Teen birth rates again rise

Last year was the second year in a row that teen birth rates rose. Since 2005, the teen birth rate increased by 2% after 14 years of consistent decline. When it was reported that the teen pregnancy had risen across ethnic groups, popular responses ranged from, “see what happens when abstinence-only is taught in classrooms?” to “see what happens when there’s not enough abstinence-only taught in classrooms?” Of course, youth development professionals know that the issue is far more complex than that. While national and state education policies play an important role in determining what gets taught in the classroom, often the reality is that young people get a steady stream of mixed messages about health and sexuality.

Some adolescent health professionals suggest several reasons for the increases: a possible decrease in the use of contraceptives, socioeconomic changes, and differences in relationships and attitudes are some of the theories. The Obama administration’s intentional shift towards embracing science and evidence-based programming is a welcome development. We know what works: giving young people medically accurate information and supporting them with comprehensive sexuality education, including ways to strengthen relationships with both family and partners.

Want to get involved? Click here to learn more about The National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Click here for more information from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and here for research briefs from Child Trends.

Hoosiers Support Legislation to Coordinate Youth Services and Programs

MCCOY Urges Community to Support the Federal Youth Coordination Act by Joining the 36 Organizations and 100 Individuals Who Have Signed a Letter of Support

MCCOY is asking the community to sign a letter of support for the Federal Youth Coordination Act (H.R. 7004). This bill seeks to create a White House Office on Children and Youth, which would strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of youth programs and services. The letter is directed to Representative Mark Souder of Indiana's 3rd Congressional District, who is a member of the Education & Labor Committee. As of Tuesday, 100 individuals and 36 organizations have signed the letter of support.
Read full article.

Meet ROY: Resources Online for Youth!

It's finally here - central Indiana's new, searchable database of youth activities and opportunities! ROY is now gathering information from youth-serving organizations about their programs and activities. Creating a profile is FAST, EASY and absolutely FREE (music to a non-profit's ears).

Just visit www.roymccoy.org, scroll down to the bottom right and click on "Create a new account". If you can't finish filling out your profile in one setting, it's not a problem. Just log out, then log back in later to fill in the blanks

Need some help getting to know ROY? We have dedicated a page on our website to this very purpose. Click here to learn more about the project and its purposes or download cheat sheets of required information.

How Children Learn

The classic, How Children Learn, is making a resurgence among parents and educators alike lately. In John Holt's book, his thesis is that children want to learn, are natural learners, and will learn more if adults recognize that and let them explore their worlds. Many times, parents and others act like bosses instead of co-learners. That means letting them play and playing with them, but resisting the urge to quiz them on their knowledge or to patronize them.

Most of How Children Learn is culled from his diaries, his successes and failures, and later notes from parents and other educators: "She is not afraid of making mistakes. And she is patient. She can tolerate an extraordinary amount of uncertainty, confusion, ignorance, and suspense. She does not have to have instant meaning in any new situation. She is willing and able for meaning to come to her - even if it comes very slowly, which it usually does..."

Click here to read more about the book on Amazon.

Recess Matters, Too!

According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, taking recess out of the school day can have serious consequences in child behavior. (Read the full article at Pediatrics or a shorter overview at Science Daily.) The study of more than 10,000 eight- and nine-year-old students indicated that having just a 15 minutes break from the classroom resulted in better behavior.

The study asserts that, as school districts face additional pressure from No Child Left Behind to add more and more time for reading and math, they may be removing an important tool for helping kids stay focused and on task. Removing recess, a great time to release energy, socialize with peers and generally explore the world is correlated with increased negative behaviors during instructional time. The researchers also found that eliminating recess was a more common practice in schools that serve children who are black, come from lower-income homes and live in urban areas.

Of course, several other issues can be related to a lack of recess: obesity, social skill development, perceived safety in school environments... Whatever your perspective on those issues, with our newest State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett, talking a great deal about student behavior, this may be an important factor to consider.

Support the Federal Youth Coordination Act

The Federal Youth Coordination Act (FYCA) of 2008 (H.R. 7004) seeks to create a White House Office on Children and Youth, which would strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of youth programs.Learn More.

Sign on now! Join us in championing the positive development of youth in Indiana and across the nation. It’s as easy as signing our letter of support.

Sign the letter now.

Youth media brings subjects to life

Youth Radio is an organization in Oakland with the deeply held belief that underserved youth have the creativity, skills, and entrepreneurial spirit to become multimedia industry leaders.

They recently started a Brains & Beakers program, where an engineer or scientist brings in a hands-on, minds-on experiment and hangs out to answer questions about it. The young people in Youth Radio then edit and produce the program online.

Here's a link to the media section of our own community's awesome Y-Press. These two organizations are clear evidence that young people are more than ready to take the initiative, sometimes they simply need the tools to do so.