Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Family Fun Reduces Risky Teen Sex, Boston College Study Finds

Teens are less likely to engage in risky sex if families spend more time at the dinner table and "having fun", researchers say.

The detailed US study of nearly 5000 teenagers found parents who do not want their teens to engage in dicey sexual behavior should make family time a priority.

Adolescents who took part in family activities more often had sex less frequently, less unprotected sex, and fewer sexual partners, Boston College researcher Rebekah Levine Coley and colleagues found.

Dr Coley’s investigation reported in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health also found overbearing parents were more likely to trigger early and risky sex in their children.

On the other hand, teens who frequently ate dinner with their family, did “something religious" or had family fun were less likely to go astray.

Family activities were "centrally important supports for children, providing opportunities for emotional warmth, communication, and transmission of values and beliefs”, the study authors found.

Source: Heraldsun.com.au
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24069614-661,00.html

Regular family dinnertime, family fun, and family spiritual activities to reduce at-risk behaviors... This is what we at HomeWord have been advocating to parents over the years. It's nice to have some current research to back up these notions!

There's A Gender Gap At The Dinner Table

For adolescent girls, the positive impact of sharing regular family meals appears to last throughout their teenage years. Those who ate with their families at least five times a week during middle school were much less likely to drink, smoke or use marijuana five years later, researchers at the University of Minnesota found in a study published recently.

But the same was not true for boys. For reasons that the researchers could not explain, regular family meals had no influence on their later substance abuse.

The research is the latest in a series of studies that may be helping to revive the family dinner hour in the United States. Researchers at the university and elsewhere have proven the power of regular family meals to protect kids from unhealthy behavior -- everything from eating disorders to addiction and suicidal thinking. Some previous studies also have shown that the impact is much greater on girls than boys.

Source: Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/25741649.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:3

Survey: Teens Dating Younger, Experiencing More Violence in Relationships

A troubling new survey reveals that teens (even "tweens") are dating earlier, and are experiencing emotional and sexual abuse in their relationships. Here's one disturbing finding: 37% of 11-12 year-olds say they have had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Yikes!

Tweens and teens in dating relationships are experiencing significant levels of various forms of abuse, many don't know the warning signs of an abusive relationship, and many parents don't know what's going on in those relationships, a new survey says.

Among the findings:

69 percent of all teens who had sex by age 14 said they have gone through one or more types of abuse in a relationship.

40 percent of the youngest tweens, those between the ages of 11 and 12, report that their friends are victims of verbal abuse in relationships, and nearly one-in-ten (9 percent) say their friends have had sex.

Nearly three-in-four tweens (72 percent) say boyfriend/girlfriend relationships usually begin at age 14 or younger.

More than one-in-three 11-12 year olds (37percent) say they have been in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.

One-in-five between the ages of 13 and 14 say their friends are victims of dating violence, such as getting struck, hit or slapped by a boyfriend or girlfriend, and nearly half of all tweens in relationships say they know friends who are verbally abused.

One-in-five 13-14 year olds in relationships (20 percent) say they know friends and peers who've been struck in anger (kicked, hit, slapped, or punched) by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

In addition, significant numbers of teens (15-18) are experiencing emotional and mental abuse as well as violence when dating; it's even more prevalent among teens who've had sex by 14.

The survey, which was commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. and loveisrespect.org, was conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited. Loveisrespect.org operates the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline.

Source: CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/08/earlyshow/living/relationships/main4240192.shtml

Teen Breast Augmentation Surgery Increasing

Last week, Stephanie Kuleba, 18, of South Florida died while undergoing breast augmentation surgery (apparently due to a reaction to general anesthesia.) At minimum, this gives rise to the reminder that even cosmetic surgery is still surgery and brings with it the accompanying risks. While parents should certainly pay attention to the status of their teen's self-image, in my opinion, they should help their kids focus more on building a healthy self-image based on character traits, spirituality, talents and skills, rather than looks. The following report from Newsday examines the increase in the number of teen girls undergoing breast augmentation...

Last week's death of Stephanie Kuleba, 18, of South Florida, during breast augmentation surgery has drawn attention to what some describe as a growing trend. Kuleba, whose parents say she sought the surgery to correct an inverted nipple and asymmetrical breasts, died Saturday of what may have been a rare genetic reaction to general anesthesia.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of women 18 and younger who have had breast enlargements has risen nearly 500 percent over the past decade -- a sharper climb than the 300 percent increase in breast augmentations among all age groups.

Dr. Stephen Greenberg, a plastic surgeon in Woodbury, estimated he has seen a 20 percent to 30 percent rise in cosmetic procedures among young people. Often, he said, a girl will come in with her parents, who are buying her a breast augmentation as a birthday or high school graduation gift.

"There are girls and women who are devastated by the fact that they don't have breasts and their friends do," Greenberg said. "They don't play gymnastics and they don't go on dates or they can't wear certain clothing, and I hear these things every day."

Source: Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-lisurg0327,0,2939806.story

New Research Shows 81% of Teens Are Happy

OTX, a leading global consumer research and consulting firm, released new results from its Teen Topix study. The study is done in conjunction with trend experts, the Intelligence Group and taps into the complex lives of the 13-17 year old set. 750 teens across the country were surveyed on the topic of self image.

One of the key findings of the study was that a vast majority of today's teens consider themselves to be happy. 81% of teens said they were at least somewhat happy and over a third (36%) say they are very happy.

Teens are happiest with their relationships with friends, their talents, their abilities, and their school performance. While a large number are also happy with their looks, it falls lower on the list; and teens are happier with how they look online (e.g. their MySpace profile).

How happy are you with the following areas of your life (1-5 scale, Top 2 Box)                                             
                                                                            Total
Your relationship with friends                                  85 %
Your talents or abilities                                           80 %
How you look online (e.g. on your MySpace profile)   78 %
Your performance in school / grades                         74 %
Your health                                                             73 %
Your relationship with family members                     73 %
Your looks                                                               68 %
Where you live (e.g. the town or city)                       67 %
Your relationship with boyfriend / girlfriend              66 %
Your body                                                                58 %

 

Source: PRNewswire
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-25-2008/0004780056&EDATE

It's not uncommon for those who are students of today's culture to get the impression that today's teens are angst ridden given all of the challenges they face as they navigate the journey to adulthood. So, it's nice to come across a study that indicates otherwise.

Boomers' Hope: That The 'Kids' Are All Right

This is another piece about twentysomethings living at home with their parents that I posted about last week. In this article from USA Today, author Sharon Jayson reports that at least between peers, parents are sharing concerns that their young adult children don't have a clue about what they want to do with their lives, and are expressing hopes that enabling them to remain at home hasn't stifled their kids' self-sufficiency.

Around the kids, they're nothing if not supportive. But a growing number of baby boomer parents are freaking out inside.

They don't want to let on to their adult children that they're getting worried, but these parents are sharing their concerns at work, at the gym, at the grocery store or anyplace they can commiserate: Their offspring — post-college degreed and in their mid- to late 20s — still haven't a clue about what to do with their lives.

These young adults aren't slackers; they often have jobs to pay the rent and are seemingly on their own. But one of parents' biggest worries is whether their close relationships with their children may have stifled their self-sufficiency.

"Watching this as a parent, you're concerned that they find their own path," says Richard Hesel, 62, a marketing consultant from Timonium, Md., and the father of two sons in their 20s. "We've gone out of our way to help these kids, but you do wonder: When does it end?"

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-24-boomers-kids_N.htm

Protracted Adolescence Keep Young Adults At Home

Ran across an article on the trend of young adults who are still living at home with their parents. It appears that many parents are happy to have their twentysomethings at home. Worth the full read. What do you think about this trend? Does a prolonged phase of adolescence serve to better prepare kids for adulthood, or does it actually keep kids from assuming adult responsibilities?

Brittany Lambros of Scotch Plains started her freshman year at Lock Haven University in the fall of 2006. She left the central Pennsylvania school for home during winter break -- and never returned.

The 20-year-old is still at home, taking classes at Union County College, working in a hair salon, going to the gym. Eventually she wants to get a four-year degree, start a career, move out, get married and have a family. But Lambros figures she has another 10 years to reach those goals. "I'm just taking it day to day right now. I like being young like this. And there's no place like home."

Lambros is the new face of young adulthood, say experts studying the "millennial generation," 81 million Americans born between 1980 and 2000. For them, transitioning out of adolescence is more protracted.

They are taking longer to get through school, start a career, marry and have children. This means many are continuing to live at home with parents who are mostly happy to have them back.

"There's a new life stage between adolescence and young adulthood, a time for trying out different possibilities, what you feel is the right fit," said Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a developmental psychologist and author of "Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road From the Late Teens Through the Twenties."

Source: NJ.com
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1205646131105450.xml&coll=1

Message to Teens: Eat Your Breakfast!

Teenagers who eat breakfast consume more daily calories but weigh less than those who skip the first meal of the day, a study released Monday in the United States showed.

"This study clearly supports what other studies have shown: kids who skip breakfast tend to gain more weight, and therefore would be at a higher risk for obesity," said Dr Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota's department of epidemiology and community health, which conducted the study.

Source: AFP
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jj_kWfuxvXqR7F-QVObrD8rJPCXQ

So that's what happened to me!? I was one of those teens who always skipped breakfast. Now I have something to blame my "well-nourished" state upon. If your teens need a tangible reason for eating breakfast this just might be it. I wish the study would have addressed the "why" eating breakfast translates into weighing less. I saw a couple of television news reports on this item last night and at least one tried to explain that if kids eat breakfast, they tend to eat less later throughout the day. That seems reasonable as an explanation, but I came away feeling that the study itself did not identify a cause-and-effect link to the reasons why kids who eat breakfast end up weighing less.

Spanking Kids Increases Risk Of Sexual Problems As Adults

Children who are spanked or victims of other corporal punishment are more likely to have sexual problems as a teen or adult, according to new research presented today by Murray Straus, co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire.

Straus analyzed the results of four studies and found that spanking and other corporal punishment by parents is associated with an increased probability of three sexual problems as a teen or adult:
• Verbally and physically coercing a dating partner to have sex.
• Risky sex such as premarital sex without a condom.
• Masochistic sex such as being aroused by being spanked when having sex.

“These results, together with the results of more than 100 other studies, suggest that spanking is one of the roots of relationship violence and mental health problems. Because there is 93 percent agreement between studies that investigated harmful side effects of spanking, and because over 90 percent of U.S. parents spank toddlers, the potential benefits for prevention of sexual and relationship violence is large,” Straus says.

Source: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228220451.htm

This is the first connection I've ever seen linking corporal punishment and potential sexual dysfunctions. It's worth noting. But, more intriguing to me is that the study includes no insight into any potential link between the attitudes of parents who spank and their demeanor when applying corporal punishment. I can envision significant differences in long term affects on kids simply based on the "whys" and "hows" parents utilize spanking. It seems to me that there is a big difference between an  angry, vengeful, emotionally distant parent who spanks to punish and a calm, loving, supportive parent who spanks as a measure of discipline. In any case, I think the study would have been better if it had taken these differences into account. What do you think?

Watch Your Mouth!

Adolescents and preteens are swearing more publicly than ever – especially at school, experts say.

It's conversational swearing – in the hallways and in the classroom – that is on the rise, says Timothy Jay, one of the leading scholars on cursing in the United States.

Teens are more likely to drop casual expletives, or "fillers," than the generation before them and have more trouble adjusting their conversation to fit their audience. That means adults – especially strangers who cannot sanction the teens – hear more of the same language that the teens' friends hear, says Jay, author of "Why We Curse" (John Benjamins, $35, 328 pages) and "Cursing in America" (John Benjamins, $66, 272 pages).

He estimates that the average adolescent uses roughly 80 to 90 swear words a day.

The solution, says Jay, is for parents to teach the etiquette of swearing.

"Kids should know about the power of language. Parents should remind them about how important words can be and when you should use them," agrees Leahy.

P.M. Forni, author of "Choosing Civility: The 25 Rules of Considerate Conduct" (St. Martin's Griffin, $12.95, 208 pages), sees the comfort teens have with cussing as a result of parents and teachers opting not to address the issue.

"Many parents have decided not to fight this battle, and one of the reasons is because they often swear themselves and hear it at the workplace," Forni says. "Parents should ban swearing in the household in the same way that they've banned smoking in the household."

Source: Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/727392.html