are good students, in good mental health, and well-adjusted socially end up with high levels of stress hormones, high blood pressure, and a higher body mass index by age 19.
    Think Progress
    May 31, 2013

International News

AUSTRALIA

  • Boys don't cry: young men and suicide
    by Cassie White
    Suicide is the leading cause of death in young men, yet figures suggest mental illness is more common in women. So what is going wrong?
    Male suicide statistics in Australia are grim. Men are three times more likely to kill themselves than women and suicide is the leading cause of death in men aged between 15 and 44. In 2011, almost double the number of young men died by suicide compared to fatal car accidents.
    ABC News
    June 13, 2013

UK

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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.