HP is HERE!!!!!

and I can't open my box until late tonight .... egghghghgghgh

From my adolescent psych class

I haven't posted in a long time, because I've been drowning in my summer courses and planning two camps! I'm children's director at UUMAC and co-director of Nebula Workshops.

I thought you'd enjoy my latest ponderings for the Adolescent Psych course that I have thoroughly enjoyed this summer.

The Question:

“B. Which adolescent problem detailed in your book do you personally see and the most threatening to our young people today? Explain your answer and remember to use the information in the texts and not just rely on your personal opinion. Do you know (or did you know) an adolescent with one of the problem behaviors, and if so, what has been the outcome for that teen?”

The Answer:

Wow. This might be the most challenging question in the entire class.

All of the problems the text evaluates are serious problems … risk-taking behavior while driving, substance use, crime, depression, eating disorders. All of them have great potential to be life threatening. All of them are typical behaviors for adolescents, far too prevalent for my own comfort. And none of them appear to be “new problems” that can be attributed to the ills of today’s society. Even Shakespeare, in 1610, said, “I would that there were no age between ten and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest; for there is nothing in between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting …” And anorexia was first identified in 1689, with the clinical diagnoses still the same today.

After much introspection over my coffee this morning, I believe that delinquency and crime are the largest threat to our youth today. Here’s why:

Adolescence-limited delinquents (ALDs) are criminals who engage in delinquency or crime for a shorter period of time, primarily through adolescence and emerging adulthood. They show no signs of problems during childhood, and few of them engage in criminal activity after their mid-twenties. ALD’s can be distinguished from life-course-persistent delinquents (LCPDs), who show a pattern of problems from birth onward, and tend to continue criminal activity well into adulthood. Studies in multiple cultures show that ALD types of crimes appear in part because of the role expectations of young males as they demonstrate readiness for manhood, as the Truk Island young men exemplify.

In the US in particular, courts and laws have become much tougher on even minor crimes, and more people than ever are being sent to jail instead of rehabilitation. The US has the highest incarceration rate of all the industrialized nations. There are also stark disparities in racial composition in our prisons, with African Americans accounting for fully 1/2 of prison population, but only 13% of the total population.

Punishment continues after prison sentences are completed. Former prisoners are denied social services, many potential jobs, even federal college loans for a minor drug offense. Reintegration into society is exceedingly difficult; if they lack opportunities to support families or selves, recidivism is almost inevitable.

Adolescents are developing their self-image, according to Erickson, and depend heavily on peers for that work. Crimes committed by youth and young adults are frequently done in a group. The search for excitement and sensation-seeking adventure may lead to activities that violate the law. It almost seems that the cards are stacked against our youth, males in particular. Combine racism to that volatile mix, and we end up with lots of incarcerated youth for minor infractions, and lives ruined. The potential for repeat crimes grows with each incarceration, in part due to peer contagion, where high risk youth are brought together who then form a delinquent clique (also normal adolescent behavior).

The costs to society, in terms of dollars spent on incarceration, recidivism, and the ruined lives of our young people, are too high to comprehend. The cost to society of repeat offenders, who return to a life of crime because they cannot find a way to make life work after incarceration, is also too high, in terms of property loss, life loss, and mental anguish, for families of criminals and victims.

There are no easy answers. Criminal reform is happening slowly, in a few places, and it appears to be working. Our text describes multisystemic approaches, which are cost effective as well as effective in reducing crimes. My hope is that we can make positive changes in prison reform and societal reform to correct some of the endemic societal ills that lead to incarceration.

To that effect, I work on prison reform as part of my religious beliefs. I also volunteer time in a program called Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), which is a proven effective program to teach prisoners a different way of living and helps them avoid recidivism. The AVP program has also been carried out to the community, and has shown to be effective in preventing crime with adolescents, especially when run with a combination of former criminals and volunteers.

Do I know any adolescents currently going through this program? No, but I do know adults who have been in this place of delinquency and are incarcerated as a result of mistakes made in their youth. These are the incarcerated adults that I work with in AVP, and knowing them has in turn compelled me to work with all of my energy toward preventing crime in adolescents. It’s part of my decision to become a teacher.

Robin Slaw

Public Service Announcement:
To find out more, you can visit:
(AVP) http://www.avpusa.org/
(Prison reform) http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjustice/statements/13397.shtml

No one can be perfectly free until all are free.
~ Herbert Spencer

Travel Girl, day 6

I am going to admit to feeling somewhat jealous of Travel Girl's adventures! Look where she is today!

Kula Bird Eco Park

Imagine, if you will, a cool green forest nestled in a small valley. A stream wanders between the trees, making its way through the valley to the Pacific Ocean. Trees bearing strange fruits, nuts and blossoms have names like Dawa, Ivi, Vutu and Vesi and tower above the valley floor filtering the sun. The banks of the stream are dotted with brightly colored flowers and shrubs. As you wander over the many bridges spanning the sparkling ribbon of water, you're greeted by the call of a barking pigeon, the shrill of honey eaters and the constant, pulsing concert of unseen forest dwellers. This is the South Pacific. This is the wild side of Fiji and you've arrived at Kula Eco Park.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
~St. Augustine

Tracking my daughter, Travel Girl

Please indulge me as I wonder aloud about my eldest daughter, who must now be named Travel Girl, who is off on her People to People exchange trip to the South Pacific. I'm so proud of her, this daughter who wouldn't leave my knee until she was five years old, who was so worried about starting school at age 13 for the first time (even a tiny charter school with a total of 105 students, K-8), who successfully navigated her first year of high school (first time in a real public school), and then who decided to take off for the South Pacific on her first trip away from home, and managed to fund raise and earn half her considerable expenses! And I can't believe how my heart shattered into a bazillion sobbing pieces as I drove away from the airport on Tuesday, after hugging her goodbye! I never anticipated I would miss her this much!

On Day 3 (her first day on the island, she was whisked off to a local arts center, where she watched fire dancers and other esciting events. This is what her itinerary says:

You will be met by traditional warriors who will be your host throughout the day in which you will get to see up close the making of Fijian artifacts, folk dances, chief’s traditional thatched hut plus many enriching experience.

And this is a picture I found on the internet of the Arts Center.


Yesterday she spent the day in a local Fijian school, having an amazing time meeting other students from another culture, I hope!




Today is her 5th day away, 3rd day in Fiji. She's currently on a boat somewhere around Tivua Island. This is what the island looks like, and she's snorkeling, according to her itinerary:

Enjoy local games and beach volleyball including glass bottom boat tours and snorkeling.

I hope my girl is having the time of her life!

Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.
~Anatole France

Travelogue, part 3

My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.
~Aldous Huxley

After we dropped Karen off, Diana and I drove up the hill, past the Japanese Gardens, and found a cemetery up at the top of the mountain with an amazing view of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and another mountain we couldn’t identify, nearly as tall.

We first hiked down the other side of the hill to find the meridian line marker, the Willamette Stone. It’s the meridian line and baseline from which all the property lines for Oregon and Washington were marked. As a history teacher, how could I resist? Plus the hike was beautiful, through a lush green forest. You can read all about the Willamette Stone here.

We hiked back up the hill (quite a hike, and we were tired – this was one long day of hiking, and I’d been up since 6 am, and my roommies not long after because as hard as I tried to be quiet, once someone’s up in the room, it’s hard to stay asleep. I was just grateful I’d been able to fall asleep when I woke up at 3 am (6 am NJ time, and my normal rising time!) and walked across the street to the cemetery. There were some beautiful gravestones, filled with poetry. You’ll have to wait for that picture – it’s still on one of the disposable cameras Di and I bought after we realized we were REALLY sorry we hadn’t brought a digital camera. (I won’t make that mistake again!)

At the end of the cemetery were memorial benches, and we sat and admired the view and talked for a long while, until we got too cold and went back down the hill to pick up Karen and crack open a bottle of our Hip Chicks wine.

We finished the evening giggling and talking and drinking wine. It was an amazing day.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
~John Muir