Parental attitudes about teenage pregnancy: impact on sexual risk behaviour of African-American youth

African-American youth suffer disproportionately from sexual risk consequences including unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Parents educating young people about sex may be one approach to reduce sexual risk behaviour among this population. The purpose of this study was to determine young people's perceptions of parents' attitudes about sex and assess whether these perceptions affect sexual risk. Data were collected from 560 African-Americans, aged 9–19 years. Most (73.4%) thought their parents would be unhappy if they got someone pregnant/got pregnant, with more girls feeling this way than boys (p = 0.013). Sexually active boys who thought their parents would be unhappy if they got someone pregnant reported fewer sexual partners within the past year (p < 0.01) and fewer sexual encounters in the past 3 months (p = 0.01) compared to those whose parents would think otherwise. Our research illustrates that parents' explicit and unstated attitudes are apparent to their offspring, and young people's perceptions can impact their risk behaviour. As such, early and often sex education communication between parents and young people should be encouraged. Sexual health interventions encouraging parents to educate about sex and its consequences could enhance the health of young African-Americans.     

Attitudes towards sexuality information for adolescents: what parents should and should not say

The goal of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Colombians with respect to what can and what must not be said to young people of different ages and genders regarding sexuality. A convenience sample of 329 adults, aged 18–64 years, living in Bogotá participated in the study. They were presented with a set of 36 vignettes describing situations in which either a young girl or a young boy seemed to be concerned about sexuality and sexual relationships. Each scenario contained three items of information: the child’s gender, age and the parent’s decision (e.g. not to say anything regarding sexuality). Through cluster analysis, seven qualitatively different sets of attitudes were found. The five most common ones were: (i) it is never appropriate to talk about sexual matters (6%); (ii) delegate this responsibility to the school nurse (4%); (iii) provide incomplete information restricted to the biology of sexuality (11%); (iv) provide comprehensive information but with a recommendation of abstinence (28%); and (v) provide comprehensive information and a recommendation of pre-marital sexual experience (36%). Although it was expected that attitudes would vary as a function of the young person’s gender and age, such variations proved to be limited in their extent.     

Motives,barriers, and ways of communicating in mother-daughter sexuality communication: a qualitative study of college women in Tanzania

In Tanzania, young women aged 15–24 are at high risk for HIV and nearly half (45%) of women experience pregnancy or childbirth before age 19. The HIV epidemic has motivated many parents to overcome cultural taboos and talk with their children about sexuality, but few studies in Tanzania have examined how young adults perceive these discussions. In-depth interviews with 31 Tanzanian college women (ages 18–25) reveal how they make sense of sexuality messages from mothers that are sometimes vague, admonishing and fear-based. Participants identified how mothers focused on the health, educational and social consequences of premarital sex and emphasised the avoidance of men as a strategy to maintain virginity. Mothers avoided providing specific information about safer-sex practices, or strategies to negotiate romantic relationships, sexual pressures or sexual desires. Findings offer insight into how relational and cultural contexts influence mothers’ sexual socialisation and can inform education and intervention approaches that consider the changing cultural landscape. Future qualitative research with mothers is recommended to develop programmes that are more responsive to mothers’ and daughters’ needs.     

How they got it and how they wanted it: marginalised young people's perspective on their experiences of sexual health education

Young people in Australia are at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, and priority actions are necessary for this population group. This study of marginalised and at-risk young people in out-of-school environments was conducted in Western Australia with the aim of obtaining young people's perceptions about their experience of sexual health education and preferred means of gaining sexual health knowledge and skills. A participatory research methodology was implemented through a series of workshops with 88 young people recruited through community youth agencies. The results of the study support what is already known about sexual health promotion for young people and the importance of a holistic approach to promoting positive relationships and sexual health. However, the findings emphasise that this should include the need for demonstrated trust, confidence and safe environments, and the complementary role of community youth agencies and peer-based programmes which may play an important role in reaching young people who may disengage with, or not be reached by school-based sexual health education.     

The constraints of youth: young people,active citizenship and the experience of marginalisation

ABSTRACT

This paper charts the experiences of a group of young people and their involvement in a local government initiative to engage young people in public decision-making. Activated through a youth leaders’ council that sought to influence and inform local government decision-making, the participating young people were given responsibility for enacting focus projects in collaboration with local government personnel. However, this method of simply bringing young people together with local government decision-makers did not automatically alter the way that decisions came to be made and ironically resulted in interactions that went some way to further reinforce existing perceptions of young people as incapable in situations of public administration. This paper reports on a case example detailing an interaction between the youth leaders and local government councillors, and will suggest that the experience of the young people involved in the youth leaders’ council can be understood against a dynamic of ‘constraint’.     

Coerced and forced sexual initiation and its association with negative health outcomes among youth: Results from the Nigeria,Uganda, and Zambia Violence Against Children Surveys

IntroductionCoerced and forced sexual initiation (FSI) can have detrimental effects on children and youth. Understanding health outcomes that are associated with experiences of FSI is important for developing appropriate strategies for prevention and treatment of FSI and its consequences.MethodsThe Violence Against Children Surveys were conducted in Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia in 2014 and 2015. We examined the prevalence of FSI and its consequences (sexual high-risk behaviors, violence experiences, mental health outcomes, and sexually transmitted infections (STI)) associated with FSI among youth aged 13–24 years in three countries in sub-Saharan Africa.ResultsOver one in ten youth aged 13–24 years who had ever had sex experienced FSI in Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia. In multivariable logistic regression, FSI was significantly associated with infrequent condom use (OR = 1.4, 95%CI = 1.1–2.1), recent experiences of sexual violence (OR = 1.6, 95%CI: 1.1–2.3), physical violence (OR = 2.2, 95%CI: 1.6–3.0), and emotional violence (OR = 2.0, 95%CI: 1.3–2.9), moderate/serious mental distress (OR = 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1–2.0), hurting oneself (OR = 2.0, 95%CI: 1.3–3.1), and thoughts of suicide (OR = 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1–2.3), after controlling for demographic characteristics. FSI was not statistically associated with engaging in transactional sex, having multiple sex partners, or having a STI.ConclusionFSI is associated with infrequent condom use, recent experiences of violence and mental health outcomes among youth in sub-Saharan Africa, which may increase the risk for HIV and other consequences. Developing strategies for prevention is important for reducing the prevalence of FSI and its effects on children and youth.     

Complex influences of mechanistic knowledge,worldview, and quantitative reasoning on climate change discourse: Evidence for ideologically motivated reasoning among youth

Anthropogenic climate change remains divisive in the United States, where skepticism of the scientific consensus is associated with conservative worldviews, resulting in political polarization. This study considers three hypotheses regarding U.S. polarization over climate change that have emerged from social psychology research and applies them to science education by showing how these hypotheses could relate to adolescents' science learning. We then test each hypothesis within an experimental educational intervention designed to study the influence of worldview, mechanistic knowledge, and quantitative reasoning on students' written arguments about climate change. We used mixed methods to analyze the results of this individually randomized trial with clustering involving 357 participants in grades 9–11 from 5 U.S. sites. Findings show that: (a) exposure to mechanistic knowledge about climate change increased odds of receptivity toward climate change; (b) increasingly conservative worldviews were associated with decreased odds of receptivity; (c) worldview and quantitative reasoning interacted, resulting in an amplified effect of worldview for students with greater quantitative reasoning. Results also suggest that the influence of worldview and mechanistic knowledge on receptivity work independently from one another in our dataset. This study demonstrates the value of teaching mechanistic understandings of climate change, yet also demonstrates the influence of worldview on receptivity to climate change for adolescents, as well as complex interactions between quantitative reasoning (something school science aims to develop) and worldview. It shows that moving the U.S. public toward the scientific consensus is complex and involves confronting ideologically motivated reasoning within science education.     

A prospective,longitudinal cohort study: The impact of child maltreatment on delinquency among South Korean youth in middle and high school

BackgroundCultural groups vary in how they understand child maltreatment and children's misbehavior and these cultural variations may impact the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency.ObjectiveThis study investigated the impact of maltreatment on delinquency among South Korean youth. Participants and Setting: Using Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey data, this study followed two cohorts of middle (n = 2,275) and high (n = 2,272) school youth for their first self-reported delinquency over 4 years.MethodDiscrete-time hazard model was used for the analyses.ResultsApproximately 19% of middle and 11% of high school youth engaged in delinquency for 4 years. Maltreatment is associated with delinquency only for high school youth (HR = 1.42). In both cohorts, male youth with high levels of aggression were more likely to engage in delinquency. Additional risk factors included high levels of depression (HR = 1.36) and negative attitudes toward school rules (HR = 0.68), father's education less than high school (HR = 0.63), low levels of self-control (HR = 0.63). Findings also identified culturally unique factors that place Korean youth at heightened risk of delinquency: mother's education more than high school (HR = 1.49) and higher family income (HR = 1.93).ConclusionPreventive interventions need to identify culturally specific risk factors for youth at increased risk of delinquency and thus these preventive interventions should be culturally tailored.     

我国传统数学文化融入教科书的价值、现状与展望——以人教版小学数学教科书为例

数学文化是人类文化的重要组成部分。我国是数学历史传统最悠久的国家之一,传统数学文化的丰富性、多样性、独特性使之对近代数学的产生具有重要贡献,其融入教科书具有意识形态"母乳"和核心素养"纽带"的独特价值意蕴。人教版小学数学教科书中有着较为丰富的我国传统数学文化,且其在呈现方式、内容分布和认知水平上表现出了若干鲜明的特点。未来,还需夯实我国传统数学文化的"育人基础",廓清我国传统数学文化的"育人逻辑",构建我国传统数学文化的"育人网络",促进我国传统数学文化通过教科书在立德树人机制下充分发挥和达到理想的学科育人效果。     

“新工科”办学的欧林效应:小规模,大影响——理查德•米勒校长与王连江、于海琴的对话

欧林工学院虽然规模小、建校晚,但成就非凡。本访谈从欧林工学院1997年建校、短短20年内取得的非凡成就开始,围绕如何选择“正确的人”、如何实现“学生、学校、家长协同共赢”、如何设想“未来的模样”等三个主题来依次展开。理查德·米勒校长在洞察深邃而又行云流水的“解码”过程中,将欧林“天时、地利、人和”“视真正的学习为激情和勤奋结合”“把团队合作作为秘密武器”“培养心脑全人”“新的教师评价体系”“学生候选人须有5种思维”“欧林无指挥管弦乐队”“MIT在欧林化课程”“登陆火星计划”“类比课程为背包”等秘笈娓娓道来,将“欧林力量”“欧林智慧”“欧林方案”“欧林战略”4幅画卷徐徐展开。