Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

What's Hot? 12/23/11

Google Hot Internet Searches - 12/23/11
   1. x factor winner
   2. carlos beltran
   3. matt barkley
   4. melanie amaro
   5. colts
   6. footlocker
   7. the thin man
   8. prime rib reciped
   9. texans
  10. concord
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 12/23/11
   1. Google
   2. Facebook
   3. YouTube
   4. Yahoo!
   5. Amazon
   6. eBay (up one spot)
   7. Wikipedia (down one spot)
   8. Twitter
   9. BlogSpot
  10. Windows Live (first time in top 10)
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 12/23/11
   1. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
   2. We Found Love (feat Calvin Harris) - Rihanna
   3. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
   4. Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift
   5. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
   6. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars
   7. Ni**as in Paris - Kanye West & Jay Z
   8. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry
   9. Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith
  10. Someone Like You - Adele
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 12/18/11
   1. NCIS
   2. 60 Minutes
   3. NBC Sunday Night Football
   4. NCIS: Los Angeles
   5. Two and a Half Men
   6. The Mentalist
   7. Survivor: South Pacific Final
   8. Person of Interest
   9. Criminal Minds
  10. Mike & Molly
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - Week Ending - 12/23/11
   1. Lady GaGa - Marry the Night
   2. All I Want for Christmas Is You
   3. Nerdy White Kid "Kills" Look at Me Now
   4. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - Young, Wild & Free
   5. To De Pauduro
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 12/22/11
   1. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
   2. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
   3. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
   4. New Year's Eve
   5. Arthur Christmas
Source: Variety

Teens Who Express Differences With Mom Might Resist Peer Pressure

Frustrated parents who are frequently at odds with an argumentative adolescent might take heart from the findings of new research on teens, their moms and their friends.

It seems that not all disagreements are bad. In fact, teens who express their own views in discussions with mom — even if they disagree — are more likely to resist peer pressure to use drugs or alcohol, the study discovered.

"What we find is the right kind of argument is one where a teen and the parent are trying to persuade each other with calm reasoning," explained lead author Joseph Allen, the Hugh P. Kelly Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia.

Essentially, the kids who express their own points of view in the right way are practising an important life skill.

Allen said teens need to learn to stand up for themselves somewhere, and those who learn to do so in the right way with their parents are actually much better suited to do it well with their peers.

The study is published in the journal Child Development.

The researchers videotaped the teens and their parents discussing a disagreement, and then observed and coded the information to understand what was happening.

"And what we found was that what teens learn at home in terms of handling disagreements, they largely take into their interactions with their peers," Allen said in an interview from Charlottesville, Va.

"So if they learn to be calm and confident and persuasive at home, they'll do the same thing with their peers."

On the other hand, if they use bullying, whining and pressure — or just withdraw — when there's a disagreement, they'll do the same thing with their friends.

The study was only done with moms because there were more families with mothers, due to divorces and the rates of single-parent families, but Allen said it's possible the same process applies to interactions with dads.

Source: Brandon Sun
http://www.brandonsun.com/lifestyles/breaking-news/teens-who-express-differences-with-mom-might-also-resist-peer-pressure-study-136047698.html?thx=y

Underage Drinking Boosts Criminal Activity

While alcohol has frequently been linked to criminal activity among adults, a new study finds that there is a strong association between childhood drinking and criminal activity.

Researchers at the University of Miami found that the relationship between drinking and criminal activity is not just limited to perpetrating a crime, but also to criminal victimization, for both males and females.

Adolescence is a time for rapid cognitive development, and many psychologists believe that the thoughts, ideas and concepts developed during that period profoundly influence a person’s future life, playing a key role in a person’s character and personality formation.

Researchers believe that criminal activity during adolescence will escalate into more serious crimes as time goes on.

"This issue is extremely important because adolescents who are criminally active are significantly more likely to be adult criminals," said Michael T. French, professor of health economics at the University of Miami and an author for the study. "Although adolescents often commit less serious crimes than adults – for example, vandalism and shoplifting – these behaviors can quickly escalate into a criminally active lifestyle without effective interventions. Understanding how alcohol use among adolescents may contribute to criminal activity is therefore a logical and policy relevant area for research."

"We found that for both adolescent males and females, more frequent alcohol consumption is associated with a greater probability of committing a property crime, committing a predatory crime, and being a victim of a predatory crime," said French in a statement. "While we were not necessarily surprised that these relationships existed for both genders, the strength of the relationships was a bit unexpected as well as the fact that they were robust to numerous sensitivity tests."

The results strongly suggest that underage alcohol use is an important risk factor for current criminal activities and a precursor to future illegal acts, according to French, and that early intervention is probably the best defense.

Source: Medical Daily
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20111216/8298/underage-drinking-minor-adolescence-alcohol-violence-crime-criminal-university-of-miami-mich.htm

Nearly 1 in 3 Young U.S. Adults Have Arrest Records

By the time they're old enough to vote, roughly one in four Americans has had at least one criminal arrest.

By age 23, an estimated 33 percent -- and perhaps as many as 41 percent of young adults -- have been arrested at least once, excluding traffic violations.

The authors of a new study say their analysis is the first contemporary look at national arrest prevalence in this age group since landmark research in the 1960s.

"The percentages are not really all that different up to age 18," said lead researcher Robert Brame. "The biggest differences are from 18 to the early 20s, and most occur in the 19-to-22 age range."

The new study appears online Dec. 12 and in the January 2012 print issue of Pediatrics. The researchers used National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data from 1997 to 2008 for 7,335 young people aged 8 to 23.

Surveyors asked about arrests but not specific crimes. However, in 2009 arrest figures from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, arson topped the list, followed by vandalism, disorderly conduct, robbery, burglary and car theft.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/childrens-health/articles/2011/12/19/nearly-1-in-3-young-us-adults-have-arrest-records-study

Fewer Kids Exposed to Unwanted Sexual Content Online

Kids are not being exposed as much to unwanted sexual solicitations or porn on the Internet these days, according to a study released Thursday. While the problem still occurs, it seems that greater public awareness and social pressures have improved youth Internet safety in recent years.

The study, published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health, was based on nationwide surveys of youths ages 10 to 17 conducted in 2000, 2005 and 2010. Researchers found that the proportion of kids receiving unwanted sexual requests (from either adults, strangers or peers) declined from 13% in 2005 to 9% in 2010 and have fallen by half since 2000.

Kids who experienced unwanted exposure to pornography online fell from 34% in 2005 to 23% last year.

Arrests of online predators, education and public awareness may have cleaned up the online world for kids to some extent, the researchers said.

Source: Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-online-kids-20111215,0,2555984.story

What's Hot? 12/16/11

Google Hot Internet Searches - 12/16/11
   1. republican debate
   2. christopher hitchens
   3. gop debate
   4. free shipping day
   5. rodney atkins
   6. sopa
   7. eat to live
   8. hurd
   9. presidential debate
  10. roddy white
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 12/16/11
   1. Google
   2. Facebook
   3. YouTube
   4. Yahoo!
   5. Amazon
   6. Wikipedia
   7. eBay
   8. Twitter
   9. BlogSpot
  10. Craigslist
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 12/16/11
   1. We Found Love (feat Calvin Harris) - Rihanna
   2. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
   3. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
   4. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars
   5. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry
   6. Ni**as in Paris - Kanye West & Jay Z
   7. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
   8. Someone Like You - Adele
   9. 5 O'Clock (feat. Wiz Khalifa & Lily Allen) - T-Pain
  10. Sleazy Remix 2.0 - Get Sleazier - Ke$ha
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 12/11/11
   1. NBC Sunday Night Football
   2. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick
   3. Two and a Half Men
   4. 60 Minutes
   5. The Big Bang Theory
   6. Football Night in America, Part 3
   7. The Mentalist
   8. 2 Broke Girls
   9. NCIS
  10. Person of Interest
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - Week Ending - 12/16/11
   1. Lady GaGa - Marry the Night
   2. All I Want for Christmas Is You
   3. Nerdy White Kid "Kills" Look at Me Now
   4. To De Pauduro
   5. English Accents
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 12/15/11
   1. New Year's Eve
   2. The Sitter
   3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
   4. The Muppets
   5. Arthur Christmas
Source: Variety

U.S. Teen Mobile Data Usage Skyrockets

We already knew that teens out-text the rest of us, but this year their mobile data consumption accelerated at an unprecedented rate as well.

Teens ages 13 to 17 used 256% more mobile data in the third quarter of 2011 than in the same time period of 2010. Teens took in 320 MB of data per month on average, with males using 382 MB and females using 266 MB. Adults between 25 and 34 still use the most mobile data, averaging 578 MB each month. The chart below shows a complete breakdown of mobile data usage by age.

For this study, Nielson analyzed recent mobile data from more than 65,000 U.S. subscribers. The study finds that the number of smartphone owners using mobile Internet has increased 45% this year, accounting for the widespread increase of mobile data usage.

When it comes to texting, teens’ famously beloved mobile activity, they send seven texts per waking hour on average, or 3,417 messages per month. In Q3 of 2010 that number was higher, averaging 3,729 per month. Teen girls reign as texting queens, sending 3,952 messages per month. Teen boys, in comparison, send 2,815 texts per month.

Voice minute usage is on the decline, especially for teens. The group used 17% less voice minutes this year (down from 685 minutes to 572 minutes), preferring texting for its speed, ease and fun.

Source: Mashable
http://mashable.com/2011/12/15/teens-data-usage/

Teen Smoking at Historic Lows, but Marijuana Use High

Cigarette and alcohol use among teens is at the lowest level in decades, but marijuana use is on the rise, according to the latest "Monitoring the Future" survey conducted by the National Institutes of Health.

Just under 19 percent of high school seniors said they smoked cigarettes in the past month compared to a peak rate of 36.5 percent in the mid-1990s. Rates of cigarette smoking among all teens surveyed decreased compared to last year's results.

Although alcohol remains popular among teens, rates of underage and binge drinking showed significant declines, researchers said.

Overall, cigarette and alcohol usages by teens are at the lowest points since the first survey was taken in 1975.

Marijuana use among teens rose in 2011 for the fourth straight year -- a sharp contrast to a dramatic decline that occurred in the preceding decade. Daily marijuana use is at a 30-year peak level among high school seniors, the survey found. Among 12th graders, 36.4 percent said they smoked marijuana in the past year and 6.6 percent reported daily use, it found.

Monitoring the Future is an annual survey of eighth, 10th and 12th graders conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and is of three major surveys used by federal health officials to monitor data on youth substance abuse.

Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/14/us-drugs-teens-survey-idUSTRE7BD1Q320111214

Depression and Binge Eating Linked in Teen Girls

Depression and binge eating may go hand in hand among teenage girls.

New research shows that teen girls who are depressed are twice as likely to binge eat or overeat. The converse is also true: Teen girls who binge eat or overeat are two times more likely to become depressed than their counterparts who don’t show signs of problematic eating.

Binge eating is often accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame that may lead to depression. Many people who are depressed may turn to food for comfort.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health, may have some important implications for the treatment and prevention of depression and binge eating.

“If you notice that your daughter is down and depressed, talk to her and try to see if she is using food to feel better,” suggests researcher Alison E. Field, ScD. She is an associate in medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

In the four-year study, girls who said they ate a very large amount of food in a short period of time at least once a month during the last year were considered overeaters. Binge eaters were girls who said they felt out of control while overeating at least once a month during the past year.

While not all of the teen girls in the study had full-blown eating disorders, binge eating and overeating may set the stage for developing one. “They are on their way, and it’s much better to try to stop early this early,” Field says.

Source: WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20111214/depression-binge-eating-linked-teen-girls

One in Five UK Parents Use Gadgets as In-Home Intercom with Kids

In another sign of how technology can foster more communication, a new survey in Britain found that one in five parents use tech gadgets to talk to their own children while inside the same home.

Supermarket chain Asda recently conducted a nationwide survey and found parents were increasingly using technology as a form of in-home intercom with their kids, calling them to dinner or telling them to do their chores.

The most popular channel for this in-home communication was text messaging, which accounted for 55 percent of interactions. Facebook followed with 20 percent, and mobile phone calls trailed with 13 percent. For parents, the most popular message was “Dinner’s ready,” which accounted for 13 percent of messages on all mediums. Parents also frequently sent messages such as “clean your room” and “do your homework.”

“The fact is that technology puts us in touch with more people more often than ever before – and this is as true at home as it is when we’re out and about. Communicating with teens, for example, has never been the easiest thing for parents, and now low-cost gadgets are giving us a hotline to their rooms,” said Asda’s technology expert Nathan Mills.

Source: Gigaom
http://gigaom.com/2011/12/12/one-in-five-parents-use-gadgets-as-in-home-intercom-with-kids/