Latest news with #2023YouthRiskBehaviorSurvey
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump administration wants to cut 988's LGBTQ+ youth line. Baldwin vows to fight for it.
The Trump administration intends to cut funding for a specialized line dedicated to LGBTQ+ youths and young adults on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, according to a leaked budget proposal reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. All calls to 988 connect people in need with a crisis counselor, but two high-risk groups, military veterans and LGBTQ+ youths, were identified early as requiring a more culturally sensitive approach. Just as veterans may feel more inclined to open up to someone who has lived through the experiences of war and active duty, LGBTQ+ youths may also express themselves more authentically to someone who understands what it means to be queer. Those calls are staffed by people who understand the issues facing LGBTQ+ youths, such as discrimination and the complexity of family support. They also can connect callers to support and resources tailored to LGBTQ+ people. Having a specialized line for LGBTQ+ youths, too, increases the likelihood that a young person will reach out if they're experiencing a crisis, said Mary Kay Battaglia, executive director of NAMI Wisconsin, which stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness. "It makes it much more comfortable, knowing you're going to talk to someone that understands the stressors you're going through," Battaglia said. LGBTQ+ youths are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, according to the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focused on suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ young people. Research from the nonprofit estimates that at least one LGBTQ+ youth attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the United States. In step with national trends, Wisconsin's youths continue to struggle with their mental health, but conditions like anxiety, depression and suicidal thought disproportionately impact the state's LGBTQ+ students. The 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which surveys high schoolers across Wisconsin, has found lesbian, gay and bisexual youth have the highest rates of mental health concern. A separate survey focused on trans youth in Wisconsin shows that this population has even higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thought, despite making up just 4% of the student population. DHS emphasized over email that these elevated mental health conditions do not stem from their sexual orientation or gender expression, but rather, how LGBTQ+ people are treated, whether due to bullying, discrimination and/or societal and family rejection. These mental health concerns have been exacerbated by ramped-up rhetoric on the federal level that denies the existence of transgender and gender nonbinary youths. A 409-page report published May 1 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has gone as far as to dismiss the need entirely for gender-affirming care in young people who experience gender dysphoria. "The LGBTQ community is under more political attack than we've seen in years," U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That a lifeline for those in crisis would be taken away is outrageous." The news organization reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for comment, but did not hear back. Baldwin, a Democrat who was responsible for the creation and congressional enactment of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, has championed additional funding for the three-digit crisis line, which launched in July 2022. Of the more than $400 million allocated nationally for fiscal year 2024, a little more than $33 million went to the LGBTQ+ youth line. The elimination of a specialized crisis line for LGBTQ+ youths would further chip away at a program that federal cuts have been slowly eroding. February's cuts, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, hobbled Veterans Affairs, and included the termination of 15 employees who operate the Veterans Crisis Line, the specialized 988 Suicide and Prevention line dedicated to veterans. After Baldwin became aware of those fired employees, she urged Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to reinstate them. "We do believe the folks who were laid off have been reinstated, but it takes constant vigilance with this administration because they have been running roughshod with their personnel and funding actions," Baldwin said. By the end of February, the Department of Health and Human Services slashed 10% of SAMHSA, which funds the 988 Lifeline. By the end of March, the federal health agency stripped $1 billion from SAMHSA in federal grants allocated to states during the pandemic, and fired another 10,000 employees. This slashing away of SAMHSA appears to have served as a prelude to HHS' restructuring plan to roll the mental health agency into a new agency within HHS called Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA. Baldwin has vowed to fight against the elimination of 988's specialty line for LGBTQ+ youths, emphasizing that it is Congress, not HHS, that decides how funding is spent. Similarly, Baldwin said she would take action to preserve SAMHSA, which not only oversees 988 Lifeline but substance abuse and mental health programs across the country. If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@ or view her X (Twitter) profile at @natalie_eilbert. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump administration wants to cut separate LGBTQ+ line for 988 callers
CNN
05-04-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Teens are delaying getting their driver's licenses. Parents want to know why
Summary Nearly 40% of teens delay getting their driver's license by one to two years, continuing a 20-year trend, according to a study. Rideshare apps, busy academic schedules and online socializing contribute to teens postponing this milestone. Mental health issues like depression and anxiety can also make driving seem overwhelming for many adolescents. Delaying licenses can affect the development of a teen's independence and removes safeguards in place for teen drivers. Families should assess emotional maturity early while respecting teens' readiness for driving responsibility. For many middle-aged and older people, getting a driver's license was their first taste of long-awaited freedom –– and one they seized as soon as they could. But many of today's teens are putting off this rite of passage, data shows. Nearly 40% of teens delayed getting their license by one to two years, and 30% delayed by more than two years, according to a 2020 study led by Dr. Federico Vaca, professor and executive vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of California Irvine Medical School. This continues a trend over the last 20 years: Between 2006 and 2015, the number of high school seniors with a driver's license dropped from 81% to 72%, according to a 2017 study. It may seem mind-boggling to adults who have been driving for decades that anyone would delay such a milestone, but it makes sense given the economic and mental health concerns surrounding teens, Vaca added. Still, putting off getting a driver's license may have impacts on teens safety as well as their development of independence, experts say. Here's what parents need to know. There are several factors contributing to teens being reluctant to start driving, and some are practical. It used to be that only kids in cities with public transportation like New York City and Washington DC could easily get around town. Now with the availability of rideshare apps, more teens can get where they need to go, said psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour, author of 'The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents.' They're also so busy with all the extra activities they think they need to get into college. A recent Pew survey found that most teens feel the pressure to get good grades and list academics as one of their biggest stressors. A lot of teenagers 'are doing so much more work than you and I ever did in high school,' Damour added. Teens also socialize a lot online, she said, which means they don't need to leave home to hang out with friends. Economics also plays a part. Parents and caregivers who need to spend more time working to keep the family afloat don't have time to give driving lessons, Vaca said. 'When we have an economic downturn, things kind of tighten up. People drive less. They travel in cars less,' he added. Mental health concerns are common among today's teens. Forty percent of students responded to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey said they experience persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. That's a big problem that often keeps teens from getting their license, said Dr. Rhonda Boyd, psychologist in the department of child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Boyd works with adolescents who have mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, and she has found that teens with mental health conditions often delay getting their driver's licenses. Teens with depression usually have less energy and may isolate themselves and have trouble concentrating, which can impact them accomplishing goals, Boyd said. 'Maybe just getting through school takes up so much of the time and energy that they have,' she said. 'Extra things such as getting driver's license or doing things that may lead to more independence are really harder.' When it comes to anxiety, teens may have fears and concerns about their next and more independent stage of life, so they may avoid those things that bring them there, Boyd added. Maybe it is a relief not to have your teen eager to get on the road, but it does come with some consequences, Vaca said. Being able to get around on their own –– which in many places means driving a car –– opens up other opportunities for teens to practice the things they will need to do in adulthood, he said. Those landmarks include getting summer jobs, getting themselves to sports or other extracurricular obligations, and managing their own health care appointments. 'You're not learning those experiences that you need to build on for later on,' Boyd said. There is also a safety element that becomes especially concerning when teens wait until they are adults to first learn to drive, Vaca said. The United States has a graduated driver's license system, meaning there are rules, restrictions and educational requirements that taper off the more experience they have behind the wheel. First, a teen gets their permit and has to drive with an adult. Even when they get licensed, there is a period with measures to reduce risk such as not allowing night driving or limiting who they can have in their car when they drive, he added. 'Driving is a really complex task. It's a complex behavior, and we forget about that after we've been driving 10, 15, 20, 30 years,' Vaca said. For the most part, that easing into driving doesn't apply when someone gets their license as an adult, he said. Still, while it is helpful to have your teen learn to drive under a graduated program and gain their independence behind the wheel in stages, younger isn't always better, Vaca added. 'There are developmental neuro-development pieces that are really important with executive decision-making,' he said. 'These sorts of things, working memory and inhibitory control … are really important, and those things mature over time.' Does this mean you should make your teen get a license even if they don't want to? That doesn't tend to work out well, Damour said. 'The question becomes: who is it a problem for? Because if the family is tired of driving the kid around and wants to be relieved of carpool taxi duties, they're certainly well within their rights to say, 'we're going ask you to do this,'' she said. If your teen would rather utilize a rideshare than get their own license, then the teen should be responsible for paying for it, Damour added. But ideally, conversations about driving would start early with teens –– because they will be 15 or 16 before you know it, Vaca said. Families should have an eye on their child's emotional maturity and development, he said. Are they responsible enough to get behind the wheel? Are they ready for the responsibility of driving? Also, be aware of the possibility that a delay in these milestones could be due to an untreated mental health condition and seek out resources for your teen if you think that may be the case, Boyd added.
CNN
05-04-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Teens are delaying getting their driver's licenses. Parents want to know why
Summary Nearly 40% of teens delay getting their driver's license by one to two years, continuing a 20-year trend, according to a study. Rideshare apps, busy academic schedules and online socializing contribute to teens postponing this milestone. Mental health issues like depression and anxiety can also make driving seem overwhelming for many adolescents. Delaying licenses can affect the development of a teen's independence and removes safeguards in place for teen drivers. Families should assess emotional maturity early while respecting teens' readiness for driving responsibility. For many middle-aged and older people, getting a driver's license was their first taste of long-awaited freedom –– and one they seized as soon as they could. But many of today's teens are putting off this rite of passage, data shows. Nearly 40% of teens delayed getting their license by one to two years, and 30% delayed by more than two years, according to a 2020 study led by Dr. Federico Vaca, professor and executive vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of California Irvine Medical School. This continues a trend over the last 20 years: Between 2006 and 2015, the number of high school seniors with a driver's license dropped from 81% to 72%, according to a 2017 study. It may seem mind-boggling to adults who have been driving for decades that anyone would delay such a milestone, but it makes sense given the economic and mental health concerns surrounding teens, Vaca added. Still, putting off getting a driver's license may have impacts on teens safety as well as their development of independence, experts say. Here's what parents need to know. There are several factors contributing to teens being reluctant to start driving, and some are practical. It used to be that only kids in cities with public transportation like New York City and Washington DC could easily get around town. Now with the availability of rideshare apps, more teens can get where they need to go, said psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour, author of 'The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents.' They're also so busy with all the extra activities they think they need to get into college. A recent Pew survey found that most teens feel the pressure to get good grades and list academics as one of their biggest stressors. A lot of teenagers 'are doing so much more work than you and I ever did in high school,' Damour added. Teens also socialize a lot online, she said, which means they don't need to leave home to hang out with friends. Economics also plays a part. Parents and caregivers who need to spend more time working to keep the family afloat don't have time to give driving lessons, Vaca said. 'When we have an economic downturn, things kind of tighten up. People drive less. They travel in cars less,' he added. Mental health concerns are common among today's teens. Forty percent of students responded to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey said they experience persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. That's a big problem that often keeps teens from getting their license, said Dr. Rhonda Boyd, psychologist in the department of child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Boyd works with adolescents who have mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, and she has found that teens with mental health conditions often delay getting their driver's licenses. Teens with depression usually have less energy and may isolate themselves and have trouble concentrating, which can impact them accomplishing goals, Boyd said. 'Maybe just getting through school takes up so much of the time and energy that they have,' she said. 'Extra things such as getting driver's license or doing things that may lead to more independence are really harder.' When it comes to anxiety, teens may have fears and concerns about their next and more independent stage of life, so they may avoid those things that bring them there, Boyd added. Maybe it is a relief not to have your teen eager to get on the road, but it does come with some consequences, Vaca said. Being able to get around on their own –– which in many places means driving a car –– opens up other opportunities for teens to practice the things they will need to do in adulthood, he said. Those landmarks include getting summer jobs, getting themselves to sports or other extracurricular obligations, and managing their own health care appointments. 'You're not learning those experiences that you need to build on for later on,' Boyd said. There is also a safety element that becomes especially concerning when teens wait until they are adults to first learn to drive, Vaca said. The United States has a graduated driver's license system, meaning there are rules, restrictions and educational requirements that taper off the more experience they have behind the wheel. First, a teen gets their permit and has to drive with an adult. Even when they get licensed, there is a period with measures to reduce risk such as not allowing night driving or limiting who they can have in their car when they drive, he added. 'Driving is a really complex task. It's a complex behavior, and we forget about that after we've been driving 10, 15, 20, 30 years,' Vaca said. For the most part, that easing into driving doesn't apply when someone gets their license as an adult, he said. Still, while it is helpful to have your teen learn to drive under a graduated program and gain their independence behind the wheel in stages, younger isn't always better, Vaca added. 'There are developmental neuro-development pieces that are really important with executive decision-making,' he said. 'These sorts of things, working memory and inhibitory control … are really important, and those things mature over time.' Does this mean you should make your teen get a license even if they don't want to? That doesn't tend to work out well, Damour said. 'The question becomes: who is it a problem for? Because if the family is tired of driving the kid around and wants to be relieved of carpool taxi duties, they're certainly well within their rights to say, 'we're going ask you to do this,'' she said. If your teen would rather utilize a rideshare than get their own license, then the teen should be responsible for paying for it, Damour added. But ideally, conversations about driving would start early with teens –– because they will be 15 or 16 before you know it, Vaca said. Families should have an eye on their child's emotional maturity and development, he said. Are they responsible enough to get behind the wheel? Are they ready for the responsibility of driving? Also, be aware of the possibility that a delay in these milestones could be due to an untreated mental health condition and seek out resources for your teen if you think that may be the case, Boyd added.
