Teen girls see sex assaults as ‘normal,’ educator says

A growing number of teenage girls view sexual harassment and even assault as “normal,” says a top Toronto school board official.
Gerry Connelly described the “new normal” phenomenon during her keynote address at the annual Safe Schools Conference in Toronto today.
“A young girl will see somebody being pushed against a locker and fondled inappropriately, or they are being touched inappropriately and they say: ‘Well that’s just the way it is,’” said Ms. Connelly, director of education at the Toronto District School Board.

“Well folks, that’s not acceptable, but our young girls are treating it like it is acceptable and we have to address that.”
The Toronto school safety report released last month found that “sexual assault and sexual harassment are prevalent in TDSB schools.”
According to a survey conducted at one North York high school, 33% of students surveyed reported being sexually harassed in the school over the past two years. Twenty-nine per cent reported being the victim of unwanted sexual contact, including touching or grabbing at their school, and 29 female students or 7% of respondents reported being the victim of a major sexual assault at their school.
Another report on sexual harassment at 23 Ontario schools by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health showed that 30% of Grade 9 girls and 28% of Grade 11 girls reported having been touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexual way.
The panel behind the school safety report, led by human rights lawyer Julian Falconer, said more must be done to encourage students to report all incidents of violence, and urged a sexual assault and gender-based violence prevention strategy at the TDSB.

Ms. Connelly said she was disturbed to learn that 80% of TDSB students said they would not talk to teachers or police about crimes they witnessed or experienced.
“Why? You’ve heard the expression: snitches get stitches,” she said told the audience, which included educators, social workers and police officers.
But students also worry that if they tell, their parents will forbid them from associating with certain peers or force them to switch schools, said Ms. Connelly. Many students do not trust police, she said.

Some schools have “safe rooms” where female students can talk freely about their feelings. But more must be done to create more welcoming environments that combat the “code of silence” that appears to be fostering gender-based violence directed at girls, said Ms. Connelly, who cited figures from the CAMH study and a TDSB survey that showed the troubling rate of sexual harassment and assault in schools.
For example, 21% of surveyed TDSB students said they knew at least one student who had been sexually assaulted at school over the past two years.
“It’s a phenomenon across Canada, and it’s a phenomenon that is not well researched or understood,” said Ms. Connelly.

Ontario’s education minister today announced a team of safety and education experts will examine the causes of sexual harassment, homophobia and gender-based violence and draw up recommendations to prevent the behaviours.
The Canadian Safe School Network, which put on the conference, is developing a program that addresses sexuality and unhealthy relationships among girls in Grades 6 to 10. Pauline Auty, a former guidance counselor who is part of the network, detailed some of the shocking revelations in focus groups across the province, including some from mothers as young as 12 and 13 years old. “We don’t know how to have a healthy relationship,” the girls told her. “We just know what feels good.” The children also distinguish between relationships between their friends and relationships between adults. “They think it’s OK for kids to sleep around, as long as they don’t tell (but they think) it’s not OK for adults,” said Ms. Auty.
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source: The National Post

Restrictions don’t solve alcohol issue

by Ryan Greenfield

When I turned 21, it felt downright bizarre to drink in public. So long had the stigma of doing something forbidden been attached to drinking, the idea that one random day in my life it should suddenly become A-OK still seems weird. Whether it was through older friends, peers with fake IDs, house parties or lax liquor store carding standards, finding a way to get drunk was never really a challenge.

I know you’ve heard this all in D.A.R.E., but binge drinking does have many unfortunate side effects. What you may not know is binge drinking is by definition only having more than four drinks in two hours for men, and more than three in two hours for women. I’d be surprised if the majority of those in the bars of Madison on a Saturday night haven’t surpassed this.

Understandably, the Madison authorities want to find ways to reduce college alcohol abuse. A new report from a community organization called Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. recommends many financial incentives and enforcement measures to reduce underage drinking. As The Badger Herald reported Friday, these measures include raising taxes on alcohol sold in the downtown area of Madison by about 20 percent, having bars install electric scanners to check IDs and doubling the number of citations issued to underage drinkers.

But whenever new policies are being considered, it’s useful to foresee possible unintended consequences. For instance, if less people are in the bars and on the streets, it may encourage those who want to commit crimes since there is less chance they will be seen.

The likely effect of a slight increase in the alcohol tax probably won’t deter those who really want to drink. Additionally, the owner of Hawk’s Bar and Grill was quoted Friday in the Wisconsin State Journal as saying he considered that proposal “elitist” because it would prevent less-well-off students from drinking while the affluent would continue doing so.

Bars and liquor stores downtown would probably lose revenue as the students migrate to establishments away from downtown that aren’t subject to the tax. More students (especially those underage) would probably throw more house parties, which would offer unlimited booze and provide ideal locations for alcohol abuse. Thus, this policy mostly amounts to passing the buck.

Instead of trying to end underage drinking completely, we should encourage moderation. Part of the reason students go overboard is that alcohol is so forbidden and stigmatized. If you have never drank before, and you’re in a situation where everyone else is getting wasted, there is going to be pressure to match your friends shot for shot. How can you be expected to suddenly know where your limits are if alcohol was completely forbidden through high school?

Paradoxically, the best possible solution to underage drinking may be to lower the drinking age. Anyone who has ever been to Europe knows that binge drinking there is far less prevalent, and it’s because teens regularly have alcohol with their families during meals. Alcohol must be something that’s recognized as a part of life that must be enjoyed responsibly. It should not be something that needs to be stamped out. As with anything that is forbidden, it just makes you want it more.

Until the drinking age drops, our culture needs to evolve toward an understanding that underage drinking isn’t going to end. Parents and authorities should teach responsible drinking to those who are going to do it. Penalties should be focused on those who drink irresponsibly, not 20-year-olds who just want to hang out with their friends at bars. Like the war on drugs and the war on teenage sex, the war on underage drinking is one that is bound to fail unless we realize that the goal must be moderation rather than elimination.

source: The Badger Herald

Updating drug, alcohol, sex education in school

Although the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, better known as DARE, is common in school districts and is very popular among elementary-age students, the lessons are outdated and need to be revamped.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer is advocating a new program, called Enhanced HealthSmart, in place of DARE.

Enhanced HealthSmart will include what DARE covers but will include other topics such as Internet safety, nutrition, bullying, injury, unintended pregnancy and other sex education.

It also will be tailored to the needs and specifics of individual school districts, providing more flexibility than the DARE program.

Throughout elementary school I thought that the DARE program was extremely informational, and I believed it was going to make my school a better place. I now realize that I was so naive. Now that I am five years older and much more aware of what is actually going on in my community, I realize that the program has done next to nothing to help the drug, alcohol or violence issues that exist.

Although many students, including myself, choose to remain drug-free, there are many who do not. The students who resist the use of drugs or alcohol simply have willpower; they do not necessarily retain the information from DARE.

Although a major highlight of DARE was the interaction between the police officers and the students, police officers can be frightening to children who have only heard negative comments about them.

DARE has always tried to be a family-oriented program, but it tends to pit kids against their parents. In a number of communities around the country, students have been enlisted by DARE officers as informants against their parents.

As much as I feel that it is unacceptable to allow drugs or the overuse of alcohol in a house with young children - or in any situation, for that matter - I also believe children should not be pitted against their parents.

Another downside to the original program is that it teaches misleading information. According to the DARE program, Marlboro Light cigarettes, Bacardi rum and a drag from a joint are all equally dangerous. That information has been proven untrue.

The decision to end the DARE program was a good one. Enhanced HealthSmart is a much more beneficial program.

author: Alexa Bennett-Rosman |
Alexa Bennett- Rosman is a senior at Rocky Point High School.

source: newsday.com

Book tries to crack facade

Jose Rosado walks next to the tree in Bethlehem where his mentor and Bethlehem Area School District educator Iris Cintron challenged him to turn his life around by enrolling in college. He is now an assistant principal at East Hills Middle School in the district.

Jose Rosado has told his story to individuals and small groups, always with the hope that it will inspire someone to change his life.

It begins in poverty, in a brown paper bag of booze and a haze of marijuana smoke. It ends with Rosado as a successful educator in the Bethlehem Area School District, a respected community activist and occasional political candidate.

''I'm not worried about skeletons in the closet,'' said Rosado, 44, an assistant principal at East Hills Middle School. ''I let them out a long time ago.''

Now Rosado is hoping to reach a bigger audience. He's shelled out $9,000 to self-publish an autobiography about growing up poor in Bethlehem public housing, becoming a father as a pot-smoking, boozing 19-year-old college student and giving up alcohol cold turkey 17 years ago.

''Being Good At Being Bad: Troubled Teenagers, Factors and Solutions'' intersperses Rosado's experiences and beliefs with national statistics to outline what he believes leads to happy children becoming angry teenagers on the brink of failure: broken homes, failed legislation and poor role models. The book, through infinitypublishing.com, sells for $13.95.

''Just by the feedback I've received from people, they are happy I've addressed many of these issues of troubled teens head-on,'' Rosado said. ''I'm willing to put myself out there with my thoughts on these controversial issues.''

While making money on the book would be nice, Rosado said, he is not holding out hope his book will become a best-seller. He is not embarrassed that he went the self-publishing route after a few traditional publishing houses turned him down. He's not worried about what people may think of him or his beliefs. He's just happy he had the guts to write what he has been preaching for more than two decades.

Rosado retold his story late last year while sitting on a shopping cart abandoned under a tree near Lebanon Street and Eastwood Road in Bethlehem's Marvine-Pembroke development. Rosado grew up there after his first home was razed in the South Terrace development in south Bethlehem.

Rosado knew what the shopping cart symbolized: poverty and despair. It was probably left there by a public housing resident who couldn't afford a car, he said, so it was used to get groceries home and abandoned, much like the resident's own dreams of a better life.

Rosado recalled that it was under the same tree 25 years earlier when he decided to retrieve his dreams, with a not-so-gentle nudging from longtime Bethlehem Area School District educator Iris Cintron.

''I was working at Hardy's on Airport Road; they've been closed forever,'' Rosado said. ''I came home, showered, shaved and did my normal routine. I grabbed a quart of beer and relaxed under the tree. Iris happened to be driving by, stopped, got out of the car and said, 'What are you planning to do?'''

With Cintron's guidance, Rosado put down the spatula that earned him minimum wage, got two college degrees and became a school guidance counselor and administrator who has used his personal experience of growing up and getting out of the projects to help individual students.

Cintron said Rosado's personal story connects with students.

''The kinds of barriers Jose has faced and the kinds of mountains he's had to climb are the same mountains many of our kids face on a daily basis,'' said Cintron, now the district's supervisor of Minority Affairs/Governmental Programs and Grants.

As far as his book is concerned, Cintron said, the ideas are Rosado's, not her's or the school district's. But she said his book makes you think.

Bethlehem Police Commissioner Randy Miller got to know Rosado when Miller was a rookie patrolman in the Marvine-Pembroke development, which in the 1970s and 1980s was so rife with violence and drugs that when two police cars responded to a call, a third was brought in to guard the cars. While he has not read Rosado's book, Miller said, he has always respected him for getting out of the developments.

''I always respected him for trying to better himself versus becoming another statistic,'' Miller said. ''He's a respected citizen.''

The new author does not pull punches in describing what he thinks leads to those grim statistics on dropouts, gangs, prisoners and substance abusers.

''What is 'Being Good At Being Bad?''' Rosado asked. ''Being good at being bad is a lifestyle, it's about status and recognition, it's about masking pain and failure with a tough facade.''

source: http://www.mcall.com

Tips for Youth Drunk, Drugged Driving Prevention Noted

HARTFORD - Gov. M. Jodi Rell is reminding parents and teens that it is illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol and any adult to allow parties where underage drinking is occurring.

This reminder comes on the heels of the governor proclaiming the month Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month in Connecticut.

As Connecticut youth face the temptations and pressures of the punchbowl-spiked holidays, two new studies find that teenagers and young adults who binge drink are at increased risk of developing chronic health problems later in life.

"We continue to see the tragic consequences of our youth drinking too much, too soon," said Gov. Rell, co-chairwoman of The Governor's Prevention Partnership.

"Adults need to draw the line against underage drinking, not just for the holidays, but year round. The more we learn of its detrimental effects, the clearer it is that reducing underage drinking should be viewed by all as a public health priority."

In addition to the evolving body of evidence on the detrimental effects of alcohol on still developing brains, new research highlights the long term physical effects of binge drinking on teenagers and young adults.

Youth who binge drink are more likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes as they get older than those who drink moderately or start drinking at a later age. The higher risk was found to remain even if the binge drinking is curtailed later on.

Teenagers who binge drink are also more than twice as likely to become alcoholics by the time they reach 30 than non-binge drinkers.

These findings complement recent studies showing that drinking under the age of 21 can permanently impair the brain, causing memory and attention loss.

"As adults we need to change the way we think of underage drinking, and we need to examine the cues we give to adolescents," said Jill Spineti, president of The Governor's Prevention Partnership.

"Underage drinking, especially the turbo party culture that encourages teens to drink too much, too fast, is only as inevitable as we allow it to be. Parents are the leading influence in the decisions their children make."

The Governor's Prevention Partnership offers tips for parents this holiday weekend and for the upcoming New Year's weekend.

1. Don't relax your rules just because it's the holiday season. Kids still need limits and close monitoring. Expectations may need to be renegotiated or reiterated for college students returning home.

2. If your child attends a party, make sure alcohol will not be served and that partygoers will be properly supervised. Be available to provide a ride home if something unexpected happens.

3. If you leave for a night of celebration, be aware that unsupervised kids are at risk for alcohol use. Set up a reliable method for checking up on your child's whereabouts and activities.

4. If you host adult parties in your home and plan to serve alcohol, keep a clear head so that you can supervise any teens who may be present. Set a good example: drink responsibly and don't allow intoxicated guests to drive. Make sure any alcohol in your home is not accessible to your children.

5. Keep kids away from adult parties where there's a risk of witnessing guests overindulging. If appropriate and feasible, send your kids to another safe, supervised setting while your adult party is going on.

6. Be a good role model. Show your kids that you know your own limits, always designate a driver and never let someone drive away from your home intoxicated.

State surveys underscore that Connecticut youth are both drinking and driving impaired at troubling levels.

Nearly half (45 percent) of students in Connecticut's public high schools report having drunk alcohol at least once in the prior month, according to the 2005 Connecticut School Health Survey.

Overall, 28 percent of high school students and 40 percent of seniors reported binge drinking: consuming five or more drinks within a couple of hours, within the past 30 days.

The survey also found that white high school students are nearly twice as likely as their black classmates to binge drink: 31 percent to 18 percent.

The study found that two in 10 Connecticut high school students, more than 19,000, report having recently driven a vehicle while drinking alcohol.

By the time they reach senior year, 34 percent students report having driven under the influence of alcohol.

The incidence of college students driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs rose 18 percent between 2001 and 2004, according to the State Epidemiological Workgroup.

The Governor's Prevention Partnership is a not-for-profit collaboration of state and business leaders providing prevention resources in schools and communities to keep Connecticut youth safe, successful and drug-free.

Those seeking information about prevention initiative may call Celine Provini, program director at 860-523-8042 or visit www.preventionworksct.org.


©Voices 2007
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1380

Alcohol education takes tailored approach

Alicia Garcia has heard stories about high school students keeping alcohol in their lockers and drinking during school hours. And she knows alcohol is more available to her 17-year-old daughter than when she was that age.

"They're getting to that age where they're influenced by their friends. I grew up in Mexico. It wasn't an issue when I was younger," Garcia said. "It's important to learn how to communicate and avoid this."

That's why Garcia and her daughter, Melissa Rocha, were among about three dozen people who attended a Saturday event called Parent Involvement: A Solution to Underage Drinking at the Hilton Hotel in Salt Lake City. It was the first of a series of mini-conferences geared toward ethnic communities to educate parents and youth about the consequences of underage drinking and to offer solutions and ways to prevent it. The first conference was for the Hispanic Latino community.
"The message we had about underage drinking wasn't getting out to the ethnic communities," said Jesse Soriano, interim director for the State Office of Ethnic Affairs.

The conference wasn't just about minors and alcohol. There were also workshops on teenage pregnancy and gateway drugs.
"Underage drinking leads to other things like violence, crime, teenage pregnancy," Soriano said. "Alcohol is the root problem."

The workshop for parents was in Spanish; teens heard the message in their own workshop in English. Marcela Lopez and Teresa Mora, of Communidades Unidas, gave parents statistics and talked about how alcohol can affect the brain of drinkers under the age of 21.

Forty percent of kids who drink before age 15 will be alcohol-dependent, according to ParentsEmpowered.org. Sixty-seven percent of those kids will also try other illicit drugs.

Underage drinking can hinder the development of the brain's prefrontal area (responsible for good judgment and impulse control) and the hippocampus (involved in learning and memory).

"It's a serious problem, but the good news is parents are the No. 1 reason why kids don't drink," said Art Brown, president of the Utah chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). "Adults can stop this. Parents need to be engaged."
Roderic Land, of Planned Parenthood, gave teens hypothetical situations about alcohol and talked about how alcohol impairs judgment and affects behavior.

"It gave us another perspective," said Brania Gutierrez, a student at Copper Hills High. "The peer pressure is everywhere. People ditch school and go drink. I learned about setting my limits."

Doug Murakami, alcohol education director for the Department of Alcoholic Beverage control, said tailoring the conferences to certain communities with native speakers who interact with kids and parents should be more effective.

"We're in our second year in this campaign and last year, we just basically did PSAs on Spanish radio and other media outlets," Murakami said. "But we realized that the way to change behavior is to reach out to the communities. We wanted more of a grass-roots approach."

source: Salt Lake Tribune