Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

What's Hot? 09/28/18

Trending Today on Twitter - 9/28/18
1. #FridayFeeling
2. Jeff Flake
3. #DelayTheVote
4. American Bar Association
5. #RyderCup
6. Mona Lisa
7. #NationalDrinkBeerDay
8. #FridayMotivation
9. Wayde Sims
10. Tommy Fleetwood
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 9/28/18
1. Logic
2. Aldrick Robinson
3. Fortnite Season 6
4. Vikings vs Rams
5. Lindsey Graham
6. Elon Musk
7. Anita Hill
8. Ryder Cup
9. Google 20th birthday
10. Devil's Triangle
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 9/28/18
1. Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
2. Head Above Water - Avril Lavigne
3. Killshot - Eminem
4. Taki Taki (feat. Selena Gomez, Ozuna & Cardi B) - DJ Snake
5. Happier - Marshmello & Bastille
6. Don't Cry (feat. XXXTENTACION) - Lil Wayne
7. Mona Lisa (feat. Kendrick Lamar) - Lil Wayne
8. Natural - Imagine Dragons
9. You Say - Lauren Daigle
10. Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 9/23/18
1. Sunday Night Football
2. America's Got Talent - Tues
3. America's Got Talent - Wed
4. The OT
5. Emmy Awards
6. 9-1-1
7. Football Night in America Pt 3
8. 60 Minutes
9. The Big Bang Theory
10. Young Sheldon
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - Today - 9/28/18
1. The Dark Side of Jake Paul
2. Dark Phoenix Official Trailer
3. Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper - Shallow (A Star is Born)
4. Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford face Senate panel
5. Avril Lavigne - Head Above Water (Official Video)
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. The House with a Clock in Its Walls
2. A Simple Favor
3. The Nun
4. The Predator
5. Crazy Rich Asians
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Can Too Much Screen Time Dumb Down Your Kid?

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

If you're worried that too much "screen time" could be sapping your child's intelligence, new research suggests you might be right.

Kids with the sharpest intellects spent less than two hours a day on their cellphones, tablets and computers, coupled with 9 to 11 hours of sleep and at least an hour of physical activity, the study found.

Unfortunately, very few U.S. children meet all three of these daily goals, said lead researcher Jeremy Walsh, a postdoctoral fellow with the CHEO Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada.

"Only 5 percent of our sample met all three guidelines," Walsh said.

About 41 percent met one of the guidelines and 25 percent met two, he continued.

"That means 30 percent of our sample didn't meet any of the guidelines, which I think is a very important statistic to focus on," Walsh said.

The study is based on data gathered from over 4,500 U.S. kids aged 8 to 11 between September 2016 and September 2017 as part of a new, federally funded 10-year study on brain development and child health.

Walsh and his colleagues used the data to see if children are limiting their screen time while also getting enough sleep and exercise, based on Canadian guidelines published in 2016.

Half of the children got the recommended 9 to 11 hours of sleep, 37 percent met the screen time guideline of less than two hours, and 18 percent got an hour or more of exercise. On average, the kids in the study spent 3.6 hours a day engaged in screen time.

The study couldn't prove cause-and-effect, but the more individual recommendations a child met, the better their ability to think and reason. That's what the researchers found when they compared guideline adherence against performance on brain exercises ("cognition").

Kids who met the sleep and screen time guidelines appeared to have the best intellects, followed by the kids who met just the screen time guidelines, the findings showed.

Too much screen time could be wrecking kids' ability to focus, especially if they are switching between apps on a device or between different screens at the same time, Walsh suggested.

The findings were published online Sept. 26 in The Lancet: Child & Adolescent Healthjournal.

According to Dr. Shawna Newman, an attending psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, the study "clearly demonstrates the specific benefit of exercise for children, in addition to that of good sleep hygiene and the limitation of screen time contributing positively to cognitive development." Newman was not involved with the new study.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/media-health-news-760/can-too-much-screen-time-dumb-down-your-kid-738063.html

More Needs to be Done to Keep Teen Drivers Safe, Pediatricians Say

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Following years of decline, fatal car accidents involving teen drivers have accelerated in the United States, a leading group of U.S. pediatricians warns.

New research also reveals that teenage drivers are more likely to be involved in a serious or deadly crash than any other age group, notes the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The group has updated its 2006 policy statement on teen driving to focus on new threats facing inexperienced drivers.

"We all know how easy it is to become distracted while driving, particularly in the age of texting and technology," said statement author Dr. Elizabeth Alderman. "Parents can set a powerful example with their own driving habits, from using a seatbelt regularly to avoiding cellphone use or speeding."

The new policy statement followed a review of 2014-2016 national accident data.

"Every state has some form of graduated driver's licensing regulations, which have helped improve safety by limiting the number of passengers or restricting night-time driving," said statement co-author Dr. Brian Johnston. "Yet more can be done. One step that could make a difference is for communities to more consistently enforce laws on seat belts and use of cellphones while driving," he said in an academy news release.

In 2015 alone, nearly 1,900 teen drivers died in car crashes -- a 9 percent jump from the year before. And nearly 200,000 young drivers were hurt in car accidents.

Inexperience plays a role in these accidents. The AAP found the risk of a car accident or close call is four times higher for teenagers who got their license within 18 months. Driving too fast, driving with other teens in the car, being distracted and driving under the influence of alcohol, drug or medications are other risks, the experts warned.

Teens who drive their friends around are more likely to get into an accident, the academy noted.

There are steps doctors can take to boost the safety of teens behind the wheel. The AAP recommends the following:

• Remind teens to always wear a seat belt. And inform young people about the risks of driving while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication.
• Urge parents to go beyond state requirements for drivers' training: Exceed the minimum amount of supervised driving with your teens and practice in a variety of conditions and situations.
• Encourage using safe alternative routes to school to shorten driving time.
• Support later school start times so that teens are well-rested.
• Study the effectiveness of graduated driver's licensing rules, to determine if these laws should be expanded to include new drivers who are 18 or 19.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/more-needs-to-be-done-to-keep-teen-drivers-safe-pediatricians-say-737858.html

Parents Blame Smartphones, Tablets for Teens' Sleep Troubles

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Many American teens are sleep-deprived, and parents blame their attachment to electronics, new survey results show.

Researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a national poll of more than 1,000 parents with at least one child between 13 and 18 years old.

"This poll suggests that sleep problems are common among teens and parents believe late-night use of electronics are a main contributor," said poll co-director Sarah Clark.

"Teens' hectic schedules and homework load, as well as anxiety about school performance and peer relationships, also are seen by parents as contributing to sleep problems," she said in a university news release.

Forty-three percent of the parents said their teen had trouble falling asleep or tossed and turned during the night.

And 56 percent of these parents said that electronics, particularly cellphones and social media, were robbing their teenagers of sleep, the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health showed.

Less often, parents blamed their child's busy schedule. More than 40 percent of the parents surveyed suggested their teens' homework load and activities disrupted their sleep schedule. Meanwhile, 31 percent of parents said worries about school affected their child's ability to sleep, and 23 percent said their teen's concerns about their social life kept them up at night.

In addition, 10 percent of parents reported that a health condition or medication had a negative effect on their child's sleep habits.

Many parents reported trying to encourage better sleep. More than half said they suggest limiting caffeine intake in the evening or tell their teen to turn off their phones and other electronic devices at bedtime. More than 40 percent recommend a snack before bed, 36 percent tried natural sleep remedies like melatonin, and 28 percent said their teen has tried a sleep aid.

But only 4 in 10 parents with sleep-deprived teens said they talked to a doctor about it.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/parents-blame-smartphones-tablets-for-teens-sleep-troubles-737746.html

What's Hot? 09/21/18

Trending Today on Twitter - 9/21/18
1. #FridayFeeling
2. Mister Rogers
3. #GoogleDoodle
4. #InternationalDayOfPeace
5. #FridayMotivation
6. #BidenCancerSummit
7. Mr. Rogers
8. Addison Russell
9. Dolph
10. Theresa May
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 9/21/18
1. Lil Wayne
2. Lil Wayne Carter 5
3. Ben Roethlisberger
4. Browns
5. Mister Rogers
6. Snochia Moseley
7. Tiger Woods
8. Conor McGregor
9. The House With A Clock In Its Walls
10. Suge Knight
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 9/21/18
1. Killshot - Eminem
2. Head Above Water - Avril Lavigne
3. Falling Down - Lil Peep & XXXTENTACION
4. Natural - Imagine Dragons
5. RAP DEVIL - Machine Gun Kelly
6. Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer
7. This Feeling (feat. Kelsea Ballerini) - The Chainsmokers
8. I'm a Mess - Bebe Rexha
9. Girls Like You (feat. Cardi B) - Maroon 5
10. Happier - Marshmello & Bastille
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 9/16/18
1. Sunday Night Football
2. 60 Minutes
3. Football Night in America Pt 3
4. America's Got Talent - Tues
5. America's Got Talent - Wed
6. Saturday Night Football
7. The Big Bang Theory
8. Big Brother - Sun
9. Football Night in America Pt 2
10. NCIS
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - Today - 9/21/18
1. Kevin Hart Is Terrified of Robert Irwin's Animals
2. Ralph Breaks the Internet Official Trailer 2
3. Lil Peep & XXXTENTACION - Falling Down
4. Doctor Who: Series 11 Trailer #2
5. Gorillaz x G-Shock - Mission M101 (Part 1)
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. The Predator
2. The Nun
3. A Simple Favor
4. White Boy Rick
5. Crazy Rich Asians
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Teens with Religious or Spiritual Upbringing May Be Protected from 'Big 3' Risks

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Today.com.

Teens raised in a religious or spiritual environment may be less likely to develop substance abuse, depression and risky sexual behaviors, a new study suggests.

Researchers who followed young people for more than a decade found that participation in weekly religious services or daily prayer or meditation was associated with a wide range of positive outcomes, according to the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

“The effects of religious upbringing, including both service attendance or prayer or meditation, are profoundly positive in protecting against substance abuse and depression, as well as contributing to higher levels of happiness and volunteering,” said study coauthor Tyler VanderWeele, the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University.

Prayer and meditation had a bigger impact than service attendance, VanderWeele noted. “That suggests prayer and meditation may play an important role in the life of an adolescent who is trying to make sense of the world,” he added.

The results are in line with the findings of a study published last month, which found that kids had a lower risk of suicide if religion or spirituality was important to their parents.

The kids who signed on for the study are the children of men and women who took part in the Nurse’s Health Study.

The researchers found that compared to others, teens who attended religious services regularly were:

• 12 percent less likely to suffer from depression
• 33 percent less likely to use illicit drugs
• 18 percent more likely to report high levels of happiness
• 87 percent more likely to have high levels of forgiveness

Teens who prayed or meditated frequently were:

• 30 percent less likely to start having sex at a young age
• 40 percent less likely to have an STD
• 38 percent more likely to volunteer in their community
• 47 percent more likely to have a sense of mission and purpose

The new findings were not surprising to Dr. Gail Saltz, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. “Multiple studies have shown that people who are involved with their faith find it comforting, which therefore helps with their mental health and wellbeing,” Saltz said.

Source: Today.com
https://www.today.com/health/religious-or-spiritual-upbringing-may-protect-teens-t137350

One in Three High School E-Cig Users Say They Have Vaped Pot

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

E-cigarettes are fast becoming a clever way for American teens to use pot, with a new survey showing that nearly a third of high school e-cig users have vaped marijuana.

The survey involved nearly 20,700 middle and high school students from both public and private institutions. The goal was to gain fresh insight into vaping, which has been the most popular means for smoking among American youth since 2014.

One of every 11 students overall said he or she had ever used marijuana in an e-cigarette.

"That equates to more than 2 million youth who have ever used cannabis in an e-cigarette," noted lead investigator Katrina Trivers. She is a lead epidemiologist in the office on smoking and health with the U.S. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among those who said they have ever used an e-cigarette at all, 1 in 3 high schoolers and 1 in 4 middle schoolers said they had used pot by vaping it.

Trivers said the findings point to seemingly dramatic shifts underway in how and what teens smoke.

"Although we've seen considerable declines in the use of regular cigarettes among U.S. youth over the past several decades, the tobacco product landscape is evolving, and the use of other tobacco products has become increasingly popular," she said.

"This high rate of cannabis use in e-cigarettes is a public health concern, because any form of tobacco product use is unsafe among youth, irrespective of whether it's smoked, smokeless or electronic," she stressed.

On that front, Trivers pointed out that National Academies of Science has stated that pot use among youth "can adversely affect learning and memory, and may impair later academic achievement and education."

More broadly, she noted that the U.S. Surgeon General "has concluded that the aerosol emitted from e-cigarettes is not harmless," based on its nicotine and chemical compound content.

By simply adding hash oils, waxes and other liquids that contain pot's active ingredient directly into the e-liquid section, teens can turn an e-cig into a pot-delivery device.

Trivers noted that the survey found that pot vaping was "significantly higher" among boys. It was also more common among high schoolers.

"Use was also higher among those who had used e-cigarettes more recently and more frequently," she added, as well as among students who said they use other tobacco products and/or live with someone who uses tobacco products.

Regardless, the researchers concluded that the survey showed pot use in e-cigs is as popular -- or perhaps more popular -- than believed.

The findings were published online Sept. 17 as a letter to the editor in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/electronic-cigarettes-970/1-in-3-high-school-e-cig-users-vape-pot-survey-737799.html

One in Five College Students So Stressed They Consider Suicide

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

College can be so stressful that many students think about killing themselves, and some even try, a new study suggests.

Among more than 67,000 students surveyed, over 20 percent said they experienced stressful events in the last year that were strongly associated with mental health problems, including harming themselves and suicidal thoughts or attempts, researchers found.

"What's striking about our findings is that there is a disproportionate number of students who are reporting a large number of exposures to stress they believe is traumatic or difficult to overcome," said lead researcher Cindy Liu. She directs the developmental risk and cultural disparities program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"There are some stresses that are exceeding the capacity of students to cope," she added.

Stressful events defined as traumatic or difficult to handle included: academic pressures; career issues; death of a family member or friend; family problems; intimate and other social relationships; finances; health problems of a family member or partner; personal appearance; personal health problems and sleep difficulties.

Liu's team found that 3 out of 4 students had experienced at least one stressful event in the previous year. And more than 20 percent experienced six or more stressful events in the past year.

Among these students, 1 in 4 said they had been diagnosed with or treated for a mental health problem. Furthermore, 20 percent of all students surveyed thought about suicide, 9 percent had attempted suicide, and nearly 20 percent injured themselves.

These problems were particularly acute among transgender students, with about two-thirds saying that they had hurt themselves and more than one-third saying they had attempted suicide.

In addition, more than half of bisexual students said they had suicidal thoughts and had harmed themselves. More than a quarter of these students had attempted suicide, the researchers found.

Liu said the rate of students suffering from depression or anxiety is much higher now than it was in 2009, when the last survey was conducted.

Colleges are doing more than ever to help students cope with depression and anxiety, Liu said. In some schools, these efforts include peer counseling in addition to traditional mental health services.

The report was published online in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/suicide-health-news-646/1-in-5-college-students-so-stressed-they-consider-suicide-737502.html

What's Hot? 09/14/18

Trending Today on Twitter - 9/14/18
1. Paul Manafort
2. #InThe80sWe
3. #FlorenceHurricane2018
4. Wrightsville Beach
5. Wilmington
6. #FridayMotivation
7. #FridayFeeling
8. #FlashbackFriday
9. New Bern
10. East Atlanta
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 9/14/18
1. A Simple Favor
2. Julia Salazar
3. Animal Crossing Switch
4. Thursday Night Football
5. Lawrence MA
6. Cynthia Nixon
7. The Predator
8. Nintendo Direct
9. Frying Pan Tower
10. Breanna Stewart
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 9/14/18
1. RAP DEVIL - Machine Gun Kelly
2. GTFO - Mariah Carey
3. Natural - Imagine Dragons
4. Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer
5. You Say - - Lauren Daigle
6. Mariners Apartment Complex - Lana Del Rey
7. Freedom (feat. Jhene Aiko) - Kris Wu
8. I Love It - Kanye West & Lil Pump
9. Girls Like You (feat. Cardi B) - Maroon 5
10. Better Now - Post Malone
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 9/9/18
1. Sunday Night Football
2. NFL Thurs Special
3. NFL Weather Delay
4. The OT
5. America's Got Talent - Tues
6. Football Night in America Pt 3
7. America's Got Talent - Wed
8. NFL Opening Kick-Off Show
9. 60 Minutes
10. The Big Bang Theory
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - Today - 9/14/18
1. Wakey Wakey
2. Nintendo Direct 9.12.2018
3. Watch Now: Tracking Hurricane Florence 2018
4. Gorillaz - Tranz
5. Hurricane Florence, the storm's first strike
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. The Nun
2. Peppermint
3. Crazy Rich Asians
4. The Meg
5. Searching
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

FDA Gets Tough on Juul, Other E-Cigarette Makers

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Calling the use of electronic cigarettes a burgeoning epidemic among teens, the U.S Food and Drug Administration announced a crackdown on the sale of Juuls and other flavored e-cigarette devices to minors.

More than 1,200 warning letters and fines have been sent to retailers and five major e-cigarette manufacturers who illegally sold Juul devices, which look like computer flash drives, and other e-cigarette products to minors. The companies have 60 days to come up with plans to stop those sales or the FDA may consider a ban on the sale of all flavored e-cigarette products, the agency said.

"The disturbing and accelerating trajectory we're seeing in youth and the resulting path to addiction must end," FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said at a morning media briefing. "We're seriously considering a policy change that would lead to the removal of these flavored products from the market."

Manufacturers of the five top-selling national e-cigarette brands have received FDA warning letters, he said. All of these brands -- JUUL, Vuse, MarkTen, blu e-cigs, and Logic -- made up the majority of products sold illegally to minors, the agency said. The retailers targeted by the FDA include 7-Eleven stores, Circle K convenience shops and Shell gas stations.

In addition, the agency's plan includes a series of actions to stop youth use of tobacco products, especially e-cigarettes. More than 2 million middle and high school students were regular users of e-cigarettes last year, according to the FDA.

"Our youth tobacco prevention plan focuses on three key strategies," Gottlieb said. "First, preventing youth access to tobacco products. Second, curbing the marketing of tobacco products aimed at youth. And finally, educating teens about the dangers of using any tobacco-related products."

Although Gottlieb believes that e-cigarettes can help some adults quit smoking traditional cigarettes, he is concerned that e-cigarettes pose health risks, including the possibility of releasing nicotine at higher levels than conventional cigarettes, and may lead to nicotine addiction in teens.

The agency said it continues to check retail stores that sell tobacco, to ensure they are in compliance with federal laws.

The steps announced Wednesday are just the initial elements of these new efforts, Gottlieb said.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/electronic-cigarettes-970/fda-gets-tough-on-juul-other-e-cigarette-makers-737650.html