Protect Your Children from Social Network Threats

By Dr. Dee Carter

Remember the days of hanging out after school walking home or riding the bus with friends. Remember rushing home because you couldn’t wait to call your friend from the house phone to him/her the exciting events of the day.  I remember those days well, but our youth of today won’t have memories like this because social media has significantly altered the way we communicate. 

Today most of us keep in touch with each other through social network sites (SNS).  Young adults, however, have taken it to the extreme.  They use SNS to communicate even when they are in the same room with each other. Social media has made it more convenient to shared information instantly, communicate with friends around the world and connect with new friends without leaving home. These advances make life easier for us but they also have their setbacks.

Most youth search for personal & health information on SNS.  Some of this information should continue to come from home through a parent or guardian, but when kids don’t feel comfortable asking someone, it is good that they can access information related to sensitive and tough questions. Despite the luxury and ease of communication today, there are some short comings with social media.  The same issues we experience in face-to-face relationships occur virtually.  SNS are used to incite bullying (girls ages 16-17 more frequently than boys), relationship abuse, promiscuous behavior & sexual predation.

Just last Tuesday a 12 year old girl jumped to her death after being bullied by her classmates. "Even though your child may seem normal, there may be something else going on" her mother stated to CNN.  Ask your child if they have been a victim of any of these offenses; know your child’s status. A way to protect them is through open dialogue about their social network pages. It is not recommended that parents threaten to take computers/phones away in order to monitor what your child is doing. Experts say this forces them to be more secretive.

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Resources for Parents

CommonSenseMedia.org
Safekids.org
Enough.org
StoyCyberbullying.org
SafetyNet.aap.org

College Admission Deadlines Quickly Approaching...Here's What You Should Do

By Dr. Dee Carter

Attention parents and high school seniors, college admission deadlines are quickly approaching and if you aren't paying attention you could miss an opportunity.  Many colleges have early admission deadlines which are usually due in the beginning of November.  Fall semester college admission application due dates are generally from December to January for most universities.

Here are a few key instructions you should follow to ensure your application will be completed correctly and thoroughly:

• Read instructions carefully
• Provide all the information requested
• Submit all data by the deadlines
• Make sure your work is neat
• Have someone review your application for errors or omissions, before you submit it
• Create a college folder and make a copy of everything you submit for your records

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) created a Preparing for College: Senior Checklist which provides monthly steps for seniors to follow as they begin this tedious process.

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Graphic Cigarette Ads Are Working To Deter Smoking in Teens

By Dr. Dee Carter





In Britain, graphic and direct health warnings on cigarette packets has deterred  33 percent of teenagers from picking up the habit of smoking. Australia was the first country in the world to  have cigarette packs covered in warnings.  Here in the U.S. some of the nation's largest tobacco companies are suing the government to block these types of warnings from appearing on cigarette packs. The government had decided to drop this legal fight and asked the Food and Drug Administration to redo the nine graphic warning labels they proposed.  These labels were to included images of diseased lungs and a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat.
In the U.S. lung cancer is the leading cause of death in men and women.  Ninety percent of smokers begin before the age of 21. Each day 3,600 youth under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette and the lungs of a teenager who smokes will not develop fully; putting them at a higher risk for lung disease.

Although our cigarette labels are not as harsh as those in other countries, our television and billboard ads have been.  Surveys suggest that this anti-smoking campaign has encouraged smokers to quit and distracted the teen non smoker from starting this addictive habit.

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Defending Our Classrooms: Bulletproof Whiteboards

By Dr. Dee Carter

 

As a defense response to protect the safety of students on the campus of University of Maryland Eastern Shore, they purchased 200 bulletproof whiteboards. The university president, Juliette Bell, told CNN that the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut last December which killed 20 children was a factor in making this decision.

The company that manufactures the bulletproof whiteboard is called Hardwire Armor Systems. Their products are mainly for homeland security, SWAT and police forces, but due to the increase in school shootings the whiteboards are being introduced to schools and universities around the country.  The whiteboards are 18-by-20 inches and weigh less than four pounds which makes it very easy to manipulate.

Some critics believe this is a costly investment; the bulletproof whiteboards cost three hundred dollars each, and may create a false since of security, but so does installing metal detectors and other security measures. With the increase in violence in the workplace and in our schools something needs to be done. Other products Hardwire produces for the classroom include bulletproof backpack insert, peel-n-stick doors and  clipboards.

This week a middle school student in Nevada opened fire on students and deadly shot a teacher that was trying to help. This teacher was a Marine and served several tours in Afghanistan.  It is possible that having these whiteboards or some other type of bulletproof armor in the school may have protected him from this violent act.

Schools across the country have begun implementing security plans and emergency response procedures. Do you know what safety procedure your school or job, for that matter, has in place? Ask; it's better safe than sorry.

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Steps to Youth Empowerment

By Dr. Dee Carter, Youth Advocate & Life Coach

The model for empowering youth is fairly simple.  It is being used by organizations around the world and if adopted by individuals we, as a society, would be able to improve the social progress and economic growth of young people.

 Steps for youth empowerment:

• Promote positive mental health and well being
• Provide a safe and trusting environment
• Encourage and strengthen youth leadership within the school environment
• Create partnerships with businesses, local groups & churches that will provide mentorships, internships and business opportunities

If you know of organizations in your area that are doing a great job empowering our youth and the disenfranchised, please post a comment and share this information in order to support the efforts of these groups.

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Additional Resources:
Youth Empowerment Project
Puppetry Arts
Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES)

Girls Can Change the World

International Girls Day is on November 14th. This is a day set aside to recognize the potential that all women and girls have to impact their families, communities and the world.  This year's slogan, "She Can Do Anything" sums up the message that is being used to instill confidence in all girls.

If you belong to a girls'/women's group, plan an activity to celebrate the potential in each of your members.  For event ideas and a planning kit click here.

An amazing 16 year old from Pakistani has been in the media over the last year since she survived a deadly gunshot to the head by the Taliban fighter who jumped on her school bus and shouted, "Who is Malala?' The Taliban are against the education of girls and Malala had been speaking out about her God-given right to attend school.  Malala Yousafzai miraculously survived and has become an advocate for girls' education. This week in a conversation with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, she said "I am proud to be a girl, and I know that girls can change the world."  She recently released a book "I Am Malala"  which describes this life-threatening experience and was a top candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Girls Can Change the World"

Consider this information from ASCD.... Medically speaking: What's In Her Head?
 

A girl's corpus callosum (the connecting bundle of tissues between hemispheres) is, on average, larger than a boy's—up to 25 percent larger by adolescence. This enables more “cross talk” between hemispheres in the female brain.

Girls have, in general, stronger neural connectors in their temporal lobes than boys have. These connectors lead to more sensually detailed memory storage, better listening skills, and better discrimination among the various tones of voice. This leads, among other things, to greater use of detail in writing assignments.

The hippocampus (another memory storage area in the brain) is larger in girls than in boys, increasing girls' learning advantage, especially in the language arts.

Girls' prefrontal cortex is generally more active than boys' and develops at earlier ages. For this reason, girls tend to make fewer impulsive decisions than boys do. Further, girls have more serotonin in the bloodstream and the brain, which makes them biochemically less impulsive.

Girls generally use more cortical areas of their brains for verbal and emotive functioning. Boys tend to use more cortical areas of the brain for spatial and mechanical functioning (Moir & Jessel, 1989; Rich, 2000).

Emotionally speaking: What's On Her Mind?

74% of girls say they are under pressure to please everyone.

31% of girls ages 13-17 admit to starving themselves or refusing to eat as a strategy to lose weight.

Roughly a third of high school girls report being sexually active.

60% of teen girls say they compare their bodies to those of fashion models.

Three-quarters of middle high school principals say that bullying is a serious problem at their school.

Girls who have significant symptoms of depression as teens are 86% more likely than their peers to become victims of abuse from a boyfriend or husband as young women.

23.5% of high school females engaged in episodic heavy drinking.

3 out of 4 girls say they feel pressure to be “super girls.”

Clearly, data supports that females are smart and possess the potential to change the world but they must be nurtured, uplifted,valued and loved by their families, friends, schools and communities.

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Dr. Dee Carter

Additional Resources:
Care Organization
Confidence Coalition
Day of the Girl

A Scout's Honor

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA), have an oath which states:

"On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight."

Yesterday a movie called Troop 491: The Adventures of the Muddy Lions debuted, in Richmond, VA. It is based on a true story which follows the life of  a young boy whose mother enrolls him with the Boy Scouts to keep him off the streets.  He is faced with peer pressure that often accompanies violence & drugs in the inner city.  These haunting circumstances eventually lead him to a crossroad where he will have to choose between following the oath of the scouts or the code of the streets. 

The mission of BSA  is to "prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes..."  The Scouts have impacted over 2 million lives of young men between the ages of 6-17.  Today they have national relationships with  several companies like Lowes, ExxonMobil & NASA. These relationships are fostered to emphasize education and mentoring.   BSA also promotes healthy lifestyles and has joined first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move program and the President's Council on Fitness, Sport and Nutrition platform.

The Boy Scouts prepare young men for Adventure through its great outdoors experiences; for Service by providing opportunities to volunteer and work in their communities and for Leadership with their life skills merit badges, ranks and awards.

Unfortunately, with all good intentions, life experiences and development the Boy Scouts offer  our young men; membership is on the decline nationally.  I would like to believe that this is be due to more youth groups & mentoring programs being offered to youth now and not due to an empathetic perception of our young men.  We cannot give up on the value and talent that young men posses especially those  who without any say of their own, find themselves being raised in the tough streets of our inner cities.

Tristan, the lead character and young Scout in the movie Troop 491 is faced with decisions that far too many of our young men (and woman) are faced with.  I encourage you to go see this movie if it is in your neighborhood.  It is family friendly (PG-13) and will promote positive dialogue in our homes and communities and perhaps it will ignite new enrollment with the Boy Scouts throughout all of our cities.


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Dr. Dee Carter