Posted on 05/19/2006 8:31:27 AM PDT by presidio9
Teenage girls are now more likely than boys to drink, smoke, steal and take drugs, a survey has shown.
In a disturbing confirmation of the spread of the 'ladette' culture, it found violence, aggression and self-destructive behaviour has spread alarmingly among girls over the past 20 years.
Are girls really more troublesome than boys? Tell us in the reader comments below
While boys appear less likely to be drawn towards crime or drugs than they were, psychological and social problems are stacking up among teenage girls, who are now expected to compete on equal terms with boys for educational opportunity and jobs.
The study of 14 and 15-year-olds was conducted by questionnaire, in schools under exam conditions, and the results compared with a similar one from 1985.
Professor Colin Pritchard, who led the research, said: 'Girls now significantly smoke and binge-drink more than boys. They truant, steal and fight at similar rates, and start under-age sex earlier than boys.'
He said binge-drinking, which was admitted by nearly a third of girls in their early teenage years, drove other anti-social behaviour such as stealing, fighting, taking drugs and engaging in risky sex.
'There is an element of following role models set by the media,' he said 'We can look back to the Spice Girls where girls were set an example in which aggressive behaviour was considered praiseworthy.
'It is also the case that girls are expected to behave differently today than they were in the past, and that has affected the of boys too.'
The study comparison found that the number of boys admitting to smoking has nearly halved to just over a quarter, while the number of girls who smoke has risen to nearly half. The number of girls who admit having smoked cannabis has gone up nearly fourfold, to one in five.
In 1985 around half of all boys and girls drank alcohol on a regular basis. Last year the numbers had shot up to 68 per cent of boys and an astonishing 85 per cent of girls.
Because researchers in the 1980s did not believe binge-drinking could be a problem among young teenagers, they did not include the subject in their questionnaire. But in the contemporary study, 15 per cent of boys and 29 per cent of girls defined themselves as binge-drinkers.
Girls were far more likely than boys to have had sex: 31 per cent against 17.
The research, produced by academics from the Institute of Health and Community Studies at Bournemouth University, suggested there had been improvements in behaviour among boys.
The number who admitted stealing had halved, as had numbers who were regularly in fights. Truanting was also down.
Professor Pritchard said: 'One thing we found among teenagers of all backgrounds was that those who said they liked school were the least likely to binge-drink, take drugs, or otherwise engage in bad behaviour. That is a challenge to schools and parents to make sure pupils are interested.' Martin Plant, professor of addiction studies at the University of the West of England in Bristol, said British teenagers were more likely to binge-drink than those anywhere else in Europe - and the problem was worse among girls.
His wife, and co-author of the book Binge Britain, Moira Plant, said many young women drink because it gives them a sense of power, and teenagers will often see drinking and even hangovers as a 'badge of honour'.
? The relaxation of licensing laws has been criticised by some of Britain's most eminent scientists.
Professor Jonathan Montgomery, an expert in healthcare law, said alcohol was potentially more dangerous than tobacco, yet the Government was making it much more available with 24-hour drinking.
And Sir John Krebs, principal of Jesus College Oxford, attacked the marketing of alcopops specifically for young people. 'The Government has stood by and let that happen, whereas it wouldn't have accepted the alcopop equivalent of cigarettes targeted at children,' he said.
What are the alcopops? Liquor-filled candies? - one couldn't get inebriated on those, as sugar and chocolate would get him [or her] first.
Good for you...sounds like you keep a line open with your girls. Some of us aren't as fortunate though. My oldest, now 22 with a son and doing a great job, was difficult. My 17 year old is a pure nightmare from hell and it doesn't matter what we do with her...and trust me, we've tried everything. I thank God every single day that he saved my 14 year old for last, she is a very level headed kid and makes really good decisions...I think she really learned a lot from her older sisters. Like yours, she will drop a friend that is up to no good, and will fill me in on all that is happening. It's tough trying to figure out why kids can turn out so differently.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Pop culture has been feeding crap to kids for decades to make a buck.
Totally expected what the results will be.
"Dostigaetsya uprazhneniem" [=attainable by exercise], as they say in Russian, or "practice makes perfect" in more familiar English. You wouldn't believe what becomes possible with concentrated and dedicated effort.
my 13 yr old, thinks she already is...
...or the guys who were flag twirlers for the band... we called them Flaggets....
Then each boy had 2 girls; approximately.
Uhh... because some of the boys were getting a lot and some of the boys weren't getting any at all? That's why the poster said he could vouch for those figgers.
No kidding. Combine this with the "Naughty Teacher" craze sweeping the nation and I gotta say, I was born 20 years too early.
hehe, I think every school has a teacher that was hot... Ours was a DECA teacher, young and hot... everyone wanted to be in that class, I don't remember the lessons, but I do remember the way she would walk up and down the aisles...Man, were the 80's the best years....
Just a couple weeks ago, the 14-year-old girl who lives across the street was bragging in her middle school about how, now that she got an abortion, she can keep having sex without any worries. Because, if she gets pregnant again, she'll just get another abortion.
Needless to say, her 'parents'—yes, she has two of them, as does everyone in our nice neighborhood—are pretty messed up. Oh, and she's the oldest of their three kids.
Back in my day, pregnant girls disappeared from school; I think they were banished to the school for delinquents. But, our progressive society has evolved. We certainly don't want to 'stigmatize' a valid lifestyle choice.
My sis had 5 that I helped raise over the years. They use crying the way one uses caffeine in the morning as a catalyst to starting the day. Only way they stopped was for me to be a hard-ass around them. They never smarted off to me again once I "lost it" (having a military uniform also helps put the fear of God in em!)
Simply judging by the clothes many of them wear, I'd have to agree.
What, did they do this survey in Surf City?
Damn. Just DAMN. (I'm a guy, but in my 50's.)
Also see my comment #79 above about Surf City.
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