Greetings and welcome to the May 2021 issue of the HYD-PRC e-newsletter.
Since I was young, I’ve cherished hearing others’ stories. As a nurse, an educator, and a researcher, I want my words and actions to always honor the young people who have trusted me with their stories and their life experiences. I count on their amazing energy and wisdom to guide us through the tough challenges we all face in assuring the health and healthy development of all of our youth.
Recent events in Minnesota have captured on video the reason why Black, Brown and Indigenous Americans – especially young men – live in justified fear of police brutality and racially-motivated violence. Until our neighborhoods are also safe for our BIPOC community, health and public health professionals must work daily to create an equitable and just society. I trust that youth voices will continue to lead us. To paraphrase the words of Amanda Gorman, our National Youth Poet Laureate, within this terrifying hour, we must find the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves and our young people.
In this newsletter, we explore recent work of our HYD-PRC faculty, staff and community partners. We highlight findings and resources from a qualitative study of bullying, teasing and harassment based on young people’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or body size. We present findings from a national survey of adolescents and their parents, regarding sexual and reproductive health discussions with adolescents’ primary care providers. We also feature the work of a HYD-PRC team that functions as the evaluation partner for restorative practices and restorative justice efforts being implemented by school districts and juvenile justice systems. Finally, we feature an exciting new set of tools and resources that unite youth development principles and nature-based programs around a common goal of helping youth reach their full potential as people.
I wish each of you the very best in your daily work and advocacy for an equitable and just society. Our young people are counting on us!
Renee Sieving
Director, Healthy Youth Development – Prevention Research Center
Breaking Through on Identity-based Bullying
For the past two years, Dr. Amy Gower, Research Associate with the HYD-PRC and a research team from the U of Minnesota Department of Pediatrics and School of Public Health have been studying bullying, teasing and harassment of young people based on marginalized race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and body size. This type of bullying, often called bias- or identity-based bullying, is as harmful or more harmful than bullying not based on bias because it attacks young people’s identity and sense of self.
Examining Sexual and Reproductive Health Discussions during Adolescent Check Ups (video abstract)
In an article to be published in the journal Pediatrics, Drs. Renee Sieving, Annie-Laurie McRee, Chris Mehus and colleagues document the prevalence of discussions between primary care providers and adolescents about specific sexual and reproductive health topics during preventive visits. This article comes from one the first U.S. population-based studies to examine adolescents’ receipt of screening, guidance, and counseling about sexual and reproductive health topics in primary care settings.
Evaluating for Impact: Restorative Justice and Power Shifts
Shifting from punitive mindsets embraced by traditional justice and disciplinary systems to restorative mindsets grounded in relational systems of accountability is a relatively new concept to some people. However, this concept isn’t new to community partners of HYD-PRC Senior Evaluator Kara Beckman or Deputy Director, Abi Gadea.
Helping Youth Achieve Their Full Potential Through Nature Engagement
Youth development and nature-based programming are both broad fields that employ a wide range of approaches to achieve outcomes. What important outcomes might be achieved when principles from both approaches are thoughtfully and effectively integrated? This question is the focus of an initiative at the Children & Nature Network (C&NN) aimed at building the capacity of youth-serving organizations to effectively utilize nature to enhance positive youth development outcomes.
PRC Faculty & Staff Highlights
- Gadea Recognized as a "2021 Rising Alumni" from UMN College of Education and Human Development
- McMorris & Sieving Co-Author Article on Parent Connectedness and Sexual Health Indicators Among Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adolescents
- Protections at the Intersections for Queer Teens of Color (PIQTOC)
- Shlafer Awarded 5-year NIH Grant to Study Pregnancy and Parenting Programs in Prisons
- UMN SAHRC and PRC Welcome New Communications Manager
- Using Relational Coaching to Advance Equity in Medicine