Blah, Blah, Blah
“Let it all out,” they say. “Talking about it will make you feel better,” they say.

Well, “they” are right—up to a point; but some researchers believe adolescent girls who spend too much time talking about their problems actually may be doing more harm than good. Studies show that lots of rumination actually can foster anxiety and depression.

“When girls are talking about these problems (with their friends), it probably feels good to get that level of support and validation,” says Amanda Rose, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri; “but they are not putting two and two together that actually this excessive talking can make them feel worse.”

Moreover, girls spend far more time discussing these sorts of things than in the past—thanks to outlets like e-mail, text messaging and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. (New York Times)

Debating Drinking
For more than 20 years, the U.S. government strongly has encouraged states to set its legal drinking age at 21. Now, with college-age binge drinking as much of a problem as ever, more than 100 college and university presidents say the policy “is not working” and are calling for a national debate on the issue.

“How many times must we relearn the lessons of prohibition?” reads a statement signed by the presidents. “Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.”

While each state theoretically can set its own drinking age, the federal government passed a law in 1984 that tied huge chunks of federal highway money to the age—telling states, in essence, to raise the drinking age to 21 or lose funds. All 50 states quickly fell in line. The movement has its critics. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is one organization that is, well, mad.

“It gives me great pause to think of sending thousands of students onto a campus where the person who is most accountable doesn’t seem to be devoted to ensuring their health and safety,” says Caroline Cash, executive director of MADD. (Baltimore Sun)

Give Me an ‘O’! Give Me a ‘W’! What’s that Spell?
Who says cheerleaders aren’t tough? Turns out, 65.1 percent of all the catastrophic injuries suffered by highschool females are suffered by cheerleaders; the injury rates go up in college to 66.7 percent.

Report author Frederick Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury in Chapel Hill, N.C., believes those figures actually might be too low. (ABC News)