Are Single Sex Lessons a Good Idea?

 

Single-sex schooling is nothing new and it was once the norm for boys and girls to be educated in separate classrooms. Many private schools still admit only either boys or girls but are single sex lessons a good idea?

 

Yes – Victoria

Studies have shown that boys and girls have very different learning styles and therefore achieve better results when they are taught separately. Boys tend to learn best if they can see physical demonstrations or graphics about the subject whereas girls learn best by discussing a subject. It makes sense then to teach them separately so that teachers can tailor the lesson to the relevant learning style. Even small practical details can make a difference – for example, boys learn better in a room that’s slightly cooler whereas girls prefer a warm environment. It’s much easier to cater to the needs of everybody if girls and boys are taught separately.

I think it becomes even more important to have single sex lessons as children reach their teenage years. Flirting, bickering, jealousy; these things all arise when you put boys and girls together and produce a real distraction. Children will be thinking about impressing each other, rather than concentrating on their lessons. I also find that children make better friendships when they are in single-sex groups as girls are less catty when boys aren’t around and boys don’t feel the need to show off as much without girls to impress.

There’s plenty of time outside of school for girls and boys to mix, so lessons should be tailored to learning effectively. After all, our children’s educations are so important that we should do all we can to make teaching successful.

 

No – Jude

A good, rounded education is about more than just learning academically. Kids also need to learn how to manage social situations, and understand the complexities of different relationships. If we separate boys and girls, they will miss out on a big chunk of what school life is all about.

I went to an all-girls school and as a result found it quite hard to have friendships with men later in life. I didn’t know how to talk to them and thought that any man who spoke to me was trying to chat me up, even if they were just being polite. Children will have to mix with the opposite sex when they grow up so it’s best to teach them how to do this from within the safety of the classroom, rather than letting them flounder later in life.

It’s all very well to say that boys and girls have different learning styles but teachers generally aren’t trained to teach boys and girls differently so even if it is true, it doesn’t really make much difference. Also, I think telling teachers to adapt their teaching based on gender could be quite dangerous as there is a risk that they will stereotype and children won’t get all the opportunities that they otherwise might.

I think children should be encouraged to appreciate different opinions. If boys and girls do take a different approach to learning based on their gender then that provides a great opportunity for them to gain new insights by seeing topics from a new perspective.

Categories: boys, Children, girls, learning, learning styles, sex lessons, single, single sex, taught separately

Boys" cancer risk increased without same vaccine as girls, say ...

The HPV vaccine is routinely offered to girls of 12 and 13 to reduce the risk of cervical cancer, but health groups say boys not given the vaccine are at greater risk of viruses linked to other cancers Photograph: Burger/Phanie/Rex

Boys are being denied protection against the risk of cancer because they are not routinely offered the same vaccination as girls, a coalition of 25 patient groups and health organisations has claimed.

The coalition has launched an online petition for a “gender-neutral” approach with the HPV vaccine, which is already offered to girls of 12 and 13 to reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

Several backbench MPs backed the idea last year and vaccination advisers to the UK government have already pledged to consider the move but now HPV Action is stepping up the pressure on ministers to follow the example of the US, Australia and some Canadian provinces.

The vaccination combats a family of viruses that are also linked to a number of cancers prevalent in men including anal and penile cancer and genital warts. Peter Baker, campaign director for HPV Action, said: “Vaccinating girls alone is not enough to tackle HPV. Men can still get the virus from unvaccinated women from the UK and other countries or from other men.

“It is simply unfair to deny boys in the UK the same level of protection as girls or as boys in Australia and other countries where both sexes are now routinely vaccinated. The HPV vaccination is one of the easiest ways of preventing cancer.”

An online poll of 1,336 parents by YouGov for the organisation last month found 64% agreed with boys and girls being vaccinated, with 11% disagreeing and 25% unsure, said HPV Action, which includes the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the British Dental Association, the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Throat Cancer Foundation.

Categories: boys, cancer, cervical cancer, girls, hpv action, HPV Vaccine, risk, routinely offered, Vaccine

Boys" cancer risk increased without same vaccine as girls, say ...

The HPV vaccine is routinely offered to girls of 12 and 13 to reduce the risk of cervical cancer, but health groups say boys not given the vaccine are at greater risk of viruses linked to other cancers Photograph: Burger/Phanie/Rex

Boys are being denied protection against the risk of cancer because they are not routinely offered the same vaccination as girls, a coalition of 25 patient groups and health organisations has claimed.

The coalition has launched an online petition for a “gender-neutral” approach with the HPV vaccine, which is already offered to girls of 12 and 13 to reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

Several backbench MPs backed the idea last year and vaccination advisers to the UK government have already pledged to consider the move but now HPV Action is stepping up the pressure on ministers to follow the example of the US, Australia and some Canadian provinces.

The vaccination combats a family of viruses that are also linked to a number of cancers prevalent in men including anal and penile cancer and genital warts. Peter Baker, campaign director for HPV Action, said: “Vaccinating girls alone is not enough to tackle HPV. Men can still get the virus from unvaccinated women from the UK and other countries or from other men.

“It is simply unfair to deny boys in the UK the same level of protection as girls or as boys in Australia and other countries where both sexes are now routinely vaccinated. The HPV vaccination is one of the easiest ways of preventing cancer.”

An online poll of 1,336 parents by YouGov for the organisation last month found 64% agreed with boys and girls being vaccinated, with 11% disagreeing and 25% unsure, said HPV Action, which includes the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the British Dental Association, the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Throat Cancer Foundation.

Categories: boys, cancer, cervical cancer, girls, hpv action, HPV Vaccine, risk, routinely offered, Vaccine

What Every Teenage Girl Should Know About Losing Weight

When a teenage girl wants to lose weight, extreme care has to be taken to ensure that she is not taking risks with her wellness and wellbeing. Teenage girls are particularly susceptible to eating disorders, so care must be taken to ensure that any weight loss is undertaken in a sensible and structured way.

The best plan for teenage girls focus on the idea that gradual weight loss is best, and that weight loss should involve healthy eating and exercising in equal measures. Teenage girls must understand that skipping meals is actually counter productive and could sabotage their weight loss efforts rather than aid them. Going long periods without food actually slows down your metabolism and makes losing weight very difficult indeed. Teenage girls are prone to trying the starvation diet methods, but must understand that when they go for a long time without food, their body simply learns to store fat rather than to burn it. Your body effectively thinks that it is being starved and so when any fat comes along it holds onto it in starvation mode as it thinks that it does not know where the next sustenance is coming from. Teenage girls are often prone to skipping breakfast, too, and this is another method that can really slow down the metabolism and make weight gain far more likely than weight loss.

Teens should also skip unhealthy lunches such as chips and fizzy drinks, and opt instead for something like a chicken salad sandwich on whole grain bread, plus a piece of fruit and a glass of water or skimmed milk.

It may sound straightforward, but another thing that teenage girls need to bear in mind is that they may not actually be overweight. Body types and heights can vary enormously, so a tall girl may weight two or three pounds more than her short friends, without being overweight in any way at all. Many teen girls are obsessed with losing weight, even although they are actually already thin, and this is not healthy and should be avoided at all costs.

 

Categories: girls, losing, Losing Weight, loss, teenage, teenage girl, teenage girls, weight, Weight Loss

The Five Stages of Puberty Every Girl Goes Through

Puberty seems to be this big scary thing that happens all at once, but, in reality, the process of coming into sexual health is a lot more gradual than all that. In fact, puberty starts when you don’t even realise it, beginning with the production of hormones in girls as young as eight or nine. Still, puberty tends to have more of an effect on your wellness once the outward signs start appearing, and it’s good to know what to expect. So, let’s go through all the different stages of puberty for girls.

 

1. The beginning of puberty: Between the ages of eight and 11 (although it may start later) you will go through the first stage of puberty. All the changes your body goes through will be internal, meaning that you may not notice you’re in this stage. However, just in case you were wondering, this is the stage in which your brain will create more hormones such as LH and FSH, and your ovaries will ovaries react and begin developing oestrogen-producing capabilities.

 

2. Stage Two: Generally speaking, you’ll go through the second stage of puberty when you are 11 or 12. This is the time in which your breasts will begin to grow or, as it is often referred to, “bud”. You know you have buds when you have some transitional breast tissue, and your areolas or nipples begin to darken and rise. While this usually happens before any other outwardly signs of adolescence, it’s not uncommon to see the beginnings of pubic hair before your breasts develop. During this stage of puberty, you are likely to have a growth spurt.

 

3. Stage Three: In the third stage of development, your breasts will continue to grow and your pubic hair will also carry on growing. You may find that hair begins to show up under your arms, and that your vagina grows in size. While you can pass through this stage anywhere between the ages of nine and 15, most girls tend to go through stage three of puberty around the age of 12 or 13. It is usually by this stage in development that you go through menarche, or your first period. Menarche tends to occur for seven out of 10 girls by stage three of puberty. Generally speaking, it takes less than three years for menstruation to occur after stage one of puberty, or once your body receives its signal from the brain to start making changes.

 

4. Stage Four: The fourth stage of puberty often occurs around ages 13 and 14 in girls, although it can happen earlier or later. During this stage, the accelerated growth of your height will usually slow down, and your level of body fat will reach a higher, adult level – usually tapering off at about 26% body fat. You’ll find that your pubic and underarm hair grows fuller and coarser. It’s common for girls to have their first periods by the age of 12 or 13 but, if this is the case, you might find that your periods are still irregular as your body is still balancing hormones and trying to find a rhythm.

 

5. The End of Puberty: Once you’ve reached stage five of puberty – usually between the ages of 14 and 19, you will have fully matured. By this time, it is likely that you will have achieved your maximum height, your breast will have reached their full size, and pubic hair will be fully developed. Likewise, your cardiovascular, skeletal and muscle systems will all be fully developed, and your periods and ovulation will occur regularly.

Categories: fully developed, generally speaking, girls, growth, hair, nbsp, puberty, pubic hair, stage, Stages of Puberty

Is Your Teen An Early Bloomer? What You Need To Know

Today, fewer schools have a dedicated sex education programme to help teenagers understand the changes that their bodies are going through. In fact, those that do don’t always cover other aspects to this phase such as body development and sexuality. A lot of girls use the internet now to get information about periods and changing bodies, but this is such an impersonal way to learn about something so important and could be providing wrong information in the case of some sites. However, there is some fantastic information out there that can help to boost the confidence and self esteem of young girls who may be having a hard time navigating hormones and puberty. But for young girls who are blooming earlier than their peers, this can be an especially difficult time. They may feel extremely self conscious and fearful of bullying about their new body, and this is a vital time when they’ll need all the information they can get in terms of understanding that these changes are perfectly normal. Everyone goes through the scary puberty stage, but we all get through it and come out unscathed on the other side – it’s simply part of growing up, no matter when it begins for your child.

In today’s hyper-sexualised culture, ‘blooming’ seems like the last thing that’s happening. It seems like all girls are being sexualised far too early and being forced to change what’s natural to them in order to fit the media’s idea of ‘normal’. It no doubt feels as though your child is coming into this phase too early, particularly if they are now going through puberty too, but it’s perfectly natural to feel anxiety during this stage. Both mums and daughters will be worried about the changes coming into play. Earlier and earlier puberty in teens these days means this issue is in the press a lot – we always seem to be hearing about the fact that kids are growing up too fast, both emotionally and physically. In the United States, for example, the average age for a girl to get her period is now around 12.5 years old. The processes that occur in the body are also happening earlier, such as the breast bud development, with many girls developing breasts as early as elementary school. The culture of periods being bad and shameful makes many girls anxious, but this is something to reassure early bloomers about so that they feel able to tackle the changes about to take place.

 

No matter when you or your daughter would like it to happen though, your child’s body will develop when it is ready. Nurturing encouragement is vital at this stage, as is providing as much information as your daughter needs. As with anyone going through puberty, whatever age it happens, a nutritious diet, plenty of sleep and exercise are all necessary for a healthy body. But it’s not all about the physical side – you need to ensure that they are emotionally healthy too, and this means making sure they have an open communication with you and people they trust. Many teens, and especially children developing early, feel isolated and self conscious, but this is a prime time for parents to step in and ensure that they nurture their children. It may be a frightening time for both mother and daughter, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing that can’t be tackled with an open relationship between you both.

Categories: body, Early, emotions, girls, Information, puberty, young girls

Is Your Teen An Early Bloomer? What You Need To Know

Today, fewer schools have a dedicated sex education programme to help teenagers understand the changes that their bodies are going through. In fact, those that do don’t always cover other aspects to this phase such as body development and sexuality. A lot of girls use the internet now to get information about periods and changing bodies, but this is such an impersonal way to learn about something so important and could be providing wrong information in the case of some sites. However, there is some fantastic information out there that can help to boost the confidence and self esteem of young girls who may be having a hard time navigating hormones and puberty. But for young girls who are blooming earlier than their peers, this can be an especially difficult time. They may feel extremely self conscious and fearful of bullying about their new body, and this is a vital time when they’ll need all the information they can get in terms of understanding that these changes are perfectly normal. Everyone goes through the scary puberty stage, but we all get through it and come out unscathed on the other side – it’s simply part of growing up, no matter when it begins for your child.

In today’s hyper-sexualised culture, ‘blooming’ seems like the last thing that’s happening. It seems like all girls are being sexualised far too early and being forced to change what’s natural to them in order to fit the media’s idea of ‘normal’. It no doubt feels as though your child is coming into this phase too early, particularly if they are now going through puberty too, but it’s perfectly natural to feel anxiety during this stage. Both mums and daughters will be worried about the changes coming into play. Earlier and earlier puberty in teens these days means this issue is in the press a lot – we always seem to be hearing about the fact that kids are growing up too fast, both emotionally and physically. In the United States, for example, the average age for a girl to get her period is now around 12.5 years old. The processes that occur in the body are also happening earlier, such as the breast bud development, with many girls developing breasts as early as elementary school. The culture of periods being bad and shameful makes many girls anxious, but this is something to reassure early bloomers about so that they feel able to tackle the changes about to take place.

 

No matter when you or your daughter would like it to happen though, your child’s body will develop when it is ready. Nurturing encouragement is vital at this stage, as is providing as much information as your daughter needs. As with anyone going through puberty, whatever age it happens, a nutritious diet, plenty of sleep and exercise are all necessary for a healthy body. But it’s not all about the physical side – you need to ensure that they are emotionally healthy too, and this means making sure they have an open communication with you and people they trust. Many teens, and especially children developing early, feel isolated and self conscious, but this is a prime time for parents to step in and ensure that they nurture their children. It may be a frightening time for both mother and daughter, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing that can’t be tackled with an open relationship between you both.

Categories: body, Early, emotions, girls, Information, puberty, young girls

How The Thigh Gap Craze Could Be Hurting You

In the modern world, it often seems that there is a prescribed way that people consider that they have to look like. People are obsessed with their own body image and are constantly thinking about ways that they can change their appearance to become more like what they perceive they should look like. This might seem harmless on the surface, but the truth is that striving for a particular appearance can be very damaging to your health. Just take a look at the problems of an eating disorder such as anorexia.

 

In this case, it is clear to see that as young girls (and women and men) strive to look a certain way, they put their body at risk by starving it and forcing it to vomit. These are highly unhealthy things that are extremely bad for your overall wellness. And it is caused by bad body image and the belief that the only way to be attractive to mirror the hyper-slim image of models, most of whom are either suffering from the condition themselves or have been airbrushed to appear thinner than they actually are. This represents a very worrying trend for young people who are being manipulated by an impossible body image as well as their own vanity to make themselves unhealthy.

 

The latest craze that is starting to cause health problems for young people is the concept of the thigh gap. The desire here is to have thighs that do not touch when your legs are together. This clearly means having very slim thighs, perhaps to the point of being unhealthy. Girls who attempt to get this look use extreme and over-the-top tactics in their attempts to get their way to the thigh gap and this can include starving themselves, throwing up or even excessively exercising. While these may work and give the girl the look that she might want, it will also cause long-term health problems which will be very bad for wellbeing.

 

The first thing it is important to remember is that people have different body types and bone structures, and for some it would be impossible to have thighs that do not touch without being seriously underweight and ill. For others it is simply a more natural look due to the way that their bodies accumulate fat or due to a high metabolism. In short, it is not healthy for everyone to have a gap between their thighs and in fact for many people it is highly unhealthy and should not be attempted.

 

Unfortunately this is a symptom of the fact that young people are so obsessed with body image and can’t seem to understand that it is fine to look different. This is hardly something new – just think about how women use high heels in their attempts to look good even though it is very bad for their feet. The problem with this new obsession is that modern fashion accentuates skin-tight clothing, forcing women and girls to reveal how thin or otherwise their thighs are. This can lead to a highly self-conscious situation where they are constantly comparing themselves to others and begin to see themselves as inadequate.

 

Clearly this is a society-wide problem that we need to deal with, rather than assuming that it will be able to fix itself. Too many girls and women are finding themselves in the situation where they seem themselves as inferior to others and it is causing to use unhealthy techniques to achieve the look that they believe that they need to have. This needs to change.

Categories: body, Body image, Body type, girls, health problems, highly unhealthy, image, nbsp, people, thigh, thigh gap, young people

Prepared for Puberty: What Changes Should You Expect?

Ok, they’ve probably taught you about this in school, but in case you weren’t listening or were too worried about what your friends were saying to pay close attention, let’s talk about puberty. During your teenage years, your body begins to develop and change more than it will at any other time in your life – except when you were a baby – and this is known as puberty. The important thing to note here is that everyone goes through these changes, and it’s perfectly normal. Still, it’s a good idea to know what to expect, so you don’t get freaked out when these changes occur.

 

At a certain age during your adolescent years (between seven and 13 in girls and nine and 15 in guys), your brain releases a gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH, which starts the puberty process. The GnRH travels to a gland under your brain known as the pituitary gland, and this releases two more puberty hormones into your bloodstream; luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Although both guys and girls will have both of these hormones in their bodies, your sex will determine how these hormones go to work on different parts of the body. For guys, these hormones signal the production of testosterone and sperm, while FSH and LH stimulate girls’ ovaries to begin producing another hormone called oestrogen. Both of these processes prepare your body for reproduction.

 

Another change that happens during puberty is a growth spurt. For about two or three years, your body rapidly grows – even up to four or more inches in the space of a year. This will be the last time you grow in your life so once your growth spurt ends, this is your new adult height. Your body will also change in shape as well as size. Guys, your shoulders will widen and your body will become more muscular. You’ll also notice that your voice becomes deeper, your testes get bigger and your penis lengthens and widens. Some guys do experience a bit of breast development, but this often goes away by the end of puberty.

 

Girls, you’ll probably become curvier, gaining more weight on your hips and bigger breasts. This begins with a little swelling under your nipple, and you may find that one breast grows more quickly than the other. However, time will soon even things out. It’s perfectly normal to experience occasional soreness under the nipples as your breasts start to enlarge. It’s also completely healthy and common to notice an increase in body fat, so don’t try to go on a diet to go back to your pre-puberty weight – that was a kid’s weight, of course you’re not going to weigh the same! If you ever have questions or concerns about your weight, talk it over with your doctor. About two to three years after your breasts start growing, you’ll have your first period.

 

One change that both guys and girls go through is finding hair in new places. In the beginning, you’ll notice light and sparse hair growing under your arms and in your pubic area (on and around your genitals). As you go through puberty, this hair becomes longer, thicker, heavier, and darker. Eventually, guys also start to grow hair on their faces. Speaking of faces, you may also develop acne, due to the hormonal changes in your body. This normally disappears during adulthood, but until then you may have acne on your face, your upper back, or your upper chest. It helps to keep your skin clean, and your doctor will be able to offer some suggestions for clearing up acne.

Categories: body, change, girls, growth spurt, growth spurts, guys, hormones, puberty

Dealing with Sexuality as a Teenager: What’s “Normal?”

When you’re growing up, finding out who you’re attracted to makes up a huge part of your sexual health and wellbeing. Puberty brings out a lot of emotion and sexual feelings, including feelings of feeling attracted to both girls and boys. It’s perfectly normal for girls to think about girls in a sexual way, and for boys to think about boys in a sexual way.

 

As you get older, you start to work out whether you prefer people of the opposite sex or people of the same sex to you, however, this doesn’t always occur when you’re a teenager. Some people know they’re gay from an early age, while others don’t recognise this part of their sexual wellness until much later on. The important thing to remember is: You don’t choose your sexuality, it chooses you. As to why people are gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight, no one really knows and, really, it’s not important. The real key thing in all of this is to understand that being attracted to people of the same sex is just as normal as being attracted to someone of a different sex, and everyone deserves to be with someone they love.

 

If you do think you are gay, lesbian or bisexual, it can be helpful to talk things through with other people who are going through the same thing, or people who have gone through it already. Look in your local phone book, GP surgery, sexual health or contraceptive clinic, pharmacy, youth group, local paper or on the internet to find out if there’s a young men’s or women’s group in your area for lesbian, gay or bisexual people. When it comes to telling people in your life about your sexual preferences, it’s really up to you whether or not you do it, and in what way. Some people don’t understand that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is normal, and so ‘coming out’ can be a difficult thing to figure out. It’s a good idea to read about coming out, and find out about the things to consider before you decide whether to tell people.

 

Regarding sexual intercourse, it’s not only normal for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to worry about it, but everyone has the same feelings and anxieties about sex. Whoever your potential partner might be, deciding when you’re ready to have sex is a big step and a huge decision that only you can make. There is a legal age of consent, and you shouldn’t have sex before that age, but that is not to say that you should start going like bunnies the second you turn 16. The legal age of consent is just the earliest point at which you should consider becoming intimate with someone – it’s not necessarily the right age for you to start having sex.

 

While we’re on the subject, there are no rules about how long you have to be going out with someone before you do it. Everyone is ready at different times and every couple is different. You don’t have to have sex just because your mates or your boyfriend or girlfriend are pressuring you – it’s OK to say no. Nor do you have to “prove” that you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight by sealing the deal, so to speak. Wait until the time is right, and then talk to your partner. Communication is key in any relationship, but particularly in a sexual one. You need to discuss needing to use contraception, having safer sex, picking the right time, and how you would both like the experience to be. Remember, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can pass from girls to girls and boys to boys, as well as between girls and boys, so use a condom or dam when engaging in any kind of sexual activity, including oral sex or use of sex toys.

Categories: bisexual, bisexual people, First time, gay lesbian, girls, legal age, lesbian bisexual, people, Safety, sexual, sexual health, sexuality

Revolutionary Sexual Health Project Sparks Change in Newala

In the remote Newala District of Tanzania, teenage girls face a real health issue; unwanted sexual advances. Young girls are often approached as they walk to a neighbour’s house, the water well or the store, and many feel forced to give in. Those who don’t put their wellbeing at risk to rape, and a lot of adolescent girls end up missing school because, as they put it, some teachers “just want to have sex with you.”

 

However, this isn’t just a matter of the girls’ emotional wellness, but their sexual health also. In these Tanzanian communities, such sexual violence puts 12- to 17-year-old girls at a greater risk of being infected by HIV. In fact, across the world, girls and young women are far more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts. Of those between the ages of 15 and 24 living with HIV – which is disproportionate to other age groups anyway – females make up more than 60% of the group. These are shocking statistics which, at their core, reveal the reality that girls throughout the world are living with every day. Gender inequalities are the norm in many countries, and these shape the lives of young girls and threaten their mental and physical wellness.

 

It was with this in mind that International Centre for Research on Women researchers embarked on a new project, allowing them to understand and tackle the numerous ways in which girls of the Newala District are at risk of HIV. The effort, known in English as “Yes Youth Can”, was funded by ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action programme and undertaken in partnership with Taasisi ya Maendeleo Shirikishi Arusha (Tamasha). The researchers learned that the girls themselves needed to be active contributors to the work, not as passive recipients of the project outcomes but being placed at the centre of both research and programming agendas.

 

Instead of giving a pre-packaged HIV prevention effort to voiceless beneficiaries, the project enables girls to define and address their own needs. Jennifer McCleary-Sills, a senior social and behavioural scientist at the International Centre for Research on Women, explains, ‘We accomplished this through an inclusive process that began with our local partner, Tamasha, informing community leaders about our initiative, who in turn nominated several potential candidates to serve as “youth researchers” for the project. Tamasha then interviewed them to assess literacy levels and their willingness to discuss sensitive issues.’

 

This process resulted in the selection of nine 18- to 24-year-old women, who led formative research in four rural communities. Overall, 82 girls aged 12 to 17 participated in a series of Participatory Learning and Action sessions, which included exercises such as getting the girls to draw a map of where they feel unsafe in their community, to explain the obstacles they face in achieving their dreams, and to detail their perceived risks to HIV. McCleary-Sills adds, ‘Meanwhile, our team interviewed adults – parents, community leaders, service providers – to learn whether and how they thought about girls’ vulnerabilities and how the community could better safeguard girls’ health and wellbeing.’

 

So where is the Newala District now in terms of sexual wellness? The integrative approach of the Yes Youth Can project shaped the structure and priorities of the subsequent intervention project, as well as giving content and case studies for a life skills education curriculum, and mentors for peer facilitators who were later trained to implement the project. Moreover, the involvement of Newala women encouraged open, non-judgmental dialogue, which is a rarity in such communities. McCleary-Sills notes that change is a gradual process, but the process has been started, and will spill out into surrounding communities.

Categories: community leaders, girls, HIV, international centre, mccleary sills, Newala, newala district, project, sexual health, Victim Involvement, Women, young girls

Could Your Teen be Emotionally Trapped by Sex?

Sex education is vitally important for young people, but what it fails to recognise is that there is more to it that simply STDs and pregnancy. The emotionally and psychologically scarring effects that sex can have could be affecting teenagers more than we think, especially for girls who are more likely to suffer from depression and attempt suicidal than boys. For both genders, though, emotional risks are high with sex during this time.

 

Stress from fear of pregnancy and disease

The risk of pregnancy is high if you’re uneducated and new to sex, and for many teenagers this is a risk that leads to them being emotionally fraught. However, during puberty teens are naturally curious about this act that they are suddenly physically primed for. There is a 15 percent chance of the condom breaking during sex, a fact which scares many people that they could be at risk of an unwanted pregnancy, STDs or HIV/AIDs. School nurses often report that they have teenage girls crying because they’re worried that they’ve caught something from their first sexual experiences. This worry can scar the joys of carefree teenage life and can affect their overall wellbeing.

 

Feelings of regret

Regret is a common feeling after sex, particularly if it is your first time, for a number of reasons. Teenage girls tend to have an expectation, emotionally, of what their first time will be like and it very rarely delivers. Girls may start to feel cheated if they begin being ignored by the person they lost their virginity to. A recent study discovered that many people wish they’d abstained from sex during their teenage years due to regret about the act.

 

Abortion

The risk of pregnancy, as previously stated, is always present and often this risk can become a reality. In many cases, this results in an abortion for teenage girls which is loaded with emotional hazards. This act can lead to depression, guilt, anxiety, nightmares and a loss of self worth. Up to 70 percent of women who get an abortion do it against their better judgement, but feel that they have no other choice, which leads to regret and shame. While teens may consider abortion as just something they have to do, it can have repercussions later in life when they’re better equipped to realise what they’ve done.

 

Guilt

Guilt can affect teens strongly, as they may feel that they’ve done morally wrong in having sex so young or with someone they may not really care that deeply for. This is especially the case if the act took place under the influence of alcohol or drugs, often making the individual make bad decisions about the person they have sex with. If the guilt is due to religious reasons, this can be a sense of shame as well as the guilt of doing it so young. Boys tend to feel guilty that they didn’t deliver against the expectations that their partner had of the act. Counselors state that many teenagers worry about the guilt of having sex without precaution, or that they didn’t wait for someone they were in a long term relationship with.

 

Loss of self esteem

Teenage sex can quickly deteriorate into a sense of low self esteem and loss of self worth. Because teen sex is often with causal partners, they can end up regretting it the next morning. The risk of diseases can exacerbate this, if they catch a disease and then feel bad for not being more careful with their body. Counselors find that girls, in particular, face this emotional trauma after having sex with people during their teenage years.

Categories: girls, guilt, Relationships, risk, Sex, teen, teenage, teenage girls, teenage years

What Everyone Ought To Know About Teenage Nutrition

Teenagers grow and develop at such a high rate that their diet and nutrition becomes extremely important. The best way to protect their wellness and well-being is through their diet, and so as a parent it is very important to know if your child is adequately nourished. To do that you need to know what it is that their bodies require.

 

For a start, teens require around 50 percent more calories per pound of their body weight than adults to facilitate their growth and development. Boys in particular need to have a high calorie intake because they grow faster and gain more lean muscle than girls.

 

Boys begin their growth spurt at around the age of 14, whilst girls begin at the age of 12, but peak sooner than boys. When determining calorie requirements it is also important to work out what kind of activity level your teen has – either low activity, moderate activity or high activity level.

 

Teenagers also have special nutritional needs and require more nutrients, especially iron and calcium. Girls in particular need increased iron due to the onset of menstruation. They require an increase of around 50 percent iron at this time, which equates to around 15 milligrams of iron per day. Some teenage girls may struggle to get enough iron in their diet, and this can lead to them becoming anaemic.

 

Boys tend to consume more calories than girls, and they usually have no trouble meeting their iron requirements, which increases by 20 percent during puberty, due to the amount that they eat.

 

Teenagers also require 25 percent more calcium than anyone else. The recommended daily allowance for calcium is usually 1,200 milligrams, and the RDA is recommended to be increased to 1,500 milligrams for teenagers. According to research, a very low percentage of boys and girls actually take enough calcium in their diet each day.

Categories: activity level, boys, diet, girls, iron, nbsp, nbsp boys, nbsp teenagers, nutrition, require, teenager

How to Listen to Young Girls about their Sexual Health

In Tanzania, the sexual health of young girls is one of the biggest problems affecting their wellness. Many adolescent girls in the country report to feeling under threat wherever they go out. They report that they are on the receiving end of unwanted sexual advances when they are running errands, getting water or even when they go to school. Girls say that they feel under a great deal of pressure to give in to these advances, and that they are sometimes raped. Their wellbeing suffers in numerous ways, with some even avoiding going to school because they fear the advances that their teachers will make on them.

 

This worrying news means that girls aged between 12 and 17 in Tanzania are at greater risk of contracting the HIV virus. This is sadly not an isolated statistic; globally, girls are more likely to contract HIV than their male peers. Girls make up 60% of those who are aged between 15 and 24 and are living with the HIV virus.

 

At the heart of all this is the sad truth about gender inequalities in everyday life, and this is the case for many girls in different countries around the world. These harmful gender inequalities affect the mental and physical wellbeing of young girls, and thus is an important issue that needs to be addressed as a priority.

 

There are projects being put in place around the world to help young girls understand the world in which they are living, and the steps that they can take to help protect themselves. These programmes treat young girls as capable equals, who can address and define their own needs and help to protect themselves from HIV viruses at the same time. This is an inclusive process, where young girls work as youth researchers, who find out what the problems are in the community for themselves, and then help to think of the solutions.

Categories: advances, gender inequalities, girls, health, hiv virus, nbsp, Sex, sexual health, tanzania, world, young, young girls

South Africa reports Over 25% of Schoolgirls have HIV

The South African Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has reported sexual health news that, in his words, has ‘destroyed my soul’. According to Mr Motsoaledi, “sugar daddies” are exploiting the countries schoolgirls, meaning that at least 28% are HIV positive, compared with just 4% of South African boys.

Official statistics show that roughly 10% of South Africans are now living with HIV, a disease that seriously threatens your wellbeing. As a result, South Africa has launched an ambitious programme to tackle HIV and Aids, and Mr Motsoaledi has been widely praised for his efforts to curb the disease. Yet, the health minister was also forced to admit, as reported in The Sowetan newspaper, that 94,000 schoolgirls also fell pregnant in 2011, and 77,000 had abortions at state facilities. He claimed this was, again, due to the exploitation of sugar daddies.

Since President Jacob Zuma appointed him South African health minister in 2009, Mr Motsoaledi has run the largest anti-retroviral (ARV) programme in the world. According to official statistics, after Mr Motsoaledi took office, the number of HIV-positive people receiving life-saving ARV drugs more than doubled from 678,500 to 1.5 million. With the previous government, led by former President Thabo Mbeki, the link between HIV and Aids was questioned, and it was argued that the government could not afford to roll out this treatment to all the South Africans who needed it.

In spite of Mr Motsoaledi’s ARV success, however, comes the “soul-destroying” news that older men are still taking advantage of young girls, causing a disproportionate rise in cases of HIV. Speaking at a public meeting in the town of Carolina in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, Mr Motsoaledi said the large number of young girls who were HIV-positive ‘destroyed my soul’ because ‘it is clear that it is not young boys who are sleeping with these girls. It is old men.’

The Sowetan also quoted him as saying, ‘We must take a stand against sugar daddies because they are destroying our children.’ He added that the disease even affected the wellness of some pregnant girls, who were aged between 10 and 14, as they also tested positive for HIV. ‘77 000 girls had abortions at public facilities,’ he said. ‘We can no longer live like that. We want to put an end to it.’

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South Africa reports Over 25% of Schoolgirls have HIV

Categories: girls, HIV, South Africa