Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 14 (204 total reports)
21.04.2023-02.05.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of a leading presidential candidate and his supporters trying to normalize violence.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
Ivy League researchers released a huge report on teen sex. It's a must-read for parents.
Teens are looking for more guidance, not just about sex, but about love and relationships. This article has many insights that are critical for us to consider in teaching our young people about sex and sexuality, but it also expands into attitudes our young people have about their own sexuality or other’s sexuality, such as, “Is it right for me to judge you based on your gender?”
Best Links of The Week
02.05.2024
Supporting Trump Means Supporting a Culture of Violence
As Trump seeks to normalize violence and create a culture where violence is an acceptable response to disagreement or disappointment (e.g. losing an election or multiple court cases), it is imperative we ask what kind of world we want to standardize for our children. Is it all right for them to threaten, hurt, or even kill those with whom they disagree? The main point of this article is very clear, to support Donald Trump is to support violence as an acceptable means to being challenged or held accountable.
01.05.2024
Don’t Normalize Trump’s Threats of Violence
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-01/don-t-normalize-trump-s-threats-of-violence
It’s so tempting to look the other way as Trump and his base continue down a path of cruelty and lunacy. But it would be an error; that is exactly what he wants. The focus of Trump’s depiction of violence (as in his posting this week of President Biden hogtied in the back of a MAGA truck) is to normalize violence. He wants to make violence an acceptable alternative to disagreement. Rational people don’t do this, and a society based on justice and mature decision-making don’t accept this as reasonable. Our children are always watching and internalizing the behavior of the adults around them—they have NO filter but us. So, if we look away and accept this, they will normalize it—and that’s exactly what Trump craves.
31.04.2024
These Comics Capture Society's Ridiculously Unfair Expectations Of Women
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/comics-women-lainey-molnar-ano_l_6605cddfe4b05f4de32838fd
These comics didn’t make me laugh, but they did make me think about the double standards we have for women in our society.
30.04.2024
Trump promises a religious litmus test for citizenship
https://boingboing.net/2024/03/29/trump-promises-a-religious-litmus-test-for-citizenship.html
My primary question is, “Will Trump’s litmus test on religion be the religion he practices or the religion he uses to con people out of money to pay his legal debts?”
29.04.2024
Why Are Americans Not a Very Happy Group of People?
This article offers a good discussion starter for adults and teens about the roots of happiness. The author, Lawrence R. Samuel, Ph.D., makes some engaging points about being happy in a consumer-based society. As you reflect this week, ask those around you why they think the US has fallen out of the top-20 happiest countries in the world. It is worth examining Samuel’s insights in light of your own life and what you want to pass on to those around you. Is your “pursuit” of happiness undermining your actual happiness?
28.04.2024
More and more Americans are feeling unhappy. It doesn’t have to be this way.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/us-world-happiness-report-2024-chris-murphy-rcna145108
The constitution doesn’t insure happiness but it does codify the pursuit of it. With the United States falling out of the Top-20 list of the world’s happiest countries—a figure that is led by disillusioned young adults—it is time we ask more of our representatives. Congress—and the Supreme Court it appoints—has largely become bodies of self-aggrandizing people more intent on remaining in power and kowtowing to the needs of those with sizable fortunes (the two are interrelated) than they are on asking, “What will lead to the well-being and happiness of the majority of my constituents?” In 2024, let’s show congress how unhappy we are with their aberrant inaction and lack of representation and ask if they seem even remotely concerned with our right to the pursuit of happiness.
27.04.2024
How AI could explode the economy
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24108787/ai-economic-growth-explosive-automation
Some of you, like me, who were around at the time the last dinosaurs were roaming the earth (just kidding), might remember when the Internet was just being applied to businesses. You might also remember the many doomsayers that predicted it would be the end of civilization as we know it. Almost everyone uses the Internet today—for positive and negative purposes. Like all scientific advances, the discovery itself is value-neutral. The way people choose to use it is where the question of values arises. Some people want to prevent change from occurring whenever it reveals itself. Others realize that change is a constant and that the pace of change is increasing exponentially. Many in science and technology are saying that the application of AI to our society will be akin to the discovery of the printing press. AI is value-neutral, but, of course, the way in which it is used can be significantly positive or negative for society. The only way to insure that young people will be able to apply technology in a positive manner is to teach them about it in education or any of the places we are tasked to provide care for them. Trying to hide any technology only increases the likelihood our children will be susceptible to those who would use that technology in a negative manner. We owe it to our children to learn about this technology ourselves, understand the influence it can have, and look at both the dangers and possibilities it holds.
This Week’s Links
02.05.2024
Supporting Trump Means Supporting a Culture of Violence
5 Quotes by Socrates Explained
https://www.thecollector.com/socrates-quotes-explained/
World Central Kitchen pauses Gaza operations after workers killed in airstrike
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/01/1242177519/world-central-kitchen-workers-deaths-gaza
Venting Doesn't Reduce Anger, But Something Else Does, Study Finds
https://www.sciencealert.com/venting-doesnt-reduce-anger-but-something-else-does-study-finds
Trump’s Christian nationalist shtick could hurt him bigly
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-bible-christian-nationalism-warnock-rcna145882
01.05.2024
Don’t Normalize Trump’s Threats of Violence
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-01/don-t-normalize-trump-s-threats-of-violence
‘We’ve never had anything like this’: The effect of Trump’s violent rhetoric on his base
Why more Americans are saying religion is losing influence in public life
Banning teens from social media won't help their mental health. Here's what might
https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/01/social-media-teen-ban-mental-health-intervention/
Boomer Dad explains why America is experiencing labor issues and hits the nail on the head
This researcher asked kids what's wrong with U.S. schools. Here are their ideas.
https://www.upworthy.com/school-education-and-tes-rp4
These 50 companies have donated over $23 million to election deniers since Jan. 6
31.04.2024
These Comics Capture Society's Ridiculously Unfair Expectations Of Women
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/comics-women-lainey-molnar-ano_l_6605cddfe4b05f4de32838fd
Ivy League researchers released a huge report on teen sex. It's a must-read for parents.
After Trump posts a video with an image of Biden hogtied, his campaign says he’s the real victim
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-biden-truck-hogtied-video-rcna145727
Why You Should Stop Saying 'Committed Suicide'
30.04.2024
Trump promises a religious litmus test for citizenship
https://boingboing.net/2024/03/29/trump-promises-a-religious-litmus-test-for-citizenship.html
Project 2025: Republicans’ Plan to Ban Abortion Pills Nationwide
Some state lawmakers want school chaplains as part of a 'rescue mission' for public education
Kids in ethnically diverse classrooms exhibit superior theory of mind abilities
Wheeler Parker, eyewitness to Emmett Till’s abduction in 1955, speaks out
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/emmett-till-wheeler-parker-interview-rcna145305
29.04.2024
Why Are Americans Not a Very Happy Group of People?
Supreme Court abortion case brings 19th century chastity law to the forefront
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/29/politics/comstock-act-alito-thomas-abortion/
Nina: A Nonspeaker Who Found Her Voice
Igbo landing: Remembering enslaved Africans who chose death over slavery by walking into the ocean
How to Properly Give and Receive Feedback
https://apple.news/ANWJaxWitTHK-G1bW0uLNwA
Project 2025 partner floats repealing the 22nd Amendment and allowing Trump to serve a third term
28.04.2024
More and more Americans are feeling unhappy. It doesn’t have to be this way.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/us-world-happiness-report-2024-chris-murphy-rcna145108
Legal experts worry about presidential abuse of the Insurrection Act. Here's why
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/28/1241141939/insurrection-act
27.04.2024
How AI could explode the economy
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24108787/ai-economic-growth-explosive-automation
Exploring the roots of stupidity: first understand the psychology of what lies behind irrational opinions
The End of Foreign-Language Education
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/generative-ai-translation-education/677883/
How climate-driven migration could change the face of the U.S.
A teen student delivered a masterclass on the true history of the Confederate flag
https://www.upworthy.com/high-schooler-schooled-his-classmates-on-the-confederate-flag-rp6
Neurodiversity and Exacerbation of the Emotional Reaction
Why Some People Feel Like Outsiders (Even When They're Not)
Justices Thomas and Alito want to use a 'zombie law' to restrict abortion
Jordan Klepper Unleashes Holy Hell On Trump With 1 Truly Burning Question
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jordan-klepper-trump-bible_n_66038a07e4b06c56a1b6895f
Congrats Donald: Notorious golf cheater, brags he won two tournaments at his own club