They're not waving, they're drowning...

Each week I intentionally choose a current affair or breaking news story that intersects with health and wellness as the focus my blog. If you’ve followed Little Changes Big Results™ for any length of time you have become aware of, as I have, a terrible and growing trend that is emerging—young men and women are drowning in our culture.

Just this week, an international news story broke about another young woman who didn’t make it home after a night out on the town. Accused in the murder of Stephanie Flores, daughter of a Peruvian racecar driver, is the same young man who was the last person seen with American teenager, Natalee Holloway. Her body still has not been found after a night out on the town in Aruba while on spring break with friends.

I often feel like a frustrated advocate for young men and women, evidenced by the numerous posts in this blog that deal directly with a breaking news story in which a young adult has been assaulted or killed as a direct result of alcohol or sexual abuse (including the following recent posts):

Red Flags of Abuse on College Campuses – Yeardley Love, U VA lacrosse Player is found beaten and dead in her room.

The Dark Side of Alcohol – Current Scripps research and the 2009 NASPA Survey of college students who drink.

Spring Break Heartbreak—a Notre Dame drafted football players falls out of a balcony in front of friends.

Classmates, Really? A young woman is beaten in front of dozens of classmates and no one stops it or call for help.

Another Sexual Assault on a College Campus—includes National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism statistics and NYU study results.

So when this recent story broke on June 3rd, I was compelled to reread portions of a groundbreaking NY Times best-selling book, Reviving Ophelia, by Mary Piper PhD in which she challenged Americans to consider the way our culture is developing and protecting the souls of its young men and women.

Written in 1994, Pipher revealed a list of troubling trends in the young women whom she counseled. Unfortunately, they are still common in the 21st century: thinness expectations, sex and violence abuse, depression, drug and alcohol addiction and the effects of divorce.

Pipher concluded that a few core issues were at the root of these problems. Not surprisingly, she suggested that media values and family values were at odds, depicting media as dehumanizing sex and fostering violence. Thus, she implored parents to help students interpret the media. She also encouraged positive peer relationships—suggesting this strategy cannot be overemphasized. And finally, (and remember this was in 1994) she strongly contended that violence had become a way of life in America.

Mary Pipher's most consistent advice to parents and caring adults was to simply listen—to become intentional listeners--to this young generation! Then ONLY after REALLY listening, she requested that each of us make the following little changes which are bound to have big results in the lives of adolescents such as “rebuilding a sense of community in our neighborhoods, fighting addiction, changing our schools, and promoting gender equality and curtailing violence.”

Join me, won't you? Don't allow complacency or lack of communication to steal one more young life. They're not waving, they're drowning.

Be encouraged to make a difference,

Becky