When it comes to teens and technology, how much is too much? Join Childhood Matters’ Rona Renner, Student Organizational Services director Beth Samuelson, Positive Technology Relationships founder Jason Brand, teachers and teens as they discuss multitasking, cell phones, Facebook and homework at “Helping Teens Learn in an Era of Digital Overload,” a panel discussion and Q&A this Saturday, March 20 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Orinda Academy.
Color us speechless. When a famous British author announced last week that 14 was a good age to have babies, we were left just spluttering. You too?
We were reading Strollerderby when we chanced upon the mention that Hilary Mantel, the Brit who won the prestigious Man Booker Prize, had told a newspaper interviewer that at age 14, she would have been ready for children. “Having sex and having babies is what young women are about, and their instincts are suppressed in the interests of society’s timetable,” Mantel told the reporter.
It gets better. And by “better,” I mean worse, of course. In its coverage of the Mantel mouth-off, the Telegraph, a British newspaper, quotes supportive comments from Dr. Claire Alexander, prof at the London School of Economics and editor of a recent research study called “Teenage Parenthood: What’s the Problem?” Teenage parenthood is a good thing, Alexander said, because it “can even provide an impetus for teenage mothers and fathers to strive to provide a better life for their children.” Um, while they’re on welfare? Because last time I checked, you can’t get a job when you’re 14 – other than, you know, babysitting.
Is it just me? Or are these people three wheels short of a baby buggy?
Between their crazy schedules and upside-down circadian rhythms, teens always have been somewhat sleep-deprived. Now technology is making it worse. Teens are not just texting, instant-messaging and surfing Facebook all day; they’re sleeping with their cell phones or laptops, too. Or rather, not sleeping. And doctors and parents, many of them raised in an era when phones were attached to walls, are concerned. The average teen sends 2,899 text messages a month – that’s 97 a day. And, according to a new study conducted in Belgium, some 44% of those kids are waking up in the middle of the night to answer their phone or send a text. We explored the issue in depth in yesterday’s Times and Trib, talked to experts and kids, and pulled up some suggestions for how parents can help their kids – including a very simple and practical suggestion from San Jose psychologist David Marcus on how to help your teen see that life’s better when you’re not exhausted.
Got teen with a yen to explore? The Oakland Library is hosting a Teen Summer Passport program to encourage teens to get out and see local sights – museums, farmers markets, skate parks and cultural venues. Starting June 13, pick up a passport at any branch, then start exploring and accumulating passport stamps by visiting one of the recommended Bay Area Hot Spots, writing short reviews, attending library programs or volunteering. For every three passport stamps, your teen gets a raffle ticket that could win him a laptop computer, an iPod Nano or a Flip camera. Cool, huh? Check out the library’s web site or call (510) 238-7232 or 238-7234.
We’ll be back on Monday with a story about teens, tweens and online worries. But for now, the weekend’s about to start and we’ll leave you with this, an adorable take on online friendship
UNION CITY — A father upset with his teenage daughter for being out late on prom night was arrested Monday after he fired a gun during the argument and nearly hit his wife, who jumped in the way to protect their daughter, police said.
Caffeine, cell phones and no sleep – there’s a recipe for ill health. A new study being released today by the American Academy of Pediatrics says today’s teens, ages 12-18, are living a dangerously multi-tasking, 24/7 lifestyle. Just 20% get 8 hours of sleep a night, everyone else skimps on the shut eye. Most of them are using electronic media – cell phones, computers and video games – late into the night, and they’re getting through the day by drinking coffee, colas and caffeine-laden energy drinks. A third of the teens reported falling asleep in class twice a day (!) and 7% had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Bill Cooper hardly expected to dial into a world of Mazatec Indian shamanism when his phone went dead and he reached to borrow his son’s.
Then he saw one of the text messages: “hey, when were you fixen to blaze the salvia.”
…
Salvia divinorum, which local smoke shops sell in packets of dark, crushed-leaf extract — with a “strictly for incense use only” disclaimer — has spurred new laws in more than a dozen states in recent years amid a slew of online videos showing youths speaking or acting bizarrely after smoking it; and the well-publicized suicide of a Delaware teen in 2006, with the coroner listing salvia as a contributing cause.
In many of the videos, the smokers often start laughing uncontrollably, then are rendered incoherent by a forceful high that users describe as much shorter than LSD, but often more intense. …
According to a federal drug use survey … , an estimated 1.8 million people age 12 or older used Salvia divinorum at some point, including 750,000 that used it in the past year … . Contrast that with ecstasy, which was used by 2.1 million people in the same one-year period.
Long before the teen years, teach your child to think critically about the media images she’s bombarded with: Do all girls look like the ones on TV or in ads? How much time does it take Blake Lively to look like Serena van der Woodsen? How realistic is that life? What are makeovers and what’s the troubling message being driven home?
Push activities that encourage self-discovery, not rote achievement, says Hinshaw, and that encourage a wider sense of community, especially volunteer work. Spend time together, not just driving to yet another tournament, but actually talking and connecting.
Talk about the realities – that 25 percent of young women have experienced major depression, attempted suicide, indulged in binge eating or cutting, says Hinshaw. “We’ve got to talk about the problem and deal with it.”
Watch for Supergirl warning signs, says Funk: Is your daughter constantly tired? Irritable? Drinking too much coffee or Red Bull in the morning? Does she berate herself?
Encourage your daughter to take time for herself. Let her know you value her for herself.
Lower the pressure on college apps. “Today’s teens have pressure on them to score well on the SAT tests,” says Funk, “build an impressive activities resume, get perfect grades, and investigate their chances at getting into the best colleges, coming from all angles.” Don’t add to it.
It starts in a haze of happiness: A new guy, a new love, sweet affection and blinding jealousy. What happens next can range from tears and misery to violence and even death. It’s not just lurid headlines about Rihanna and Chris Brown. Teen dating abuse and violence are reaching epidemic proportions, with 1 in 10 American teens, ages 11-19, being physically attacked by their boy or girl friends, and 1 in 4 verbally or emotionally abused. Read Sunday’s story about what’s happening to our teens, then read on for a list of red flags and things parents can do to help, with advice from experts including Tatiana Colon (photo above), chairman of the Alameda Task Force on Teen Dating Violence, and Elizabeth Miller, pediatrics professor at UC Davis Medical Center.
RED FLAGS FOR TEEN DATING ABUSE & VIOLENCE
Occasional arguments are one thing. But patterns of manipulation, emotional abuse and violence can quickly spiral from mental distress to physical harm. One red flag is a warning. Several mean your teen needs help if his or her boyfriend or girlfriend:
* Belittles your child and makes him or her feel bad.
* Tries to control where she goes, wears or does
* Exhibits signs of extreme jealousy or possessiveness
* Frightens or intimidates
* Threatens harm if your child tries to end the relationship
* Isolates him or her from friends and family
* Has broken or thrown something at him or her in anger
* Has ever hit, slapped, shoved or kicked your child, or forced him or her to have sex
– Excerpted from LoveIsRespect.org
When it comes to teens and technology, how much is too much? Join Childhood Matters’ Rona Renner, Student Organizational Services director Beth Samuelson, Positive Technology Relationships founder Jason Brand, teachers and teens as they discuss multitasking, cell phones, Facebook and homework at “Helping Teens Learn in an Era of Digital Overload,” a panel discussion and Q&A this Saturday, March 20 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Orinda Academy.
