News, Advice, and Tips for Parenting Teenagers

A controversial new tool allowing parents to monitor their children's text messages has been released in Australia. Called "Bully Stop," the technology is aimed at parents who are concerned for their childrens safety with regards to cyberbullying.

According to Adelaide Now, "the technology works by allowing parents to create an 'OK list' and a 'block list' of contacts, which is controlled by a computer program linked to the phone. All phone calls and text messages to and from blocked contacts will be rejected, but the software will log the blocked calls and messages, allowing parents to view the attempted communication."

While some are hailing the new tool as a potential improvement in child safety, others warn that it could create a rift between child and parent.

Labels: parental influence, text messaging

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

Children who use chatspeak or abbreviations (such as gr8, LOL, and BRB) when they send messages via the Internet do just as well in spelling as other children, according to a new study from the University of Alberta.

Instant messaging is not ruining our children's spelling ability. In fact, it might actually be helping it. Its having them think about language in different ways, Dr. Connie Varnhagen, author of the study, said in a Sept. 23 Canadian Press article.

Dr. Varnhagen studied instant messages from students ages 12 to 17 years old over the course of one week, and then gave them a spelling test. The ones who could spell well in formal English were also good at spelling chatspeak, she discovered.

Labels: school, text messaging, intelligence

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Many of the stories we read and hear about teenagers and text messaging are far from good -- for example, sexting, cyberbullying and sleep deprivation among teens who are up all night exchanging messages with their friends.

But as a Sept. 22 Associated Press article by Beth J. Harpaz indicates, tech-friendly parents can turn texting into an advantage:

Texting isn't always bad. In some families, it's become a primary form of communication between parents and children. In fact, one of my favorite texts from kids is the earth-shattering query "Wuz4dina?"

Yes, the finest technology offered by the 21st century is being used to pose the question hungry children have been asking since cavemen roasted mammoth bones over a fire: "What's for dinner?"

Psychologist Thomas W. Phelan, author of "Surviving Your Adolescents: How to Manage and Let Go of Your 13-18 Year Olds," says one of the biggest problems with teens is getting them to communicate at all, so if they're willing to text their parents, we should embrace the trend.

Labels: communication, text messaging, cell phones

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Young people today have access to more media and information than any previous generation. But in the age of cell phones and instant messaging, kids are also more separated from the adult world.

Maturity follows a formula," [Mark Bauerlein] wrote in the Knoxville News Sentinel. "The more kids contact one another, the less they heed the tutelage of adults. When peer consciousness grows too fixed and firm, the teachers voice counts for nothing outside the classroom. When youth identity envelopes them, parent talk at the dinner table only distracts them.

The Kaiser Foundation estimates that 68 percent of kids have televisions in their rooms. It also estimates that the total amount of time kids spend with media (in its various forms), is nearly equivalent to having a full-time job. Texting, downloading and blogging are all great pastimes, but kids also need quality time with the adults who can help guide and instruct them.

Children whose video gaming and web surfing have progressed to the point of obsession may benefit from the effective professional intervention that is available at a residential treatment program for computer-addicted teens.

Labels: technology, internet, text messaging, cell phones

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"Sexting" is the word used to describe the sending or receiving of sexually explicit messages or pictures via cell phone. The practice is increasing in popularity among teenagers, which has many parents worried about their kids' safety and reputation.

According to an article on the website of Albequerque's KAOT News Channel 7, parents may be able to use a new technological tool to monitor their children's cell phone use:

New software is being marketed to parents, giving them a controversial new tool. Its called My Mobile Watchdog. For $10 a month, parents can receive a copy of every text, picture, and video message their child sends and receives.

My Mobile Watchdog claims it is not spyware, as it sends an alert to the cell phone user, informing her that a copies of her messages will be shared with a third party. Still, some parents -- concerned about invading their children's privacy -- prefer to build a trusting relationship that encourages their kids to be honest about who and what they're texting.

Labels: technology, text messaging, cell phones, sexting

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About 80 percent of teen girls and 58 percent of teen boys send and receive text messages while they are driving, a very dangerous behavior that has been blamed for an increasing number of automobile accidents. Also, more than 65 percent of the teens who were surveyed said that they had asked someone to stop driving in a dangerous way.

These statistics were reached following a survey of 605 young people between the ages of 16 and 20.

Texting while driving is more dangerous than driving in rain or snow or using the phone while driving, according to the Allstate Foundation and the National Organization for Youth Safety, which conducted the survey.

Texting and other unsafe behaviors while behind the wheel are among the issues that have raised concerns about teen maturity and the ability of young people to drive safely.

Labels: driving, safety, text messaging, teen_culture

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Your teenage daughter may laugh, or seem mortified, when she finds out that you have a MySpace profile. And you can be sure she won't "friend" you. If you sign up for an AIM (instant messenger) account, your son isn't going to ask you for your screenname. But knowing you're out there on the same website and other social avenues of the internet sends a message to your teens that you're paying attention.

"If you haven't heard of the hit shows or video games or technology and you've never seen or used them, it's hard to know what kids are really up to during all those hours they are supposedly doing their homework in front of the screen."

Though some parents resort to banning their kids from using the internet, that decision can hinder kids in the long run. Ours is an internet-based world, and the more parents know and understand the technology, the better they can help their kids navigate the sometimes-dangerous waters. Read more at TheStar.com.

Labels: myspace, text messaging, cell phones, email

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

The largest study ever of teen driving habits indicates that they get into accidents not only because they drink and drive, but also because of distractions like noisy passengers and cell phones.

The National Teen Driver Survey of 5,565 teenagers, done in cooperation with State Farm Insurance and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, found that teen drivers face "a driving environment that would be challenging even to experienced drivers."

• 90% said friends in the car distracted the drivers;
• 79% said they had witnessed teen passengers dancing and singing;
• 89% said friends used cell phones for talking or text messaging while they were driving.

Teens also reported that many of their friends drink and drive, do not wear seatbelts, and participate in off-road racing. Every year about one in five high school students is a passenger in an automobile accident.

Labels: driving, text messaging, cell phones

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

An astounding one in three teenagers sends out more than 100 text messages a day, according to a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Eighty-seven percent of the teens in the study sleep with their cell phones so they can be available to answer text messages all night long.

Other findings from the survey include the following:

• Girls send out an average of 80 messages a day, compared to 30 for boys.
• The teenagers told the Pew researchers that they felt that they had to be constantly available to their friends to receive and send text messages.
• Texting was the most popular form of communication, followed by cell phones, talking face to face, landline phones, social network sites like Facebook, instant messaging, and e-mail.
• The older teens in the survey texted the most often. Children of parents who try to control their use of cell phones were less likely to transmit sexy pictures of themselves.

Teachers told the Pew researchers that cell phones are "a disruptive force that must be managed and often excluded from the school in the classroom."
 

Labels: text messaging, teen_culture, cell phones

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Nine out of ten teenagers have driven cars while they are distracted, according to a new study from the American Automobile Association and Seventeen magazine.

Distractions included adjusting the radio or other music players, eating, texting, and talking on cell phones. The majority told interviewers they did not see anything wrong with their behaviors.

"It's great that so many teenagers are able to identify the bad driving habits that will put them and their friends in danger," said the editor of Seventeen magazine, Ann Shoket. "The bigger challenge we face now is to give them the tools they need to stop driving while distracted."
 

Labels: driving, safety, text messaging, cell phones

Posted By: By Parents For Parents 1 Comment

Parents need to learn how to use text messages and e-mails to better communicate with their children, especially about the risks of drugs and alcohol, according to a new study from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

• A research team from that organization surveyed 1,200 parents and found that they worry that their teenagers are over-using the new electronic media.
• Twenty-seven percent of parents expressed concerns about texting
• Twenty-seven percent worried about Facebook and social networks
• Nineteen percent had concerns about Twitter.

The Partnership for a Drug-free America recommends that parents use the new media to connect with their teenagers and to text them about risky behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse.

"It is more important than ever for parents to break through the media noise and make their voices heard," said Steve Pasiert, president of the Partnership. "Some parents may still feel apprehensive about embracing media and technology as a way of communicating with their children, but in today's world it is vital that they connect with their kids in every way possible."

Labels: internet, social-networking, parental influence, text messaging

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment

Over 40% of teenagers send text messages via their cell phones in class, and 17% do it constantly, according to a new survey from the organization textPlus.

Teachers rarely discipline teenagers for texting: 80% of teens said they had never gotten into trouble, and only 26% thought there was something wrong about texting during school.

Some experts believe that texting is a new form of passing notes in class. The new survey found that more than half of those texting are communicating with someone else in the class.

The prevalence of teen texting has raised a range of concerns, including safety issues among teens who text while driving, and the privacy violations (and related stresses and pressures) that are associated with the sending of sexually explicit messages and photos, which is commonly known as sexting.
 

Labels: text messaging, cell phones, sexting

Posted By: CRC Health 3 Comments

Parents can buy a new device designed to stop teenagers from using cell phones when they are driving .

Studies have shown that texting while driving makes it 24 times more likely that you will have an automobile accident, and talking on a cell phone increases your chances of accidents by four-fold. About half of all teenagers text while driving, according to the New York Times.

The new devices rely on global positioning systems (GPS) within the cell phones. If the person is moving more than 10 mph, the device jams the cell phone. "MESSAGES BLOCKED" appears on the screen, and incoming calls are sent to voicemail.
 

Labels: driving, safety, parents, text messaging

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment