Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

40% of Youths Attempting Suicide Make First Attempt Before High School

Thoughts about killing oneself and engaging in suicidal behavior may begin much younger than previously thought. While about one of nine youths attempt suicide by the time they graduate from high school, new findings reveal that a significant proportion make their first suicide attempt in elementary or middle school.

In a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, nearly 40 percent of young adults who said they had tried suicide said that they made their first attempt before entering high school.

The researchers also found that suicide attempts during childhood and adolescence were linked to higher scores of depression at the time of the attempts, validating for the first time that young adults can reliably recall when they first attempted suicide.

"Young adults who end up having chronic mental health problems show their struggles early," said James Mazza, lead author and professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington. "This study suggests that implementation of mental health programs may need to start in elementary and middle schools, and that youth in these grades are fairly good reporters of their own mental health."

Source: EurekAlert!
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uow-4po112311.php

Half of 12-Year-Olds are on Facebook

Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are supposed to be limited to people who are ages 13 and up, but this is far from being the case, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which found that nearly half of American 12-year-olds -- 45% -- have profiles on these sites. Assuming the 12-year-old population has remained stable, around 3.96 million since the latest Census projections in 2009, that means 1.78 million 12-year-olds are evading Facebook’s age limits.

These figures, while large, don’t come as much of a surprise following an earlier estimate from Consumer Reports that 7.5 million children under the age of 13 are on Facebook, including five million children under the age of 10. And they’re in line with separate data from Harris Interactive, which found that half of parents with 12-year-olds know that their children are on Facebook. What’s more, seven out of ten of these parents actually actively helped their children evade the security protocols meant to prevent anyone from under age 13 getting on the site.

Source: MediaPost
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/162981/half-of-12-year-olds-are-on-facebook.html?edition=40631

Adolescent Boys More Prone to Delinquency Without a Father

Adolescent boys are more prone to delinquency if they do not have a father figure in their lives, a University of Melbourne study has found, while adolescent girls seem unaffected by the presence or absence of fathers in their lives.

The study, undertaken by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the Faculty of Business and Economics, found that the presence of a father figure during adolescence was most likely to have a preventive effect on whether male youths engage in risk-taking and deviant behaviour.

“The sense of security generated by the presence of a male role model in a youth‟s life has protective effects for a child, regardless of the degree of interaction between the child and father,” Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, Director of the Melbourne Institute said.

“Fathers provide children with male role models and can influence children‟s preferences, values and attitudes, while giving them a sense of security and boosting their self-esteem. They also increase the degree of adult supervision at home, which may lead to a direct reduction of delinquent behaviour.”

“We find that adolescent boys engage in more delinquency without a father figure in their lives. Adolescent girls‟ behaviours are less closely linked to this, which may be attributed to the inherent levels of risk-taking that vary between males and females.”

Source: HealthCanal
http://www.healthcanal.com/mental-health-behavior/23811-Adolescent-boys-more-prone-delinquency-without-father.html

What's Hot? 11/18/11

Google Hot Internet Searches - 11/18/11
   1. tim tebow
   2. natalie wood
   3. johnny jolly
   4. jets broncos
   5. denver broncos
   6. robert wagner
   7. urban meyer
   8. regis philbin
   9. ny jets
  10. tori spelling
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 11/18/11
   1. Google
   2. Facebook
   3. YouTube (up one spot)
   4. Yahoo! (down one spot)
   5. Amazon
   6. Wikipedia
   7. Twitter
   8. eBay
   9. Blogger
  10. Craigslist
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 11/18/11
   1. Rumour Has It / Someone Like You - Glee Cast
   2. Take Care (feat. Rihanna) - Drake
   3. We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - Rihanna
   4. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
   5. The Motto - Drake
   6. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars
   7. You Da One - Rihanna
   8. Someone Like You - Adele
   9. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
  10. Without You - David Guetta & Usher
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 11/13/11
   1. NBC Sunday Night Football
   2. NCIS
   3. Dancing with the Stars
   4. CMA Awards
   5. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick
   6. The Big Bang Theory
   7. NCIS: Los Angeles
   8. Dancing with the Stars Results
   9. Two and a Half Men
  10. 60 Minutes
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - Week Ending - 11/18/11
   1. Snow White and the Huntsman - Teaser
   2. Candy Bandit
   3. Damien Walters 2011 Official Showreel
   4. The Hunger Games Official Trailer
   5. Real Voodoo Doll
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 11/17/11
   1. Immortals
   2. Jack and Jill
   3. Puss in Boots
   4. Tower Heist
   5. J. Edgar
Source: Variety

Most Adolescent Self-Harm Stops in Adulthood

One in 12 adolescents intentionally harms themselves, but the behavior persists into young adulthood in only 10% cases, according to the findings of a large, population-based, longitudinal study.

Of 1,802 adolescents aged 14-19 years, 149 (8.3%) admitted to self-harm, with more girls (10%) than boys (6.3%) reporting such behavior.

The behavior resolved without intervention in 90% of cases, however, with just 10% of teenagers who admitted to self-harm during adolescence continuing the behavior into their early adulthood.

"We think the findings offer some reassurance to those working with young people, to family members, parents and teachers," said study author Dr. Paul Moran at a press conference on Nov. 16.

Self-harm was broadly categorized into five types: cutting or burning, self-poisoning, deliberate nonrecreational risk-taking, self-battery, and other self-harming behaviors such as self-drowning, hanging, intentional electrocution, and suffocation.

Cutting and burning were the most common types of self-harm reported by 4.6% of adolescents and by 1.2% of young adults.

Dr. Moran noted that self-harm is a clearly a sign of significant emotional difficulties, with depression and anxiety increasing the risk of self-harm almost fourfold (hazard ratio, 3.7). High-risk alcohol use (HR, 2.1) and cannabis misuse (HR, 2.4) doubled the risk of self-harming behavior, with antisocial behavior (HR, 1.9) and smoking cigarettes (HR, 1.8) also influencing the risk of self-harm.

Source: Internal Medicine News
http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/news/mental-health/single-article/most-adolescent-self-harm-stops-in-adulthood/cb8375827f.html

Today's Teens Will Die Younger of Heart Disease

A new study that takes a complete snapshot of adolescent cardiovascular health in the United States reveals a dismal picture of teens likely to die of heart disease at a younger age than adults do today, reports Northwestern Medicine research.

“We are all born with ideal cardiovascular health, but right now we are looking at the loss of that health in youth,” said Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, chair and associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “Their future is bleak.”

The effect of this worsening teen health is already being seen in young adults. For the first time, there is an increase in cardiovascular mortality rates in younger adults ages 35 to 44, particularly women, Lloyd-Jones said.

The alarming health profiles of 5,547 children and adolescents, ages 12 to 19, reveal many have high blood sugar levels, are obese or overweight, have a lousy diet, don’t get enough physical activity and even smoke, the new study reports. These youth are a representative sample of 33.1 million U.S. children and adolescents from the 2003 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

“What was most alarming about the findings of this study is that zero children or adolescents surveyed met the criteria for ideal cardiovascular health,” said Christina Shay, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. “These data indicate ideal cardiovascular health is being lost as early as, if not earlier than the teenage years.”

Source: Health Canal
http://www.healthcanal.com/blood-heart-circulation/23480-Todays-Teens-Will-Die-Younger-Heart-Disease.html

Black Friday Backlash as Stores Add to Thanksgiving Hours

As stores up the ante with earlier holiday hours that creep into Thanksgiving night, Black Friday is turning into Black Thursday, and some shoppers and employees aren't happy about it.

Toys R Us said Monday that it will open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, an hour earlier than last year and the earliest of any retailer so far this year. Walmart will open at 10 p.m., two hours ahead of last year's midnight opening. Other stores, including Target, Macy's, Best Buy and Kohl's, will open at midnight.

Anthony Hardwick, a cart attendant at a Target in Omaha, started a campaign to protest the decision to open at midnight, four hours earlier than last year. His petition, on Change.org, calls for Target to push its opening to 5 a.m. Friday. The petition had 62,000 signatures as of late Monday.

"With the midnight open, you're going to cut into a lot of people's family time because you have to rest up if you're going to be working overnight," says Hardwick, 29. He says he'll be in bed by 2 or 3 p.m on Thanksgiving.

ConsumerSearch.com found in a recent survey of 1,003 people that 87% felt retailers should stay closed on Thanksgiving. "There's definitely a family spirit around Thanksgiving that people don't really want to see adulterated," says Christine Frietchen, editor-in-chief of the site.

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2011-11-14/black-friday-backlash/51205118/1

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Sets New One Day Sales Record

With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Activision has broken the records set by the franchise’s previous outing, Call of Duty: Black Ops.  The game has sold 6.5 million units in North America and the United Kingdom in only 24 hours, with an estimated sell-through of $400 million.  Comparatively, Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 had one-day sell-through totals of $360 million and $310 million, respectively.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia believes MW3 could generate between $700 and $750 million during the first week, as compared with Black Ops' $650 million in sales during its first 5 days.

"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc.

"Call of Duty is more than a game. It's become a major part of the pop cultural landscape. It is a game that core enthusiasts love, but that also consistently draws new people into the medium. It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing.

Source: Industrygamers
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-sells-65-million-in-one-day/

Teen Girls Twice as Likely as Boys to Tweet

Teens have some of the highest social networking penetration of any age group. eMarketer estimates that 81% of internet users ages 12 to 17 will use social networks at least monthly this year, rivaling the 90% of online 18- to 24-year-olds and the 82% of 25- to 34-year-olds who will do the same.

Pew Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Family Online Safety Institute and supported by Cable in the Classroom, found in July that 16% of online teens used Twitter, doubling the 8% figure found in September 2009.

Teen girls were more than twice as likely as boys to use the microblogging service, at 22% vs. 10% of the respective populations. Moreover, black internet users were more than three times as likely as whites to do so, and also significantly more likely than Hispanics. Older teens were also more active, as were those with lower household incomes.

Source: eMarketer
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1008690&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4&R=1008690

What's Hot? 11/11/11

Google Hot Internet Searches - 11/11/11
   1. veterans day
   2. raiders chargers
   3. sandusky
   4. nigel tufnel day
   5. helen mirren
   6. philip rivers
   7. tiger woods
   8. penn state
   9. billy crystal
  10. 11 11 11 meaning
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 11/11/11
   1. Google
   2. Facebook
   3. Yahoo!
   4. YouTube
   5. Amazon
   6. Wikipedia
   7. Twitter
   8. eBay
   9. Blogger
  10. Craigslist
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 11/11/11
   1. If This Was a Movie - Taylor Swift
   2. Ours - Taylor Swift
   3. We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - Rihanna
   4. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
   5. Without You - David Guetta & Usher
   6. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
   7. Someone Like You - Adele
   8. Superman - Taylor Swift
   9. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
  10. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 11/6/11
   1. NBC Sunday Night Football
   2. Home Depot Prime Time College Football
   3. NCIS
   4. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick
   5. Dancing with the Stars
   6. The Big Bang Theory
   7. The OT
   8. NCIS: Los Angeles
   9. Dancing with the Stars Results
  10. Two and a Half Men
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - Week Ending - 11/11/11
   1. Official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
   2. Safe House Trailer
   3. Wonder Girls - Be My Baby
   4. Chicken Lady
   5. CMA Awards - Carrie Underwood's Skin Secrets
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 11/10/11
   1. Puss in Boots
   2. Tower Heist
   3. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas 3D
   4. Paranormal Activity 3
   5. In Time
Source: Variety