Young peoples' opinions about the causes of, and solutions to, New Zealand's high youth suicide rate

In response to an open-ended question about the causes of New Zealand's high youth suicide rate, 384 young adults most commonly cited pressure to conform and perform, followed by financial worries, abuse and neglect, problems with alcohol or drugs, and boredom. Depression was cited by 5 percent and mental illness by only 1 percent. Recommended solutions included crisis support services located in schools and youth centers, youth activities, educational programs to assist young people to discuss feelings and to bolster self-esteem, and financial aid. Neither increasing mental health services, nor reducing media coverage of suicides, was considered to be a solution.     

Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Middle School: Opportunities, Constraints, and Key Processes

Late childhood and early adolescence represent a critical transition in the developmental and academic trajectory of youth, a time in which there is an upsurge in academic disengagement and psychopathology. PAR projects that can promote youth's sense of meaningful engagement in school and a sense of efficacy and mattering can be particularly powerful given the challenges of this developmental stage. In the present study, we draw on data from our own collaborative implementation of PAR projects in secondary schools to consider two central questions: (1) How do features of middle school settings and the developmental characteristics of the youth promote or inhibit the processes, outcomes, and sustainability of the PAR endeavor? and (2) How can the broad principles and concepts of PAR be effectively translated into specific intervention activities in schools, both within and outside of the classroom? In particular, we discuss a participatory research project conducted with 6th and 7th graders at an urban middle school as a means of highlighting the opportunities, constraints, and lessons learned in our efforts to contribute to the high‐quality implementation and evaluation of PAR in diverse urban public schools.     

Schools as Vehicles to Assess Experiences,Improve Outcomes,and Effect Social Change

Schools are important settings that can be utilized to yield a positive impact on youth and the many issues our society faces. In this Presidential Address, I identify key issues and directions for the field, advocating that we need to expand our ecological focus, improve school climate, and collaborate with schools to effect change. To illustrate these key themes, findings from four projects with k‐12 youth and educators in the United States are described, and these projects have the following foci: protective factors for youth exposed to violence, teacher‐directed violence as part of an APA Task Force, school climate and neighborhood factors in relation to academic outcomes, and school transitions for students with disabilities. Challenges and future directions to build upon community psychology theory, research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Religiosity,Meaning in Life and Suicidal Tendency Among Jews

The study examines the impact that meaning in life, or lack thereof, has on suicidal tendencies among youth, as well as the nexus between level of religiosity, meaning in life and suicidal tendencies. Subjects were 450 students from both Jewish religious and Jewish secular schools aged 15–18. Findings: a significant and negative correlation was found between a sense of meaning in life and suicidal tendencies, beyond gender or level of religiosity. In addition, no difference was found in level of suicidal tendency between Jewish religious and Jewish secular youth; however, among Jewish religious teens, a lower level of depression was reported in comparison with their secular peers. The study therefore concludes that meaning in life is the dominant variable in minimizing suicidal tendencies among youth. The results of this study may promote the establishment of prevention, intervention and therapy plans, especially in the age range that is crucial for suicide. Such programs should be based upon finding meaning in life.     

Guidance in the Royal County of Berkshire,England

This study answers the question, How are the secondary schools in Berkshire, England, organized for the guidance of their pupils? The method used to investigate this topic included visits to about one-fourth of the publicly supported secondary schools in the Royal County of Berkshire, conversations with headmasters and headmistresses, youth officers, teachers, and students. It was found that until July, 1966, no trained counselors, as we know them in the United States, were employed in the Berkshire schools. However, the schools were organized so that educational, vocational, and personal counseling was provided to some degree by a variety of persons on the administrative and teaching staff and by representatives of community and government-supported organizations.     

Introduction to Myths and Realities Associated with Research and Theorizing for Human Development

The five papers in this issue address myths and realities associated with human development research and theorizing. The papers represent diverse perspectives on sexual minority youth, resilience and risk for youth in high achieving schools, a reconceptualization of hostility in African American parenting styles, a critical examination of diversity and contact for students attending racial/ethnically diverse schools, and a thoughtful consideration of contextual factors associated with aggressive attitudes and prosocial behaviors in African American males. The authors of each of these papers challenge human development researchers to consider new and/or alternative ways of examining empirical studies and conceptualizing new ones.     

Coping,competence, and aggression prevention: Part 2. Universal school-based prevention

Coping—competence theory yields a structural model of the development of persistent aggression in which current challenge encounters determine future life outcomes and competence. Driven by this model, universal, school-based prevention programs would aim in multiple ways to promote prosocial coping among high-risk, resilient, and advantaged youth from kindergarten through high school. Expected benefits of prosocial coping would include: less aggressive behavior, fewer adverse life outcomes (e.g., school dropout, police arrest, teen pregnancy, conduct, mood, and substance-use disorders), and a more competent self-definition and social reputation. Five stages are described that may prove useful in creating prosocial schools and neighborhoods supportive of youth in transition away from antisocial coping and deviant peers.     

Coping, competence, and aggression prevention: Part 2. Universal school-based prevention

Coping—competence theory yields a structural model of the development of persistent aggression in which current challenge encounters determine future life outcomes and competence. Driven by this model, universal, school-based prevention programs would aim in multiple ways to promote prosocial coping among high-risk, resilient, and advantaged youth from kindergarten through high school. Expected benefits of prosocial coping would include: less aggressive behavior, fewer adverse life outcomes (e.g., school dropout, police arrest, teen pregnancy, conduct, mood, and substance-use disorders), and a more competent self-definition and social reputation. Five stages are described that may prove useful in creating prosocial schools and neighborhoods supportive of youth in transition away from antisocial coping and deviant peers.     

Extracurricular Participation and Course Performance in the Middle Grades: A Study of Low-Income,Urban Youth

The transition to middle/junior high school is associated with declines in students’ academic performance, especially among low‐income, urban youth. Developmental psychologists posit such declines are due to a poor fit between the needs of early adolescents—industry, identity, and autonomy—and the environment of their new schools. Extracurricular participation during these years may act as a buffer for youth, providing a setting for development outside the classroom. The current study examines participation within and across activity settings among low‐income, urban youth in New York City over this transition. Using the Adolescent Pathways Project data, this study explores how such participation relates to course performance. We find that a large percentage of youth are minimally or uninvolved in extracurricular activities during these years; that participation varies within youth across time; and that the association between participation and course performance varies by activity setting. Youth who participate frequently in community or athletic settings or have high participation in two or more settings are found to have higher GPAs in the year in which they participate and youth who participate frequently in the religious setting are found to have lower GPAs. High participation in more than two settings may be detrimental.     

Social contexts of drug offers among American Indian youth and their relationship to substance use: an exploratory study

In this exploratory study the authors examined the social contexts of American Indian youths' encounters with drug offers and their relationship to substance use. Using an inventory of drug use-related problem situations developed specifically for American Indian youth, questionnaires were completed by 71 American Indian youth at public middle schools in a Southwest metropolitan area. Regression analyses highlight the importance of situational and relational contexts in understanding substance use among the youth in this sample. Exposure to drug offers through parents, other adults, cousins, friends and other peers was associated with different types of substance use. Exposure through parents was particularly salient in predicting the drug use of female respondents. The study underscores the need for development of culturally grounded prevention programs in schools, reservations, and nonreservation communities.     

Lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender youth: Limited representation in school support personnel journals

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth experience harassment and discrimination in schools and these experiences lead to increased negative social-emotional outcomes. Youth who can identify at least one supportive adult at school report better outcomes than youth who cannot identify a safe adult. Yet, many educators report feeling uncomfortable or unprepared to support LGBT youth. One reason for educators' discomfort may be that content related to issues unique to LGBT youth is sometimes missing or covered minimally in university training programs. We hypothesized that LGBT content may be covered minimally in school support personnel journals, as well. This study analyzed eight school support personnel journals across the disciplines of school counseling, school nursing, school psychology, and school social work for LGBT content published between 2000 and 2014 to gain a better understanding of the visibility of LGBT issues in the research. Results suggested that there has been a lack of presence of LGBT issues in journals across disciplines. These results also suggest a need for an intentional focus on issues relevant to LGBT youth in school support personnel journals. Thus, the article concludes with an introduction to two articles in this special topic section, including Russell, Day, Ioverno, and Toomey's (in this issue) study on teacher perceptions of bullying in the context of enumerated school policies and other supportive sexual orientation and gender identity related practices and Poteat and Vecho's (in this issue) study on characteristics of bystanders in homophobic bullying situations. The broad goal of these three studies is to increase visibility of critical LGBT issues in school support personnel journals.     

Trauma,cultural survival and identity politics in a post-9/11 era: Reflections by Sikh youth

This article presents findings from an ethnographic study of Sikh immigrant communities after 9/11. Notions of ‘belonging’ and ‘home’ are deeply fragmented for the Sikh families, especially the youth, and these complex social processes are explored. The post 9/11 backlash was pivotal in this community as it created more barriers for the youth in their schools as they became victims of racist slurs, threats and physical assault that were treated with apathy from teachers and administrators. Students stopped going to school, changed their physical appearances, displayed ‘patriotic’ American sentiment to promote an appearance of belonging, became depressed and were even suicidal as a result of the 9/11 backlash. The sense of persecution and of being labeled ‘suspect’ in the eyes of the public was detrimental to the families and the ensuing ‘fear’ for their safety in public spaces provoked many violent memories from India that these families experienced during the Hindu–Sikh riots from 1984 to the mid-1990s. The role of memory and the diasporic imaginary of Khalistan in the Sikh diaspora are understood throughout the article, as well. The findings of the study reveal immeasurable hardships for the Sikh youth in their schools and challenge assumptions about immigrant rigor and the resilience of immigrant youth in the face of hostile experiences and interactions. These hardships that stemmed from the trauma of migration and downward social mobility, the 9/11 backlash and their struggle to find a place led to challenges in identity formation and preservation.     

Alienated Youth: the Counselor's Task

A serious problem facing counselors in today's schools is the increasing number of youth who are alienated from their schools. In dealing with this situation, counselors frequently regard it as one which stems from a dysfunction within the individual student; although this may be true in some cases, it is the thesis of this article that the problem often stems from the structure of the school. The theoretical background and causes of alienation in today's youth are discussed. Implications for counselors and the schools are presented along with recommendations for possible courses of action.     

Youth Exposure to Community Violence: Association with Aggression,Victimization, and Risk Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between exposure to community violence and aggression, victimization, and risk-taking behaviors among young adolescents. Secondary analysis was conducted on data from a cross-sectional survey of 8,259 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from eight urban schools in Texas. Results indicated that students exposed to a high level of community violence were 7.7 times more likely to carry a handgun, 5.2 times more likely to be involved in a gang were 6.4 times more likely to use marijuana, 5.3 times more likely to binge drink, and 2.8 times more likely to be injured as a result of fighting. This suggests the need for an interdisciplinary approach to violence prevention that targets all the environments of youth, including schools, homes, neighborhoods, and other community units.     

Neoliberalism,Black Masculinity,and Black Male Youth: The Value Of Transdisciplinary Studies To Urban Educators

Drawing on Critical Race Theory and a transdisciplinary framework, this article considers how hegemonic neoliberal discourses contribute to and reinforce negative constructions of Black masculinity and the implications for educating Black male youth (BMY). Neoliberal secondary educational reforms of the last three decades in Ontario, which have resulted in heightened standardization in schools and promote norms of individual attainment, competition, and social control, have served to intensify the stigmatization and alienation BMY. In response to the interlocking racial, gendered, and class oppression they experience within the prevailing neoliberal context, many BMY have increasingly embraced a defensively situated resistant Black masculinity. We argue that, rather than viewing the communities and counternarratives of BMY as sites of deficiency, educators need to conceptualize the experiential knowledge of such young people as that which can nourish transdisciplinary knowledge production and be integrated into classroom curricula and pedagogy. Inviting the cultural wealth of BMY into school can help bridge the divide between schools and the communities of such youth, thereby making mainstream schooling more inclusive by diversifying curricula, democratizing the classroom, and challenging the neoliberalization of education. The authors highlight Hip-Hop as an example of cultural wealth that illuminates the knowledge and lived realities of BMY and can be utilized by urban educators to promote academic engagement and intercultural exchange in classrooms.     

Perceptions of Youth Obesity among Physical Educators

The purposes of this study were to examine (a) antifat attitudes among physical education teachers, (b) performance and ability expectations for normal and overweight youth, and (c) perceptions of the problem of youth obesity and the role of schools and physical education. Participants, 105 physical educators, completed a demographic and background questionnaire, the Antifat Attitudes Scale (AFAS; Morrison & O’Connor), an expectations questionnaire, and Perceptions of Youth Obesity and Physical Education Questionnaire (Price, Desmond, & Ruppert). Participants endorsed moderate antifat attitudes and strong personal weight control beliefs. Participants reported higher expectations for youth they considered normal weight, versus overweight, across a variety of performance and ability areas. Participants overwhelmingly agreed that youth obesity is a concern and that schools are not doing enough to help overweight youth.     

Sleep-competing behaviours among Australian school-attending youth: Associations with sleep,mental health and daytime functioning

Sleep problems are highly prevalent among school-attending youth, and impact on school performance and outcomes. Sleep-competing behaviours are likely factors in the inadequate sleep time and related functional outcomes observed in this population. We examined a range of sleep-competing behaviours and their associations with sleep variables in Australian school-attending youth. We also assessed whether these behaviours indirectly affected mental health and daytime functioning through poorer sleep quality. A total of 353 school-attending youth (mean age = 14.6 years, 53% female) were recruited from high schools in Australia, and completed a range of self-report measures. Approximately 50% of the youth obtained sub-optimal levels of sleep and reported having a problematically long sleep onset latency. Sleep competing behaviours, related and unrelated to electronic media use, were reported as occurring frequently, and were associated with a range of sleep variables. These behaviours were also related to poorer mental health and daytime sleepiness, with this association explained by indirect effects through sleep quality. Sleep-competing behaviours are prevalent on school nights in Australian youth, and may have adverse associations with mental health and functioning. Prevention and intervention programs might address the risk factors identified in the current study.     

我国中等职业学校青少年学生情感素质的现状

本研究采用自编的《青少年情感素质调查问卷》对全国3类地区9大城市1767名中等职业学校青少年学生进行了问卷调查。结果表明：我国中职生情感素质总体处于积极正向、亟待提高的状况;女生的情感素质稍优于男生,但存在结构性差异;情感素质与中职生学业自评呈正相关;居住情况和父母学历对中职生情感素质影响不大;与同龄高中生在情感总体上没有显著差异,仅理智情感发展低于高中生,并主要表现在自信感和好奇心方面;师生关系良好、教师有情施教对中职生各方面情感素质发展具有极为重要的促进作用,应引起教育部门的高度关注。     

Civil enculturation: Nation-state, school, and ethnic difference in four European countries

This article is based on an international research project carried out among Turkish students of secondary schools in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. It proposes the following: the collective identifications of youth from post-migration back-grounds are crucially shaped by the dominant civil cultures of their countries of residence. These civil cultures, which particularly relate to modes of articulation and interaction and discursive methods, continue to differ between the various nation-states and are primarily received and absorbed through explicit and implicit curricula in school.