*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*
Volume 8 Issue 207 – December 24, 2008
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Quote of the Day: "Are you willing to forget what you have done for
other people, and to remember what other people have done for you ... to
remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old ... Are you
willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world ... stronger
than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death... Then you can keep
Christmas! But you can never keep it alone."
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Professor
Richard G. Wilkins, Managing Director of the
The
Doha Institute
for Family Studies and Development http://www.fsd.org.qa/doha/wfns/wfns.asp?pagenum=9&
Howard Center for
Family, Religion and Society http://www.worldcongress.org/WCFUpdate/sub/wcf_update_sub.htm
By
subscribing to one or both of these newsletters you will stay updated on the
latest family news and events from around the globe. We recommend both of these services to our
loyal readers.
Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Scholar: Steven E.
Rhoads
B. Featured News Articles
1. Suicide Attempts among Vietnamese Youth Is
Growing
2. Fast-Food + Nearby Schools = Fat Kids
3. Most Wyoming Voters Support Marriage
4. More Young Adults Engaging In Risky Anal Sex
5. Study: Marital Happiness Increases After Kids
Grow Up and Leave
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FEATURED SCHOLAR
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Steven E. Rhoads
Professor, Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs,
University of Virginia, USA
The
following paper was presented at the 5th Annual World Family Policy Forum held
in Provo, Utah, USA in June 2005:
Sex Differences: Nature’s Signposts to a Good Marriage
…Because
so much of women’s happiness is dependent on strong, loving connections to
others, they are more vulnerable when trouble arises in marriages. One study of
full-time dual-career couples finds that problems at work increase
psychological distress equally for men and women, but that problems in the
marriage lead to much more distress for women than for men. Women’s
vulnerability affects their physical health as well as their mental health.
When wives perceive that their family and marriage are not going well, their
blood pressure goes up. When husbands perceive trouble, their blood pressure
does not increase, but the husband’s perception of trouble will send his wife’s
blood pressure up. Similarly, after having an argument with her spouse, a
woman’s immune function decreases much more than a man’s, and changes persist
for at least twenty-four hours.
No
wonder women are more likely to be the peacemakers in families. Researchers who put recorders in dining rooms
find that mothers are the most likely to deflect an unpleasant quarrel during
family meals and that daughters are the next most likely to serve this role.
Teresa Crenshaw explains as follows: “mellowing [females] are their relatively
high levels of serotonin compared to the male, oxytocin in abundant supply, and
estrogen, a gentle, ordinarily soothing antidepressant hormone…”
To
view the entire paper, visit http://www.worldfamilypolicy.org/forum/2005/Rhoads.pdf
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FEATURED NEWS
ARTICLES
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Editor’s Note: The following excerpts are
taken from the week’s news around the world all relating to family and family
policy. By clicking on the following links, you may read the entire
article from its source. Our intent is to help our readers remain current
on the state of the family in the world today. The positions taken and
choice of wording and advocacy belong to the authors of the articles; inclusion
here does not imply endorsement by the
1. Suicide Attempts
among Vietnamese Youth Is Growing
Malaysian National News Agency
December 24, 2008
HO CHI MINH CITY -- Inadequate or overbearing parental concern and lack of
psychological counseling are the main factors behind the increasing number of
suicides among young people, according to Vietnamese psychologists.
At a seminar organized last week by the Ho Chi Minh City Health Education and
Communication Centre, psychologist Huynh Van Son, a lecturer from Ho Chi Minh
University of Pedagogy, said that many teenagers who had attempted to kill
themselves had confessed to him that they were lonely and facing too much
pressure from targets set by their parents to get high scores or pass
examinations.
Quoting Son, the Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported that among his patients was
a 15-year-old boy from a wealthy family in southern Dong Nai province, who is
studying in an international school had attempted to kill himself many times.
Since the ninth grade, the boy suffered from an inferiority complex because of
his parents constantly comparing him with his elder brother. The boy believed that
he was stupid and ugly in his parents' eyes.
Fortunately, with support from doctors and psychologists, the boy was able to
recover.
Since early 2008, Son has received 14 cases, eight of which he has been able to
resolve successfully.
Statistics of the expert are partial, Son said, predicting that suicide cases
in the city must be a huge number.
According to Son, most children attempting to take their own lives have no
targets and dreams for their life in the future. Parents must be responsible to
encourage and give them a sense of direction early, he said.
Lack of support and sympathy from next of kin, relatives was the main cause
found for 18 attempted suicide cases rushed to Ho Chi Minh City 's Children
Hospital 1, said Hoang Vu Quynh Trang, a psychologist at the hospital.
To
view the entire article, visit
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=380293
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2. Fast-Food + Nearby Schools = Fat Kids
Fox News
December 24, 2008
ATLANTA — Youth who study just a short
walk from a fast-food outlet eat fewer fruit and vegetables, drink more soda
and are more likely to be obese than students at other schools, according to
research published Tuesday.
The study, which involved more than 500,000
adolescents at middle schools and high schools in California, lends new fuel to
a growing backlash against the fast-food industry as studies suggest they
contribute to the rising obesity epidemic in the United States.
"We've basically discovered that kids who are
going to a school that is near a fast-food restaurant have a higher chance of
being overweight and obese than kids who are at a school that is not near a
fast-food restaurant," said Brennan Davis of Azusa Pacific University in
California, whose study appears in the American Journal of Public Health.
U.S. youth obesity rates have tripled since 1980,
although they leveled off this decade. The government says 32 percent of U.S.
children are overweight and 16 percent are obese.
Consumer groups have pushed for laws such as
July's moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in certain Los Angeles
neighborhoods, while the food industry often maintains that a lack of exercise
is more to blame.
The researchers said it is not yet clear whether
their results apply to other parts of the United States, and this should be
studied further.
But their study adds to prior research showing
that fast-food restaurants tend to be clustered near schools.
"We are actually making a connection between
fast food proximity to schools and obesity," Davis said in a telephone
interview.
"Students who were exposed to nearby fast
food have a higher level of body mass index -- they weigh more. They are more
likely to be overweight and obese," he said.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,472245,00.html
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3. Most Wyoming
Voters Support Marriage
CitizenLink
December 18, 2008
More than eight in 10 Wyoming
voters want marriage to remain as the union of one man and one woman, according
to a poll by WyWatch, a state lobbying group. Three-quarters said they would
vote in favor of a constitutional marriage-protection amendment which they
could see in 2010.
Bill Spencer, a Family Policy
Council representative at Focus on the Family, said he’s thrilled with the
numbers.
“What it says is the people
have strong opinions,” he told CitizenLink. “They understand what they are
talking about, what they are speaking about. They know what they believe about
this issue and why they believe it.”
Thirty states have allowed
voters to decide how marriage is defined.
“We would hope that the
Legislature would follow suit in Wyoming and allow the people to speak,”
Spencer said.
To view the entire article, visit http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000008921.cfm
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4. More Young Adults
Engaging In Risky Anal Sex
The Denver Channel
December 10, 2008
DENVER -- A new study suggests that anal sex is on the rise among teens
and young adults, particularly among those who engage in unprotected sex.
In the study, released in November, by Bradley Hasbro Children's
Research Center in Rhode Island, researchers assessed the sexual behavior of
1,348 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 21 who had
unprotected sex in the previous three months. They found that 16 percent had
engaged in heterosexual anal intercourse within the time frame, with condoms
being used just 29 percent of the time.
Females who had heterosexual anal sex were more likely to be living with
their partners, to have two or more sexual partners and to have previously
experienced coerced intercourse
"The topic of anal intercourse is often considered taboo --
especially when discussed in the context of youth relationships -- even though
we know that this behavior is a significant risk factor for HIV and other
sexually transmitted infections. It's critical that we recognize that more and
more young people are engaging in anal sex so we can open the lines of
communications and help them protect their sexual health," said Celia
Lescano of Brown University, the Bradley Hasbro study lead author.
"We must teach teen girls and young women how to be assertive in
sexual relationships, such as refusing unwanted sexual acts and negotiating for
safer sex, whether it's anal or vaginal."
"It really is shocking how many myths young people have about anal
sex," said Judy Kuriansky, a Columbia University professor and author of
"Sexuality Education: Past Present and Future."
To view the entire
article, visit http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/18245402/detail.html
Related Article
'Comprehensive' Sex
Education Sends Double Message
CitizenLink
December 16, 2008
Of the 2,211 students at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., at
least 70 girls are soon-to-be or already mothers.
More sobering are the numbers from 2006. According to the Virginia
Department of Health, there were 204 pregnancies among Alexandria teens that
year, resulting in 102 births and 99 abortions.
Patrick Welsh, an English teacher at T.C. Williams, shares his perspective
on the crisis in a Washington Post column titled, “They’re Having Babies. Are We Helping?”
At T.C. Williams, every student is required to take a "family
life" course that teaches about birth control, sexually transmitted
infections and teen pregnancy, Welsh writes. The Adolescent Health Center,
which provides birth control to girls as young as 13, is just a few blocks from
the school.
Yet girls continue to get pregnant. And taxpayer money continues to fund
so-called "comprehensive" sex education, as well as abortion
providers such as Planned Parenthood.
To view the entire
article, visit www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000008897.cfm
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5. Study: Marital
Happiness Increases After Kids Grow Up and Leave
Denver Post
December 5, 2008
Marriages get better
after the children grow up and move out, according to a study which analyzed
the marital satisfaction of more than 100 women over 18 years.
The study by three
professors from the University of California at Berkeley's Department of
Psychology and Institute of Personality & Social Research questioned the
women at the average ages of 43 in 1981, 52 in 1989 and 61 in 1998 and found
that marriages grew increasingly better after the kids packed up and left.
"We found that
marital satisfaction increased as the women transitioned to an empty
nest," said Sara Gorchoff, one of the authors of the study and a PhD
candidate in the psychology department. "It was not that they spent more
time with their partners, but that they were better enjoying the time they
spent with their partners." Though the women in the study were not named,
other mothers shared similar views.
Terry Toczynski, a
55-year-old mother of three, said she noticed an improvement in her marriage
when her three children went off to school. They were gone for about a year
before one of them temporarily moved back recently.
"In the time
they weren't there, we didn't have to focus 100 percent on raising children and
it was definitely better for us," the Berkeley woman said. "We were a
couple again, two individuals who chose to live together and be with each
other.
"At first, it is
very quiet, but there is a lot of good in the lack of noise. We got good at
having conversations. Our time is about us."
To view the entire
article, visit http://www.denverpost.com/familynews/ci_11139765
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Note: The Featured Articles
excerpts are highlights of current events and
do not necessarily represent
the views of the
or
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Newsletter created and
distributed by:
J.
Acting Managing Director: A.
Scott Loveless
Newsletter Editor: Elena Starovoitova
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