According to new statistics released by Chicago, there is a decline in the teen birth rate in the city although the number of teen pregnancies is still much higher than the national average.

The rate of teenagers having children declined 33 percent, according to a new report “Births in Chicago, 1999-2009.” It was noted by the report that the number of teen births is still 1.5 times higher than the national average, but that the decline is outpacing the national trend. In 2009, the teen birth rate per 1,000 females was 57, compared with 39 nationwide. This number was 85 per 1,000 in Chicago in the year 1999.

The report also indicated that 84 percent of women sought prenatal care during the first trimester of their pregnancies, an increase of 10 percent. Older women were also having more children, the report said. The report also found that the birth rates for women between the ages of 35 and 44 increased 40 percent. The Chicago Department of Public Health is working with Chicago Public Schools to further decrease teen pregnancy rates to pilot a new condom availability program, implement comprehensive sex education at all grade levels, and launch a city-wide public awareness campaign.

Believe it or not, the youth of today face endless challenges in every path of the life. The fact that the role of youth is often neglected and members of the young society are the future as well as the present of the society clearly suggests that there is so much to be done to identify and address problems and needs of the youth.

It is really surprising to learn that what is labeled as future of the society is not even considered capable of taking its own decisions. Moreover, young members of the society have to face the brunt of cultural, socio-economic, and global decisions that don’t even consider them as living beings. If that was not all, a big majority of the youth population is fighting daily against poor hygiene, old-age laws, lack of sanitation and basic facilities, absence of education, abuse, etc. Despite tall claims of international epidemiological demographic changes and policy improvements, the concept of youth development has hardly seen any noteworthy measures and the role of youth has been left to that of the followers when they should have been groomed as decision makers of the future.

The list of atrocities does not do any favor to youth and health of the young members of the society has to struggle against acute and chronic illnesses that are compounded or induced by unemployment, poverty, uneven distribution of income, and economic hardship. The cumulative toll of living in an uneducated society, violence, drugs, abuse, and hardship is doing no good.

One of the biggest hurdles that has been in the road to youth development is the fact that most youth promotion agencies focus solely or heavily on health and forget that young minds of the society need equal rights and freedom to speech, privacy, relationships, and make decisions for themselves. In short, these agencies forget to deliver services, affection, trust, healthy behavior, equal opportunities, and skills in the safest and most supportive of an environment that is established on the protective factors of the community and family.

Unless the family and the community realize that the concept of youth development cannot move any further, for the betterment, in the lack of coordination and integration of multiple resources and intentions as well as mechanisms of the society are formulated and executed in such a way that the role of youth is specified and young members of the society are asked to take decisions and learn from them, there would no point in highlighting positive youth news across the media. The worst part is that present day mechanisms and thinking approach are too slow and rigid that they fail to or avoid recognizing the essential value of the intersectoral approach to understand the real needs of the youth.

The list does not end here–some government and other agencies have a habit of making unwarranted choices and decisions that are unfavorable to youth and it is high time that informed decisions are made to promote youth development like never before and stop blaming the youth for every bad incident in the world. It is time for the world to acknowledge the special concerns of youth and adolescents and provide them uninterrupted access to learning and its influence on health, life, well-being, functioning of society, etc. and let the world benefit from the participation of youth. Moreover, youth development programs should be evaluated at regular intervals to stay in line and ahead of the changing times and needs and there should be surveillance systems to ensure that balanced growth and development of young members of the society is not just talked on the papers, but happens in real.

A study has claimed that 45 percent of Class 12th students in big cities have already taken to drinking and this has been made possible due to fat pocket money and peer influence.

Industry body Assocham said in a survey conducted over 2,000 boys and girls in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, and Dehradun that as many as 45 per cent of the 12th graders in metropolitan cities consume alcohol excessively, at least five to six times in a month.

From Ndtv.com:

Higher liquor consumption was witnessed among teenagers in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai followed by Chandigarh and Hyderabad.

“Each year, students spend Rs. 3,500-4,500 on alcohol, more than they spend on soft drinks, tea, milk, juice, coffee, movie tickets or books combined,” Assocham said.

About 70 per cent of the teens consume alcohol on occasions like farewell party, New Year, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and birthdays.

While most of the boys start drinking before college, only 40 per cent of the girls take their first drink between the age of 15 to 17.

Usage of alcohol has resulted in high-risk sexual behaviour, HIV infection and liver disease.

The reasons attributed to this starling revelation included easy money, easy availability of imported brands, increased spending power, peer influence, and inadequate parental control.

According to a survey by Gocompare.com, the average women will spend £16,000 on shoes in her entire lifetime.

It was revealed by the research that girls generally buy their first pair of shoes without their mothers at the age of 14 years and then the purchase limit is close to seven pairs a year for the remaining lifetime that sums up to 469 pairs in their whole lifetime.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Spending 34.99 pounds on an average pair makes ladies splash out 244.93 pounds each year and 16,410 pounds over 67 years.

The survey of 3,000 women concluded that the average woman has nearly about 19 pairs of shoes which includes – three pairs with heels, six pairs of flip-flops, sandals, ballet pumps or wedges, three pairs of boots and four pairs of ‘foxy-style’ shoes for night parties.

Their shoe racks also have two pairs of work shoes and another two or so ‘random’ purchases.

Four in 10 women say they judge another female by the shoes she has on.

More than half find it easy to justify a purchase to themselves but a quarter rarely tell their partner about new ones as “he wouldn’t understand”.

The Daily Express quoted Hayley Parsons, of Gocompare as saying shoes are women’s one major weakness.

Made on the humongous budget of 100 million pounds, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows‘ will be the final version of the Harry Potter series.

The first part of the film will be released in the United Kingdom in November and the second part will make its way out next summer.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Harry Potter is all set to bid adieu to his fans in the final version of the series-‘Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows’, which was made on the humongous budget of 100 million pounds.

In the much-awaited penultimate part of the wizard story, fans will get to see the dark tone of all the characters.

In the blockbuster, Harry Potter, played by Daniel Radcliffe, now 20, and friends Hermione and Ron, played by Emma Watson, 20, and Rupert Grint, 21, are forced to battle like never before against Voldemort.

Based on JK Rowling’s final book in the series of seven, the film has been split into two parts.

Harry Potter fans will get to see the dark tone of all the characters in this penultimate part of the wizard story.