To the Point
By Bunny Norville
We are seeing signs of fall in the daily weather patterns, and we are feeling the temperature changes, especially early mornings. Welcome! Those hottest days of summer are gone, we hope, at least. Of course Sunday was a sweaty reminder that the Weather Maker is still in charge.
Farmer’s Market, what can I say. It’s not dead, at least the idea isn’t. There was one lonely table Saturday morning, with some vegetables, too. Possibly folks look first for the burritos, if they aren’t there, they drive on by. M A we miss you. Munday’s resident expert on wild flowers was there with a box of wild flower seed. I doubt if the famous Las Angeles Farmer’s Market has someone like our own expert.
We are not giving up on the idea of having a downtown market place, be it vegetables, crafts, or fleas. The main idea is to get folks out and about, especially downtown where we still have a few businesses. Some of them are even open on Saturday. By getting this started we hope to attract more people to move to Munday and more businesses to locate in Munday. Think positive.
I attended a workshop recently about becoming a “Certified Retirement Community.” The total program was upbeat, encouraging to small towns like Munday, and presented as a possibility. Other than filling in this lengthy application and coming up with a little money, we need to accomplish a few things to bring Munday into a competitive-minded mode. The main thing is, Munday has to want it. If Munday as a whole doesn’t want it, then all the work some of us do will be in vain. This application will bring out the wants and want nots of Munday citizens.
We hope to get many of our own exes to retire to Munday without the certified route. Even then we need to show our exes we want them and we are trying to improve our situation here. If those who don’t recognize the “situation” could move away from Munday for awhile and then move back, they would see what so many of us who have moved back saw and continue to see.
Munday has changed in ways that people who have never lived away from Munday do not see. thesse changes have occured over time, so slowly that people havn’t even noticed them taking place. But someone who has been away for some time can see the changes.
I mention the DQ so often that you probably think I live there. No, I just eat there, too Much. Anyway I was there for lunch last Saturday and witnessed a random act of kindness. There was an older couple eating at a booth and one of them evidently had spilled a drink on one of the benches. Before I could even process what had happened a woman, who was in line in front of me, went back to the kitchen area and found a wash cloth and a plastic container. She went to where the couple were sitting and proceeded to wipe up the icy spill. No doubt she had done it at her house many times before. I’m sure everyone would know her if I mentioned her name. But since I failed to get her permission to use her name, I won’t embarrass her by printing it.
In your daily walk how many acts of kindness do you see? Maybe you see so many that one act alone doesn’t even register. Munday is a friendly town, that’s why a lot of peole like it. In case you didn’t know, people do say that about Munday. Munday, keep on being friendly and keep on doing those acts of kindness. They don’t have to be random, make them regular.
Woodworkers, or those who want to become a woodworker, we need to have a meeting. I’m going to say this up front: we don’t need to over organize the thing. Over organizing can ruin a good thing early. I’ll explain what I’m talking about if you want me to. Let’s meet at the DQ Wednesday morning, September 9 for lunch at 11:30. Call me if you can come, or if this is not a good time. Just call me and tell me you are interested, 421-3334. You don’t really need a lot of tools to be a part of this club. But let’s meet and talk about what, how, when, where, and any other question that comes up.
In the mean time say good things about Munday. And if you can’t think of good things to say about a Munday citizen, just don’t say anything. Let’s create an atmosphere of kindness all around us. If we can do that, we will all be blessed. If you are a stick in the mud, just don’t say anything, let others enjoy the blessings of being kind.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Study: Religiosity and Parental Involvement in
Sex-Ed Protect Youth from Risky Behaviors
By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study from Marquette University has found that religious attitudes toward sexuality, parent-based sexual education and intact two-parent households have a positive influence upon youth in their sexual practices and the onset of first sexual intercourse.
Researchers took a nationally representative sample of 3,168 men and women ages 15-21 years old from a 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and obtained the data from 60-90 minute interviews with participants from the 2002 survey.
The study's findings confirmed previous research literature, which suggests "religiosity" - defined by the authors as a set of institutionalized beliefs, doctrines and rituals, and ethical standards for how to live a good life - is "a protective factor that appears to contribute to decreased sexual risk behaviors."
According to the study, those who viewed religion as "very important" reported an average of 1.9 lifetime sexual partners and on average began sexual activity at 17.4 years. In contrast, those who viewed religion as somewhat important or "not important at all," began their first sexual activity at 16.9 years and had an average of 2.9 lifetime sexual partners.
However, researchers found that high religious attitudes toward sexuality (RAS) "appeared to be the most protective religiosity variable in terms of decreasing sexual risk."
RAS had the greatest influence for youth remaining virginal by 21 years - an effect greater than just frequent attendance of church services or religious values.
Among those who valued religion as "very important" 20 percent were still virgins by age 21; among those who attended church services frequently, 25 percent of participants reported they were still virgins by 21 years.
But those who had high "religious attitudes on sexuality" reported the highest rate of virginity by 21 years and the highest rate of delayed first sex. 34 percent of these youth remained virgins by 21 years, and the average onset of sex began at 18.8 years.
By contrast, researchers found that only 8 percent of those with low religious attitudes toward sex were still virgins by 21, and began their first sex on average at 17.0 years old - just about the same time as those who did not value religion (16.9 years).
However, parents and an intact two-parent household also have an enormous effect on children and the choices they make in regards to sex, researchers found.
"Those adolescents who lived in a two-parent family from birth to the age of 18 were 14 percent less likely to ever have had sex compared to those who did not and had significantly fewer lifetime sexual partners" researchers reported.
Of youth with parents who raised them with a "just say no" attitude toward pre-marital sex, 31 percent remained virgins until 21 years, and the mean age of sexual debut for the group was 17.4 years. For youth, who "did not learn to say no," having their parents involved was also beneficial: 29 percent remained virginal until 21 years, although the average age of first sex for this group was 17.1 years.
Just parental involvement in children's sexual education and voicing their expectations for their children in regards to sex was superior in reducing the rate of risky sexual behaviors and onset of first sex than formal sex education. Researchers found that the topic most brought up by parents with their children was "how to avoid having sex," but the study found primarily that "speaking with parents about abstinence was associated with decreased sexual risk behaviors."
Youth who had only formal-based sexual education were far more prone to engage in sexual behaviors than their peers who had the involvement of their parents in sex-education. Of those trained in "abstinence and abstinence-plus" sex-education 26 percent remained virginal by 21 years, and on average began their sexual debut at 17.6 years. Those without any abstinence-component to sex education had only 25 percent remain virginal by 21 years, and began having sex at 17.1 years.
"It is important for parents to make it explicit that they do not approve of adolescents engaging in sexual activity," researchers concluded. "This 'simple' practice of letting one's child know about expectations for their sexual behavior has been shown to be efficacious."
"Further, the influence of parental education about avoiding intercourse was strengthened when there was a close relationship between the parent and the child."
The researchers conclude that formal sex-education in the United States - even abstinence-based education - has thus far failed on its own power to address rampant sexual promiscuity and high numbers of sexual partners among youth. A new approach is needed, but the study's findings indicate that integrating religiosity and close parent-child relationships into sex-education may be the most promising avenues for fixing the problem.
The results and conclusions of the study are contained in a paper called "The Association of Religiosity, Sexual Education, and Parental Factors with Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults" written by lead researchers Kristin A. Haglund and Richard J. Fehring.
Sex-Ed Protect Youth from Risky Behaviors
By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study from Marquette University has found that religious attitudes toward sexuality, parent-based sexual education and intact two-parent households have a positive influence upon youth in their sexual practices and the onset of first sexual intercourse.
Researchers took a nationally representative sample of 3,168 men and women ages 15-21 years old from a 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and obtained the data from 60-90 minute interviews with participants from the 2002 survey.
The study's findings confirmed previous research literature, which suggests "religiosity" - defined by the authors as a set of institutionalized beliefs, doctrines and rituals, and ethical standards for how to live a good life - is "a protective factor that appears to contribute to decreased sexual risk behaviors."
According to the study, those who viewed religion as "very important" reported an average of 1.9 lifetime sexual partners and on average began sexual activity at 17.4 years. In contrast, those who viewed religion as somewhat important or "not important at all," began their first sexual activity at 16.9 years and had an average of 2.9 lifetime sexual partners.
However, researchers found that high religious attitudes toward sexuality (RAS) "appeared to be the most protective religiosity variable in terms of decreasing sexual risk."
RAS had the greatest influence for youth remaining virginal by 21 years - an effect greater than just frequent attendance of church services or religious values.
Among those who valued religion as "very important" 20 percent were still virgins by age 21; among those who attended church services frequently, 25 percent of participants reported they were still virgins by 21 years.
But those who had high "religious attitudes on sexuality" reported the highest rate of virginity by 21 years and the highest rate of delayed first sex. 34 percent of these youth remained virgins by 21 years, and the average onset of sex began at 18.8 years.
By contrast, researchers found that only 8 percent of those with low religious attitudes toward sex were still virgins by 21, and began their first sex on average at 17.0 years old - just about the same time as those who did not value religion (16.9 years).
However, parents and an intact two-parent household also have an enormous effect on children and the choices they make in regards to sex, researchers found.
"Those adolescents who lived in a two-parent family from birth to the age of 18 were 14 percent less likely to ever have had sex compared to those who did not and had significantly fewer lifetime sexual partners" researchers reported.
Of youth with parents who raised them with a "just say no" attitude toward pre-marital sex, 31 percent remained virgins until 21 years, and the mean age of sexual debut for the group was 17.4 years. For youth, who "did not learn to say no," having their parents involved was also beneficial: 29 percent remained virginal until 21 years, although the average age of first sex for this group was 17.1 years.
Just parental involvement in children's sexual education and voicing their expectations for their children in regards to sex was superior in reducing the rate of risky sexual behaviors and onset of first sex than formal sex education. Researchers found that the topic most brought up by parents with their children was "how to avoid having sex," but the study found primarily that "speaking with parents about abstinence was associated with decreased sexual risk behaviors."
Youth who had only formal-based sexual education were far more prone to engage in sexual behaviors than their peers who had the involvement of their parents in sex-education. Of those trained in "abstinence and abstinence-plus" sex-education 26 percent remained virginal by 21 years, and on average began their sexual debut at 17.6 years. Those without any abstinence-component to sex education had only 25 percent remain virginal by 21 years, and began having sex at 17.1 years.
"It is important for parents to make it explicit that they do not approve of adolescents engaging in sexual activity," researchers concluded. "This 'simple' practice of letting one's child know about expectations for their sexual behavior has been shown to be efficacious."
"Further, the influence of parental education about avoiding intercourse was strengthened when there was a close relationship between the parent and the child."
The researchers conclude that formal sex-education in the United States - even abstinence-based education - has thus far failed on its own power to address rampant sexual promiscuity and high numbers of sexual partners among youth. A new approach is needed, but the study's findings indicate that integrating religiosity and close parent-child relationships into sex-education may be the most promising avenues for fixing the problem.
The results and conclusions of the study are contained in a paper called "The Association of Religiosity, Sexual Education, and Parental Factors with Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults" written by lead researchers Kristin A. Haglund and Richard J. Fehring.
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