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Archive | October, 2013

The 10/11/13 Joy Jar

Moi had a hamburger and onion rings for lunch. There is nothing so lovely as the occasional hamburger. Yum, yum. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the hamburger.

If it’s flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever it is you do you have to master your craft.
Snoop Dogg

Man who invented the hamburger was smart; man who invented the cheeseburger was a genius.
Matthew McConaughey

Take A city is where you can sign a petition, boo the chief justice, fish off a pier, gaze at a hippopotamus, buy a flower at the corner, or get a good hamburger or a bad girl at 4 A.M. A city is where sirens make white streaks of sound in the sky and foghorns speak in dark grays. San Francisco is such a city.
Herb Caen

In the States, you can buy Chinese food. In Beijing you can buy hamburger. It’s very close. Now I feel the world become a big family, like a really big family. You have many neighbors. Not like before, two countries are far away.
Jet Li

“The same rightists who decades ago were shouting, ‘Better dead than red!’ are now often heard mumbling, ‘Better red than eating hamburgers.”
Slavoj Žižek

“A Hamburger is warm and fragrant and juicy. A hamburger is soft and nonthreatening. It personifies the Great Mother herself who has nourished us from the beginning. A hamburger is an icon of layered circles, the circle being at once the most spiritual and the most sensual of shapes. A hamburger is companionable and faintly erotic. The nipple of the Goddess, the bountiful belly-ball of Eve. You are what you think you eat.”
Tom Robbins

“It is the Americans who have managed to crown minced beef as hamburger, and to send it round the world so that even the fussy French have taken to le boeuf hache, le hambourgaire.”
Julia Child

“You can find your way across this country using burger joint the way a navigatior uses stars….We have munched Bridge burgers in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge and Cable burgers hard by the Golden Gate, Dixie burgers in the sunny South and Yankee Doodle burgers in the North….We had a Capitol Burger — guess where. And so help us, in the inner courtyard of the Pentagon, a Penta burger.”
Charles Kuralt, journalist. (1934-1997)

“The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger”
Chris O’Brien

“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.”
Ray Kroc

“Mother Nature clearly intended for us to get our food from the “patty” group, which includes hamburgers, fish sticks, and McNuggets- foods that have had all of their organs safely removed.”
Dave Barry, Miami Herald Columnist

A hamburger by any other name costs twice as much.
Evan Esar

Tags: Dr Wilda, food, Hamburger, hamburger bun, hamburger flipper, Joy Jar, Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg

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The 10/12/13 Joy Jar

12 Oct

Bruce Horowitz wrote in the USA Today article, Starbucks petition takes on government shutdown:

The nation’s coffee kingpin will become the weekend headquarters for folks who want to sign petitions that encourage lawmakers to reopen the government and reach a budget deal…. The petition asks officials to:
• Reopen the government.
• Pay our national debts on time.
• Pass a long-term budget deal by the end of 2013.
Consumers also will be able to sign digitally beginning Friday at ComeTogetherPetition.com or “like” the petition’s Facebook post, which will count as a signature to the petition. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/10/starbucks-howard-schultz-shutdown/2958835/

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is ‘people power.’

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. 
Benjamin Disraeli –

You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. 
Shira Tehrani

Change your thoughts and you change your world. 
Norman Vincent Peale

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.  
Mahatma Gandhi

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy.
Bill Blackman

Quotes
Make a difference..
By AM at August 16, 2010 | 6:22 pm | 0 Comment

All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim,  have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which  sometimes seemed impossible. 
Orison Swett Marden

Big thinkers are specialists in creating positive, forward-looking,  optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others. 
David J. Schwartz

Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.
Mark Twain

Nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.
Thomas Edison

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 
Nelson Mandela

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tags: Bruce Horowitz, Dr Wilda, government, Government Shutdown, Joy Jar, Orison Swett Marden, People Power, politics, Starbucks, The petition, USA Today

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Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic study: Food sell-by-dates are often bogus and not based on fact

12 Oct

Here’s today’s COMMENT FROM AN OLD FART: Moi read with interest the UPI report, Sniffing out the meaning in ‘Sell by’ dates:

Hold on before dumping that gallon milk down the sink; just because it’s past the “sell-by” date doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be thrown out.

More than 90 percent of U.S. consumers may be wasting money and prematurely throwing away perfectly good food because they misinterpret food labels as indicators of food safety, a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic said.

The report called for changes in the way food manufacturers label their products.

“Expiration dates are in need of some serious myth-busting because they’re leading us to waste money and throw out perfectly good food, along with all of the resources that went into growing it,” said Dana Gunders, staff scientist with the NRDC’s food and agriculture program. “Phrases like ‘sell by’, ‘use by’, and ‘best before’ are poorly regulated, misinterpreted and leading to a false confidence in food safety. It is time for a well-intended but wildly ineffective food date labeling system to get a makeover.”

The study, “The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America,” is a follow-up to a 2012 NRDC report that found as much as 40 percent of the U.S. food supply ends up in the garbage each year.

The report found 91 percent of consumers occasionally throw food away based on the “sell by” date out of a mistaken concern for food safety even though none of the date labels actually indicates food is unsafe to eat.

An estimated 160 billion pounds of food is trashed in the United States every year, making food waste the single largest contributor of solid waste in the nation’s landfills.

“Sell by” dates are used by grocery stores to determine when their stock should be rotated, they do not indicate the food is bad on that date. “Best before” and “use by” dates are intended for consumers, but they usually just estimate peak quality, again not an accurate date of spoiling or an indication that food is unsafe…
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Consumer-Corner/2013/10/06/Sniffing-out-the-meaning-in-Sell-by-dates/UPI-87551381053540/#ixzz2hXRPlcdL

That reminds moi of:

“There’s a sucker born every minute” is a phrase often credited to P. T. Barnum (1810–1891), an American showman. Though this phrase is often credited to Barnum, it was more likely spoken by a man by the name of David Hannum, who was criticizing both Barnum and his customers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There’s_a_sucker_born_every_minute

No matter who said it, we are all suckers of planned obsolescence.

According to the Economist article, Planned obsolescence:

Planned obsolescence is a business strategy in which the obsolescence (the process of becoming obsolete—that is, unfashionable or no longer usable) of a product is planned and built into it from its conception. This is done so that in future the consumer feels a need to purchase new products and services that the manufacturer brings out as replacements for the old ones. http://www.economist.com/node/13354332

So, the sell-by-dates are not based upon scientific fact, but a random guess. The real question is how the public fights the theory of planned obsolescence?

Addison Del Mastro posts the following suggestions at the PERC Blog in Planned Obsolescence: The Good and the Bad:

Consumer education

Consumer education is a relatively easy way to resist pseudo-functional obsolescence. The first goal of consumer education is simply to make consumers aware that pseudo-functional obsolescence actually exists. Many of us know very little about how our products really work, and so it can be hard for the average consumer to tell the difference between true innovation and pseudo-functional obsolescence. Providing this information is not always easy. Sometimes, identifying pseudo-functional obsolescence requires very specific knowledge of a product. But sometimes it’s easier, as in the case of the laptop chargers mentioned above. The electrical specs are what really determine compatibility. If the specs are the same but the plugs are different, it’s fairly easy to identify this as pseudo-functional obsolescence. Once consumers are aware of pseudo-functional obsolescence, they can buy better products from better companies. But in addition to making smarter choices in the marketplace, consumers can also address their complaints directly to companies. If all of our complaints actually reached the businesses responsible, this would undoubtedly have a positive impact on their business practices.

Promote voluntary industry standards

Voluntary industry standards are often so widely accepted that we hardly think of them as specifically chosen standards – instead it seems like it’s simply the way things are. For example, the 110 volt household current system in the United States is a standard first promoted by Thomas Edison. Later on, the size and shape of the home electric plug was standardized by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and the American National Standards Institute. If we step back and think about it, it really is incredible that a 70-year-old electric appliance still operates in a modern home’s electric system.Yet it is not hard to imagine things turning out differently. In the beginning there were competing electrical systems, and without standardization things might have remained this way. Different homes could have been built with different systems, meaning that if you moved to a new home, you would have to replace every electric item you owned. There could have been several different sizes and shapes of electric plugs too. Old plug sizes might have eventually been retired and replaced with “improved” models, so if you needed to replace a socket in your home it wouldn’t match all the rest.This sounds rather ridiculous, but only because the industry standards in home electricity have served us so well. Industry standards in the electronics industry for items like chargers and batteries could go a long way towards saving resources and improving product usability for consumers.Freely adopted industry standards allow us to use an electrical appliance from decades ago in a modern home. Industry standards in electronics would allow us to use last year’s charger in this year’s laptop. Is that really too much to ask of the electronics companies?The free market is powerful and beneficial, but an efficient market requires knowledge. Once consumers become informed about planned obsolescence — the good and the bad — they can better use the market to buy more efficient products. This will benefit consumers, responsible businesses, and the environment.

http://perc.org/blog/planned-obsolescence-good-and-bad#sthash.1oALS3Kq.dpuf

Right now, ALL of us are getting killed as much by what we don’t know. Those who use planned obsolescence as a business strategy are counting on our ignorance and lack of knowledge as members of the public. Moi is one of those who felt that the sell-by-dates were sacrosanct. Time to ask more questions. In the meanwhile, many producers are counting on there is a sucker born every minute.

Here is the press release:

Main page | Archive

Press contact: Jackie Wei, jwei@nrdc.org, 310-434-2325 or (cell) 347-874-8305

If you are not a member of the press, please write to us at nrdcinfo@nrdc.org or see our contact page

New Report: Food Expiration Date Confusion Causing up to 90% of Americans to Waste Food

NRDC & Harvard Reveal Costs of Mass Consumer Confusion; Offer New Plan for Commonsense Food Date Labeling

NEW YORK (September 18, 2013) – U.S. consumers and businesses needlessly trash billions of pounds of food every year as a result of America’s dizzying array of food expiration date labeling practices, which need to be standardized and clarified, according to a new report co-authored by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic. One key finding from an industry-conducted survey: More than 90 percent of Americans may be prematurely tossing food because they misinterpret food labels as indicators of food safety.

“Expiration dates are in need of some serious myth-busting because they’re leading us to waste money and throw out perfectly good food, along with all of the resources that went into growing it,” said Dana Gunders, NRDC staff scientist with the food and agriculture program. “Phrases like ‘sell by’, ’use by’, and ‘best before’ are poorly regulated, misinterpreted and leading to a false confidence in food safety. It is time for a well-intended but wildly ineffective food date labeling system to get a makeover.”

NRDC and Harvard Law’s study, The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America is a first-of-its-kind legal analysis of the tangle of loose federal and state laws related to date labels across all 50 states and presents recommendations for a new system for food date labeling. The report is a follow-up to NRDC’s 2012 Wasted report, which revealed that Americans trash up to 40 percent of our food supply every year, equivalent to $165 billion.

For the vast majority of food products, manufacturers are free to determine date shelf life according to their own methods. The report finds that the confusion created by this range of poorly regulated and inconsistent labels leads to results that undermine the intent of the labeling, including:

False Notions that Food is Unsafe – 91 percent of consumers occasionally throw food away based on the “sell by” date out of a mistaken concern for food safety even though none of the date labels actually indicate food is unsafe to eat;
Consumer Confusion Costs – an estimated 20 percent of food wasted in U.K. households is due to misinterpretation of date labels. Extending the same estimate to the U.S., the average household of four is losing $275-455 per year on food needlessly trashed;
Business Confusion Costs – an estimated $900 million worth of expired food is removed from the supply chain every year. While not all of this is due to confusion, a casual survey of grocery store workers found that even employees themselves do not distinguish between different kinds of dates;
Mass Amounts of Wasted Food – The labeling system is one factor leading to an estimated 160 billion pounds of food trashed in the U.S. every year, making food waste the single largest contributor of solid waste in the nation’s landfills.
Two main categories of labeling exist for manufacturers: those intended to communicate among businesses and those for consumers. But they are not easily distinguishable from one another and neither is designed to indicate food’s safety. “Sell by” dates are a tool for stock control, suggesting when the grocery store should no longer sell products in order to ensure the products still have shelf life after consumers purchase them. They are not meant to communicate with consumers, nor do they indicate the food is bad on that date. “Best before” and “use by” dates are intended for consumers, but they are often just a manufacturer’s estimate of a date after which food will no longer be at peak quality; not an accurate date of spoiling or an indication that food is unsafe. Consumers have no way of knowing how these “sell by” and “use by” dates have been defined or calculated since state laws vary dramatically and companies set their own methods for determining the dates, none of which helps to improve public health and safety.

“We need a standardized, commonsense date labeling system that actually provides useful information to consumers, rather than the unreliable, inconsistent and piecemeal system we have today,” said Emily Broad Leib, lead author of the report and director of Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic. “This comprehensive review provides a blueprint calling on the most influential date label enforcers – food industry actors and policymakers – to create and foster a better system that serves our health, pocketbooks and the environment.”

Use of expiration dates for food stem from consumer unease about food freshness mounting over the 20th century, as Americans left farms and lost their connection to the foods they consume. By 1975, a nationwide survey of shoppers showed 95% of respondents considered date labels to be the most useful consumer service for addressing freshness. The widespread concern prompted over 10 congressional bills introduced between 1973-1975 alone, to establish requirements for food dating. During that time, the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report to Congress advocating a uniform national date labeling system to avoid confusion. Despite GAO’s prophetic advice, none of the legislative efforts gained enough momentum to become law. Instead, the 1970s began the piecemeal creation of today’s fractured American date labeling regime.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture have the power to regulate food labeling to ensure consumers are not misled, both agencies have failed to adequately exercise their authority. FDA does not require food companies to place any date labels on food products, leaving the information entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer. The only product for which a date is federally regulated is infant formula.

Food producers and retailers can begin to adopt the following recommended changes to date labels voluntarily but government steps, including legislation by Congress and more oversight by FDA and USDA, should be considered as well:

Making “sell by” dates invisible to consumers, as they indicate business-to-business labeling information and are mistakenly interpreted as safety dates;
Establishing a more uniform, easily understandable date label system that communicates clearly with consumers by 1) using consistent, unambiguous language; 2) clearly differentiating between safety- and quality-based dates; 3) predictably locating the date on package; 4) employing more transparent methods for selecting dates; and other changes to improve coherency;
Increasing the use of safe handling instructions and “smart labels” that use technology to provide additional information on the product’s safety.
“The scale of food waste worldwide is one of the most emblematic examples of how humanity is needlessly running down its natural resources. This new report comes on the heels of one compiled by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which points out that 28 percent of the world’s farmland is being used to produce food that is not eaten–an area larger than China,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director. “Everyone, every business, every city, state and government should do something to tackle this wastage to help reduce the global Foodprint.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Read the full issue brief here: http://www.nrdc.org/food/expiration-dates.asp or FixFoodDates.com
NRDC’s blog series on food waste: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dgunders/
NRDC’s Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill report: http://www.nrdc.org/food/wasted-food.asp
UNEP and the FAO launched the Think Eat Save: Reduce Your Foodprint campaign in January 2013 – its partners include NRDC: http://www.thinkeatsave.org.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at http://www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, a division of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, is an experiential teaching program of Harvard Law School that links law students with opportunities to serve clients and communities grappling with various food law and policy issues. The Clinic strives to increase access to healthy foods, prevent diet-related diseases, and assist small and sustainable farmers and producers in participating in local food markets. For more information, visit http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/foodpolicyinitiative/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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Tags: food, Food Expiration Date, Food Law, food safety, Food Waste, Harvard Law School, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, NRDC, obsolescence, Planned obsolescence, Sell-by-date, Sniffing out the meaning in 'Sell by' dates;, Spoiled Food, The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America, The Natural Resources Defense Council, There's a sucker born every minute

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Pediatrics article: Sexual abuse prevalent in teen population

10 Oct

Moi wrote about teen dating violence in Study: 1 in 3 teens are victims of dating violence: Many adults would be shocked by this report from the Chicago Tribune that many teens find dating violence normal
Ed Loos, a junior at Lake Forest High School, said a common reaction among students to Chris Brown‘s alleged attack on Rihanna goes something like this:

“Ha! She probably did something to provoke it.” In Chicago, Sullivan High School sophomore Adeola Matanmi has heard the same. “People said, ‘I would have punched her around too,’ ” Matanmi said. “And these were girls!” As allegations of battery swirl around the famous couple, experts on domestic violence say the response from teenagers just a few years younger shows the desperate need to educate this age group about dating violence. Their acceptance, or even approval, of abuse in romantic relationships is not a universal reaction. But it comes at a time when 1 in 10 teenagers has suffered such abuse and females ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates of any age group, research shows.

The teens interviewed by the Chicago Tribune placed little worth on their lives or the lives of other women. If you don’t as the old ad tag line would say “don’t think you are worth it” why would anyone else think you are worthy of decent treatment? https://drwilda.com/2013/08/05/study-1-in-3-teens-are-victims-of-dating-violence/

Nancy Shute reported in NPR’s Many Teens Admit To Coercing Others Into Sex:

Almost 1 in 10 high school and college-aged people have forced someone into sexual activity against his or her will, a study finds. The majority of those who have done it think that the victim is at least partly to blame.
The results come from a multiyear study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was designed to look for the roots of adult sexual violence. Most adult perpetrators say they first preyed on another while still in their teens.
In adulthood, more than 1 million people are the victims of rape or sexual assault each year, according to the National Institutes of Justice. Domestic violence affects more than 2 million adults a year.
A multiple-choice online survey conducted in 2010 and 2011 asked 1,058 teenagers and young adults, ages 14 to 21, whether they’d ever “kissed, touched, or done anything sexual with another person when that person did not want you to?”
Nine percent said yes. Eight percent had kissed or touched someone when they knew the other person did not want to. Three percent got someone to give in to unwilling sex. Three percent attempted to rape the person, and 2 percent completed a rape. (The numbers don’t add up because some perpetrators admitted to more than one behavior.)
This may be the first survey to ask questions like these, and the researchers caution that because of the relatively small number of youths involved, the results aren’t definitive. But they are certainly chilling.
“I don’t get creeped out very often,” says Michele Ybarra, lead researcher of the study, which was published online in JAMA Pediatrics. “But this was wow.”
When asked who was to blame, half of the perpetrators said the victim was completely responsible; one-third said it was their own fault. “If half of the perpetrators felt the victim was responsible for this, we need to do something,” Ybarra, who is president and research director of the Center for Innovative Public Health in San Clemente, Calif.
Sixteen seems to be the age when sexual coercion becomes a real possibility, at least for boys. Almost half of the study participants said they first forced someone to have sexual activity when they were 16. But by age 18, girls had become much more involved in preying on others, to the point where they were almost as likely to be perpetrators as were boys.
Three-quarters of the victims were in a romantic relationship with the perpetrator.
The coercion used was almost always psychological, not physical. The most common tactics for forcing or trying to force sex were guilt, deliberately getting the victim drunk or arguing with or pressuring the victim. Five percent threatened to use physical force, and 8 percent did. The survey used the federal Bureau of Justice definition of rape, which includes psychological coercion as well as physical force.
The survey also looked at media use and found that perpetrators of sexual violence were more likely to watch violent X-rated materials than were the others.
By now most parents reading this are probably ready to hide. But Ybarra tells Shots these numbers show that parents need to act and well before their children are 16.
“We absolutely need to have conversations with our kids about what healthy sex is and what unhealthy sex is,” she says. Parents could say, “‘If you have to convince your partner, maybe that’s not the right way to have sex.’ Even simple messages like that are important.”
Related NPR Stories
Teen Sexual Assault: Where Does The Conversation Start?
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/28/179671126/teen-sexual-assault-where-does-the-conversation-start
How Should We Be Talking About Sex?
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/27/175466868/how-should-we-be-talking-about-sex
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/10/08/230428115/many-teens-admit-to-coercing-others-into-sex

Citation:

Prevalence Rates of Male and Female Sexual Violence Perpetrators in a National Sample of Adolescents ONLINE FIRST
Michele L. Ybarra, MPH, PhD1; Kimberly J. Mitchell, PhD2
[+-] Author Affiliations
1Center for Innovative Public Health Research, San Clemente, California
2Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham
JAMA Pediatr. Published online October 07, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.2629 Text Size: A A A .Published online
Article
Tables
References
Comments .ABSTRACT.
ABSTRACT | METHODS | RESULTS | DISCUSSION | CONCLUSIONS | ARTICLE INFORMATION | REFERENCES ..Importance Sexual violence can emerge in adolescence, yet little is known about youth perpetrators—especially those not involved with the criminal justice system.
Objective To report national estimates of adolescent sexual violence perpetration and details of the perpetrator experience.
Design, Setting, and Participants Data were collected online in 2010 (wave 4) and 2011 (wave 5) in the national Growing Up With Media study. Participants included 1058 youths aged 14 to 21 years who at baseline read English, lived in the household at least 50% of the time, and had used the Internet in the last 6 months. Recruitment was balanced on youths’ biological sex and age.
Main Outcomes and Measures Forced sexual contact, coercive sex, attempted rape, and completed rape.
Results Nearly 1 in 10 youths (9%) reported some type of sexual violence perpetration in their lifetime; 4% (10 females and 39 males) reported attempted or completed rape. Sixteen years old was the mode age of first sexual perpetration (n = 18 [40%]). Perpetrators reported greater exposure to violent X-rated content. Almost all perpetrators (98%) who reported age at first perpetration to be 15 years or younger were male, with similar but attenuated results among those who began at ages 16 or 17 years (90%). It is not until ages 18 or 19 years that males (52%) and females (48%) are relatively equally represented as perpetrators. Perhaps related to age at first perpetration, females were more likely to perpetrate against older victims, and males were more likely to perpetrate against younger victims. Youths who started perpetrating earlier were more likely than older youths to get in trouble with caregivers; youths starting older were more likely to indicate that no one found out about the perpetration.
Conclusions and Relevance Sexual violence perpetration appears to emerge earlier for males than females, perhaps suggesting different developmental trajectories. Links between perpetration and violent sexual media are apparent, suggesting a need to monitor adolescents’ consumption of this material. Victim blaming appears to be common, whereas experiencing consequences does not. There is therefore urgent need for school programs that encourage bystander intervention as well as implementation of policies that could enhance the likelihood that perpetrators are identified.

Advice to Teens in Abusive Relationships

Terry Miller Shannon gives teens advice about avoiding abusive relationships She advises teens to watch for the following danger signs:

1. Sweeping you off your feet and declaring love immediately. This is the number one sign of a potentially battering relationship.

2. Jealousy: Not wanting you to have other friends. Thinking everyone around WANTS you. Expecting you to spend every second with him. Sorry, extreme jealousy isn’t a compliment – it’s a problem.

3. Controlling behavior: Keeping track of whom you’re with and where you are. Telling you what to wear. Picking your friends. Keeping you from getting a job. Taking your money. Threatening to commit suicide, to spread gossip about you, or out you if you’re part of a same-sex couple (gay and lesbian dating violence is under-reported due to pressures not to go public).

4. Violence (physical, mental, or sexual): Punching the wall. Yelling. Insults. Name-calling. Isolating you from family or friends. Slamming the door. Insisting on any kind of unwanted sexual activity. Throwing things. Pinching, pushing, spanking…enough said?

Bottom line: If you’re uncomfortable with your relationship, something’s wrong. Mind your instincts. Be realistic – don’t expect your mate to change. Don’t believe him when he tells you the way he acts is your fault. http://teenadvice.about.com/library/weekly/aa061002a.htm

Popular culture makes teens who are not involved in activities as “couples” seem like outcasts. Too often, teens pair up before they are mature enough and ready for the emotional commitment. The more activities the girl is involved in and the more sponsored group activities, where teens don’t necessarily have to be in dating relationships, lessen the dependence on an abusive relationship.

The ‘Animal House’ attitude of some college administrators doesn’t take rape seriously

The ‘Animal House’ attitude of some college administrators doesn’t take rape seriously

A tale of rape from Amherst: Sexual assault on campus

A tale of rape from Amherst: Sexual assault on campus

Sexual assault on college campuses

Sexual assault on college campuses

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©
http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©
https://drwilda.com/

Tags: 1 in 3 teens victims of dating violence, Abusive Relationships, Dating Violence, Five Things Parents Must Know about teen domestic violence, Michele Ybarra, One in Three U. S. Youths Report Being Victims of Dating Violence, research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sexual Assault, Sexual violence, Teen Dating Violence, voiding abusive relationships

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Categories Dr Wilda

The 10/10/13 Joy Jar

10 Oct

One of the most inspiring LEADERS America has ever produced is Barbara Jordan:

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas’s 18th district

In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Succeeded by Mickey Leland

Texas State Senator from District 11

In office
1967–1973
Preceded by William T. “Bill” Moore

Succeeded by Chet Brooks

Personal details
Born Barbara Charline Jordan
February 21, 1936
Houston, Texas

Died January 17, 1996 (aged 59)
Austin, Texas

Resting place Texas State Cemetery
Austin, Texas

Political party Democratic

Profession Attorney
Religion Baptist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Jordan

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the political wisdom of a Barbara Jordan.

What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.
Barbara Jordan

We call ourselves public servants but I’ll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good.
Barbara Jordan

Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
Barbara Jordan

A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good.
Barbara Jordan

Education remains the key to both economic and political empowerment.
Barbara Jordan

For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future.
Barbara Jordan

It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.
Barbara Jordan

We must exchange the philosophy of excuse – what I am is beyond my control for the philosophy of responsibility.
Barbara Jordan

One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.
Barbara Jordan

The imperative is to define what is right and do it.
Barbara Jordan

But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.
Barbara Jordan

If you’re going to play the game properly, you’d better know every rule.
Barbara Jordan

There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure.
Barbara Jordan

More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.
Barbara Jordan

Life is too large to hang out a sign: ‘For Men Only.’
Barbara Jordan

We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.
Barbara Jordan

Tags: Barbara Jordan, Dr Wilda, Joy Jar, Leader, politics, Statesman

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Categories Dr Wilda

The 10/09/13 Joy Jar

9 Oct

There is something about a walk in a cold and crisp Fall morning that jumpstarts one’s brain. Today was a day like that in Seattle. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ was a walk in the crisp cold.

“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.”
Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

“I want to live my life in such a way that when I get out of bed in the morning, the devil says, “aw shit, he’s up!”
Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love-then make that day count!”
Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
Jarod Kintz

“I love the smell of book ink in the morning.”
Umberto Eco

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
Meister Eckhart

“It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.”
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine

“Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. It shines on a good many folk, but on none, I dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and I. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”
Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I

“In the morning I brush my teeth with hope, and at night before bed I brush them with defeat. Both are mint flavored, so I try not to get them mixed up. ”
Jarod Kintz,

Tags: crisp Fall morning, Day, Dr Wilda, Joy Jar, Morning, Steve Maraboli, Time

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Categories Dr Wilda

Hazing remains a part of school culture

9 Oct

Babson College reported the following hazing statistics in Important Hazing Statistics:

According to national statistics from insidehazing.com.
•More than 250,000 students experienced some sort of hazing to join a college athletic team.1
•5% of all college students admit to being hazed.2
•40% admit to knowing about hazing activities.2
•40% report that a coach or club advisor was aware of the hazing.2
•22% report that the coach or advisor was involved in the hazing.2
•50% of the female NCAA Division I athletes reported being hazed.3
•More than 20% of female NCAA athletes were subjected to alcohol-related hazing; however even a higher percentage admitted to “mental hazing” which ranged from singing to being kidnapped.3
•10% of the female NCAA athletes were physically hazed including being branded, tattooed, beaten thrown in water of having their head forcibly shaved.3
•6-9% of the female NCAA athletes were subjected to sexually related hazing including harassment, actual assault or being expected to simulate sex activities.3
•Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep- deprivation, and sex acts are hazing practices common across types of student groups.
•There are public aspects to student hazing including: 25% of coaches or organization advisors were aware of the group’s hazing behaviors; 25% of the behaviors occurred on-campus in a public space; in 25% of hazing experiences, alumni were present; and students talk with peers (48%, 41%) or family (26%) about their hazing experiences.
•In more than half of the hazing incidents, a member of the offending group posts pictures on a public web space.
•Students recognize hazing as part of the campus culture; 69% of students who belonged to a student activity reported they were aware of hazing activities occurring in student organizations other than their own.
•Students report limited exposure to hazing prevention efforts that extend beyond a “hazing is not tolerated” approach.
•47% of students come to college having experienced hazing.
•Nine out of ten students who have experienced hazing behavior in college do not consider themselves to have been hazed.
•29% of Greek leaders are concerned with the overuse of alcohol during pledge activities.4
•36% say they would not report a hazing primarily because “there’s no one to tell” and 27% feel that “adults won’t handle it right.”1
•Students are more likely to be hazed if they knew an adult who was hazed.1
References
1.Alfred Univeristy Study, Dr. Norm Pollard,
Dr. Elizabeth Allen, et. al, 1999
2.National Study of Student Hazing (prelim),
Dr. Elizabeth Allen and Dr. Mary Madden 2006
3.Dissertation, Dr. Colleen McGlone, 2005
4.Insidehazing, Dr. Susan Lipkins, 2006
http://www.babson.edu/student-life/community-standards/hazing/Pages/important-hazing-statistics.aspx

Hazing occurs all over the country in high school and college settings.

John Higgins reported in the Seattle Times article, 11 Garfield students ‘banned’ in hazing case:

The Seattle school district has “banned” 11 Garfield High School students suspected of participating in a recent off-campus hazing incident until officials decide whether further discipline is warranted.
The students were told Friday not to return to class on Monday. Such “emergency expulsions” generally don’t last longer than two weeks, said Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Wippel.
“It’s not an official disciplinary action. It just removes students from the school environment while the investigation is being conducted,” she said. “They are banned from coming on campus, and they also can’t participate in any sports or extracurricular activities while they’re emergency expelled. So they’re not supposed to have any contact with Garfield at all.”
Generally, Wippel said, “Ten days is the most that we would keep anybody out. And during that time, we do encourage the students to do their classwork at home and to keep on top of their work by corresponding with their teachers.”
Eight of the 11 students also have been identified by Seattle police as suspects in the incident, Wippel said.
Garfield Principal Ted Howard and a group of police officers broke up a large student gathering after school on Sept. 27 at the Washington Park Arboretum. They discovered underclassmen were being paddled, wearing diapers, having eggs thrown at them and shoe polish put on them.
In an email to parents, Howard said the group of about 100 students was drinking “hard alcohol and beer.” After he arrived, several shouted profanities as they ran away, including one who tossed a racial slur at Howard, who is African American. At least one fender-bender accident occurred nearby, caused by the fleeing students running in front of cars, Howard said.
Howard recognized some of the students’ faces, though others ran before he could identify them, and some were wearing disguises, Wippel said.
The school’s website says hazing is not tolerated, will result in suspension and that acts of hazing “will be considered criminal offenses and treated as such.” Incidents are reported “to ALL college school applications and/or work references” of those involved, the website says.
It’s not clear how many students were subjected to the hazing, but students and school officials have made clear that these types of incidents, known as “froshing,” are nothing new at the school. Wippel characterized it as a “tradition” at Garfield.
Student Body President Kellen Bryan confirmed that: It happens twice a year, he said — on Fridays before the homecoming and “purple and white” weekends. The student government doesn’t condone it. In fact, it provides alternatives, such as free barbecues, specifically to discourage students from taking part, Bryan said.
Another senior said it’s so pervasive in the school culture that some feel as though the only way to join clubs and meet upperclassmen is by first going through the “froshing.”
http://seattletimes.com/html/education/2021988685_garfieldhazingxml.html

Hazing is a complex set of behaviors.

Hazing Prevention.org defines What is hazing?

Hazing is any action taken or situation created intentionally:
•that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule
•risks emotional and/or physical harm
•to members of an group or team
•whether new or not
•regardless of the person’s willingness to participate
Still confused? Ask yourself these questions:
•Would I feel comfortable participating in this activity if my parents were watching?
•Would we get in trouble if the Dean of Students walked by?
•Am I being asked to keep these activities a secret?
•Am I doing anything illegal?
•Does participation violate my values or those of my organization?
•Is it causing emotional distress or stress of any kind to myself or others?
•If someone were injured, would I feel comfortable being investigated by the insurance carrier?
•When I apply for jobs, can I take the onus of having a criminal arrest on my record?
An excellent article about the complex nature of hazing was published by Diverse Issues in Higher Education (2009).
What’s “bystander behavior?”
Bystander behavior is what people demonstrate when they watch hazing occur without intervening.
What’s the difference between hazing and bullying?
The difference between hazing and bullying is subtle. The same power dynamics are involved. The same intimidation tactics are used. The same second-class citizenship issues arise. The only real difference between bullying and hazing is that bullying can happen to anyone, anytime and is used as a means to exclude someone. Hazing is an instrument of including people by having them earn their way into a group, occurring only in the context of being new to an organization, team or group. Bullying is about exclusion; hazing, inclusion….. http://www.hazingprevention.org/hazing-information/hazing-definitions.html

Stop Hazing.org lists types of hazing behavior:

The following are some examples of hazing divided into three categories: subtle, harassment, and violent. It is impossible to list all possible hazing behaviors because many are context-specific. While this is not an all-inclusive list, it provides some common examples of hazing traditions.
More Examples.

A. SUBTLE HAZING:
Behaviors that emphasize a power imbalance between new members/rookies and other members of the group or team. Termed “subtle hazing” because these types of hazing are often taken-for-granted or accepted as “harmless” or meaningless. Subtle hazing typically involves activities or attitudes that breach reasonable standards of mutual respect and place new members/rookies on the receiving end of ridicule, embarrassment, and/or humiliation tactics. New members/rookies often feel the need to endure subtle hazing to feel like part of the group or team. (Some types of subtle hazing may also be considered harassment hazing).
Some Examples:
• Deception
• Assigning demerits
• Silence periods with implied threats for violation
• Deprivation of privileges granted to other members
• Requiring new members/rookies to perform duties not assigned to other members
• Socially isolating new members/rookies
• Line-ups and Drills/Tests on meaningless information
• Name calling
• Requiring new members/rookies to refer to other members with titles (e.g. “Mr.,” “Miss”) while they are identified with demeaning terms
• Expecting certain items to always be in one’s possession
B. HARASSMENT HAZING: Behaviors that cause emotional anguish or physical discomfort in order to feel like part of the group. Harassment hazing confuses, frustrates, and causes undue stress for new members/rookies. (Some types of harassment hazing can also be considered violent hazing).
Some Examples:
• Verbal abuse
• Threats or implied threats
• Asking new members to wear embarrassing or humiliating attire
• Stunt or skit nights with degrading, crude, or humiliating acts
• Expecting new members/rookies to perform personal service to other members such as carrying books, errands, cooking, cleaning etc
• Sleep deprivation
• Sexual simulations
• Expecting new members/rookies to be deprived of maintaining a normal schedule of bodily cleanliness.
• Be expected to harass others
C. VIOLENT HAZING : Behaviors that have the potential to cause physical and/or emotional, or psychological harm.
Some Examples:
• Forced or coerced alcohol or other drug consumption
• Beating, paddling, or other forms of assault
• Branding
• Forced or coerced ingestion of vile substances or concoctions
• Burning
• Water intoxication
• Expecting abuse or mistreatment of animals
• Public nudity
• Expecting illegal activity
• Bondage
• Abductions/kidnaps
• Exposure to cold weather or extreme heat without appropriate protection
http://www.stophazing.org/definition.html

In order to prevent hazing, schools and parents need to have acceptable means of induction into a group.

Respect the Game suggests the following:

Schools should take steps to stop hazing. Here are some suggestions:
Educate all coaches, students, parents, and other district employees about hazing awareness and the dangers of hazing.
Take seriously and investigate all rumors and reports of hazing.
Implement a strict anti-hazing policy and include a hazing section in the Athletic Code of Conduct that includes repercussions that are as serious as the act of hazing (e.g., suspension from team) that is to be signed by the student athletes and their parents.
Hold coaches responsible for what occurs on their team; do not let them plead ignorance. Hold them accountable and if they suspect hazing and do nothing about it, the coach should be aware that their job is at-risk.
Create alternative team building or spirit-building activities or traditions that carry a positive message (e.g., volunteering at a race for charity, going to a ropes/challenge course, or building a brick wall piece-by-piece as team goals are met).
http://www.ohsaa.org/RTG/Resources/hazing/Prevention.htm

Hank Nuwer, author of High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs and three other books on hazing, suggested the following in the ABC News report, How to Stop Hazing:

Help establish welcome programs for first-year and transfer students. Rites of passage are integral and valuable in welcoming new members to a group or students to a school, but mentoring programs are more constructive than pledging rituals.
Reconsider all traditions in all school groups. The school choir is just as likely as the football team to have its own traditions. Faculty members need to be aware of what goes on in each group.
Urge your school to adopt a statement of awareness. Signing a written statement agreeing to a specific policy raises awareness of hazing and instills a sense of accountability in all participants.
Foster a spirit of camaraderie. One form of hazing is having younger students perform chores like carrying equipment. Everyone should share in these responsibilities so a better team spirit is created.
Require supervision at all group functions. Simply having an adult or teacher present at all times can go a long way in deterring hazing and preventing groups of kids from getting out of hand.
Don’t cover up hazing incidents. A “conspiracy of silence” often feeds off itself and becomes difficult to stop. If an episode of hazing is witnessed, it should be reported immediately so it can be dealt with right away.
Eliminate the risk of hazing. Only a zero-tolerance attitude will create an environment in which hazing is not accepted. Letting episodes slide is counter-productive to stopping hazing.
Contact hazing activists for guidance. Don’t lead the crusade alone. Anti-hazing activists and groups are there to assist those less experienced in fighting a widespread problem.
Don’t confuse discipline with abuse. Working hard, fostering teamwork, enforcing rules and learning fundamentals are all part of discipline and should be accepted by players and students. Shoving or verbally taunting someone is abuse and should never be tolerated by anyone. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90209&page=1

As with many problems, the key is early diagnosis and intervention with appropriate action to discourage hazing. Purposeful harm to another person is never acceptable.

Ohio State University study: Characteristics of kids who are bullies https://drwilda.com/2012/03/13/ohio-state-university-study-characteristics-of-kids-who-are-bullies/

Dr. Wilda Reviews: children’s book: ‘Bully Bean’ https://drwilda.com/2013/08/18/dr-wilda-reviews-childrens-book-bully-bean/

Kids need to tell teachers and schools when they are bullied https://drwilda.com/2013/04/08/kids-need-to-tell-teachers-and-schools-when-they-are-bullied/

Massachusetts Aggression Center study: Cyberbullying and elementary school children https://drwilda.com/2013/07/30/massachusetts-aggression-center-study-cuberbullying-and-elementary-school-children/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©
http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©
https://drwilda.com/

Tags: 11 Garfield students ‘banned’ in hazing case, Bullying, education, Garfield Principal Ted Howard, Hazing, Hazing Prevention.org, How to Stop Hazing, Important Hazing Statistics, School Violence, Stop Hazing.org, students, types of hazing behavior

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Yale University study: Athletes often endorse unhealthy food products

8 Oct

Moi wrote in Critical thinking skills for kids are crucial: The lure of Super bowl alcohol ads:
The issue is whether children in a “captive” environment have the maturity and critical thinking skills to evaluate the information contained in the ads. Advertising is about creating a desire for the product, pushing a lifestyle which might make an individual more prone to purchase products to create that lifestyle, and promoting an image which might make an individual more prone to purchase products in pursuit of that image. Many girls and women have unrealistic body image expectations which can lead to eating disorders in the pursuit of a “super model” image. What the glossy magazines don’t tell young women is the dysfunctional lives of many “super models” which may involve both eating disorders and substance abuse. The magazines don’t point out that many “glamour girls” are air-brushed or photo-shopped and that they spend hours on professional make-up and professional hairstyling in addition to having a personal trainer and stylist. Many boys look at the buff bodies of the men in the ads and don’t realize that some use body enhancing drugs. In other words, when presented with any advertising, people must make a determination what to believe. It is easy for children to get derailed because of peer pressure in an all too permissive society. Parents and schools must teach children critical thinking skills and point out often that the picture presented in advertising is often as close to reality as the bedtime fairy tail. Reality does not often involve perfection, there are warts.

See, Admongo
http://ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/admongo/html-version.shtml
and How to Help a Child With Critical Thinking Skills
http://www.livestrong.com/article/178182-how-to-help-a-child-with-critical-thinking-skills/#ixzz2Jlv5L6HR
https://drwilda.com/tag/exposure-to-alcohol-advertisements-and-teenage-alcohol-related-problems/

Katy Bachman reported in the Adweek article, Study: Athletes Send Mixed Messages to Youth by Marketing Junk Food: LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams are the worst offenders:

LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Serena Williams are tops in their sports and make great spokespeople for any marketer. But they are also at the top of a less-flattering ranker—endorsing junk food marketed to youth.
The NBA, NFL and WTA champs were the top three athlete endorsers promoting unhealthy foods in TV, radio, print and online ads reaching teens 12 to 17, according to a new study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale….
While the food and beverage industry has committed to advertise to children only food that meets specific nutrition criteria under the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, the self-regulation only applies to children under 12. The Yale study points out that once children reach a certain age, they quickly become a target….
“It’s as if the dollars blind them to the fact they are role models,” said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Of the 512 brand endorsements associated with the top 100 athletes in the study, food and beverage brands represented the second-highest endorsement category for athletes at 23.8 percent, surpassed only by sporting goods and apparel at 28.3 percent.
Overall, the top 100 athletes endorsed 122 food and beverage brands. Sports beverages were the largest individual category endorsed by athletes, followed by soft drinks and fast food. Most of the 46 beverages endorsed by athletes received all of their calories from added sugar….http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/study-athletes-send-mixed-messages-youth-marketing-junk-food-152962

Here is the press release from Yale:

Unhealthy food marketed to youth through athlete endorsements
By Megan Orciari
October 7, 2013
Professional athletes are often paid large amounts of money to endorse commercial products. But the majority of the food and beverage brands endorsed by professional athletes are for unhealthy products like sports beverages, soft drinks, and fast food, according to a new study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. The study appears in the November issue of Pediatrics.
Analyzing data collected in 2010 from Nielson and AdScope, an advertisement database, the study reveals that adolescents aged 12 to 17 viewed the most television ads for food endorsed by athletes. Previous research by public health advocates has criticized the use of athlete endorsements in food marketing campaigns for often promoting unhealthy food and sending mixed messages to youth about health, but this is the first study to examine the extent and reach of such marketing.
Researchers selected 100 professional athletes to study based on Businessweek’s 2010 Power 100 report, which ranked athletes according to their endorsement value and prominence in their sport. Information about each athlete’s endorsements was gathered from the Power 100 list and AdScope. Researchers then sorted the endorsements into categories: food/beverages, automotive, consumer goods, service providers, entertainment, finance, communications/office, sporting goods/apparel, retail, airline, and other. The nutritional quality of the foods featured in athlete-endorsement advertising was assessed, along with the marketing data.
Of the 512 brands associated with these athletes, food and beverage brands were the second largest category of endorsements behind sporting goods. “We found that LeBron James (NBA), Peyton Manning (NFL), and Serena Williams (tennis) had more food and beverage endorsements than any of the other athletes examined. Most of the athletes who endorsed food and beverages were from the NBA, followed by the NFL, and MLB,” said Marie Bragg, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate at Yale.
Sports beverages were the largest individual category of athlete endorsements, followed by soft drinks, and fast food. Most — 93% — of the 46 beverages being endorsed by athletes received all of their calories from added sugars.
Food and beverage advertisements associated with professional athletes had far-reaching exposure, with ads appearing nationally on television, the Internet, the radio, in newspapers, and magazines.
“The promotion of energy-dense, nutrient-poor products by some of the world’s most physically fit and well-known athletes is an ironic combination that sends mixed messages about diet and health,” said Bragg.
Bragg and co-authors assert that professional athletes should be aware of the health value of the products they are endorsing, and should use their status and celebrity to promote healthy messages to youth.
Other authors include Swati Yanamadala, Christina Roberto, and Jennifer L. Harris of the Rudd Center at Yale, and Kelly Brownell of Duke University.
The study was supported by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Rudd Foundation.

Citation:

Athlete Endorsements in Food Marketing
1. Marie A. Bragg, MS, MPhila,
2. Swati Yanamadala, BAb,
3. Christina A. Roberto, PhDa,c,
4. Jennifer L. Harris, MBA, PhDa, and
5. Kelly D. Brownell, PhDd
+ Author Affiliations
1. aRudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut;
2. bStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California;
3. cDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; and
4. dSanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study quantified professional athletes’ endorsement of food and beverages, evaluated the nutritional quality of endorsed products, and determined the number of television commercial exposures of athlete-endorsement commercials for children, adolescents, and adults.
METHODS: One hundred professional athletes were selected on the basis of Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2010 Power 100 rankings, which ranks athletes according to their endorsement value and prominence in their sport. Endorsement information was gathered from the Power 100 list and the advertisement database AdScope. Endorsements were sorted into 11 endorsement categories (eg, food/beverages, sports apparel). The nutritional quality of the foods featured in athlete-endorsement advertisements was assessed by using a Nutrient Profiling Index, whereas beverages were evaluated on the basis of the percentage of calories from added sugar. Marketing data were collected from AdScope and Nielsen.
RESULTS: Of 512 brands endorsed by 100 different athletes, sporting goods/apparel represented the largest category (28.3%), followed by food/beverages (23.8%) and consumer goods (10.9%). Professional athletes in this sample were associated with 44 different food or beverage brands during 2010. Seventy-nine percent of the 62 food products in athlete-endorsed advertisements were energy-dense and nutrient-poor, and 93.4% of the 46 advertised beverages had 100% of calories from added sugar. Peyton Manning (professional American football player) and LeBron James (professional basketball player) had the most endorsements for energy-dense, nutrient-poor products. Adolescents saw the most television commercials that featured athlete endorsements of food.
CONCLUSIONS: Youth are exposed to professional athlete endorsements of food products that are energy-dense and nutrient-poor.

Our goal should be:

A Healthy Child In A Healthy Family Who Attends A Healthy School In A Healthy Neighborhood. ©

More school districts facing a financial crunch are considering school ads
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/more-school-districts-facing-a-financial-crunch-are-considering-school-ads/

Should there be advertising in schools?
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/should-there-be-advertising-in-schools/

Talking to your teen about risky behaviors
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/talking-to-your-teen-about-risky-behaviors/

Television cannot substitute for quality childcare
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/television-cannot-substitute-for-quality-childcare/

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

Tags: Admongo, Advertising in schools becoming more common, Advertising in the Schools, Alcohol Ads and Teen Drinking, Alcohol Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults, Athlete Endorsements in Food Marketing, Children Adolescents and Advertising, children and the media, Critical Thinking, Critical Thinking skills, Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements and Teenage Alcohol-Related Problems, Fact Sheet: Underage Drinking:, food and beverage, FTC, health, How to Help a Child With Critical Thinking Skills, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Professional athletes, research, School Advertising, School funding, science, Seattle Children's Hospital, Serena Williams are the worst offenders:, Study: Athletes Send Mixed Messages to Youth by Marketing Junk Food, Superbowl, Superbowl Ads, The American Academy of Pediatrics, Yale university

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Categories Dr Wilda

The 10/08/13 Joy Jar

8 Oct

You either have principles and follow them or you don’t. Now, is that hard?

Abortion Vote Exposes Rift at a Catholic University
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/0…
Loyola Marymount trustees are deciding whether to remove abortion coverage from insurance plans, but the vote has become a battle over how Catholic a Catholic university should be.

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are principles.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.
Leonardo da Vinci

Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.
Abraham Lincoln

There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.
Stephen Covey

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. Thomas Paine

A man is usually more careful of his money than he is of his principles.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.
Margaret Thatcher

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

The principles of living greatly include the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and trial with humility.
Thomas S. Monson

The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles.
Plato

Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.
Victor Hugo

To abandon oneself to principles is really to die – and to die for an impossible love which is the contrary of love.
Albert Camus

Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
Ambrose Bierce

An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
Thomas Paine

I think Bible principles are principles for life.
Joel Osteen

The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
John Quincy Adams

Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.
Charles R. Swindoll

Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles.
Jawaharlal Nehru

Tags: Beliefs, Bible principles, Dr Wilda, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Joy Jar, Loyola Marymount, Principles, ralph waldo emerson, Religion, The principles, theology, thomas paine, Values

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Categories Dr Wilda

A welcoming learning space is important

7 Oct

Moi wrote in Helping at-risk children start a home library: Justin Minkel, who teaches 2nd and 3rd grade at Jones Elementary in northwest Arkansas. He is the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, a 2011 National Board-certified teacher, and a member of the Teacher Leaders Network reports in the Education Week article, The Home Library Effect: Transforming At-Risk Readers about his library project.

Melinda started 2nd grade with everything against her. She lives in poverty, her mom is not literate in English or Spanish, and she was severely abused at the age of 6. At the beginning of the year, she owned only one book.
Despite these barriers, Melinda made extraordinary academic progress. She moved from a kindergarten level (a four on the Developmental Reading Assessment) to a 4th grade level (a 40) in the two years she was in my class. Her demeanor changed: She began smiling and laughing more often, and she became a confident scholar.
Part of the reason for Melinda’s growth is elusive—that combination of resiliency, strength, and utter grit that awes those of us lucky enough to teach these remarkable children. But another reason for her success is simple—instead of one book at home, Melinda now has a home library of 40 books.
The Project
We called our classroom adventure “The 1,000 Books Project.” Each of the 25 children in my class received 40 books over the course of 2nd and 3rd grade, for a total of 1,000 new books in their homes.
The project was simple to launch. Scholastic donated 20 books per child, and I purchased the other 20 through a combination of my own funds, support from individuals and local organizations, and bonus points. The kids received three types of books each month: copies of class read-alouds, guided reading books, and individual choices selected from Scholastic’s website.
Working with family members, each child chose a space to become a home library, ranging from a cardboard box decorated with stickers to a wooden bookcase. Through class discussions and our class blog, the students talked about everything from how they organized their libraries to their favorite reading buddy at home.
The total cost for each student’s home library was less than $50 each year, a small investment to move a struggling reader from frustration to confidence.
Growing Readers
These 25 students made more progress in their reading than I have experienced with any other class. By the end of the project’s second year, they had exceeded the district expectation for growth by an average of nine levels on the DRA and five points on the computerized Measures of Academic Progress reading test. And they made this growth despite formidable obstacles to academic success—20 of the 25 are English language learners, and all but one live in poverty.
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/06/12/tln_minkel.html?tkn=RNCCFBZesMUu%2FHLFXuXie61FaxwpDAC5G9Cd&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

Given the moderate expense of Minkel’s project, the academic gains are important for his children. https://drwilda.com/2012/06/13/helping-at-risk-children-start-a-home-library/

Kevin D. Washburn posted at Smart Blog on Education, Looking around: Creating a learning environment (even without a teacher):
I’ve spent years refining my teaching based on neurocognitive research, but I’ve given the environments in which I teach far less study and attention. My visit to a Montessori school reminded me that an optimal learning environment promotes exploring, thinking, and creating — whether the teacher is in the room or not.

Here are a few questions I’m now asking myself:
Are there objects within the learning space that capture interest while fully engaging learners in exploring critical concepts?
Every classroom should have books (see Question 2), but sometimes the mind learns better in more physically active ways. Remember the Rubik’s Cube craze, launched by a toy designed “to help explain three-dimensional geometry”?1 Children and adults — possibly one-fifth of the world’s population in the mid-1980‘s — spent hours a day handling and thinking about how to solve the colorful and confounding puzzle. Every twist prompted a new challenge or success as young minds worked to solidify all six of the cube’s sides. The relationships between the sides of a cube had never before captured such attention and thought.
In Montessori classrooms, the materials were often less complex in construction than the Rubik’s Cube, but they proved equally engaging and thought-provoking. They were simple enough to use but still intriguing in the ideas they helped children explore. Many simultaneously occupied hand and mind.
Are there ample materials to spark individual exploration, learning and mind-enriching entertainment?
I’m old enough now that students from my first years of teaching — fourth-graders — are adults. Several have found me via social media and a few have met me for lunch when I’ve been nearby. Almost every one of them remembers one thing about my classroom: books! I was inspired by a college professor whose office looked like a great children’s library, and I set out to give my classroom the same feel. The longest wall in the classroom held its windows and my book collection. In those pages, students discovered the inhabitants — and food — of Redwall, met children who sneaked gold past Nazi soldiers via sleds, and were shocked by the literal and metaphorical wolves of Willoughby Chase. The environment was rich with potential, and many students who came into fourth grade thinking they didn’t like to read went into fifth grade possessing a rich background in children’s literature. While I did what I could to stoke such interest, it was the presence of the books in the classroom that made the difference. They allowed students to wander, to wonder, and to discover worlds on their own.
Is there a sufficient variety of materials to allow students to process material in self-selected ways?
Technology is great. It connects us to resources, and even experts, around the world. It’s incredibly mobile, available and almost intuitive to use, and yet … sometimes human energy rather than battery power fosters better learning.
I recently taught a course focused on merging what we know about learning from neurocognitive research with the potential represented by wise use of educational technology. In one activity, the participants follow a sequence of actions to construct new understandings of a recent historic event and the background of one individual who played a significant role in it. Throughout the activity, the participants are free, invited and encouraged to use any technological tools they’d like, for any purpose, and at any time. After all, the purpose of the course is to get teachers comfortable in using technology more widely in their classrooms. Throughout the search for related information, phones, tablets and laptops are the center of activity. The same is true when the participants reach the point of producing evidence of their learning. However, in between these activities, the tool-of-choice shifts. During processing, the overtly thinking-centric steps in the sequence, most participants turn away from their screens and make a beeline for more “traditional” tools. Paper, pencils, chart paper, markers, crayons, sticky notes, index cards — these are tools most still reach for when thinking is the target activity. This proves true regardless of age. Young teachers, the early twenty-somethings, and experienced teachers, the beyond-twenty-somethings, prefer a utensil other than a phone in their hands when they need to sort out new knowledge and examine it for patterns. Eventually, the sorted facts and discovered patterns get presented to others via technology, but when cognition is the thing, other tools prevail.
This is NOT to say that no one uses technology to sort information. In fact, a few do — or at least they start that way. I’ve witnessed several young teachers begin with a phone or tablet in their hands only to abandon it when they realize the “traditional” tools promote greater efficiency and flexibility, and possibly improved thinking.
Sure, technology has a place in the classroom these days. But when choosing materials to have on-hand within the learning environment, remember that sometimes the mind prefers to process ideas with a pencil (or crayon, or marker) in-hand.
In “Unthink,” artist and writer Erik Wahl reminds readers that in childhood we were free to sculpt our “days into works of art…filled with joy, enthusiasm, and fulfillment.” He explains that we operated that way because we needed to be “mass collectors of information,” because we were “cross-training for the many scenarios life would eventually toss at us in rapid succession.” For such training, we needed environments that were “rich, vibrant, and imagination-fostering.”2
Our classrooms should be environments that equip and enable such cross-training.
Look around. What is in your learning environment now?
What should be there?
http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/10/03/looking-around-creating-a-learning-environment-even-without-a-teacher/?utm_source=brief

Scientists are studying what makes a good learning environment.

Looking around: Creating a learning environment (even without a teacher) describes a good learning environment in Learning Environments:

A well organised environment is:
•Welcoming
•Vibrant and flexible
•Responsive to children and their changing needs, interests and abilities
•One that invites experiences, interactions, risk taking, discovery, connections to nature, conversations, play and collaboration
•One that has a sense of place and purpose for resources, materials and experiences
•Consistent and predictable
•Well resourced and well maintained
•Interesting and engaging (absorbs children in complex, deep learning experiences rather than shallow or superficial experiences)
•Contains open-ended, complex materials that can be used in many ways and can be used again and again without becoming boring
•Contains a balance of experiences/types of experiences.

Click to access Environment-makeover-campbell-street-workshop-240312.pdf

The University of Illinois Extension has some good advice for helping children with study habits. In Study Habits and Homework he University of Illinois recommends:

Parents can certainly play a major role in providing the encouragement, environment, and materials necessary for successful studying to take place.
Some general things adults can do, include:

•Establish a routine for meals, bedtime and study/homework
•Provide books, supplies, and a special place for studying
•Encourage the child to “ready” himself for studying (refocus attention and relax)
•Offer to study with the child periodically (call out spelling words or do flash cards)
An established study routine is very important, especially for younger school age children. If a child knows, for example, that he is expected to do homework immediately after supper prior to watching television, he will be better able to adjust and ready himself than if he is allowed to do homework any time he pleases.
Connected to the idea of a study routine is the concept of a homework chart….
All children need their own place at home to do homework. The space does not need to
Remember, learning styles differ from child to child, so the study place should allow for these differences. Parents can take a walk through the house with their child to find that special corner that is just right. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/succeed/habits.cfm

This is fairly traditional advice, but experiment to find out what works for your child. The goal is to develop a love of learning.

Resources:
10 Characteristics Of A Highly Effective Learning Environment
http://www.teachthought.com/learning/10-characteristics-of-a-highly-effective-learning-environment/

Creating a good learning environment
http://library.lincoln.ac.nz/Learn/Study-Skills/Creating-a-good-learning-environment/

Creating the Optimal Learning Environment
http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/1

Creating a LEARNING-CENTERED Environment– http://www.dialogueonlearning.tc3.edu/model/environment/introduction-grp.htm

More research about the importance of reading
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/tag/reading-literacy-and-your-child/

The slow reading movement
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/the-slow-reading-movement/

The importance of the skill of handwriting in the school curriculum
https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/the-importance-of-the-skill-of-handwriting-in-the-school-curriculum/

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

Tags: Early childhood Australia, environment, Learning Environment, Learning Environments, Learning Space, Looking around: Creating a learning environment (even without a teacher), Study Habits and Homework, The Home Library Effect Transforming At-Risk Readers