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June 2011
'News
of Hope'
Summertime! Busy kids,
busier parents! Here are
some supportive
materials to guide your
kids away from too much
tech and texting. Plus a
reminder about how the
teen brain works so you
can stay one step ahead
of chaos. Parents
are plans for keeping
the kids busy this
summer are likely in
full swing. Some
encouragement below to
get them into activities
and the great outdoors.
Happy Nearly-Summer!
JUNE NEWSLETTER
CONTENT
• Getting
the kids into the great
OUTDOORS!
• Brain
development and Why
Teens Take Risks
• New
Report Estimates Illicit
Drug Use Costs
U.S.Economy
More Than $193
Billion Annually
•
To Steer Teens Clear of
Substance Abuse, Keep
Them Moving
• Number
1 Cause for Teen Deaths
- Texting a
Major Contributor
Pictured
Above:
Pic 1 - Assistance
League of Orange
volunteers coordinated a
wonderful stress
management morning for
women at the Mariposa
Battered Women's Center.
Susie shared tips and
techniques to get
through some difficult
times in their lives.
Legacy extends a
big note of gratitude to
the Assistance League of
Orange for the many meaningful
projects they sponsor in the
city of Orange and for
inviting Susie to
participate!
Pic 2 thru 3 - Back
on the HOPI
Reservation at Second
Mesa, AZ, Susie was
honored to participate
in the HOPI Cancer
Support Services Women's
Expo, sharing a Legacy
of Hope®
keynote
and De-Stress
for Success® workshop. Kudos
to the Susan G
Komen "For the
Cure" Foundation
for sponsoring the
event!
REMINDER
Friday, June 17, 2011-
23rd Annual Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Conference
-
Costa Mesa, California, sponsored
by The Raise Foundation.
We are honored to be
presenting Legacy
of Hope®
keynote
and De-Stress
for Success® workshop
along with other
presenters on a range of
topics. For more
information and
registration, visit http://www.theraisefoundation.org/WebFormsA/Default.aspx?S=38
For
a wide spectrum of
newsletter articles on
youth and prevention,
visit our website! |
|
Getting
the kids out and
into the great
OUTDOORS!
Summer is here
and it’s a
great time to
get kids into
nature.
According to Jim
Motavalli,
writer for E/The
Environmental
Magazine,
“Recent
studies suggest
that contact
with nature is
essential to a
person’s
well-being.”
Scientist Dr.
Francis Kuo
states,
"Humans are
evolving
organisms, and
the environment
is our
habitat.”
Motavalli goes
on to ask, “So
what does it
mean that
America's kids
now spend an
average of seven
hours a day
using
entertainment
media? Instead
of walking in
the woods, they
gaze at flat
screens,
thumb-type on
tiny keyboards
and talk, text
and tweet on a
bewildering
variety of
electronic
devices.”
Clearly, youth
need a
connection with
nature, but how
about utilizing
their favorite
technologies to
get them
interested and
willing to
experience the
great outdoors?
In Motavalli’s
article in the
EDF magazine, Solutions,
he suggests some
ideas that can
help:
SMART-PHONE Apps
–
How about a
smart-phone app
that help
children
idenitfy birds.
BirdsEye, an
iPHone app from
Cornell Lab of
Ornithoology
uses maps,
searchable
sounds of North
American birds
and real-time
bird sighting
reports to guide
users to avian
species.
Audobon Birds
has another $20
iPhone app that
identifies 740
species.
TREASURE HUNTS
AND GPS LOCATING
The National
Wildlife
Federation
website “Get
Outside”
offers an
“interactive
backyard
savenger
hunt.”
Motavalli
suggests
geocaching and
letterboxing –
high tech games
to get kids
outside.
”Both are
internet-based
treasure hunts
with coordinates
and clues
created and
decoded by
amateurs of all
ages.”
DIGITAL
PHOTOGRAPHY
Encourage kids
to take digitial
pictures and
load them up on
album sites to
share with
friends, family,
or the whole
world!
Some sites give
away 30+ free
photo prints to
new users such
as www.shutterfly.com
where kids can
also make
picture books of
family vacations
and summer
projects.
ASTRONOMY FUN
www.spaceweather.com
is site “that
encourages kids
to have fun with
astronomy,”
says Motavali,
“learning
about eclipses,
near-earth
asteroids and
solar
eruptions.”
NO SUBSTITUTE
There is no
substitute for
the living
experience of
getting kids
(including
teens) into the
active outdoors
and away from
passive TV and
hand-action
video games.
Check out www.edf.org/naturetech
for iPhone
nature apps,
geocaching, and
more!
|
Brain
development and
Why Teens Take
Risks
A
worthwhile
reminder when
your patience is
tested and
compelling you
to implore your
teen, "What
were you
thinking?!?!?!"
(Based on
article by Nikki
Smith,” Brain
Development and
Why College
Students Take
Risks,” The
Peer Educator
– The Bacchus
Network, Apr/May
2007)
As I share from
research in
LEGACY OF HOPE,
it is now known
that changes in
the brain
continue until
age 25 (Caufman,
2000). That
prefrontal
cortex keeps
growing from 12
to 25, which
means, says
Smith, “that
adolescence does
not end with the
teen years, but
extends into the
20’s.”
(How reassuring
is that?!)
She goes on to
say that “not
until the
prefrontal
cortex is fully
developed, are
young adults
better able to
reason, make
judgments and
control
impulses.”
And the
amygdale, a
small almond
shaped region of
the brain,
guides decisions
based on
“spontaneous
emotions, or the
‘gut’
reactions (Giedd,
1999)”, says
Nikki Smith.
“During this
time of (brain)
development (14
to 25),
adolescents must
rely on … the
amygdale
(Wallis, 2004),
and their
emotions/gut.
”Making
decisions based
on emotion,
rather than
rational
thought, can be
the catalyst for
high-risk
behavior.”
This is what
makes the teen
and college
years so
susceptible to
peer influence
and an apparent
lack of
discipline.
Research at
Temple
University
revealed that
teens and young
adults would
make safe
choices when
alone, but when
in groups,
“the younger
subjects took
more risks. It
appeared that
the presence of
their friends
increased the
likelihood of
risky behavior.
As the
prefrontal
cortex matures,
social or peer
pressures have
less of an
impact and
reasoning has
more influence
when making
decisions.
Smith states
that these
findings may
provide some
explanation
about why
college
students’
drinking
patterns and
behaviors while
under the
influence may
vary with age.
It was found by
Sandra Brown,
PhD, Chief of
Psychology
Services at the
Veteran’s
Affairs Medical
Center in San
Diego,
“alcohol has
the greatest
impact on the
brain of those
under 21.“
Adults (those
over age 25 with
a fully
developed
prefrontal
cortex) would
have to consume
twice as much
alcohol to
suffer the same
damaging effects
as younger
adults or teens.
Brown’s
studies also
found that
alcohol use
during the
adolescent years
can damage
memory and
learning
capabilities as
well as impact
the
decision-making
and reasoning
areas of the
brain. When
teens and
college students
engage in
excessive
drinking, they
put themselves
as risk from
risky decisions,
but also may be
causing
permanent brain
damage.
The neuroscience
research helps
in the
development of
decision-making
tools that
students can use
during
potentially
high-risk
activities. As
Nikki Smith
suggests, “For
example,
programs can be
designed to
motivate
students to take
responsibility
for their own
health by making
informed,
healthy
choices.”
Programs with
high excitement
value that reach
youth on an
emotional level,
but are not
high-risk are
the recommended
solution:
- Alcohol-free
parties
- Game
nights
- Sports
related
activities
– open gym
nights,
‘beach’
volleyball
parties,
etc.
- Friday
night common
interest
activities
(performing
arts events,
etc.)
“Emphasize the
social norm that
most students
are making
healthy
decisions while
still having a
good time with
friends,”
Smith
encourages.
In the meantime,
as LEGACY OF
HOPE
illustrates,
“learn to talk
to the
influential
amygdale, while
waiting for the
prefrontal
cortex to take
its position as
the boss.
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New
Report
Estimates
Illicit
Drug Use
Costs
U.S.Economy
More
Than
$193
Billion
Annually
By
Join
Together
Staff
| May
26,
2011|
Illicit
drug use
cost the
U.S.economy
more
than
$193
billion
in 2007,
according
to
estimates
from a
study by
the
Department
of
Justice’s
National
Drug
Intelligence
Center (NDIC).
The
study, The
Economic
Impact
of
Illicit
Drug Use
on
American
Society
http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs44/44731/44731p.pdf
, was
produced
on
behalf
of the
Office
of
National
Drug
Control
Policy.
Bloomberg
News
reports
that the
study
cites
the cost
of
illegal
drug use
is
similar
to that
of
diabetes,
which a
2008
government
study
found
costs
more
than
$174
billion
annually.
“This
study
shows
the
economic
cost of
illicit
drug use
is
significant,”
NDIC
Director,
Michael
F.
Walther,
said in
a press
release.
“The
study’s
finding
that the
economic
cost of
illicit
drug
abuse
totaled
$193
billion
reveals
that
this
nation’s
drug
problem
is on
par with
other
health
problems.”
The NDIC
explains
the
study is
the
first
comprehensive
assessment
of costs
associated
with
drug use
in
almost a
decade.
The
statistical
findings
in the
study
included
economic
costs in
the
three
following
areas:
crime,
health
and
productivity.
Prevention
includes
awareness
and
education
of both
youth
and
parents.
Legacy
of Hope
has been
creating unparalleled
and
impactful
awareness
and
education
across
the US
and
Canada
in
schools
and
communities.
Contact
us if we
can help
in your
schools
or
community. |
| LEGACY
OF HOPE®
- break
through
denial,
create
awareness,
spawn
HOPE!  Recent
feedback
as the
result
of our
school
assembly
and
survey:
"The
(Survey
of Hope)
surveys
(administered
after
the
LEGACY
OF HOPE®
assembly)
identified
some
issues -
the kids
were
candid
and
spoke
their
feelings,
and they
were
able to
save a
child
who was
contemplating
suicide!"
This is
no
ordinary
message
- it is
a
life-saving,
life-changing
message.
Awesome
School
Assembly
- Grades
6 thru
12.
Motivating
Counselor
or
Teacher
Staff
Development/In-Service
Educating
Parent
Awareness/Community
Ed
Program
Captivating
Conference
Keynote
- for
teens
and
adults
who
work/care
about
youth
Contact
us at LEGACY
OF HOPE®
to
help...
|
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To
Steer Teens
Clear of
Substance Abuse,
Keep Them
Moving, Study
Suggests
By Join
Together Staff
| May 31, 2011
Teenagers
who are involved
in sports or
exercising are
less likely to
use drugs and
smoke cigarettes
compared with
teens who are
not as active, a
new study
suggests.
However, Reuters
reports that the
study found high
school athletes
on teams drank
more alcohol
than their
classmates who
weren’t on a
team.
Data
from more than
11,000 teens,
who graduated
between 1986 and
2001, was
included in the
study. They were
first surveyed
as high school
seniors, and
then surveyed
again up to four
times through
age 26. The
researchers
found that
higher levels of
participation in
sports,
athletics or
exercising was
related to lower
initial use of
drugs and
cigarettes,
which in turn
led to lower
substance use
throughout early
adulthood. In
those who
increased their
activity level
throughout early
adulthood,
frequency of use
of cigarettes,
marijuana and
illicit drugs
other than
marijuana
decreased, the
researchers
report in the
journal Addiction.
The
research found
that about 38
percent of teens
who weren’t
active said they
smoked
cigarettes
during the past
month, compared
with 25 to 29
percent of teens
who were
frequent
exercisers and
athletes. Among
inactive teens,
23 percent said
they had smoked
marijuana in the
last month,
compared with 15
to 17 percent of
active and
athletic teens.
The
study also
revealed that 57
percent of teens
involved in a
team sport said
they drank
alcohol in the
last month,
compared with 45
percent of teens
who weren’t
active. Reuters
reports that the
researchers have
many theories
about why
student athletes
drink more,
including peer
pressure to
drink after a
game and the
close tie
between sports
and alcohol
advertising.
Contact
us if we can
help in your
schools or
community. |
Number
1 cause for teen
deaths
Excerpted
from article
by Sue Scheff at
Broward
County Parenting
Teens Examiner ,
Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida, May 11,
2011:
According to
the National
HighwayTraffic
Safety
Administration,
the No. 1 cause
of death for
teens in America is
traffic crashes.
In fact, eight
of the 10
deadliest days
for young people
on the roads
annually fall
between May and
August. And so
far, this
year alone in
the U.S., there
have been
more than
425,000 crashes
involving
drivers using
cell phones and
texting.
AT&T
continues to
raise awareness
about the issue
of texting and
driving through
a multifaceted
initiative to
educate the
general public
about using
wireless devices
safely while
driving. The
company’s
10-minute
documentary, “The
Last Text,”
launched in
December 2010,
and since
then,has
received nearly
2.3 million
views.
The National
Organizations
for Youth Safety
(NOYS) – a
collaborative
network of
national
associations and
federal agencies
that focus on
youth safety and
health – will
receive the
first
contribution,
totaling
$95,000. This
funding will
allow for
development and
training for 40
student
ambassadors on
anti-texting-while-driving
education.
In October 2011,
these teen
ambassadors plan
to join
officials in
Washington,
D.C., for the
first-ever
national texting
while driving
prevention youth
summit. The
students will
host similar
summits within
their schools
and hometowns
throughout the
school year,
reminding their
peers that text
messaging can
– and should
– wait until
after driving.
Laura Sanford,
assistant vice
president,
Corporate
Contributions at
AT&T, said:
“The average
teen sends and
receives five
times more text
messages a day
than a typical
adult. This
contribution
represents our
ongoing
commitment to
promote
responsible ways
of using our
technology,
because
ultimately, no
text is worth
losing a
life.”
Read full
article here:
http://www.examiner.com/parenting-teens-in-fort-lauderdale/number-1-cause-for-teen
-deaths?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1MLrRf6yw
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