Children and youth

Killer children arouse our underlying fears

They kill with pigtails and dresses, and they shoot down members of their family in tight, sensual clothes. But the motifs of the murderous children we encounter in literature remain mysterious, says literary scholar.

When DNA tests show that dad is not the father

"As the law currently stands, there is no limit to how long one of the biological or social parents can withhold information about biological parenthood," a law professor warns.

Female soldiers experienced more gender equality during wartime than in peace

“My studies from Colombia and Nepal show that many minors enlisted voluntarily and that their quality of life even improved as guerrilla soldiers,” says Wenche Iren Hauge.

Harry Potter fans explore gender and sexuality online

The Harry Potter books are pervaded with queer and transsexual symbols, says Jennifer Duggan. She has written a PhD thesis about the internet culture surrounding to the book series.

Religious minority youth between patriarchy and gender equality

Gender roles is a delicate topic for religious minority groups. Many of them accept traditional gender segregation in the religious community, but struggle with prejudices from the greater society, according to researcher.

School, worries and body-image pressure make more girls mentally ill

More and more young girls seek help for mental problems. “Generally, girls take things more seriously than boys. This applies to school, friends and family,” says researcher Anders Bakken.

Twice as many boys as girls start school late

More boys than girls begin school a year late and more girls than boys begin a year early. But researchers are not certain whether maturity is the explanation.

Girls beaten by their boyfriend avoid the word ‘violence’

Young women who have experienced violence may be difficult to detect. In online reader’s queries, they try to put what is going on in their relationship into words.

Underachieving boys, or clever girls?

Boys and girls perform differently at school, but researchers are uncertain whether this has to do with how they mature.

Children have the right to their own gender identity

In Norway, children under the age of sixteen can now change their legal gender. Anniken Sørlie investigates how the legislation affects the way children and youth perceive their own identity.

Boys more exposed to relational bullying

When researchers examined bullying in twenty schools, they were told that the main problem was drama created by the girls. Their findings told a very different story, however.

Clear link between sexting and intimate partner violence

Teenagers who send digital messages with sexual contents are far more exposed to violence in love relationships than others.

Boys more affected by gay insults

When words like ‘gay’, ‘fag’, and ‘lesbo’ are used as insults it is mostly among friends. But that does not make them harmless, according to the Norwegian researcher Hilde Slåtten.

Why are we so obsessed with good girls?

Girls who perform well, have high ambitions, and eventually get psychological problems are often characterised as too good. However, the good girl syndrome is neither a clinical diagnosis nor an established academic term. What is it with the good girls?

Teaching preschool workers to analyse gender norms in children’s books

Reform, the Norwegian resource centre for men, has launched a new website – gendertest.no – to help preschool workers analyse gender in children’s literature. Do the books promote gender equality? Or do they reinforce destructive gender stereotypes?

News Magazine

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