History: Articles & Archives

This section is still under construction, but will include speeches and writings from a variety of sources by and about Prajna Consulting and it's staff. The main Articles & Archives page also includes summaries of and links to a few Highlights.

Please check back here soon for more.

An Assault on Youth: “The War on Women...” or It used to be “Our Bodies Ourselves”
Speech, Panel on Women's Reproductive Rights, Temple Sinai, Oakland, CA, October 2007
By Charis Denison, Prajna Consulting

As a teen advocate and national health educator I have been focusing lately on two dangerous points regarding youth. (1) There is a political and media assault on young people that is affecting not only how society perceives them but also in the rights and power they are entitled to. The message we all get is that “Our teenagers have lost their way.” My opinion is that if they are indeed lost, someone is leading them their against their will. And (2) Currently, I see a dangerous trend occurring in the world of young people in that they are not aware of how close they are to inheriting a world that is closing the door on many of the aspects of freedom they are expecting as grown women. One of those is, of course, choice. ... Continue reading.

Is it Real If it's Not Required?
California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), Fall/Winter 2000
(published elsewhere as, "Let’s Drop the Debate")
By Charis Denison, The Urban School of San Francisco

The hot debate these days seems to be whether to require service programs in schools or to encourage participation in service that occurs outside of school hours. I have worked in schools with both programs and believe it should not be a debate at all. We don’t debate whether or not to require math or to provide time in a student’s schedule to master its skills and concepts. Yet, though we espouse the benefits of service and career exploration, students struggle to fit those experiences into their already too-busy lives. Our programs need to be modified to attain specific academic and experiential goals and to be integrated into our curriculum and the academic day. ... Continue reading.

Community Service News
CSEE Connections—Council for Spiritual & Ethical Education, October 2004
By Charis Denison, Prajna Consulting

Those of us in the community service profession have always known its value for students. We have spent many passionate hours with administrations, parents, colleagues and students discussing the merits of service as experiential education. However, from many conversations with my own students and from talking to dozens of service directors over the past few years, I am deeply concerned about a trend I see. ... Continue reading.