On College Campuses, Hookahs Are Being Smoked Out

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If you are concerned about your health, step away from the hookah.  The belief that the ornate water pipes are far safer than cigarettes may be going up in smoke.  Researchers found that the water in the hookah only filters 5 percent of the nicotine contained in the smoke. Hookahs are gaining in popularity on college campuses across the country and the American Lung Association is making anti-hookah legislation a top priority. “Teens and young adults are initiating tobacco use through these hookahs with the mistaken perception that the products are somehow safer or less harmful than cigarettes,” Paul G. Billings, a vice president of the American Lung Association, told the New York Times. “Clearly that’s not the case.”

The danger lies in how hookahs are smoked.  Hookah sessions usually last about an hour as hoses attached to the pipe are passed around.  In a typical session a smoker could inhale the equivalent of 100 cigarettes while also exposing themselves to tuberculosis and herpes through the communal hoses. Cities are beginning to take notice, passing ordinances to limit the amount of new hookah bars opening and college campuses are rewriting anti-smoking rules to outlaw hookahs.

Memo to Wile E. Coyote: Violence Won’t Make Kids Like You

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Here’s a conclusion that may surprise you about as much as one of the anvils that Jerry the mouse manages to drop on Tom the cat’s head from time to time: Kids don’t miss violence when it doesn’t appear in their favorite cartoons; what they’re really looking for is action. That’s the verdict of a study by professors at four universities whose finding’s have been published in the journal Media Psychology. Assistant Telecommunications Professor Andrew J. Weaver of Indiana University and his colleagues were testing the reason that producers and programmers often give for including violence in kid’s cartoons —  that children want to see it. "Violence isn't the attractive component in these cartoons which producers seem to think it is,” Weaver said. “It's more other things that are often associated with the violence.

“Slow: Children at Play” Signs Probably Don’t Work

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We’ve all driven past them dozens, perhaps hundreds, of times but signs reading “Slow: Children at Play” probably aren’t slowing us down, according to a story on Slate.com. The reasons are simple: they are either redundant (because drivers are more likely to see actual children at play rather than a sign telling them about the children) or drivers ignore them completely (because they never see any children at play on the street). What matters, studies show, is traffic speed, not signs.  Children are safer on streets with a lower speed limit.  As the speed limit increases so does the danger for children. But traffic engineers face a difficult task convincing parents that their children are no safer with the signs than without.  Parents, understandably, will take whatever steps they can to keep their children safe.  But Slate suggests that the problem is systemic.  Our streets are designed for traffic, not for people or neighborhoods or children at play. “It's roads, not signs, that tell people how to drive,” according to the story.

Start Strong Shares Ideas to Stop Dating Violence Before it Starts

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Sometimes the solution to a very big problem is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. That’s the theory behind Start Strong, a national program designed to defeat teen-dating violence by helping middle-school kids learn how to avoid unhealthy relationships. “I didn’t even know I was in an abusive relationship,” says Nija Nelson, who says her former boyfriend yelled at her and called her names. “Most teens don’t recognize the other kinds of abuse besides physical abuse. Start Strong helped me realize that the relationship I was in was unhealthy.”

Now, Nija is an Atlanta high school senior and a Start Strong “Youth Leader” who talks to middle school kids about teen-dating violence.

Unique Study Says Evidence Backs Claims Violent Videogames Harm Teens

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For years, scientists have been studying whether violent video games are harmful to teens, but their findings have often contradicted one another. Now, three researchers have analyzed the data from experts who filed briefs in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving violent video games. The case, Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, decides whether California can ban the sale or rental of violent video games to kids under 18. They found that experts who believe violent video games are harmful to teens published more evidence than those who do not believe they are harmful. "The evidence suggests that those who argue violent video games are harmful have a lot more experience and stronger credentials than those who argue otherwise," said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.

bullying

Bullying May Cause Long-term Social Anxiety, Study Finds

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We all know that bullying is unpleasant, but new findings suggest it could lead to long-term social anxiety for the person being bullied. Recent experiments at Rockefeller University found that consistently bullied mice showed signs of exaggerated anxiety and nervousness around new mice.  They also experienced higher levels of sensitivity to the hormone vasopressin, which controls social behaviors. "The identification of brain neuroendocrine systems that are affected by stress opens the door for possible pharmacological interventions," Yoav Litvin, the study’s coauthor says. "Additionally, studies have shown that the formation and maintenance of positive social relationships may heal some of the damage of bullying.”

The vasopressin hormone is associated with aggression, stress and anxiety disorders in humans.  Earlier studies suggest that human brains can bounce back given time. You can read the full study here.

April Forum Aims To Provide Tools To Help Young Black Males Prosper

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Prevalent media portrayals of young African-American males as violent and angry make Ayo Tinubu cringe, but he can relate. At the age of 16, some guys at school had been bullying him. Finally fed up with the harassment and threats, he and some friends planned to retaliate. They skipped school at North Atlanta High School that day in 1996 then showed up that afternoon with brass knuckles and knives in tow, ready for battle. A quick-thinking school bus driver anticipated trouble and alerted the school principal before any violence erupted.

Fewer Than Half of Crimes Against Children Reported to Authorities

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Crimes against kids go largely unreported, says a study by researchers at the University of New Hampshire.  Of the more than 4,500 children ages 10 to 17 surveyed for the study, 58 percent reported being the victim of a crime in the last year.  However, only 46 percent reported the incident to authorities. The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, says that, because of the fear of retaliation, cases of abuse and violence against children often go unreported.  In many cases families chose to handle incidents informally, without involving police, due to the sensitive nature of the crimes.  The study’s authors say this often prevents the victims from receiving needed counseling. Crimes most likely to be reported included bullying, neglect and theft, researchers said.

Witnessing Violence Creates Violent Kids, Study Says

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Children who witness violence often think it is normal, a development that can lead to violent behavior, says a new study in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. The researchers, who surveyed 800 children between the ages of 8 and 12, asked the children if they had witnessed violence on television, at home or at school.  Six months later they were polled a second time.  Children who said they had witnessed violence were aggressive, according to the study. "People exposed to a heavy diet of violence come to believe that aggression is a normal way to solve conflict and get what you want in life,” the study’s authors wrote.  “These beliefs lower their inhibitions against aggression against others." The full study is available by subscription only, but you can read more at ScienceDaily.

New Comcast ‘On Demand’ Show Seeks To Find Missing Children

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Thirteen-year-old Nautica Baker is considered an “endangered runaway.”

Her family members haven’t seen or heard from her since they reported her missing from Clayton County on July 27, 2010. Since then, her description (a black female with green eyes and brown hair, approximately 120 pounds and 5 feet 6 inches tall) had been plastered on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) website. The Clayton County Police Department has continued to investigate Nautica’s case. A relatively new “first-of-its-kind public-service initiative” by Comcast aims to help find her and other missing children. “Every year, an estimated 800,000 children are reported as missing in the United States and an average of 400 girls in Georgia are commercially, sexually exploited each month,” said Cindy Kicklighter, Comcast director of communications for the Atlanta region.