Teen Bloggers Primarily Positive, Creative

Teenagers who maintain online diaries (or blogs) do so to maintain relationships with friends and to build a sense of community, and they rarely write about risky behaviors, according to a new study from Ohio State University.

Dr. Dawn Anderson-Butcher and her colleagues studied 100 teenage blogs kept on the website Xanga, and found that most writers recorded positive behaviors, such as studying, participating in school activities, going to worship services, and spending time with family.

"We looked at every single quote, and the kids wrote about very few problem behaviors," said Dr. Anderson-Butcher. "They showed a lot of creative expression through poetry, lyrics and song." They often wrote about boredom, which Dr. Anderson-Butcher considered a positive development.

"Think about the other things they could be doing," she said. "We know when kids are bored, mostly between the hours of three to 6 PM, they are at most risk for having sex or using alcohol, for example. ... but instead these youth sought out social expression via Xanga. So that's definitely a positive. They're filling their time with social networking."

The most common activities described by teenagers were playing video games (65%), boredom (65%), watching television (45%), doing homework (40%), going to lessons like music or dance (38%), browsing the Internet (29%), and participating in religious activities (22%).

The study appeared in Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal.

Moms Spending More Time Helping Kids Get Into College

If it feels like your efforts to assist your child's college search are amounting to a part-time job, you may be right -- but if you're a mother, you're not alone.

• College-educated women give up an average of nine hours a week of leisure time in order to help their high school children get into college, according to a new study from the University of California in San Diego.
• The researchers found that the amount of time that women of all levels of education are spending on child care has increased since the mid-1990s.
  
• Women without college educations increased their childcare time from 11 to 16 hours a week, and those figures were 13 to 22 hours a week for college-educated women.

Professors Garey and Valerie Ramsey found that the reason women were spending more time on child care was that they were driving their children to organized activities in order to increase their chances of getting into the best colleges.

Parents perceive that college admissions have become more competitive, and that a college education will help their children earn more money.

Who Do Girls Resume Sex After Extended Abstinence

A group of researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine wanted to find out why girls resume sexual activity after periods of abstinence.

• The researchers tracked 354 sexually active girls (ages 14 to 17 years old) between 1999 and 2006.
• The girls were more likely resume sexual relationships if they were in a good relationship with their boyfriends, if they felt good about themselves, and if they were interested in having sex.
• Girls who felt irritable, angry or unhappy were less likely to return to sexual activity after a period of abstinence, contrary to the findings of previous studies.

The study appeared in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

College Visits Can Help Daughters Overcome High School Peer Pressures

In the March 22 edition of her syndicated advice column, Carolyn Hax featured advice submitted by readers.

One parent reported that she helped her daughter rise above the pressure to fit in with her high school colleagues by encouraging her to focus on the benefits of college life:

When my daughter was starting 10th grade, we went to visit towns that, to her surprise, were college towns. Just being on campus helped her realize that high school was only the steppingstone to get her to college and then to her future. ...

We'd find some on-campus food or drink, go to the admissions office for some literature and ask about a tour, even though my daughter was young. If a tour was not available, we'd walk around campus and ask where the students hang out. ...

We'd look for students who might be willing to talk about their experience for a bit. These few minutes can help your teen realize that when someone goes to college, everyone from high school does not go with them! From my experience, this works.

Study Says Teen Girls Shop Carefully, With Regard to Value & Price

According to a new study titled "The Teenage Girl As Consumer and Communicator," teen girls shop carefully and with regard to value and price. They are most influenced by a small but intimate group of friends and family members who drive all their social interactions, including shopping.

• The primary purpose of this study was to find out how teenagers spend over $200 billion a year, even in recessionary times.
  
• The researchers were surprised to find out that teenage girls are not oriented toward trends but rather toward developing a personal style.
  
• About 40 percent get e-mails from stores to find out about sales.
  
• Girls tend to spend 23 percent more money when they shop with friends, and less when they shop with their boyfriends.
• More than 70 percent of girls go online in order to maintain friendships and not to "surf the net" without purpose.

"Teenage girls represent an awesome consumer force, buying, spending, trendspotting, and trendsetting," said Marian Salzman, president of Euro PR, which commissioned the study. "They are unique in virtually every aspect of their consumption behavior. They buy and spend in an almost ritualistic manner."

Officials Suspect Bullying May Have Led to Teen Girl's Suicide

A March 11 article in the British newspaper The Daily Mail indicates that yet another teen girl may have committed suicide after being bullied by classmates:

An investigation has been launched into the death of a 13-year-old schoolgirl amid claims she hanged herself after being bullied because she was pretty.

Poppy Bracey was found in her bedroom last week after returning home from her Manchester school. The teenager was taken to hospital but later died.

Council officials said today they are looking into allegations Poppy was being bullied in the run up to the death. ...

Emma-Jane Cross, CEO of bullying prevention charity Beatbullying, said: 'Poppy Bracey’s tragic death once again sadly highlights the devastating impact bullying can have on young people and their families.

"It is vital for young people being bullied to know that they are not alone, there are people they can talk to, there are structures in place for them to seek help, and that action will be taken to support them," [Cross said].

Though many people mistakenly believe that bullying is a boys' problem, increasing numbers of adolescent and teen girls are involved in bullying (as victims, perpetrators or both).

Study Says Tobacco Ads Targeted Teen Girls

A study that appears in the current edition of the journal Pediatrics, researchers with University of Southern California-San Diego's Moores Cancer Center report that advertisements for R.J. Reynold's Camel No. 9 cigarettes were designed to promote smoking by underage girls.

A March 15 article by CNN Medical Producer John Bonifeld provided the following details about the research, which was led by John Pierce:

The ads, which were featured in popular women’s magazines like Glamour, Lucky and Vogue back in 2007, look a lot like the pages of a glitzy fashion magazine. The cigarettes are featured right alongside a beautiful dress, shoes, jewelry and a purse -- the kinds of items that you might expect teen girls to find glamorous and appealing.

"The ads had a lot imagery that is girl-like," says Cheryl Healton with the American Legacy Foundation, an anti-tobacco advocacy group. "Shocking pink on the packaging. Describing the cigarettes as light and luscious. Making them almost like candy." ...

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company tells CNN that it "adheres to numerous restrictions on how it markets its tobacco products and does not take any action to target youth." The company's statement goes on to say, "Camel No. 9 was developed in response to female adult smokers...who were asking for a product that better reflected their taste preferences and style."

'Brain Foods' Can Boost Your Child's Academic Performance

Parents who are looking for ways to help improve their daughter's academic performance may want to take a close look at the family dinner menu.

According to a WebMD article by Jeanie Lerche Davis, "certain 'brain foods' may help boost a child's brain growth -- plus improve brain function, memory, and concentration." Davis identified the following as the 10 best brain-friendly foods:

1. Salmon
2. Eggs
3. Peanut butter
4. Whole grains
5. Oats/Oatmeal
6. Berries
7. Beans
8. Colorful vegetables
9. Milk & Yogurt
10. Lean meat (or meat substitutes)

Alcohol Linked to Rise in Fatal Car Crashes Involving Young Women

More bad news on the topic of young women and alcohol abuse: New research indicates that alcohol is becoming an increasingly important factor in the number of fatal car crashes involving young women drivers in the United States.

• The new research, which was recently published in the journal Injury Prevention, included an analysis of data from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on fatal road traffic collisions for the years 1995 to 2007.
  
• The study shows that the increase in the proportion of young female drivers with a positive blood alcohol test involved in a fatal collision was greater (3.1 percent) than it was for young male drivers (1.2 percent).
• In addition, the increase in the proportion of young drivers involved in fatal crashes with positive blood alcohol tests at all times of the week was greater among young women than it was among young men.
  
• The rate increased by 3.5 percent on weekdays and 2.2% percent on weekends among young women. By contrast, it rose by 1.5 percent on weekdays and 0.4 percent on weekends among young men.
  

[Source: www.sciencedaily.com]

Excess Screen Time Puts Teens at Risk for Poor Relationships

Too much time spent in front of television or computer screens may cause teens to have poor relationships with their parents and peers, according to a new study from New Zealand.

• Dr. Rosalina Richards and her colleagues studied 3,043 people ages 14 and 15 years old in 2004, asking them about their leisure time habits.
  
• The more time teenagers spent watching television or playing computer games, the more likely they were to tell researchers that they had poor relationships with their parents.
  
• Every hour of "screen" time increased the risk by 4 percent.

The same research team went through interview responses from 976 people who were 15 year old in 1987.

• Among this group, time spent watching television was correlated with lower attachments to parents and peers.
  
• Each hour spent watching television increased the risk of low attachment to parents by 13 percent and low attachment to peers by 24 percent.

"Given the importance of attachment to parents and peers in adolescent health and development, concern about high levels of screen time is warranted," Dr. Richards wrote in her report published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Adolescent Fitness Associated with Improved Academics

Young people who are physically fit have better academic test scores, according to a study from West Virginia University.

• Dr. Lesley Cottrell, a professor of pediatrics, and her colleagues tested the physical fitness levels of 1,200 students in fifth grade and again in seventh grade.
  
• The researchers gave the students standardized tests in seventh grade in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies.
  
• Children who were physically fit in fifth grade and who maintained that high level of fitness through seventh grade had the highest test scores.
  
• Their average score in reading was 3.31, with a 3.0 indicating "mastery." Children who tested unhealthy in fifth through seventh grades at the lowest scores in reading, a 2.91 out of a possible five.

Dr. Cottrell's team explained the results in terms of "a mind-body connection".

"Children's physical fitness is associated with academic performance," Dr. Cottrell said.

The study was presented at the American Heart Association's 2010 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

Most Teens Want to Help Less Fortunate

Three out of four teenagers want to help charities and 38 percent would like to do more volunteer work, according to a survey commissioned by World Vision and the 30 Hour Famine.

"The findings of this study paint American kids in a new but accurate light- informed global citizens who understand that solvable global social problems like hunger and poverty exist everywhere around the world," said Justin Greeves , senior vice president with Harris Interactive.

The 30 Hour Famine has taken place annually since 1988, with hundreds of thousands of teenagers give up food for 30 hours in order to increase their understanding of the world's poor children. The teens give one dollar for each hour they go without food.

Teen volunteerism has been associated with a wide range of benefits, including enhanced self-esteem, improved confidence, the development of leadership skills and better performance in school.

Study Says Adolescents, Teens Have Easy Access to Inappropriate Media

The vast majority of teenagers and preteens can get any movie, DVD, music or video game they want, despite industry ratings and warning labels, according to a new study from the University of South Dakota.

• Professors Patrick Garry and Candice Spurlin and their colleagues gave three surveys categorized as "Movies," "Music CDs," and "Video and computer games" to 440 student ages 10 to 14 years old.
  
• Over 70 percent of the surveyed teens had seen PG-13 or R-rated movies without their parents, or listened to music CDs with Parental Advisory Explicit Content warnings on the wrappers.
  
• Over 80 percent of the boys told researchers they have played video games rated inappropriate for their age group. Public school students were much more likely to play inappropriate games than were private school students.

Inappropriate media images have been associated with a range of unhealthy developments in boys and girls, including lowered self-esteem, body image problems, eating disorders, desensitization to violence, and increased levels of aggression.

During Teen Years, Parent's Role Morphs from Manager to Coach

Though many teens project an air of indifference (or, in some cases, outright hostility) when it comes to parental involvement in their lives, it's no secret that they still depend on their parents' guidance and oversight as they navigate the often rocky path toward adulthood.

In a Feb. 24 article on the website of Oregon's Statesman Journal newspaper, Cheryl Page of the Salem-Keizer School District offered the following insights into the ways that parents can successfully manage the relationship changes that accompany the teen years:

Most parents would agree that the purpose of parenting is to raise healthy, self-sufficient adults who can support themselves physically, emotionally, socially and financially.

To do this, teens need to start making personal decisions. This doesn't mean that parents step out of the picture entirely; it just means that they move from the position of manager to coach or consultant.

What does this look like?

As a coach you are still deeply involved in the life of your teen, but in a more passive role. Make yourself visible and available. Make time daily to interact with your teens. Use television programs or community news as opportunities to talk about issues such as drugs, alcohol and sexuality. Really listen to what your kids are saying.