Almost 2 percent of high school students identify as transgender, and they experience violence, use substances, attempt suicide, and engage in risky sex significantly more often than other students, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week. The study used the biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a school-based polling of students in grades nine through 12.

A New York moment:

After New York last week passed a law legalizing late-term abortions and removing protections for pregnant women facing violence, the state pivoted to take a positive step on a different issue involving children this week. 

As a renewed public debate rages about the meaning of manhood, men are increasingly speaking out against the conflation of masculinity and bad behavior. Gillette, the maker of razors and shaving products for men and women, released an ad this week asking if today’s masculinity is really “The Best a Man Can Get?”—playing off its longtime advertising slogan. Critics said the ad used dried-up stereotypes to shame all men for very nonmasculine things, like grabbing women and letting boys bully each other.

The success of LGBT activists in dictating how therapists counsel minors about sexuality and gender dysphoria continues to gain momentum as we head into 2019. Some pro-LGBT groups want to make it illegal for therapists to encourage children to embrace heterosexuality or their biological sex and expect legislative victories in at least four states this year: Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York.

Pope Francis in a letter released Thursday encouraged U.S. bishops meeting for a weeklong retreat near Chicago to unify as the Roman Catholic Church deals with a “crisis of credibility.” In the eight-page letter addressed to the bishops, Francis said church leaders must reckon with parishioners’ pain, heal divisions, and devise specific approaches that go beyond “creating new committees or improving flow charts.”

Starbucks announced last week it will start blocking porn sites on its in-store Wi-Fi service in 2019. The move comes after years of pressure on the coffee giant to set up filters to block explicit content.

USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy Wednesday in an effort to fight the loss of its Olympic status. The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) announced in November it no longer wanted USA Gymnastics to oversee Olympic team training and selection because of its mishandling of numerous sexual abuse claims against team doctor Larry Nassar, who is in jail, effectively for life, after being found guilty of multiple charges of molesting young athletes under the guise of medical care.