Youth Studies Australia articles from June 2008

Youth Studies Australia archives from June 2008

Who cares?(Editorial)
June 1, 2008... The title of this editorial came to mind because it seemed that one or more readings of that question could be applied to each paper in this issue. The features sections starts with a paper that asks whether governments really care about...

Mythbusting research project targets teen drinking.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The first Australian trial of a project that aims to reduce alcohol consumption among young people by providing them with accurate information about their peers' alcohol consumption levels has produced promising results. The Social Norms...

Report reveals alarming teen alcohol and drug abuse.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)
June 1, 2008... The Australian National Council on Drugs report Supporting families of young people with problematic drug use: Investigating support options, released in February 2008, revealed some alarming statistics on binge drinking and drug use among...

Alcopops' popularity causes concern.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A survey of 78 young people aged 18 to 19 years, conducted by the consumer group Choice, found that 24% could not taste the alcohol contained in ready-to-drink 'alcopops', while a further 7% were unsure if these drinks contained alcohol. Most...

Few seek help for drinking problems.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A study of the drinking habits of over 1,000 25-year-old New Zealanders found that 351 of these young people had had problems with alcohol in the past four years. Just 26 of those reporting drinking problems sought help for their problems. The...

Under-age and undercover.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Police in Western Australia are considering using under-age young people in undercover operations to identify bottle shops that sell alcohol to minors. An Injury Control Council of WA audit of over 100 Perth bottle shops last year found that...

Rudd gets tough on binge drinking.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Kevin Rudd)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... In March, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the allocation of $53 million in funding to target what he described as a binge-drinking 'epidemic' among young Australians. Mr Rudd said that the funding includes $20 million for an 'in-your-face'...

Is a higher legal drinking age the answer?(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Professor John Currie, chairman of the Victorian Drug and Alcohol Prevention Council, believes that raising the legal drinking age to 21 years ought to be considered if other social, educational and parental strategies fail to curb current teen...

Uniform laws to help in binge-drinking battle.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... In another measure to combat alcohol consumption and binge drinking among young people, the Rudd government plans to work with states and territories to establish nationally consistent laws regarding the supply of alcohol to minors and the...

Companies moderate alcopop content.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... In March, alcohol companies Lion Nathan and Foster's Group announced that they would both cease producing ready-to-drink 'alcopops' containing stimulants such as caffeine, guarana and taurine. These drinks have proven popular among young people...

Anti-binge campaign targets parents.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(DrinkWise Australia)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... DrinkWise Australia, an alcohol industry-funded organisation established to promote responsible drinking, is to spend $5 million on a campaign to combat binge drinking among young people. This campaign will include a website designed to...

Rudd raises RTD revenue.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Kevin Rudd, ready to drink)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... In late April, the Rudd government announced that it would be increasing the excise on alcopops in an attempt to reduce binge drinking among young people. The excise on these drinks was raised from $39 per litre of pure alcohol to $67, which...

Teen girls' excesses cause concern.(Hot topic: young people, alcohol and binge drinking)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... While findings from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's National Drug Strategy Health Survey 2007 indicate that Australians' use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs decreased between 2004 and 2007, the survey did reveal some...

World-first cyber bullying study in WA.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)(Western Australia)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The WA Government has committed $400,000 in funding towards a world-first study into the prevention of cyber bullying among children and young people. The five-year study will be led by Professor Donna Cross from Edith Cowan University's Child...

'Shallow' girls' club makes headlines.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)(Club 21)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... St Patrick's College, a coeducational Catholic school in Mackay, Queensland, made national headlines in April when it emerged that a group of Year 11 girls at the school had formed an elitist club in which members ranked themselves numerically...

Youth crime conference given insight into teen attitudes.(CRIME)(YouthSCAN)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... An overview of results from YouthSCAN surveys of recent years provided delegates to a conference on young people and crime, held in Melbourne in late February, with an insight into the changing attitudes of young Australians. These results...

Re-offending stats show need for reform.(CRIME)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Departmental statistics contained within a review of two youth detention centres in South Australia indicate that around 67% of young offenders re-offend within six months and close to 100% re-offend within four years. The review of the Cavan...

Helping angry young men.(DEVELOPMENT)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A new book by an Australian psychologist aims to provide adults, particularly parents, with a helpful approach to dealing with anger problems among adolescent boys. In Doing anger differently: Helping adolescent boys, author Michael Currie...

Brain development affects teens' emotional responses.(DEVELOPMENT)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A study of the brain development of 137 adolescents in their early teens has shown that those who react more emotionally in disagreements and problem-solving situations have significantly different brain structures to those who react less...

Same-sex partners not allowed at school formal.(DISCRIMINATION)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Brisbane's Anglican Church Grammar School made national news in April when final-year students at the prestigious boys' school were instructed that they were not allowed to escort same-sex partners to their senior formal. 'The senior dinner...

Young people give movie smoking the flick.(DRUGS)
June 1, 2008... A survey released to mark National Youth Tobacco Free Day, held in March, indicates that three-quarters of young people believe that governments should take action on depictions of smoking in films. The survey of over 900 young people also...

Quit messages need a rethink.(DRUGS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A review of close to 80 international studies examining young people's attitudes towards smoking and quitting smoking indicates that the 'just say no' strategy employed in many anti smoking education campaigns may not be particularly effective....

Cashed-up students most likely to use drugs.(DRUGS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Students with significant disposable incomes are more likely to use drugs than their peers with relatively lower disposable incomes, according to a study commissioned by the Australian National Council on Drugs. Based on both a review of...

Smoking fails to achieve desired effects.(DRUGS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A Canadian study that tracked 1,250 young people aged 12-17 years has busted the myth that smoking assists young women to lose weight. Moreover, the study found that young men who smoked were an average of 2.54 centimetres shorter than their...

School productivity under the microscope.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Australian National University economists Andrew Leigh and Chris Ryan have completed a study measuring the productivity of Australian schools over time, finding that despite increases in per-child funding, meaning increased access to technology...

VCAL making a difference to at-risk students.(EDUCATION)(Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The first-ever study into the attitudes towards school among students enrolled in the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning--the relatively new vocational alternative to the Victorian Certificate of Education--suggests that VCAL students...

Staying in school increases apprenticeship success.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... As reported in the previous edition of Youth Studies Australia (v.27, n.1), apprentices who complete Year 12, undertake relevant work experience and take vocational education and training (VET) subjects while at school are more likely than...

Late start might be best for teens.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Swinburne University researchers studying the sleeping patterns of 310 Year 11 students have suggested that high schools consider later starting and finishing times to improve students' wellbeing and academic performance. The Swinburne study...

Secondary schools need to get sun smart.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Only 20% of secondary schools in Victoria have adopted comprehensive sun protection policies, according to figures from the Cancer Council Victoria. To improve the low take-up rate of SunSmart policies, the Cancer Council Victoria has launched...

Periods cause significant problems for many girls.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Around one-quarter of teenage girls experience significant 'menstrual disturbance'--one of the early signs of endometriosis--according to a study led by Dr Anne Sneddon, director of obstetrics and gynaecology at Canberra Hospital. 'We cannot...

Youth-specific anorexia services needed.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A feature on young people and anorexia published in The Age in March highlighted the growing number of children and young people suffering from the disease and the critical need for more specialist services for children and young people with...

Teen homeless population doubles.(HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS)
June 1, 2008... Following a year-long investigation into youth homelessness, the National Youth Commission released the report Australia's homeless youth in April. The report found that the number of homeless teenagers in Australia has doubled since the...

Indigenous project links worlds.(INDIGENOUS YOUTH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A project operating in the Kimberly region of Western Australia is working to prevent young Indigenous people from engaging in crime, substance abuse, self-harm and suicide by connecting them to both traditional knowledge and Western education....

Girls go for gossip.(MEDIA)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Magazine readership statistics recently released by Roy Morgan Research indicate that while the number of girls reading magazines has remained relatively steady over the past decade, this demographic's reading choices had changed. Traditional...

University tragedy prompts call for mental health awareness.(MENTAL HEALTH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... An Australian university vice-chancellor has called for and end to the 'conspiracy of silence' that surrounds mental illness following a recent university campus shooting in the United States. On 14 February this year, five Northern Illinois...

Websites accused of role in suicide deaths.(MENTAL HEALTH)
June 1, 2008... Many suicide prevention groups and mental health professionals believe that social networking websites and other websites and discussion forums containing information on how to commit suicide played a role in what appears to be a string of 17...

National action urged.(MENTAL HEALTH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... headspace, Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation, used the recent national emphasis on binge drinking among young people to highlight the mental health issues commonly associated with alcohol and drug use. The foundation also...

Australia 2020 Youth Summit.(PARTICIPATION)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A national paid parental leave program, the reduction of the voting age to 16 years and a treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians were among the proposals put forward in the final communique produced by the federal government's...

Children of teenage fathers face early health risks.(PREGNANCY & PARENTHOOD)
June 1, 2008... Children born to teenage fathers face an increased risk of experiencing a range of health problems at birth and as newborns, according to a study recently published in the journal Human Reproduction. The study examined data from over 2.6...

Teen smokers make smaller babies.(PREGNANCY & PARENTHOOD)
June 1, 2008... A national study of over 25,000 young mothers aged 20 years and under has found that those who smoked during their pregnancy were more likely than their nonsmoking counterparts to give birth to underweight babies. The University of NSVV study...

One-third of young Australians cheat in relationships.(RELATIONSHIPS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A collaborative research project between researchers in Australia and Hong Kong has found that one-third of young Australians admit to having been unfaithful in a romantic relationship at least once. The researchers are examining the nature of...

Pharmacists to prescribe the pill?(SEXUALITY)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A debate is currently taking place among health professionals, academics and politicians over whether or not the oral contraceptive pill should be available over-the-counter from pharmacists. Those in favour of the pill being available from...

Room for improvement in Queensland sex ed.(SEXUALITY)(sex education)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Less than 5% of Queensland teenagers are receiving adequate sexuality education, according to an estimate made by Family Planning Queensland research manager Holly Brennan at a sexuality education forum held in Brisbane during February. 'Some...

Morning after pill access issues.(SEXUALITY)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... * Professor Susan Sawyer, director of the Centre for Adolescent Health in Victoria, has called for an expansion of the role of school nurses to allow them to provide female students with the morning-after pill as a way to ensure that all...

Unwanted pregnancies threatening mankind.(SEXUALITY)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A leading world expert on birth control, reproductive health and population issues believes that unplanned pregnancies resulting from binge drinking among teenagers are contributing significantly to unsustainable global population growth. World...

STD shock.(SEXUALITY)(sexually transmitted diseases)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that around one in four American girls aged 14-19 years is infected with at least one of the four most common STDs: human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, genital herpes...

New youth site launched.(TECHNOLOGY)
June 1, 2008... In April, Fairfax Digital launched a news, entertainment and social networking website aimed at 18-29-year-olds. Called The Vine. com.au, the website is a joint venture between Fairfax and Melbourne-based youth marketing agency Lifelounge. The...

Playing an important role.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A study conducted by the Inspire Foundation and ORYGEN Youth Health indicates that technology may play a greater role in the lives of socially, culturally and economically marginalised young people that previously thought. Focus groups...

Social inclusion and youth participation: a new deal for Australia's young people.(Report)
June 1, 2008... In light of the recent election of the Rudd Labor government, and the highlighting of social inclusion as a ministerial portfolio and policy direction, this paper considers the relationship between 'youth participation' and social inclusion. It...

From ambivalence to activism: young people's environmental views and actions.(Report)
June 1, 2008... It is often assumed that young people have a particular interest in environmental issues. On the other hand, there's also the view that young people are apathetic about such matters. This paper considers what young people really think about the...

Harnessing the power of perception: reducing alcohol-related harm among rural teenagers.(Report)
June 1, 2008... The Social Norms Analysis Project (SNAP), conducted with rural high school students in Tasmania, demonstrates the powerful nature of the perceptions of what one's peers think and do, and is based on a model of health promotion that has been...

Youth workers and stress.(Report)
June 1, 2008... Much has been written about the theory and practice of youth work, and there has been a particular focus on the youth worker/young person interaction. This article, however, focuses on the neglected area of youth workers themselves and how they...

Concepts shaping juvenile justice.(Report)
June 1, 2008... As with most fields of human endeavour, the area of juvenile justice is characterised by many different types of programs, different 'discourses' or ways in which issues are put into language and practice, and different interest groups (from...

yshareit: a project promoting the use of e-mental health resources among young people.
June 1, 2008... The yshareit project aims to increase awareness of and access to reputable e-mental health resources among young people. Small group workshops were conducted using a triage website to explore youth-relevant e-mental health websites....

Comparison of the structure of adolescent problem behaviour in the United States and Australia.(BEHAVIOUR)(Reprint)(Report)
June 1, 2008... Crime & Delinquency, v.53, n.2, 2007, pp.303-21. To examine 'potential international differences in the structure of problem behaviour' among adolescents, researchers analysed problem behaviour data from studies conducted with...

Predicting psychosocial consequences of homophobic victimisation in middle school students.(BULLYING & VIOLENCE)(Reprint)(Report)
June 1, 2008... Journal of Early Adolescence, v.27, n.2, 2007, pp.175-91. The relationship between homophobic victimisation and negative psychological and social outcomes was explored in this year-long study of 143 students (74 male) from a middle school...

Symptoms of tobacco dependence after brief intermittent use: The development and assessment of nicotine dependence in Youth-2 Study.(DRUGS)(Reprint)(Report)
June 1, 2008... Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, v.161, n.7, 2007, pp.704-10. Previously it was thought that smokers become addicted when their intake exceeded 20 cigarettes per day; however, this study and other recent studies suggest that...

Global selves: Marginalised young people and aesthetic reflexivity in inhalant drug use.(DRUGS)(Reprint)(Report)
June 1, 2008... Journal of Youth Studies, v.10, n.4, 2007, pp.399-418. Young people today 'draw on global as well as local images in their constructions of individual selfhood'. This narrative analysis examines the drug use experiences of 28 'socially and...

Parenting styles, coping strategies and the expression of homesickness.(FAMILIES)(Reprint)(Report)
June 1, 2008... Journal of Adolescence, v.30, n.5, 2007, pp.709-20. The relationship between parenting styles and the experience and expression of homesickness among first-year college and university students was explored in this Dutch study....

Family group conferencing in Australia: 15 years on.(FAMILIES)(Author abstract)
June 1, 2008... Child Abuse Prevention Issues, n.27, 2008. This paper investigates the extent to which family group conferencing has become part of child protection practices throughout Australia since 1992. Published information, legislation, policy...

Energy expenditure in adolescents playing new generation computer games.(HEALTH)(Reprint)(Report)
June 1, 2008... British Medical Journal, v.335, n.7633, 2007, pp. 1282-84. A convenience sample of six boys and five girls aged 13-15 years was recruited for this study, which compared the amount of energy expended playing sedentary computer games compared...

Governance, development and youth networks.(POLICY)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Commonwealth Youth and Development, v.5, n.1, 2007, pp.52-68. The Commonwealth Youth Programme's Governance, Development and Youth Networks strategic program area 'aims to provide an enabling environment for young people to become central...

Meaning or measurement? Researching the social contexts of health and settlement among newly-arrived refugee youth in Melbourne, Australia.(REFUGEE YOUTH)(Reprint)
June 1, 2008... Journal of Refugee Studies, v.20, n.3, 2007, pp.414-40. Logistical, theoretical and methodological challenges mean that there is a lack of evidence-based research to inform policy and practice on 'the most effective ways to promote...

Unique pathways to resilience across cultures.(RESILIENCE)(Author abstract)
June 1, 2008... Adolescence, v.42, n.166, 2007, pp.287-310. A global sample of 89 young people (57 female, aged 12-23 years) from 14 communities in 11 countries were selected to take part in this study, which investigated definitions of resilience across...

A cohort study of 20,822 young drivers: The DRIVE study methods and population.(RISK TAKING)(Author abstract)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Injury Prevention, v.12, n.6, 2006, pp.385-89. The DRIVE Study is a prospective cohort study that aims to provide data on associations between car crash risk factors and injuries resulting from car crashes involving young drivers. Over an...

The Youth 2020 Summit.(Youth Initiatives)(Conference news)
June 1, 2008... The Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd convened an Australia 2020 Summit at Parliament House on 19 and 20 April to help shape a long-term strategy for the nation's future. The Youth 2020 Summit was held in the lead-up to the Australia 2020...