Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Numbers Suggest Why Millennials Are "Generation Frustration"

86
The number, in millions according to Barron's, of millennials in the U.S. 86 million: that's 7 percent larger than the baby-boom generation.

16.3
The percentage of millennials who are unemployed in the United States, according to the United States Labor Department, this is even more alarming when paired with a Harvard study finding that just 6 in 10 millennials have a job, half of which jobs are part-time. The bottom line here is that millennials can't seem to find jobs.

1.8
The number of bachelor's degrees, in millions, that universities are expected to award during the 2013-14 school year. This is in addition to the 943,000 associate's degrees, 778,000 master's degrees and 177,000 doctoral degrees projected.

58
The percent of hiring managers in a recent survey by Adecco who say they have no plans whatsoever to hire a recent college graduate.

4.7
4.7 million jobs have been created over the past three years, according to the Jobs Report, while about 8 million jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. The fact is, jobs aren't being created fast enough for the entire U.S., much less for millennials.

61
The average age at which current U.S. retirees said they retired, compared with 59 in 2003 and 57 in 1993. That figure is just current retirees; current non-retirees expect to delay their own retirements past age 65. Whether they haven't saved enough money or just love working, their delayed retirement means less upward mobility for millennials.

21.6
The total number, in millions, of millennials who lived in their parents' home in 2012, up from 18.5 million of their same-aged counterparts in 2007. Millennials simply can't afford to live on their own.

Source: Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-donegan/millennials-generation-frustration_b_3977145.html

What's Hot? 9/27/13

Trending Today on Twitter - 9/27/13
     1. #RobinWilliamsIsCrazy
     2. Jimmy Kimmel
     3. Don Jon
     4. #Niners
     5. Official Video
     6. #oomf
     7. #androidgames
     8. #SoundCloud
     9. Obamacare
    10. Texas
Source: Twitter

Popular Today on Bing - 9/27/13
    1. Cassidy Wolf Extortion
    2. Jada Pinkett Smith
    3. Colorado Farmers Arrested
    4. Michael J. Fox
    5. Lindsay Lohan
    6. Green Bay Bridge Closed
    7. NCIS Spinoff
    8. Obama and Obamacare
Source: Bing

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 9/27/13
     1. Royals - Lorde
     2. Roar - Katy Perry
     3. Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus
     4. Wake Me Up - Avicii
     5. Applause - Lady Gaga
     6. Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan) - Drake
     7. All Me (feat. 2 Chainz & Big Sean) - Drake
     8. Berzerk - Eminem
     9. Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J) - Katy Perry
    10. 23 (feat. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa & Juicy J) - Mike Will Made-It
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 9/22/13
     1. CBS NFL National
     2. NBC Sunday Night Football
     3. Emmy Awards
     4. Dancing with the Stars
     5. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick
     6. Under the Dome
     7. America's Got Talent - Wed.
     8. America's Got Talent - Tues.
     9. NCIS
    10. Sleepy Hollow
 Source: Nielsen Co

Top YouTube Videos - 13-17-Year-Olds - Today - 9/27/13
    1. Mike Will Made-It - 23
    2. 18 Days - Episode 8 - The Hunt
    3. Lip Synch Battle with Joseph Gordon Levitt, Stephen Merchant and Jimmy Fallon
    4. Ylvis - The Fox
    5. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
    1. Prisoners
    2. Insidious: Chapter 2
    3. The Family
    4. Instructions Not Needed
    5. Battle of the Year
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Poll: Parents and Teens on School and College

According to two new polls (one for parents and another for teenagers):

• U.S. teenagers are much more likely to think their parents are concerned about how they're doing in school than parents seem to be.
    - Teens said they felt the No. 1 concern of parents was their performance in school.
    - Parents themselves ranked performance in school as only the fifth-largest concern about their teens, while concerns about unsafe driving ranked number one.

• When asked if teens were more likely to say they have more opportunities to get ahead than their parents did at the same age:
    - 62% of teens agreed.
    - 41% of parents agreed.

• Regarding whether it is better to be a teenager in America today than decades ago:
    - 54% of teenagers said now is the preferable time to be a teen.
    - Only 18% of parents agreed.

• Both parents (68%) and teens (81%) say they play the greatest role in ensuring teens' success in school.

• When asked about parents' involvement in teens' lives:
    - 66% of parents worried they didn't have sufficient time to focus on their kids.
    - 68% of teens reported that their parents are too closely involved in every aspect of their lives.

• Both parents and teens agreed that college provides a ticket to the middle class and that this benefit outweighs the economic burdens that accompany student loan debt with:
    - 71% of parents saying they expect their kids to go to a four-year college.
    - 69% of teens saying they expect to attend a four-year college...
although statistics show fewer than 40% of high school graduates enroll in four-year colleges.

When asked about paying for four-year degrees:
    - 66% of parents say they are counting on grants and scholarships to help finance the cost of college education.
    - 78% of teens say the same thing...
although only 40% of college students today receive Pell Grant money and far smaller numbers benefit from merit-based scholarships.

This poll, which explored how Americans assess the state of childhood and parenthood, surveyed 1,000 adults by landline and cell phones Sept. 3-7. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. In addition, National Journal conducted a separate online survey of 300 teenagers ages 13 to 18 (only including 18-year-olds who are still in high school); teen participants received a small compensation for responding. The survey is reflective of the demographics of American teens, but it does not carry the same statistical validity as the random phone survey of adults.

Source: National Journal
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/solutions-bank/poll-parents-and-teens-share-often-unrealistic-dreams-about-college-20130924

New UK Guidelines: Adolesescence Now Ends at 25

Adolescence no longer ends when people hit 18, according to updated guidelines being given to UK child psychologists.

The new directive is designed to extend the age range that child psychologists can work with from 18 years old up to 25.

It is hoped the initiative will stop children being 'rushed' through their childhood and feeling pressured to achieve key milestones quickly, reports the BBC.

There are now three stages of adolescence, according to the BBC report: early adolescence that ranges from 12 to 14 years, middle adolescence from 15 to 17 years and 18 and over is classed as late adolescence.

It has been introduced because research now suggests the brain continues developing through and passed teenage years, well into a person's mid-twenties and thirties.

The new guidance is also to make ensure that over 18s don't miss out on opportunities, or are forgotten about, in terms of health and education.

Source: Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2430573/An-adult-18-Not-Adolescence-ends-25-prevent-young-people-getting-inferiority-complex.html

Emerging College Financing Trend - Crowd Funding Websites

Rather than go further into debt for his college education, Joshsua Samuels decided to try the website GoFundMe.com, where he appealed for help to friends and strangers. Within two months, he had raised the $3,380 plus GoFundMe's 5 percent-per-donation fee.

Crowd funding, as this practice of Internet soliciting is called, is better known as the purview of startup companies looking to raise cash. Education is now the second most popular category on the GoFundMe site, says founder Brad Damphousse.

Students in need can pick from a range of sites; other popular ones are Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Parents, meanwhile, can start crowd funding when their kids are toddlers. At GradSave.com and GiveCollege.com, which are tied into 529 savings plans, parents can solicit donations to college savings accounts.

Succeeding at getting donations requires students to be resourceful. Most sites advise crowd funders to post catchy videos as part of their campaign strategy, and they provide tools for publicizing crowd funding efforts on Facebook and Twitter.

Samuels advises setting your sights higher than the amount you need for tuition, so as to cover expenses like books and the fees you'll owe to the crowd funding sites.  "You have to raise more like 110 percent," he says. But the effort is worthwhile, he thinks, if unwieldy debt is the other option. "Go for it."

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/20/find-money-for-college-on-crowd-funding-sites?src=usn_tw

Coding Curriculum - High Schools Reprogramming Classes

Beaver Country Day School (Chestnut Hill, MA) a private school for grades six through twelve has beome the first school in the United States to implement computer coding into each of its classes.

It's a new, albeit eccentric experiment. The school isn't launching mandatory programming courses into the schedule, exactly, but is instead having its teachers introduce coding (ideally, in the most organic ways possible) into their respective subjects. Calculation-heavy courses such as math and science, as well as humanities such as English, Spanish and history — even theater and music — will all be getting a coded upgrade.

True, Beaver may be the first of its kind to experiment with coding in every class, but the idea that more high school students should take STEM-related courses — particularly in programming and coding — isn't new. The private sector has for years been pressing sixth through twelfth grade schools to prepare kids earlier on for the tech-heavy workforce lying ahead of them.

Some high schools have begun to offer programming courses as electives, but that is largely still a rarity. Beaver's staff believes it's time to revamp the curriculum as a whole — if only to better, and realistically, prepare its kids for the 21st century economy.

Source: Mashable
http://mashable.com/2013/09/22/coding-curriculum/

What's Hot? 9/20/13

Trending Today on Twitter - 9/20/13
     1. #ItCanWait
     2. Chip Kelly
     3. #HowToAskSomeoneOnADate
     4. Clemson
     5. #winning
     6. #oomf
     7. Alex Smith
     8. #thestruggle
     9. #SorryNotSorry
    10. Denver
Source: Twitter

Popular Today on Bing - 9/20/13
    1. Patsy Swayze
    2. Ann Curry
    3. JonBenet Ramsey
    4. Kate Moss
    5. Terrie Hall
    6. Stephen Hawking
    7. Big Bang Theory Raises
    8. Hiroshi Yamauchi
Source: Bing

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 9/20/13
     1. Royals - Lorde
     2. Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus
     3. Roar - Katy Perry
     4. Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J) - Katy Perry
     5. Wake Me Up - Avicii
     6. Applause - Lady Gaga
     7. Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan) - Drake
     8. Work B**ch - Britney Spears
     9. Lolly (feat. Juicy J & Justin Bieber) - Maejor Ali
    10. Berzerk - Eminem
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 9/15/13
     1. CBS NFL National
     2. NBC Sunday Night Football
     3. Football Night in America Weather Delay
     4. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick
     5. 60 Minutes
     6. Football Night in America Pt 3
     7. America's Got Talent - Wed.
     8. Under the Dome
     9. America's Got Talent - Tues.
    10. NCIS
 Source: Nielsen Co

Top YouTube Videos - 13-17-Year-Olds - Today - 9/20/13
    1. Waterproof iPhone 5c, 5s, Underwater movie
    2. Ylvis - The Fox
    3. Maejor Ali - Lolly, ft. Juicy J, Justin Bieber
    4. Katy Perry - Roar
    5. Tipping Servers $200
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
    1. Insidious: Chapter 2
    2. The Family
    3. Riddick
    4. Lee Daniels' The Butler
    5. We're The Millers
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Snapchat Tries to Shed Naughty Reputation

Snapchat is trying to get away from its reputation as a service for randy sexting teens and secretive philanderers.

"It's not a good way to send inappropriate photos," said Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel at the San Francisco Techcrunch Disrupt conference.

Snapchat is a popular mobile messaging app for sending self-destructing messages. Private photo and text messages disappear forever after one to 10 seconds. More than 350 million of these messages, called "snaps," are traded every day on Snapchat, according to Spiegel.

The short lifespan of the messages is what has made the 2-year-old app a natural for content people don't want falling into the wrong hands, such as naughty photos.

Spiegel pointed out that it is possible for a recipient to take take screenshots of snaps, and said it was even possible for determined hackers with time and money to access the messages and "betray your trust."

Touting the potential security flaws of a product might seem like an odd move for a popular app, but for Snapchat to continue growing at a rapid pace it needs to appeal to a wider audience.

"We don't want to be a place for people to share mean secrets," said Spiegel.

Source: CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/tech/mobile/snapchat-techcrunch-disrupt/index.html

One in Five High School Seniors Binge Drinks

It's common for American high school seniors to binge on alcohol, and some have as many as 15 or more drinks at at time, a new study shows.

Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks for men and four or more drinks for women, while having 10 or more drinks in a row is defined as extreme binge drinking, according to the study published Sept. 16 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Study background information describes short-term risks of binge drinking such as alcohol poisoning, impaired driving and injury, while long-term risks include liver damage, alcoholism and harm to the developing brains of teens.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from a more than 16,000 high school seniors.

About 20 percent of the high school seniors reported binge drinking (five or more drinks) in the past two weeks, 10.5 percent said they'd had 10 or more drinks, and nearly 6 percent had 15 or more drinks, according to a journal news release.

Males were more likely than females to binge drink, as were whites compared to blacks. Students with college-educated parents were at greater risk of binge drinking, but had lower odds of extreme binge drinking.

Binge drinking among American teens has continued to decline since record levels in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but extreme binge drinking among teens has not declined since 2005, noted study authors Megan Patrick, of the University of Michigan, and colleagues.

Source: HealthDay
http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/briefs-emb-9-16-4pmet-teens-binge-drinking-jama-peds-release-batch-921-680163.html

U.S. Teens Begin to Slim Down

American teens may be getting the message that carrying excess weight isn't good for them.

New research shows that the number of obese teens leveled off and the rate of overweight teens dropped slightly between 2005-'06 and 2009-'10.

Teens reported eating more fruits and vegetables, eating breakfast on weekdays more often, and being more active. They also ate fewer sweets, drank fewer sweetened beverages and spent less time watching TV, according to the study.

"Over the past four or five decades, we've seen diets getting worse, physical activity on the decline and more obese teens," said the study's lead author, Ronald Iannotti, chairman and professor of exercise and health sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. "We would see the same pattern decade after decade. The good news is that it looks like in the first decade of this century, things are starting to get better."

The study looked at more than 34,000 adolescents in grades 6 through 10 during three time periods. The first group was studied from 2001-'02, the second from 2005-'06 and the final group from 2009-'10

Results of the study were released online Sept. 16 in the journal Pediatrics.

Source: HealthDay
http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/u-s-teens-starting-to-slim-down-study-says-680183.html