Extension News: Youth Archives

Changing the Scene launches Web page

Since 2003, Changing the Scene, UNH Cooperative Extension's school wellness initiative, has worked with school personnel in 403 New Hampshire schools and five Head Start programs, to help the schools improve their overall nutrition and fitness environment.

Based on a U.S. Department of Agriculture program, Changing the Scene works by enlisting school nurses, school lunch personnel, teachers and administrators to survey and improve the entire school environment, from school cafeteria meals to snacks served at classroom birthday celebrations, from expanding exercise opportunities for students and staff to reaching out with health and fitness messages to parents and the general public.

Three-quarters of participating schools have already taken significant steps that include buying fitness equipment, starting before-school walking programs, adding nutrition education to the curriculum, and developing newsletters to send home to parents.

Parents, educators, healthcare professionals and others who want to learn more about this health promotion effort, please stop by our Changing the Scene Web pages, where you'll find success stories from participating schools, sample newsletters, curriculum materials, tips on improving children's nutrition and increasing physical activity, and more

2nd-time winners in financial lifeskills competition move on to nationals in Orlando

For the second time, Sullivan County 4-H has won the state championship in the 2007 New Hampshire Jump$tart Coalition's LifeSmarts financial literacy competition.

The team of five high school students: team captain Allen Abendroth, Rachel Shklar, Amy Barriger, Rebecca Mailhot, and alternate Caroline Mailhot, beat high school teams from Winnacunnet, Raymond, Newfound Regional, Mascoma Valley, and Interlakes Regional.

The Sullivan County team will represent New Hampshire at the LifeSmarts National Competition April 21 to 24 in Orlando, Florida.

What can a child learn down a garden path? Just about everything they need to know, it turns out.

Child care providers, teachers, parents, and others who work with young children will gather for the 3rd annual Growing a Green Generation conference on gardening with children, Saturday, March 17, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Child Study and Development Center at the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham, New Hampshire.

The day will be packed with hands-on workshops led by early childhood teachers and plant science educators. Participants will learn ways to help young children to learn and grow through year-round gardening activities.

Participants will learn from the experts during hands-on sessions in the UNH horticulture research greenhouses. Specialists in Permaculture will share how these techniques might support gardening with young children. UNH Extension educator Margaret Hagen will explain the use of charts and tables from the Growing a Green Generation curriculum, and UNH Extension program coordinator Dot Perkins will focus on integrated pest management.

Afternoon workshops by early childhood teachers and extension educators include: Gardening in an Urban Environment; Gardening with Infants and Toddlers and Creating a Community Garden, One School’s Story.

People registering by March 1 will receive the early-bird discount rate of $75.00; after March 1, the fee rises to $85.00, which includes breakfast, lunch, and all sessions. For more information or to register, download this brochure, or call 862-3200.

During the holidays we traditionally think about providing food to those who can’t afford to provide for themselves. While the holidays are difficult for families with limited incomes, many families must search year-round for food from emergency sources, such as food pantries and soup kitchens.

The New Hampshire Food Bank, the only food bank in New Hampshire, knows the challenges of hunger all too well. Serving more than 350 soup kitchens, shelters, and food pantries throughout New Hampshire, the Food Bank distributed 3.9 million pounds of food last year—up from just over two million in 2004, according to Melanie Gosselin, the Food Bank’s executive director. By supporting the New Hampshire Food Bank, you are supporting an organization that “feeds the programs that feed the hungry.”

New Hampshire’s emergency food system: straining from the need
More than 95,000 people in New Hampshire live below the federal poverty guideline, $20,000 annual income for a family of four. An additional 120,000 people live in households with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level.

The majority of New Hampshire’s poor adults hold jobs, but earn low wages. From 2000 to 2005 New Hampshire experienced a loss of manufacturing jobs and an increase in low-wage retail jobs. We see this shift reflected in the rise in use of federal food assistance programs and food pantries.

Last year 56,338 people received food stamp benefits in New Hampshire, yet only 54 percent of the households eligible to receive the benefits choose to participate in the program. This lack of full participation in the federal nutrition assistance programs strains the already-burdened emergency food system. Even when families participate in the food stamp program, they must still rely to some extent on the emergency food system, since average monthly food assistance benefit per person is $80.56.
 
Studies reveal the extent of hunger and need in New Hampshire
America’s Second Harvest, the organization that provides networks for more than 800 food banks around the country conducted a national survey in 2005 to determine the extent of need in each state. Food pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens reported increases in requests for their services and survey respondents verified their need to visit one or more food pantries a month in order to meet their family’s nutritional needs. Here in New Hampshire:

• 45 percent of respondents said they had to choose to pay medical bills before food
• 42 percent choose to pay for utilities before food
• 27 percent reported paying for rent before food

The recently released New Hampshire’s Basic Needs and Livable Wage Study indicates that a family of four (two parents, two children, both parents working) must have an income of $48,625 to meet their basic needs—is two to two-and-a-half times more than the average low-wage employee earns annually. The study defines the basic needs as food, shelter, heating fuel, transportation, taxes, basic telephone service, childcare, healthcare, and some clothing allowances. It assumes the family prepares all of their food from home and doesn’t count cable television or internet services—living conditions most of us would consider stark at best.

These aren’t temporary statistics occurring only during the holidays. These figures persist throughout the year and are on the rise. Census and federal nutrition assistance program data show a steady increase in individuals and families looking for sources of food to meet their basic needs.

In October the United States Department of Agriculture released their 2005 Household Food Security Study, which indicates the percentage of people who have difficulty buying enough food for their families because they don’t have enough money. The USDA survey reports:

• Nearly 7 percent of New Hampshire households experience food insecurity because they don’t have money to buy enough food to meet their family’s nutritional needs.
  
  
• More than 2 percent report going without food for a number of days at some point during the year because they didn’t have enough money to buy food.

Need for emergency food supplies will continue
Unless these root causes of hunger and food insecurity change, many families in New Hampshire will continue to require emergency food assistance to meet minimum nutrition needs. You can support the New Hampshire Food Bank with donations of money, food, or time. The virtual food drive is a welcome effort to combat hunger in New Hampshire. Every dollar donated to the food bank has the buying power of four meals. Donations of food with high nutritional value and volunteering are all welcome sources of support.

By Helen E. Costello, MS, RD, LD, UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections Program Food Security Consultant

Costello chairs the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the America Dietetic Association and sits on the advisory councils for both the UNH Center for a Food Secure Future and the New Hampshire Food Bank.

For more information about hunger and food security in New Hampshire:

• Extension’s hunger and food security pages
• UNH Center for a Food-Secure Future
• New Hampshire Food Bank

UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development program challenges all youth, their parents, and community youth programs to walk 70 miles—the width of New Hampshire—by June 1st.

All participants in 4-H Get Up and Go become part of a larger statewide initiative, Walk New Hampshire (Walk NH), designed by the Foundation for Healthy Communities and led by pediatrician Dr. Susan Lynch, wife of Governor John Lynch.

Why should only kids benefit? Adults need exercise, too, so we designed 4-H Get Up and Go to encourage parents and other adults to lace up their walking shoes and join their kids in a walk across New Hampshire.

Away from the distractions of work, television, and computers, a long walk or hike makes for quality family time. By becoming more active themselves, parents will model health-promoting fitness for their children.

We also want community groups, including after-school programs, churches, and other community groups to put their best foot forward by becoming 4-H Get Up and Go partners.

4-H Get Up and Go participants will receive a Walk NH log book to record their miles and a special 4-H Get Up and Go Footprint Banner Kit. Volunteers will stitch the banners from all over the state into a single banner, and present it to Governor and Dr. Lynch at a special celebration in June.

Adults and youth who reach their goal will receive an “I Walked NH” certificate from Gov. Lynch and an invitation to join the June celebration.

There’s no charge for participating in this statewide youth and family fitness program.

4-H Get Up and Go is sponsored by UNH Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the Foundation for Healthy Communities, PlusTimeNH, and Operation Military Kids, with support from the Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation.

For information or to register, download this brochure, or contact Jay Martin or Julia Steed Mawson, at 641-6060.

Walking Resources

• Walk New Hampshire
• Walking for Fitness Overview
• Starting Up and Staying Safe
• CDC’s Kids-Walk-to-School Program

From Thanksgiving through Valentine’s Day, we Americans spike our long winter darkness with holidays, bowl games and other special events marked by feasting, food exchanges and a general celebration of abundance.

Yet, according to a report released November 19 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, last year 36.3 million Americans either went hungry or reported uncertainty about getting enough to eat at some point during the year. This figure includes 13 million children.

By national standards, New Hampshire , with the fourth-highest median household income in the nation, has a relatively low rate of hunger. Yet our state’s affluence masks the harsh truth that tens of thousands of Granite State residents can’t stretch their incomes to meet the basic food requirements for healthy living.

Hunger and food insecurity in New Hampshire

Although we don’t have hard data on hunger and food insecurity in New Hampshire , we can gauge its incidence through related indicators like these:

• A U.S. Census Bureau report issued last August estimated that 96,000 New Hampshire people lived below the federal poverty guidelines ($18, 850 for a family of four) at some point during 2003, up from 79, 200 in 2002 and 63,300 in 2000. Most of these people rely on a combination of government food assistance programs and emergency food providers to get enough to eat.
  
  
• The 2003 USDA Household Food security survey revealed that 45 percent of households reporting hunger or food insecurity have incomes above 130 percent of official poverty levels, meaning they probably don’t quality for federal food assistance programs.
  
  “We have real concerns for the thousands of people who earn just enough that they don’t qualify for food stamps and other government assistance programs,” says Val Long, Nutrition Coordinator for UNH Cooperative Extension’s Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program.
  
  “Steep increases in the costs of housing, fuel, transportation and healthcare, as well as food, haven’t been matched by increases in wages. A lot of working families have begun depending on emergency food pantries to feed their families. The emergency food system was intended to be just that: help for temporary emergencies. But people have begun relying on it chronically. That shouldn’t happen in the United States . It’s not an acceptable way to ensure that people are getting a nutritionally adequate diet that keeps them active and healthy.”
  
  
• In 2000, 36,266 New Hampshire residents received food stamps. By 2004, that number had risen to 48,449.
  
  
• Survey results released in December by the National Low Income Housing Coalition indicate that to afford the average two-bedroom apartment (including utilities) in New Hampshire , a worker must earn $16.75 per hour, more than three times the federal minimum wage.
  
  
• By the end of 2004, the New Hampshire Food Bank will have distributed about four million pounds of food to nonprofit and emergency food providers throughout New Hampshire —a million more pounds than last year, according to executive director Melanie Gosselin. “In one year, we expanded membership from 240 agencies to 342,” she says.

New Hampshire ’s emergency food providers

The federal government’s nutrition safety net, which includes the Food Stamp Program, the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) and the School Meals Program, has traditionally built nutritious food and nutrition education into their programs.

In recent years, the net has frayed. Many low- and moderate-income people with incomes too high to qualify for food stamps and other government assistance programs can’t keep up with the escalating costs of housing, home heating fuel, and transportation. Responding to an increase in need, the state’s charitable emergency food system has grown dramatically in recent years.

Founded in 1984 as a program of Catholic Charities, the New Hampshire Food Bank serves as a centralized warehouse and distribution center for a network of nonprofit daycare centers, senior feeding sites, emergency food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

The New Hampshire Food Bank maintains an affiliation with a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks and perishable food “rescue operations” called America ’s Second Harvest . The nationwide organization takes advantage of its collective buying and bargaining power, and today serves local agencies that feed needy people in every county in the U.S.

The New Hampshire Food Bank receives food from grocery stores, wholesalers, farmers and individuals, as well as cash donations from individuals, organizations and a variety of fundraising activities. The Food Bank requires its members to acquire nonprofit status, have refrigeration if they plan to store perishable foods, and undergo periodic inspections that ensure safe food handling practices. Agencies preparing food onsite must have state-certified commercial kitchens.

Some emergency food facilities offer classes that promote nutrition and cooking skills to the agencies and their clients. For example, a nationwide program called Operation Frontline, pairs nutritionists with chefs from local restaurants to teach cooking skills and nutrition to clients of emergency food pantries. UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections staff in Hillsborough and Rockingham counties have collaborated with Operation Frontline to teach classes which deliver nutrition education to Food Stamp clients.

In addition, some food pantries provide other services that range from cash assistance to meet emergency needs for housing, fuel, clothing, and medicine, to job training and health screenings and clinics.

Observations from the field

Persis Gow, the bookkeeper for St. Paul ’s Church Food Pantry in Concord , has noticed an increase in demand on the pantry in recent years and months. “In January 2004, we served people from 25 surrounding towns. In November, we had people from 30 towns,” she says. “In 2001 we added 363 new families—people we’d never seen before. Already this year we’ve had 400 new families, with December figures not in yet. In 2001 we served 3688 children under 18; in 2004, to date, we’ve had 4228.

Gow says people who visit the pantry include elders, single parents, and people with disabilities. “But lately, I’ve noted an increase in the number of traditional, stable, working families—mother, father and children, all with the same last name,” she says. “That’s new.”

Dot Hunt has served as treasurer of St. John’s St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Concord for the past 22 years. “There are at least 27 food pantries here in Merrimack County , and we’re all busy. Our numbers are up, with 400 new families this year. As many as 1200 individuals pass through each month,” she says. “We’re seeing more elderly, more working families and—what’s new for us—more single young people. Sometimes three or four single people will be living together and one will come in to get food for them all.”

Hunt says the pantry also provides emergency help with rent, medicine, fuel and clothing. “Usually I get about 12-14 requests a month for help with fuel and rent. But one month not too long ago, I had 60 calls. We’re seeing a lot of people facing eviction.”

2005 hunger study

In 2005, the N.H. Food Bank will participate in the Hunger in America Survey that America ’s Second Harvest conducts every four years. “This will be the first time New Hampshire has joined the survey,” says Erin Chamberlain, the N.H. Food Bank’s program services director. The two-part study will collect demographic data from face-to-face interviews with clients of emergency food pantries and soup kitchens, as well as from a survey of provider agencies themselves. “It will give us hard data about who is hungry in New Hampshire and how they deal with it,” says Chamberlain. “The study will also help us learn about what our member agencies are doing for the people in need and what more we could do for [the agencies].”

If you or someone you know needs food

If you face a family food emergency, or know someone who does, find the most available source of food. Call the Nutrition Connections staff person in your county or call your town hall and ask how and where to apply for local welfare. If you have children in school, go to the school nurse for help finding out whether your children qualify for free or reduced lunches. The New Hampshire Assistance Handbook offers sections on eligibility and how to sign up for food stamps WIC, and other government assistance programs.

If you want to help

Besides educating yourself about the extent of hunger and food insecurity in your own community, you can also participate in a local food drive, contribute cash to the Food Bank, or volunteer your time at a food pantry or soup kitchen.

Donating directly to the N.H. Food Bank instead of purchasing food products yourself increases the buying power of your donations. “A $10 donation to the N.H. Food Bank will buy 40 meals for hungry people,” says Gosselin. “Our buying power allows us to sell food to local pantries at only 18 cents a pound.”

Since most local pantries or soup kitchens run on volunteer labor, citizens can also consider donating time. Call to find out if an emergency food provider near you (link to list of emergency food providers) needs help.

Resources 

Nutrition Connections
This list connects you with UNH Cooperative Extension county staff who provide nutrition education to low-income individuals and families in New Hampshire. Staff can help connect you with emergency food resources.

New Hampshire Food Bank
New Hampshire ’s only food bank; warehouses and distributes food to a statewide network of 342 member agencies.

America ’s Second Harvest - America’s Food Bank Network
A nationwide network of more than 200 food banks and “food rescue” operations.

Serve New England
An “alternative to food shopping” that offers families of any income level deep discounts on major brand name foods in exchange for at least two hours of volunteer service each month. New Hampshire has 35 pick-up locations. You can buy a package of frozen meats, fresh fruits and vegetables at about half the grocery store price. No limit on how much food you can buy. Call 1-800-603-4855 for nearest location.

New Hampshire Assistance Handbook

Published in 2003, but updated for 2004, the handbook contains a listing of critical resources for people in need, including food assistance, shelters for the homeless and for battered women, nutrition education, legal assistance, fuel assistance, social services, and much more.

Kids Café
A service of the Salvation Army. Serves dinner to needy Manchester children, followed by an hour of crafts or games, four nights a week

The Paradox of Hunger and Obesity in America
Obese, but hungry and malnourished? This paper, issued jointly by Brandeis University ’s Center on Hunger and Poverty and the Food Research & Action Center , helps explain the apparent paradox of how dual threats of hunger and obesity can co-exist in individuals and families.

By Peg Boyles, UNH Cooperative Extension writer/editor, and Helen Costello, Food Security Coordinator

See also: "It can happen to anybody."

The war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism changed the face of our military and those who serve our country. These families need support. To help this coming summer, UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Camps will offer free week of summer camp to children of deployed parents.

UNH Cooperative Extension and the NH National Guard collaborated with the National Military Family Association and Sears, Roebuck and Co. to provide a summer camp experience for children of military families this summer.

This summer camp experience will provide a unique offering for those involved in the military and those involved with UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development to create a community just for children of military families.

Are you, or do you know someone who is a member of any branch of the military service? Is there a child in the family who would like to go to camp this summer, free?

As a way to do something special for children from military families, Operation Purple Camp takes place at the University of New Hampshire’s 4-H Bear Hill Camp from August 14 to August 19. UNH 4-H Bear Hill Camp is located in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown.

The National Military Family Association (NMFA), through the financial support of Sears, developed the camps, 22 this year, as a way to get children from across the military services together to learn from one another and share their experiences in dealing with deployment-related stress.

They will learn about different cultures, share talents, gain new skills and most importantly, enjoy much-deserved carefree fun and treasured lifetime memories. The New Hampshire outdoors provides a natural learning environment that helps young people put the chaos of their every day life on the back burner for a week while having fun “being a kid.” The UNH 4-H Youth Development program is dedicating a week of camp this coming summer to serve military youth from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and other states.

Funding for the Operation Purple at UNH 4-H Bear Hill Camp is from Sears, Roebuck and Co.  Sears’ partnership with NMFA is part of the Sears American Dream Campaign, the company’s multi-year, $100 million commitment to strengthen families, homes and communities.

Operation Purple Camp at UNH 4-H Bear Hill is available to children of military personnel, targeting kids 8-16 years of age. All are encouraged to apply.

The goal of Operation Purple at UNH 4-H Camp Bear Hill is to have all branches of service represented, with emphasis on those service branches from New Hampshire and the New England region. First priority will be to those youth who have a deployed or recently deployed parent (or other family member residing in the same house as camper). Deployment must occur from June 2004 to September 2006.

The registration process runs from April 15 to May 15. Families can call 603-862-2184 to get an application for Operation Purple at UNH 4-H Bear Hill Camp or visit the website and click on the Register for Operation Purple. Click on the Operation Camp Purple logo to learn more about the program nationally.

Background Information

About NMFA

NMFA is a predominantly volunteer-operated 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization with a dedicated group of volunteer representatives, based around the world.  These representatives are the “eyes and ears” of the association. Through their daily lives they embody the military lifestyle, including active duty, reserve, Guard and retirees.  They also interact, educate and inform military families of their benefits.  In so doing, they contribute to the association’s mission: to improve the quality of life for all military families through education, information and advocacy. For more information about the NMFA visit the association Web site.

About the Sears American Dream Campaign

Sears’ partnership with NMFA is part of the Sears American Dream Campaign, the company’s multi-year, $100 million commitment to strengthen families, homes and communities.  From helping low- and moderate-income homeowners nationwide outfit and maintain their homes to assisting victims of natural disasters to providing thousands of children with new apparel, the Sears American Dream Campaign is making a meaningful difference in communities across the nation. For more information about the Sears American Dream Campaign, visit the campaign Web site.

by Chris Conlon, UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Camps Manager

Focus on Fashion
Early in the morning of August 10th, more than 40 New Hampshire 4-H teens and their adult chaperones boarded a bus bound for New York City — center of the nation’s fashion industry—where they will spend four days exploring career opportunities in the fashion business.

Teens in general have a keen interest in fashion, and many 4-H teens have worked on clothing and textiles 4-H projects for many years. Older teens have also begun thinking about their futures. To help teen 4-H’ers connect their skills and interests with their futures, the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire has sponsored a Focus on Fashion trip to the Big Apple every four years since 1993

“The purpose of the trip is to introduce kids to careers in the clothing and textiles industries by introducing them to the tremendous diversity and vastness of it,” says Lynn Garland, the 4-H Youth Development educator who organized this year’s trip. “They get to see the differences in techniques, equipment, processes, and range of fabrics between home construction and highly specialized kinds of commercial construction. The get to see aspects of the industry they may never have imagined.”

“Our itinerary this year includes behind-the-scenes visits to the garment district, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Fairchild Publications—the publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, the George Simonton’s LPS Apparel Fashion Company, and a shop in the trendy retail SOHO district owned by a woman who left the field of investment banking to follow her dream of designing hats,” says Garland. “We’ll also visit Ellis Island and take in a show at Radio City Music Hall.”

From 4-H sewing projects to Broadway and beyond
If 4-H had offered the Focus on Fashion in the mid-1980s, former Milford 4-H’er Sue McLaughlin would almost certainly have signed up to go.

Her passion for sewing and other crafts, and the artistic, spatial, and people skills McLaughlin acquired during a decade in her mother’s 4-H club, eventually propelled her to Broadway and beyond. After seven years in the wardrobe department at Lincoln Center, McLaughlin joined the acclaimed New Amsterdam Theater production of The Lion King, where she had responsibility for “dressing” the characters of Scar and Zuzu. She later toured with the show for 15 months to cities all over the U.S., maintaining the show’s hundreds of exotic puppets.

“I made it myself”
Because 4-H encourages and enables kids to stay involved in projects long-term, McLaughlin stuck with sewing. She became good at it, and even began designing her own patterns. She took up knitting, woodworking, and other crafts, and excelled at them all.

“I loved being able to say, ‘I made it myself,’” she says.

After high school, McLaughlin worked a couple of years to save money for college, then enrolled in Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York—close to New York City and its theaters, so she could follow her dream of becoming an actress.

After graduation, she headed for Broadway, but quickly discovered acting wasn’t for her. “I found auditioning before strangers intimidating and overwhelming,” she says.

“By chance, I got a job as a personal assistant, or ‘dresser,’ for an actress working at Lincoln Center in the production of My Favorite Year,” says McLaughlin. A dresser is someone who helps the actors in and out of their costumes during performances, takes care of costumes, keeps them clean, ironed and in good repair—eight or more performances a week can put a lot of strain the costumes,” especially in shows with a lot of dancing,” McLaughlin says. “There are safety issues involved as well.”

“That first job enabled me to join the Theatrical Wardrobe Union,” she says. “The wardrobe supervisor kept asking me back, and I worked a series of shows at the Center.”

“4-H gave me skills I could market”
“Once I got backstage, I knew it was where I belonged and what I wanted to do,” McLaughlin says. I realized 4-H had given me real solid skills I could market: my sewing skills gave me the tools I needed to look after the costumes; my knowledge of how to work with people helped me understand working with people under the kinds of pressure (theater) people work under.”

McLaughlin stayed in the wardrobe department at Lincoln Center seven years, working in such productions as Carousel, The Heiress, Hello Again, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Juan Darien. She moved from dresser into other jobs, including assistant wardrobe supervisor, and wardrobe supervisor in small shows.

When she heard of an opening for a dresser for The Lion King, she sent over her resume and got the job. As one of 16 dressers for the show’s 45 actors, she spent much of the next few years in “the bunker,” a huge room under the stage where the actors dress for the show. In photos, the place looks chaotic, with costumes and parts of costumes draped on benches, stuffed into plastic laundry baskets under the benches, hanging from walls, and poking from cubicles. Part of the dressers’ job involves calming the chaos, placing every part of every costume in a precise location for easy access.

Later, when McLaughlin went on tour 15 months with The Lion King as one of three people in charge of maintaining the show’s hundreds of puppets, she used her 4-H spatial and artistic skills to pick up new skills. “I learned to paint with tiny brushes,” she says. “I learned to repair carbon fiber materials using toxic epoxies that required a respirator. I’d worked so much with power tools in 4-H, I had no fear of learning to use new ones; coworkers taught me to sand and to weld. Some of The Lion King puppets actually contain several actors and are constructed around welded metal frames that need maintenance.

“A chance to use my desire and my talent to help people”
Despite “having to work mostly nights and weekends, which made it hard to socialize with anyone outside the theater,” McLaughlin says, “I loved my job. I loved my co-workers. It’s been fantastic. But I fell out of love with New York City. The pace is so driven. I’ve always felt like a fish out of water there.”

Through a colleague, she learned about a graduate program at Pratt Institute in creative arts therapy that would allow her to take summer intensive courses in Lincoln, New Hampshire, and work and serve internships during the rest of the year.

McLaughlin seized on the program as an opportunity “to use my desire and my talent to help people through art,” she says.

To complete the portfolio required for application to Pratt, McLaughlin once again pulled out skills gained in 4-H: “I designed a dress and submitted some wheel-thrown earthenware pottery,” she says. She also had to fall back on her 4-H work ethic. Before Pratt would even admit her into the creative arts therapy program, McLaughlin had to take an additional two years of courses in oil painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and psychology.

“A window through which to see that everyone has something valuable to offer”
Now working part-time at The Lion King (she’s on tour with the production this month), and halfway through the demanding graduate program, McLaughlin finds herself anticipating a new career. She did an internship with young children last year; this fall, she’ll intern at a day treatment center for drug addicts in the South Bronx.

“Being able to do art with people, helping them find new ways to express themselves, is very exciting,” she says. “And yes, I do see myself coming back to New England.”

Looking both backward and forward, McLaughlin says she gets continuing inspiration from something she heard during a round-robin discussion at a national 4-H conference years ago: “I don’t even remember what I said myself that day, but one of my peers observed that ‘4-H gives us a window through which to see that everyone has something valuable to offer.’ I’ve carried that with me ever since.”

Along with the excitement of a new school year, some students and parents have concerns about bullying in the schools. Studies show most bullying happens at school or on the way to and from school.

The issue of bullying has received a great deal of media attention since the 1999 school shooting at Columbine. Bullying has long been considered part of growing up, but has emerged as an important issue that youth, parents, schools and communities have begun joining together to address. Research shows that bullying is common among children. It is often vicious and cruel and should be looked at as an early form of aggressive, violent behavior. By the age of twenty-four, 60 percent of bullies have criminal records as well as more arrests for drunken driving, domestic violence and child abuse.

Bullying research

Bullies try to control other children by using words or physical means. Bullying usually involves an imbalance of power or strength. Dr. Melissa Holt of the UNH Family Research Laboratory/Crimes Against Children Research Center, reports these interesting findings:

• Current estimates suggest that nearly 30 percent of American students are involved in bullying as a bully, victim or both bully and victim.
• Students more likely to be victimized by their peers include males, students who don’t "fit in," and those who are obese, in remedial education or have developmental disabilities.
• Victimization has been linked to depression, loneliness, low self esteem and school avoidance.
• Students who bully are more likely to have behavioral, emotional or learning problems, be male, be from homes that display indifference to their child or condone fighting back
• Most studies have documented that teachers report lower prevalence rates of bullying than students do. Special attention paid to the school environment, school staff behaviors and student skill development can result in a safer school.

According to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, bullies may be impulsive, easily frustrated, rebellious, and view violence in a positive way.

Bullying tends to start in the early school-age years. It escalates during elementary school and peaks during middle school. By late middle school or high school some bullies are involved in criminal behavior or may become involved with gangs. At this age bullies can become violent and/or antisocial. They are more likely to get into fights, vandalize, steal, drink alcohol, smoke, start skipping school or even drop out. They may start carrying a weapon. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau has educational materials on bullying.

Bullying involves both boys and girls

Both boys and girls engage in bullying. Verbal bullying, such as making threats, name calling, using sarcasm, and teasing tends to be the most common form of bullying in both genders. However, boys can be more physical; pushing, kicking and hitting. Girls can be more indirect, such as spreading rumors or leaving a child out of activities. Bullying can also occur via e-mail or instant messaging.

Both boys and girls become victims of bullies. While the most common form of bullying for both genders is verbal, boys report more often having been physically bullied. Girls are more likely to say they are the subject of rumor-spreading and sexual comments. Both boys and girls use social exclusion as a way to bully others. Bullies may also threaten not to be someone's friend if the friend refuses to do what they say. Boys are likely to be bullied by other boys. Both boys and girls bully girls.

Signs of bullying

Many warning signs may indicate your child is being bullied:

• Avoiding going to school
• Having grades drop
• Wanting to be dropped off or picked up at school more than usual
• Coming home with torn clothing, bruises or other signs of physical harm
• Complaining of having been "robbed" of money or other possessions
• Showing signs of fear, anxiety or depression
• Having trouble sleeping, frequent bad dreams
• Complaining frequently of headaches, stomach aches or other physical ailments
• Having few, if any, friends with whom he or she spends time

Working to stop bullying

We can all work together to stem the incidence of bullying.

• Kids can ask for help and tell others when they are, or when they observe others, being bullied. If they feel safe, they can tell the bully directly to stop the behavior.
• Parents can learn more about dealing with bullying. They can talk with their children, teachers and counselors if they suspect their child is being bullied or is bullying others.
• Schools can develop an effective bullying prevention program and work to create an environment that encourages courteous and respectful treatment of one another. Bullying situations require close communication between school and parents.
• Communities can encourage partnerships among schools, youth groups, non-profit organizations, the spiritual community and law enforcement agencies to help youth and adults develop tolerance, mutual respect, and skills to deal with bullying situations. Bullying is a form of victimization, not conflict. Therefore, rather than mediating a bullying situation, it is important to send the clear message that bullying is inappropriate behavior that must stop immediately, and that no one deserves to be bullied.
• States can enact laws such as New Hampshire's RSA193-F:3 Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention. This law requires each school board to adopt a pupil safety and violence prevention policy which addresses pupil harassment. A 2004 amendment requires school districts to notify the parents or legal guardians of the district’s policies on bullying, and requires schools to report bullying incidents both by telephone and by a written report sent by mail to the parent or legal guardian of the pupils involved.

Charlotte W. Cross, UNH Cooperative Extension Professor/Specialist, 4H Youth Development.

A recent nationwide study by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) confirms and provides fresh insights into what many teachers and others who work with teenagers already know: American teens don't get enough sleep. 

As a consequence, more than a quarter of high school students report falling asleep at school at least once a week; more than half report driving when they feel sleepy; and nearly a third of teens say they need two or more caffeinated beverages per day to stay awake.

What’s more, nine of 10 parents believe their teens are getting enough sleep, revealing a huge awareness gap between teens and parents.

Adolescence brings changes in brain chemistry

Teenagers’ late-to-bed, sleep-until-noon habits may seem related to stereotypical adolescent defiance. However, brain scientists tell us that teen brain chemistry differs from the chemistry of both adults and younger children. Teens start to secrete melatonin, a hormone that helps to trigger drowsiness at the end of the day, up to two hours later than younger children. This normal hormonal shift causes teens to feel more alert later at night and to wake up later in the morning.

Combine this delay in chemical signals with teens’ obligations to school, homework, paid work, as well as the attractions of TV, video games, the Internet, and interaction with peers, and the result is a serious sleep deficit for many teens. 

The NSF's 2006 Sleep in America poll conducted last fall randomly surveyed 1,600 households across the U.S. The poll, fashioned by experts on adolescent sleep, asked questions of one family member between the ages of 11 and 17 and one parent or guardian in the same household in order to compare their responses. 

Sleep study's key findings

• More than a quarter of high school students report that they fell asleep in school at least once a week in the past two weeks; 14 percent say they arrived late or missed school because they overslept.
• Just one in five adolescents gets an optimal nine hours of sleep on school nights; nearly one-half (45 percent) sleep less than eight hours on school nights.
• The average 6th-grader sleeps about of 8.4 hours on school nights, while a typical high school senior sleeps just 6.9 hours.
• Over the course of a week, high school seniors miss nearly 12 hours of needed sleep.
• More than half of adolescents report feeling too tired or sleepy during the day.
• More than half of adolescents say they know they get less sleep than they need to feel their best.
• Eighty percent of adolescents who get an optimal amount of sleep say they’re achieving As and Bs in school, while adolescents who get insufficient amounts of sleep are more likely than their peers to get lower grades.
• Among those adolescents who say they’re unhappy or tense most often, 73 percent feel they don’t get enough sleep at night and 59 percent stay they feel sleepy during the day.
• Nine out of 10 parents believe their teens get enough sleep most nights of the week.

Unhealthy behaviors

• Driving drowsy: More than half (51 percent) who drive say they’ve driven while drowsy during the past year.
• Frequently consuming caffeinated beverages and foods: 31 percent of those surveyed drink two or more caffeinated beverages a day.
• Napping: 38 percent of surveyed high school students took at least two naps per week in the two weeks preceding their poll interview.
• Giving up on exercise: 28 percent of adolescents say they felt too tired or sleepy to exercise.
• Sleeping late on weekends: Most adolescents are sleeping between 1.2 and 1.9 hours longer on non-school nights.

UNH Cooperative Extension has Family & Consumer Resources educators in each county http://extension.unh.edu/Counties/Counties.htm who offer a variety of parenting programs. If you have questions about parenting teenagers (or younger children), or if you’re interested in the local schedule of Extension parenting programs, contact the county office and ask for the parent educator.

 by Thom Linehan, Family & Consumer Resources Educator, MerrimackCounty


For more information about teens and sleep

• Adolescent Sleep Needs and Patterns
  Full report on teenage sleep habits from the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 nationwide survey.
   
  
• Signs and symptoms of sleep deprivation in teens
  
  
• Living with your teen: Adolescents and Sleep
  
  

• Later high school start times
  Starting high school later in the day may be an effective way to apply knowledge of adolescent sleep needs. This report describes the experience in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which adjusted their high school start times to accommodate adolescent biology.
  
  
• Lack of sleep
  Learn more about how lack of sleep may affect adolescents

Divorce is hard on everyone, but especially children. Getting tangled up in the legal system can be confusing and can lead to wars between parents, where there are “winners” and “losers” of the divorce. What’s really best, however, is when both parents feel they have won, because this promotes better outcomes for children.

The laws that regulate a state’s divorce procedures can contribute to whether or not parents come out feeling like winners or losers. In the best of cases, the state legislature can provide guidelines on how to make divorce less adversarial. The state of New Hampshire recently has done just that. The State’s Task Force on Family Law has revamped the laws that regulate divorce procedures in the state of New Hampshire. The Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act, which will take effect October 1, changes substantially how the state of New Hampshire approaches divorce.

In the best interests of the child
Weighing what is “in the best interests of the child” has served as the foundation of all child custody decisions since the early 1970’s. Most states outline how to determine what is in the best interests of children, and now New Hampshire will as well, using criteria that include:

• The relationship of the child with each parent
• The ability of each parent to provide the child with love, affection and guidance
• The ability of each parent to ensure that the child’s basic needs are met
• The child’s developmental needs and the ability of each parent to meet them
• The ability of each parent to support a relationship between the child and the other parent and to foster frequent and continuing contact with that parent
• The ability of the parents to communicate with each other
• Evidence of family violence or maltreatment

Language
Enter a New Hampshire courtroom in the near future, and you may be surprised by the language being used. Like many other states, New Hampshire has abandoned value-laden terms, such as sole physical custodian, in favor of more neutral terms, such as residential responsibility, when talking about with whom the child lives. Below are the new terms and the old terms they replace:

• Parental rights and responsibilities: This term replaces the old concept of “custody,” setting forth what rights parents enjoy as parents and what responsibilities the state expects them to meet. It specifies the role each parent will have in making decisions about the children and providing financial support for them.
• Decision-making responsibility: This term replaces “legal custody” and refers to who is legally empowered make substantive decisions about the children’s lives.
• Residential responsibility: This term replaces the old phrase “physical custody.” This new term addresses parents’ responsibilities to provide a home for their children.
• Parenting schedule: This term, adopted by other states as well, replaces the word “visitation.” States and court systems usually adopt this new language, because they want to make sure that “fit parents” never become visitors in their children’s lives. This new language suggests that parents are both permitted and expected to remain parents.

Joint decision-making responsibilities
The new law retains the old presumption that, except in cases of family violence or other forms of maltreatment, parents will adopt joint decision-making responsibilities for their children. To read more about shared parenting visit the Web sites of the Children’s Rights Council or the Shared Parenting Information Group. Both of these resources provide fairly gender-neutral information about joint parenting.

Educational seminars for parents
The new law also retains the old mandate that parents who are divorcing and facing child custody or child support issues must attend an educational child impact seminar before their case can be heard in court. This program, called Children First, broadly addresses how divorce and parental separation affects children. For more information about this program and for a scheduling of its offerings around the state, visit the Web site of Behavioral Health Network.

Mediation
Under the new law, if parents can’t come to an agreement about the terms of their divorce, the court can order the divorcing couple to seek assistance from a mediator. The law doesn’t mandate all disputing couples to use mediation, but specifies that each case be handled on a case-by-case basis. Of course, any couple can voluntarily use mediation if they are having trouble coming to a resolution of their divorce agreement.

For more information about mediation, see this recent issue of Bar Journal of the New Hampshire Bar Association or visit the family section of Mediate.com.

Parenting plans
In many states across the nation, parents are being encouraged to develop a detailed plan for the remainder of their children’s childhoods. The recently adopted New Hampshire divorce law encourages, but does not mandate such plans.

Parenting plans outline how parents will co-parent together and who will be responsible for what. Such a plan is much more specific than a traditional divorce decree and typically includes:

• Decision-making responsibility and residential responsibility for each parent
• A plan for communication, that includes how parents will gain access to and share information about their children
• The child’s legal residence (for school mailings, tax notices, medical provider communications, etc.)
• Parenting schedules, meaning when children will see each of their parents
• Responsibility for what transportation and when
• Procedures to be followed if one of the parents relocates out of the immediate area
• Details of how the plan will be modified in the future
• Guidelines for how disputes will be handled and resolved

In a nutshell, parenting plans are intended to head off future problems. The New Hampshire Bar Association offers a link to good information (from the Massachusetts Bar Association) on how to develop a parenting plan.

For more information

• The final report of the New Hampshire Task Force on Family Law
• Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act
• Helping Children Cope with their Parents’ Divorce

By Emily M. Douglas, Ph.D., UNH Cooperative Extension, assistant extension professor and family education & policy specialist

Youth mappers to chart community resources in Belknap and Strafford Counties

Every community has all sorts of places to go, to learn, to have fun, to work out, to find work and to get or give help, as well as people who make things happen.

But residents can’t connect with resources if they don’t know about them, and community leaders can learn more about the resources their communities lack once they’ve identified the ones they already have.

Identifying and documenting community assets will provide summer work for about 40 young people ages 14-20 in Belknap and Strafford Counties who will pilot a “community youth mapping” process organizers hope will spread statewide.

Between July 20 and August 5, teams of young people working with adult mentors in the pilot counties will fan out into local communities to identify and “map” their local assets. Decked out in colorful t-shirts that identify them as youth mappers, the teams will canvass neighborhoods, surveying businesses, service agencies, recreation programs, churches, health care facilities, emergency services, and a host of other resources, including many not listed in traditional service or business directories.

Once the teams have designed their surveys, conducted their interviews, and recorded their data, they—and perhaps others—will enter their information into an online database with interactive maps they can update and expand as the project grows.

In addition to gaining valuable skills and gaining a broad understanding of their local communities, those involved in the mapping project will earn either academic credit or cash for their work.

Getting young people involved in asset mapping
“Asset mapping is the name given to the process by which community members take stock of community strengths and assets,” says Charlotte Cross, a UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Specialist who organized and leads the project. “Youth mapping brings young people into the process.”

Through her work with nonprofit agencies serving youth, college faculty, businesses, the criminal justice system, community leaders, teachers, school administrators, and parents, Cross had discovered tremendous interest in the concept of youth asset mapping.

“I spent the past three years looking at various models that would offer tools and training materials, and help communities with planning, training and organizing the data collection. The Academy for Educational Development (AED), Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, kept rising to the top,” she said. “They’d developed and tested a model they call Community YouthMapping (CYM) that’s been used in more than 100 sites across the U.S., as well as in other countries, including Haiti, Egypt, the Netherlands and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. AED had credibility and funding from many foundations and government agencies. And they’d developed a nationwide online Community YouthMapping Web site where local teams can store, update and access their information.”

Project history
In March, Cross had recruited a group of five co-sponsoring organizations (see links at end of article) and convened an orientation meeting to gauge interest in community youth mapping, inviting an AED consultant to give a presentation on the specifics of the organization’s CYM model.

“We had a tremendous response,” Cross says. “Seventy people showed up, representing youth-serving organizations from all over New Hampshire, and 30 said they’d be willing to serve on a statewide CYM steering committee.

“What’s more, two agencies immediately stepped forward and offered themselves as pilot sites for this initiative: the Community Response Coalition (CoRe), in Belknap County and the Transition Resource Network at Strafford Learning Center, covering Strafford County. The two groups collectively committed $77,800 of their existing funding to pilot the initiative locally.” The county sponsors recruited youth for the project through schools and youth-serving agencies.

Youth mappers develop individual and team skills while serving the entire community
“Community youth mapping is designed to be the foundation of a community’s information infrastructure,” says Cross. “It involves a comprehensive process that supports the entire community, while serving those youth immediately involved in the process.”

“Overall, it’s a youth development initiative. I think of it as ‘supervised fieldwork,’” she says. “The youth involved learn valuable workforce skills, such as how to conduct interviews, record information, work with databases, analyze, report, and present what they’ve learned.

“They also develop important job-readiness ‘soft’ skills: teamwork, conflict resolution, communication, professional behavior. They take leadership roles that help build self-esteem. They learn more about and become more engaged their communities.”

In trainings held July 18-22 in both counties, the teens and their adult mentors were introduced to the Community YouthMapping process and the survey tool they’ll use to collect and record information. “The training features role-playing, canvassing safety, dealing with difficult people, professional protocols, interpersonal relations and daily expectations on the job,” says Cross.

Next steps
“We’ve received a $25,000 grant from the N.H. Workforce Opportunity Youth Council we’ll use to purchase the statewide license that will enable all participating communities to access the online CYM system and pave the way for future projects among the dozens of organizations that have expressed interest in sponsoring youth mapping programs locally,” says Cross.

This fall, Cross says she’ll bring all interested parties together for a follow-up workshop to share the results of the summer pilots and form a statewide CYM steering committee.

“State legislators have also expressed interest in the project,” she says. “In June, I was invited to give a presentation to the Legislative Caucus for Young Children, and they’ve invited me back this fall to discuss the results of our summer pilots.”

For more information about Community Youth Mapping Initiative, contact Charlotte Cross at (603)862-2495.

For more information about CYM’s co-sponsoring partners

• Belknap County Citizens Council
• Community Response (CoRe)
• Makin’ It Happen
• N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health
• Reclaiming Futures

Child sexual abuse is a largely hidden problem in New Hampshire, as it is around the world. We hear a lot about child sexual abuse in the media, and some people feel our attention to the topic has been overblown. But in reality, the sexual abuse of children persists in a climate of secrecy within families.

Two levels of conversation about child sexual abuse

We have two levels of conversation about child sexual abuse in our society: public and private.

At the public level, we almost universally condemn sexual abuse and describe perpetrators as deviant and despicable people. Despite the fact that most people who commit child sex abuse are people their child victims depend on for the very basics of life—food, shelter, and emotional support, we still tend to teach our children about the danger of strangers. That’s partly because people find it difficult to face, and even more difficult to act upon, the fact that someone they know and may even love could be sexually abusing a child.

The complexity of the situation at the private, personal level is masked by the simplistic portrayals of child molestation we typically see on TV and in movies. For example, perpetrators often make children feel responsible for the abuse. This makes it difficult for victims to tell their story, since they may feel they have to incriminate themselves to tell the truth about their situation. Child victims abused by perpetrators upon whom they depend for survival and emotional support, rightly feel conflicted about accusing their abusers of harm.

In typical media depictions, all children are pure and innocent and all molesters are evil. In these narrow portrayals, child victims of sexual abuse often don’t see or hear their own story of abuse. If children have feelings of affection toward their abusers, or if they’ve gone along with the abuse or responded to the sexual advances, they rightly fear they will be judged if they tell their story. And when victims do speak out, they often find that while the people around them believe the sexual activity occurred, they may attribute some responsibility to the child.

Research has shown that nationwide, around 90 percent of sexual abuse cases are never reported to the authorities. Even when cases are reported and investigated, New Hampshire state law requires child protective workers to meet a high burden of proof in court before cases are substantiated and families are provided with services or children are removed from abusive situations.

So what can we do?

Our Science article offers national policy recommendations that would begin to plug the gaps in our knowledge of child sexual abuse and how to treat it effectively. But there is a lot we can do as members of our local communities to prevent child sexual abuse.

• Respect children. Respect children’s right to say no to any touch. Do not tickle, roughhouse, or touch children in any way once they indicate they don’t want to be touched. It isn’t OK forAunt Agnes to kiss little Jimmy or squeeze his cheeks if he doesn’t want her to.
  
  
• Teach children “good touch.” Infant massage, foot massage, hugs, and other appropriate forms of touch are opportunities to help children learn to recognize what good touch is. You can help even very young children identify how their muscles feel, and how they think and feel when they experience wanted, appropriate touch. A surprising amount of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by other children and teens. Give the clear message to your children that they must respect other people when they say no to touch. What feels good to one person may not feel good to another.
  

• Look for warning signs in perpetrators. Teaching children to protect themselves and looking for signs of abuse in children are secondary measures that aren’t, in and of themselves adequate. Ultimately, to stop sexual abuse, we need to stop people from abusing children. If you suspect a particular child is in danger, or a particular adult is having sexual contact with a child, you must report it to the Bureau of Child Protection by calling the N.H. Child Abuse Report Line at 1-800-894-5533. If you have a more general concern, look at the resources at Stop It Now, or call 1-888-PREVENT.
  

• Learn more about, and continuing supporting, the N.H. Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). While child protective services aren’t the full answer, DCYF plays a crucial role. They do much more than remove children from dangerous situations. They work with families every day in which sexual abuse is a concern. With the support of New Hampshire citizens, DCYF could take a leading role in teaching New Hampshire citizens to recognize signs of abuse in both perpetrators and victims, and take action.
  
  
• Fund sex offender treatment. Treatment can work. One thing we know doesn’t work is simply sending offenders to prison with no treatment. Stop It Now helps abusers come forward and get treatment or call 1-888-PREVENT.
  
  
• If you’re an adult or teenwith concerns about yourself and this issue, please take the first step and call this toll-free helpline at 1-888-PREVENT (1-888-773-8368), or visit this Web site.

by Kathy Becker Blease, PhD, UNH Cooperative Extension Family Education and PolicySpecialist

For more information

• How you can help stop child abuse & neglect
• Warning signs of child sexual abuse
• Common questions about child sexual abuse
• If you worry about your own sexual feelings toward children
• Child sexual abuse resources

On Sunday, it’s quiet – by Friday, the laughter is contagious. That’s because over 100 youth from across New England, children of military deployed parents, have come to know one other, making new friends and finding someone they can talk to about having a parent or caregiver off to Iraq or one of several other military assignments overseas.

These children, who find themselves “Suddenly Military” when a member of their family leaves for military deployment, were at “ Camp Purple ” this past week at the UNH 4-H Camp at Bear Hill State Park . free through the efforts of UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program, with support from the National Military Family Association and Sears, American Dream Campaign.

Operation Purple is the designation for all military branches working together. The overall goal is to provide the youth with a normal camp experience, showcasing the different branches of the military. Each day features a different branch of the military through a flag raising ceremony and playing of their branch anthem.

Whether it was learning archery or swimming, by the end of the week, the camaraderie among the kids was apparent. Arm and arm, they’d trudge up the stone steps to the dining hall to “sing” for their lunch, try to win the most points on the archery range or just have fun on the beach or in the water. One camper proudly showed off the felt “frog” she’d made in the arts and crafts class.

Thursday was New Hampshire Day, and helping serve lunch was UNH Cooperative Extension’s Dean and Director John Pike and Maj. Gen. Kenneth Clark, Adjutant General of the NH National Guard. As 4-H Youth Development Program Leader Wendy Brock noted, “It’s all about the kids.”

New Hampshire is one of 15 states participating in Operation: Military Kids (OMK) for National Guard and Reserve youth and families left behind.  As the lead organization for the NH OMK program, UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program, with its network of youth development programs throughout the state, has worked closely over the past several months with the Army and Air National Guard.

National Guard units receive support through the Family Assistance Centers in Concord , Hillsboro , Littleton , Manchester , Portsmouth and Somersworth. Each center supports families throughout the state. At Operation Purple Camp, young people, ages 8-16 years, this week had the opportunity to master new skills from swimming, archery and crafts, and along the way learned about leadership skills experienced generosity while doing a service activity; and associated with other youth who have the common bond of a deployed family member.

The goal was to provide youth with a normal camp experience, showcasing with pride the different branches of the military. Each day features a different branch of the military through a flag raising ceremony, playing of their branch anthem and hopefully having some representatives from that branch of the military in attendance.

Click here for photos.

An article entitled The Science of Child Sexual Abuse, co-authored by Kathy Becker Blease, UNH Cooperative Extension Family Education and Policy Specialist, appears in the April 22 issue of the journal Science.

In the Policy Forum article, Becker Blease joins lead author Jennifer Freyd of the University of Oregon and a team of experts in psychiatry, law, political science, and psychology, to summarize scientific findings on the topic and offer recommendations to researchers and policy makers.

The authors cite research on childhood sexual abuse, which shows:

• an association between child sexual abuse and serious mental and physical health problems, substance abuse, suicide, victimization and criminality in adulthood.
  
• most child sex abuse is committed by family members and individuals close to the child, which increases the likelihood of delayed disclosure and possible memory failure and increases the potential for negative reactions by caregivers and lack of intervention.
  
• 20 percent of women and 5 to 10 percent of men worldwide report incidents of sex abuse in childhood.
  
• nearly 90 percent of child sex abuse cases are never reported to authorities.
  
• cognitive and neurological mechanisms that may underlie the forgetting of abuse.

To address serious gaps in the research-based understanding of child sex abuse, and problems caused by a knowledge base scattered across many disciplines, the authors call for:

• vigorous interdisciplinary research efforts to determine the prevalence of child sex abuse and identify its causes and consequences, prevention and treatment.
  
• expanding the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, a federally funded coalition of 54 centers providing community-based treatment to children and their families.
  
• creating an Institute of Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence within the National Institutes of Health.

“A 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report estimated the annual cost of rape and sexual violence against children at $1.5 billion in medical costs, and $23 million in overall costs,” says Becker Blease. “Expanding our efforts to understand, prevent, and treat child sexual abuse will help us provide better training to health professionals, provide better scientific documentation to policy makers, and raise the levels of both public and private awareness on this important topic.”

Link:

• The Science of Child Sexual Abuse (manuscript version)

• Program Goals
  Parents and caregivers should look for programs that have evidence of five defining characteristics known as the Five C's. They are competence, confidence, connections, character and caring. Competence promotes the enhancement of specific skills, either academic or hands-on. Confidence relates to self-esteem, and a sense of identity. The third C, connections, builds relationships between the youth and peers, teachers, parents, youth leaders and others in the community. Character refers to increased self-control, cultural development, spirituality, morality and a decrease in unhealthy behaviors. The fifth C, caring, targets youths' ability to understand and identify with others. The 4-H Youth Development program framework would add another C, contribution, which encompasses "making a difference in the lives of others through service."
  
  
• Program Atmosphere
  The quality of youth development programs also depends on atmosphere. Caregivers and volunteers' attitudes, behaviors and principles are an important factor in the success of the program. Roth and Brooks-Gunn describe atmosphere in five dimensions. First, atmosphere encourages development of supportive relationships with adults and among peers. Programs should also focus on empowering youth, or allowing youth to be involved in decisions so they believe they really can make a difference. There should be clear expectations for positive behavior and recognition for good behavior, or demonstrated success in a particular skill. Finally, youth programs must provide stable and relatively long-lasting services.
  
  Program Activities
  Successful youth development programs use the 5 C's (competence, confidence, connections, character, and caring) to achieve their goals. Programs should last for at least a school year to create a supportive, empowering environment, encourage youth to contribute to their community and ensure youth are recognized for their contributions. Finally, programs should foster opportunities to build and develop skills, talents, and positive activities to broaden their horizons.
  
  UNH Cooperative Extension's 4-H Youth Development program has examples of exemplary programs such as 4-H Clubs, and youth involvement in local community initiatives, but what of other examples in New Hampshire?
  
  One example is the New Heights-Adventures for Teens program in Portsmouth whose mission is "to assist youth to develop the competence, character, confidence, and resiliency necessary for a healthy and successful adulthood." Teens can hang out in the Teen Center from 11-4:30 pm (in the summertime), participate in an activity workshop, take part in fundraising and much more. Adventure trips include surfing, wilderness workshops, canoeing, white water rafting, and even urban adventures.
  
  Youth in grades 6-12 are welcomed as part of the New Heights activities with a staff/participant ratio of one to five or less. A one-day orientation welcomes new teens to the program. Another program in New Hampshire that reaches youth is Girls Inc., whose "prevention and empowerment" programs have been around for 30 years. Currently Girls Inc. serves girls in six locations, Nashua, Concord, Belmont, Manchester, Newport and Rochester. Programming is offered in after school, summer camp, and community outreach centers. Check their website to see the list of possibilities from Friendly PEERsuaion, the substance abuse prevention and education program; to Sporting Chance, development of basic athletic skills.
  
  Some communities have successful Youth to Youth programs. Youth to Youth, founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982, is a community-based program working to prevent adolescent alcohol, tobacco and drug use. It is primarily a youth leadership program with teens as the nucleus, working in partnership with adults to prevent substance use in their local community. The Dover Police Department provides an excellent example. What all these (and the many others in New Hampshire) have in common are well-defined program goals in a specific kind of atmosphere with activities that empower youth by enhancing talents and abilities.