Here is the latest edition of YouthMoves – a news-sheet for people interested in youth issues in Australia

WELCOME

Welcome to the latest edition of YouthMoves, a news-sheet that gives ‘snatches’ of youth news, info & resources relevant to busy people relating to teens.  

What’s in this issue?

-          The movie Mean Girls: Schoolyard politics revealed!

-          Teens who sleep the weekend away

-         PLUS find out about useful youth resources

-         PLUS find out about upcoming youth events

-         **Innovate Special** on Kirrilie’s new book “The Years that Count” and the accompanying seminar “Helping Teens through Senior School”

-         Our contact details

-         How to unsubscribe OR join up friends and collegues to this newsletter

If you would like to see the back issues of Youth Moves log onto our website www.innovateonline.net

If I can assist your work with young people in any way (by offering counselling services, speaking/training or just answering a question about youth issues), please feel free to phone me on 8357 1711, or email kirriliesmout@innovateonline.net.

MEAN GIRLS: SCHOOLYARD POLITICS REVEALED

The movie Mean Girls (now out on video/DVD) is an interesting watch, in particular the portrayal of the social stratification – from most to least popular groups – which exists in the school yard. It is a relatively accurate (if a little extreme) reflection of reality for teenage girls in most schools. When I work with teenage girls from about Year 7 to Year 10 or 11, I routinely ask them about their friends and the social ranking of their group of friends within the school yard. They can often accurately describe the kind of group they belong to and the existence of other “levels” of groups at their school. However, this is not something they discuss amongst themselves. It is not socially acceptable to admit either that you are not part of or even that you are part of the “cool” group, or even that there is such a group. It is especially not okay to admit that you would love to be accepted by the “coolest” group, that you feel less satisfied with yourself because you are part of a “lesser” group, or that you are influenced by the coolest group’s behaviour. Instead teen girls prefer to make statements such as “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me” or “those girls (referring to the “coolest” group) are just stupid.” Schoolyard social ordering is the white elephant in the room for teenagers that no-one talks about. Rigid social stratification in school seems to break down somewhat in Years 11 and 12. Until this time, despite adults’ best efforts to promote integration and acceptance of individuality, social ordering is relatively intact for most girls in most schools. What is possible is to help teenage girls become more aware of the system, and to start to question it. In this respect, the movie Mean Girls can be a valuable discussion tool for those who work with teenagers. Here are a few questions to ask teenage girls, using the movie as a springboard for discussion. 1. Why were smart and funny girls in this movie so desperate to be part of the in-clique? 2. What kinds of things do girls do to be accepted by friends? 3. What might be the (positive and negative) longer-term consequences of being part of either the most popular or least popular group? 4. How true is it when girls say they don’t care what people think of them? 5. Why is it easy to say we don’t care about what people think but so hard to act like this?

If we can help teenagers step outside the social ordering system – even just momentarily – then we help them take another step along the journey to understanding that they are not defined by the people with whom they associate.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK FROM A PARENT OF A TEEN

STATS and FACTS: A teenager costs 1.5 times as much to raise as a 3 year old.

(2004 Report from Aus Council of Social Services) 

NEWS AND EVENTS

Advance notice for Australian National Youth Week, 9^th – 17^th of April 2005.  Many events and competitions happening around the state which can be tapped into by schools and youth organisations.  Go to www.youthweek.com

The Young Acheiver Awards acknowledge the positive achievements of South Australians aged 14-26 years in the categories of Community Service; Sports; Arts; Environment; Career Achievement; Science & Technology; Regional Initiative and Indigenous Achiever. Nominations for the 2005 Awards close on 4^th January, 2005. For more information or a nomination form, see http://www.awardsaustralia.com/sa2.htm

Families Matter Conference:  on the 9^th to 11^th of February 2005, the Australian institute of Family Studies is conducting their 9^th Annual conference in Melbourne.  For details go to their website www.aifsconference.org

A postscript for those of you who know Kirrilie personally:  She now has a beautiful baby boy Reilly Baxter, who is now 5 months old.  Thanks for your messages of congratulations!

Forum: Teens Sleeping Late on Weekends!

Dear Kirrilie

My teenage son sleeps until past noon on weekends. This is really inconvenient for us, as it means we cannot go out as a family. It also means he gets out of gardening and household chores. This is an ongoing issue that causes lots of conflict. I am torn because he does seem tired a lot of the time – he stays up far too late in my opinion. But does he need the sleep or is he just lazy? From Frustrated Dad

Dear Frustrated Dad,

Research indicates that teenagers actually need more sleep than younger children, and more than adults, with the ideal being around 10 hours a night. Unfortunately, most teenagers rarely get this amount of sleep. This is for a few reasons: teens’ socialising activities (which are of the highest priority for teenagers) often happen after 9pm at night, some teens can’t “switch off” from household activity until late at night, and many teens have sleeping difficulties even once they have gone to bed. It is not surprising therefore that teenagers often have difficulty getting going in the morning. It might be worth thinking about what the most troublesome aspect of the weekend sleep-ins actually are for you. Is it that your son is not contributing to chores? If so, assign regular weekly expectations for your son and allow him to choose when they get done. Consequences should occur if the chores don’t get done, but is it necessary for them to get done on a Saturday morning? Regarding family outings, maybe a compromise can be met such as every second Saturday he is up by 9am to go out with his family if that is necessary. Or perhaps he can meet you later if he has his own transport. Alternatively, is it that you just don’t like to see him wasting the day away? If so, perhaps a rethink is warranted. If he chooses to spend his leisure time sleeping, and it does not negatively impact on anyone else, then my view is that this should be his choice.  Best Wishes, Kirrilie

RESOURCES

HOT TOPIC  - AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS YOUTH POLL 2003

Every year, the Australian Democrats distribute this poll to youth in places such as schools, universities and other community organisations. The results of 2003’s national poll are available at http://www.democrats.org.au/docs/Youth_Poll2003.pdf.

YOUTH CHALLENGE

Youth Challenge is a human rights education program designed for upper primary and secondary school students developed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The program includes a website, CD-Rom, videos, and teaching strategies. For more information see http://www.hreoc.gov.au/youthchallenge/introduction/index.html

NEW PUBLICATION – THE AeJAMH

Auseinet (Australian Network for Promotion,

Prevention and Early Intervention for

Mental Health) has launched The

Australian e-Journal for the Advancement

of Mental Health. It is free, and available

at http://www.auseinet.com/journal/

Produced by Kirrilie Smout, Psychologist and Professional Speaker specialising in Australian Youth Issues. Kirrilie is available for keynote presentations, training, counselling/assessment of young people, and offering comment on youth issues.For information please contact Innovate Psychology and Education:  phone 8357 1711 or go to www.innovateonline.net

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