North Carolina Teens Say No To Cigarettes

I have had the pleasure of spending a lot of time in the South.  I am originally from the Midwest and - although there are a lot of similarities - there are also a lot of differences.  For instance, when I was a kid, we would have cornbread once a year on Thanksgiving. In the South, you can eat it every day. In the Midwest, no one talked much about their religious predilections. In the South, it is a common subject of day to day discourse. In the Midwest, people are kind, but not overly nice. In the South, if you go into a restaurant you will not be able to leave until the waitress has called you “baby”, “honey”, “sugar” and “dear” along with as many other terms of endearment you’d care to linger for.

Another thing that makes the South different is the fact that the South is the home of King Tobacco. One of the most striking sights I’ve seen in my travels in the South are beautiful barns filled with tobacco hanging up to dry.

Because this region finds it’s traditions, economies and cultural identity tangled up in these bright green leaves, it has experienced a unique transition in recent years as health warnings, lawsuits and new trends have seen the industry going up in a different kind of smoke.

North Carolina has had a tough time trying to convince teens to give up - or never start - the habit of smoking. However, new data suggests that their efforts are beginning to pay off:

Programs designed to reduce teenage smoking in North Carolina are having an effect, according to a new study by researchers at the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study showed the percentage of middle-school students who smoke dropped from 5.8 percent in 2005 to 4.5 percent in 2007. The number of high school students who smoke fell from 20.3 percent to 19 percent.

The results come from what is being called the first comprehensive independent evaluation of the state Health and Wellness Trust Fund’s anti-smoking efforts.

Read more here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Best Teen Books Of 08

Ok, so Christmas is over and you now its time to spend a bit of that gift money on yourself. If you are the bookish type, now is a  great time to take advantage of post-holiday sales to catch up on the best of this year’s reads.

Every year the Young Adult Library Services Association rounds up the best of the year by having teens vote on their favorites from the last year. Well 08 is almost over and the results are in!

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten

Where Teens Choose the Winners!

The 2008 Teens’ Top Ten

The vote is in! More than 8,000 teens voted on this year’s winners. The 2008 Teens’ Top Ten is:

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
7. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Find out more about this years winners and look at the honorees in previous years here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Great Site For Teen Girls

Did a bit of random surfing this afternoon and found a cool site for girls!  This site is tailored to multi-cultural teens and young adults, but there is a lot of information about music, movies and teen life that any girl would be interested in.

The highlight of the site is the teen blogging community that is featured there. Check out Teen Diaries and see what you think. Here is some info from their About page:

Teen Diaries is dedicated to helping multi-cultural females (ages 13 to 22) transition into adulthood. From fashion to finance, each section of this E-mentoring site and developing talk show focuses on a particular issue that affects this unique population. It is educational, inspirational, and entertaining. It is supportive and non-judgmental. Featured celebrities and professionals talk about the issues that affected them as teens growing up in America. Teen bloggers from New York to Los Angeles contribute to the Diaries section that features their truthful depiction of teen life and appeals to the audience who identify with them. Without a doubt, Teen Diaries fills an ever-existent void in the framework of our youth.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Give Your Teen’s Ownership Over The Holidays

Here’s the thing, the holidays are a blast. They are also an awful lot of work.

You probably have a lot of plans over the next several days. For most of us,  Christmas is just the beginning of the holiday chaos. Here we are one day after the BIG DAY and I am currently juggling two dinner plans, six friends, one brother, two bars, two parties and three movies on DVD. And that’s just what is vying for my attention tonight! This is what makes the holidays such a blast. It’s also what can drive you crazy!

If you are having a hard time getting through these first few days of celebrating, it may be time to enlist your teens!

Your teens can be a big help when it comes to your holiday plans. They can help with the step up, cooking and clean up after a holiday  party. They can look after younger kids when friends or family drop by. Teens - of course - are young adults and there is no reason why they shouldn’t be a constructive part of your holiday plans. The key is to give your teens a sense of ownership when it comes to your Christmas and New Year’s events. Make sure they know they are needed, let them have some input in the plans and make sure they get credit for all of their hard work!

I just discovered this parenting blog. It has a lot of great advice for recruiting your teens into your holiday events.

Welcome to Parenting Teen at Christmas Tip Three – Allocate roles to read Parenting Teens Christmas Tip Two – Make a plan.

So, you have now got clear what you want and made a  plan not to have to do it all by yourself. Yes, you do have a family and yes, you can all be a team!

Here is what I suggest, if you want people’s buy in then you need to give them ownership of something, so they also feel they have some control over the day. This is where you get role allocating.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Teens, Plastic Surgery and Self Esteem

Nowadays, science is miraculous. It seems there is no limit to what they can do. No matter how badly someone is hurt, it seems like science can literally put them back together, inside and out.

For people who have been in a terrible accident - or badly burned - plastic surgery can mean a big difference in quality of life. However, I use the term “plastic” instead of “cosmetic” because I think it fits better. “Cosmetic” minimizes what can be drastic, dangerous procedures. “Plastic” emphasizes the superficial nature of these expensive, questionable solutions.

More and more,  our teens are looking into these procedures to make them thinner in one spot, bigger in another, and happy on the inside.

It was unheard of when I was a teen, but this is part of the new world our teens are growing up in. At this point we’ve probably all heard of a father buying his daughter a breast augmentation for her 16th birthday.

I understand that this can be a complicated issue, and that women from around the world would gladly stand up, proudly admittiing to their various “improvements”, declaring that these decisions made them better people.  Perhaps they can. Who am I to judge.

But  should a teen opt for plastic surgery before they are even done growing?

Here are a number of self-esteem building ideas for parents to share with their teen from a long article I found online:

• Give compliments for specific behavior, no empty praise
• Avoid comments about looks Involve girls/boys in sports, physical activities
• Allow teens to try it their way sometimes, not just your way
• Let children try to solve problems on their own – don’t rush in, let them fail sometimes
• Help them develop confidence in their own opinions
• Pay attention to the non-physical
• Expose girls to non-traditional classes/activities – in school, perhaps science class; at home, let her help with the budget; in leisure time, maybe martial arts
• Point out role models in non-beauty arenas: sports, science, politics, art
• Watch your own comments about others’ body, hair, clothes

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

What Teenager’s Really Want To Find Beneath The Tree

Well, it’s almost that time again. Christmas is right around the corner and we are all counting down one more week before our big celebrations.

I am happy to say that I have all of my shopping finished. Christmas for me includes buying gifts for 7 kids - mostly tweens - and this can be a tricky business. My process usually includes phone interviews of my brother and sister, trying to determine what - exactly - their strange young people are into this year.

My acquisitions ranged from outdoor gear to books to music and dolls. A few lucky boys will be launching model rockets once the snow melts. Hopefully, OUTside.

In my searches I came across some interesting numbers on what’s popular with teens this year.

Check it out:

Teenage virtual world Habbo has very kindly found out what kids really want for Christmas. So, if anyone was thinking about buying a good book for their teenager then perhaps it’s time for a rethink.

Video games and mobile phones are by far the most desired gifts. In a survey of more than 4,500 UK teens (36% female and 64% male) aged 11 - 18, 39 % really want a games console or PC . The top brand is Xbox followed by the Wii. Mobile phones are also sought after with Sony Ericsson branded phones the favourite choice (34%) followed by Noka, then the iPhone.

Find out more about what your teens want to wear at Christmas here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

New Stats Reveal Teen Nude Swapping

Like many things teenagers do, they seem to know this is a bad idea, but they do it anyway.

New numbers out of the UK show that - while teens understand the dangers - a significant number are still likely to swap nude pics online with other teens. Many times this takes place between young people who have only met on the Internet.

I think it’s important to be realistic regarding sexual activity between our teens, and these posts would never presume to suggest the way a parent should deal with their kids regarding sexuality. That said, the important point we need to get across to teens is that this isn’t just about sexuality. It’s also about privacy, reputation, and a personal, online history that can haunt them for years.

It can not be emphasized enough that - in many ways - the Internet is forever. When teens share sensitive information like this over the Internet, there are just too many opportunities for things to go out of control. Soon, what may seem like innocent flirting can become a global peepshow for an unsuspecting kid.

Get a load of this:

One in 5 teenagers say they’ve electronically sent or posted online nude or semi-nude images of themselves, which may be fueling a more casual attitude toward sex, according to a “Sex and Tech” survey released this week by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com.

Read the rest of this report.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Sexuality, YouTube, and Your Teen

After recently posting about how education affects teen’s online behavior, I couldn’t help but think about how education affects young people in general. Not every teen or parent agrees with any particular take on teens and sex, but I have my own opinions regarding these subjects and would love to have a few comments on this post to see where you may be coming from.

Generally, education is a great thing. I am not of the mind that if you fill a teen in about sex he/she will immediately start sleeping with everyone in sight. It just doesn’t work that way. I believe that a really informed teen will consider the physical ramifications of sex - STD’s, pregnancy - as well as the emotional one’s before deciding to throw caution - and virginity - to the wind.

With that in mind, our friends at Virtual Mystery Tour have been busy discussing teens and sex as well. Definitely click through and check out the interview about YouTube.

Here’s what’s up on their end:

The fabulous sexuality educator Karen Rayne interviewed me for a piece about YouTube and what parents need to know. I am linking to it here, but promise that I will be updating my own blog in the near future!

Meanwhile, I have been doing a lot in the world of teens and sexuality! I recently spoke at a Teen Night hosted by OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) — the topic was, of course, about teens online! We had a great group of young people and we mostly chatted about the best ways to educate their peers about the potential dangers of online. We talked quite a bit about child pornography laws and most of what I said was news to them! They told me it was very important that people their age learn about the laws related to sending naked pictures of themselves, because even though it might be a “dumb idea” it still happens.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Education Equals Safety For Teens Online

Well this is not necessarily a revelation, but it is reassuring. There is yet some more information out there that points to the need for - and effectiveness of - education where Internet safety and teens are concerned.

Obviously, this is good news. It speaks to the usefulness of sites like this that are dedicated to informing teens and parents about the good and bad where the Internet is concerned. It also speaks well of you, dear reader. Clearly your vigilance and efforts are paying off, and it is very likely that your kids are staying safe online because they know they need to and they know how.

This extensive study essentially says that if kids know that being online can be dangerous, they are very likely to take appropriate measures to protect their computers, their privacy and themselves.

Again, this is no surprise to well-informed people like us. Pat yourself on the back while you read up on the latest news:

Researchers from the University at Buffalo and University of Maryland surveyed 285 preteens and early teenagers, both male and female, to determine how important they felt it was to protect their privacy online and if those beliefs affected what actions they took to protect that privacy.

Students were asked whether they protected their personal information on the Internet, whether they opened e-mails from unknown senders and whether they downloaded files from unknown people or Web sites.

The researchers found that preteens and early teenagers who were educated on the importance of Internet privacy through school, parents or the media were more likely to practice online safety than those who weren’t.

Furthermore, among teachers, peers and parents, the researchers found that parents were the most influential.

Read the whole piece here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Sexting Trends Raise Eyebrows After MySpace Suicide

A group of New England teenagers just got busted - big time - when they were caught looking at nude photos of a classmate on their cell phones in their school cafeteria at lunch time. Sharing nude images via cell phones - “Sexting”- is happening more and more, and it has parents and school officials worried; especially since the MySpace Suicide case brought dangerous online activities into the national spotlight.

Just interjecting a few thoughts of my own now, this trend raises some interesting questions. For instance, “Why would teens be doing this?” Sure, such an inquiry is almost ludicrously fundamental, but really, “Why?”I think the answer can be found in the place where instant celebrity, meets teenage bravado, meets cyber-porn culture.

Andy Warhol was right when he said that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes in the future. Well, the future is now,  and the Internet and 24 hour cable TV demands “stars” and “news”. The result? Anyone willing to act in an outrageous manner can become famous. Of course any teen with their eyes open can also see that the method of choice for many “stars” is “leaking” a sex tape. In some ways, sexting is the equivalent: drawing attention to oneself by being nervier than the next guy/gal. In this case, the image is of a teen boy. This is where the porn angle comes in. Although all teens watch porn online, it is an overwhelmingly male activity. The idea that teen boys would emulate what they see in these films is no surprise.

At the end of the day, teens exposing themselves to each other isn’t really such a shock. I can’t even recall the number of “moons” and “flashes” that punctuated my pubescent years. The difference here is that the digital distribution of these images means that all of this behavior may come back to haunt these kids.

Here is an excerpt. Read the whole story and leave a comment here.

Although this partially-nude photo wasn’t taken on campus, it is beyond inappropriate. Kingston Police Chief Donald W. Briggs Jr. said he was notified Nov. 18 of “an inappropriate photo being circulated among students through electronic means.” Briggs went on to say that the photo depicted a male naked from the waist to the knees. School authorities became aware of the smutty photo when students were viewing the image on their cell phones while in the cafeteria.

This type of behavior among local teens is downright offensive, especially coming on the heels of media publicity over the dangers of teens throughout America sharing embarrassing or “sexy” photos over the Internet. Teens aren’t sharing these photos only with their friends on the Internet through sites such as MySpace. The smut is there for the whole world to see. It can be viewed not only by online predators but by school bullies looking for an opportunity to torment or embarrass others.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan