Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Many Teens Are 'Sextortion' Targets

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

Parents of teens can add "sextortion" to the list of things to worry about, because a new study shows that 5 percent of teenagers are targets of this cybercrime.

Another 3 percent of teens have likely done it to others, the study authors added.

Sextortion is threatening to share sexually explicit photos without consent if a person doesn't agree to certain demands, such as sexual favors or money.

Probably the most well-known case of sextortion was Canadian teenager Amanda Todd. She was only 12 years old when someone she met online talked her into lifting up her shirt in front of a web cam.

It turned out that that person wasn't another teen. He was a grown man, and he threatened to share the images of her breasts at her school if she didn't put on another sexual show for him. She refused and he followed through on his threat.

In fact, he followed her online and shared the images again when she changed schools. He tortured her so relentlessly, and recruited others to do so as well, that she ended up taking her own life just before her 16th birthday.

"Some kids make mistakes, and today the consequences can be pretty major and can follow them and affect them deeply psychologically and socially," said study author Sameer Hinduja.

"Teens in first love believe they'll be together forever, and don't want to do anything to ruin the relationship," he explained.

Hinduja is a professor of criminology at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter.

Hinduja said he hasn't seen a specific sextortion law, but that charges for these behaviors can be filed under existing laws, such as laws on blackmail and extortion.

Dr. Richard Catanzaro, chairman of psychiatry at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said, "Sextortion is just the latest form of online predation. All predators work by preying on people who feel isolated and, because they think there is no recourse, are forced to submit."

The study included a nationally representative sample of more than 5,500 middle and high school students aged 12 to 17.

Males were much more likely to have participated in sextortion than females -- either as a victim or the perpetrator.

Teens who identified as non-heterosexual were more than twice as likely to be the victim of sextortion. This finding is similar to other research that shows gay and transgender children are more likely to be involved in online abuse.

Fifteen appears to be the most common age to be involved in sextortion, the new study found.

One finding parents may find particularly alarming is that teens being victimized by sextortion attempts usually know the person trying to take advantage of them. They may have been a romantic partner or a friend. It's unusual for someone to be targeted by a stranger, the researchers said.

The findings were published online recently in the journal Sexual Abuse.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/children-and-teen-sex-news-605/many-teens-are-sextortion-targets-738698.html

More College Students Seeking Mental Health Care

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

Anxiety, depression and panic attacks are sending U.S. college students to mental health clinics in record numbers, a new study finds.

Between 2009 and 2015, treatment and diagnoses of anxiety increased by nearly 6 percent among these students, followed by depression and panic attacks, which each increased about 3 percent. Anxiety is the most common problem, affecting almost 15 percent of college students across the United States, the researchers reported.

"Mental health is a critical issue for college students, and institutions of higher education need to explore prevention and support strategies that best meet the needs of their campus," said lead researcher Sara Oswalt. She is chair of the department of kinesiology, health and nutrition at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

It's not clear if the college environment is causing or even contributing to the increase in these problems. But if mental health problems aren't addressed, success in school is jeopardized, she said.

Oswalt believes more students are seeking help because more of them are suffering from mental health problems, coupled with a willingness to get help. There is less stigma about mental health issues, and schools may be providing more mental health services.

For the study, Oswalt and her colleagues used data from the American College Health Association to collect information on more than 450,000 undergraduates.

The investigators found a significant increase in the diagnosis and treatment for eight of 12 mental problems they examined, with anxiety, depression and panic attacks accounting for the biggest increases.

The researchers also found that students are more willing to use university mental health services.

By 2015, nearly 20 percent of those surveyed said they used these services, an increase of more than 4 percent since 2009. Moreover, nearly 75 percent said they would consider using university mental health services -- an increase of nearly 7 percent.

College students' need for mental health resources is increasing, Oswalt said, so schools need to do more to safeguard their students' well-being. They must do it in a way that is effective and use outside services when they cannot handle demand themselves, she suggested.

Because 75 percent of all serious adult psychiatric illnesses start by age 25, universities have an essential role in addressing mental health issues early, Oswalt explained.

The report was published in the Journal of American College Health.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/anxiety-news-33/more-college-students-seeking-mental-health-care-738933.html

Obesity a Painful Reality for 1 in 6 U.S. Youth

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

One in six American kids struggles with obesity, and minorities struggle the most, a new report shows.

"Childhood obesity continues to be a major public health challenge, with significant financial and societal implications," said Jamie Bussel. She is senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which conducted the study.

"Far too many young people in this country are facing increased chances of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, all due to a preventable condition. And black and Latino youth are still more likely than their white peers to face these problems," Bussel added.

If this trend continues, more than half of today's children will be obese by age 35, researchers predict.

"We must help all children grow up at a healthy weight, so they can lead healthy lives, and save the nation billions in health care costs," Bussel said.

The analysis of 2016 and 2017 data found that 16 percent of Americans aged 10 to 17 are obese, with the highest rate in Mississippi (26 percent) and the lowest in Utah (8.7 percent).

According to the foundation, childhood obesity could be prevented by: offering nutrition programs for low-income families; setting nutrition standards for school meals and snacks; providing at least 60 minutes of physical education/activity each school day; halting advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages to children; ensuring that restaurant meals targeting children meet nutrition standards; and removing sugary drinks from all kids' meals at restaurants.

The "State of Obesity" report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was published online Oct. 24.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/obesity-health-news-505/obesity-a-painful-reality-for-1-in-6-u-s-youths-738914.html

What's Hot? 10/26/18

Trending Today on Twitter - 10/26/18
1. Cory Booker
2. James Clapper
3. #FridayFeeling
4. #NationalPumpkinDay
5. #FridayMotivation
6. #TitleOfMyHorrorMovie
7. Magna Carta
8. #Friyay
9. Robyn
10. Matthew Shepard
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 10/26/18
1. Sinead Oconnor
2. Megyn Kelly
3. Texans
4. Powerball winner Last Night
5. Red Dead Redemption
6. George Soros
7. Robert De Niro
8. Celtics
9. Hunter Killer
10. AMZN
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 10/26/18
1. Waste It On Me (feat. BTS) - Steve Aoki
2. Money - Cardi B
3. Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
4. Without Me - Halsey
5. A Million Dreams - Pink
6. Happier - Marshmello & Bastille
7. High Hopes - Panic! At the Disco
8. Always Remember Us This Way - Lady Gaga
9. Arms Around You - XXXTENTACION & Lil Pump
10. Sunflower (Spider-Man) - Post Malone & Swae Lee
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 10/21/18
1. Sunday Night Football
2. 60 Minutes
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. NCIS
5. Young Sheldon
6. The Conners
7. The Voice - Mon.
8. FBI
9. Thursday Night Football
10. The Voice - Tues.
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - Today - 10/26/18
1. Billie Eilish - when the party's over
2. Chrissy Teigen & Average Andy Go Through a Haunted House
3. Environment Club - Game Grumps Animated
4. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Official Trailer
5. Gerard Butler Spent Seven Years Studying, Practicing Law
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. Halloween
2. A Star Is Born
3. Venom
4. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
5. First Man
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

50 Media Hours Per Week

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

PQ Media released the 6^th annual Global Consumer Media Usage & Exposure Forecast 2018-22, which estimates that consumer time spent with media worldwide, including all digital and traditional media combined, is on pace to grow 2.1% to an average of 50.9 hours per week (HPW) in 2018, powered by digital audio, video, books, news and games, and a growing middle class in emerging markets demanding more digital content in their native languages.

Among highlights from PQ Media’s closely watched annual time spent with media are the following:

• Consumer time spent with media worldwide is projected to increase at a slower 1.5% in 2019, due to the absence of even-year stimulation from major sporting and political events.
• Driven by continued strong growth in mobile media channels, overall digital media usage is expected to rise an estimated 8.8% to 12.7 Hours Per Week in 2018, accounting for 25% of all global media usage, up from only 15.2% just six years ago.
• Among the digital media fueling growth this year are mobile audio, video and books, growing by more than 20% compared with their 2017 rates.
• PQ Media analysts noted the continued shift of consumer time spent with media to wireless devices and mobile media, has distinct generational overtones. Although I-Gens (born 1981-1996) use media much less than older generations, almost 40% of their media consumption is done via digital devices.
• With the release of the new study, PQ Media has become the first-ever market researcher to track consumer time spent with media among the world’s newest generation, identified as "m-Gens," born starting in 2013.

Source: MediaPost
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/326526/50-media-hours-per-week.html

More Millennials, Gen Z Are Using Social Apps

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

Younger internet users are spending more time on social apps this year, according to a May 2018 survey from social video marketing agency VidMob.

And no one more so than Gen Z.

Of the 1,000 US internet users surveyed, more than half (56%) of Gen Zers, ages 16 to 24, said they had increased their use of Snapchat in the past year, and another 55% of respondents said they are using Instagram more.

And those weren't the only mobile apps where usage increased. The largest share (59%) of Gen Z respondents said they use their YouTube app a lot more than they did a year prior.

In contrast fewer millennials increased their usage on these apps that much—though the figures are still significant. Roughly four in 10 said they use Snapchat more than they did a year ago, and half of the millennials surveyed said they use Instagram more.

That makes sense though. Younger uses, particularly teens, are heavier users of Snapchat than their older cohorts.

In 2016, Snapchat surpassed Facebook as the most popular social network among US teens, according to our estimates. In fact, it will continue to add users ages 12 to 17, while Facebook will continue to lose users in that cohort.

We estimate Snapchat will add 1.2 million new US users in that age group by 2022, while Facebook will lose 2.2 million.

Source: eMarketer
https://www.emarketer.com/content/more-millennials-gen-z-are-using-social-apps?ecid=NL1001

Just Witnessing School Violence Can Leave Psychic Scars

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

For middle school students, witnessing school violence can be as bad as being bullied, new research suggests.

An international team of researchers found that young witnesses face many of the same challenges later on as those who are direct victims of campus violence. Notably, eighth-grade witnesses are at higher risk for social and academic problems by the time they're high school sophomores.

"It is clear that approaches to prevention and intervention should include witnesses as well victims and perpetrators and target all forms of school violence," said study leader Michel Janosz. He's director of the School of Psycho-Education at the University of Montreal.

Janosz said supportive family and community relationships help young people cope after they're exposed to these traumatic events. "These also prevent emotional desensitization to violence which also contributes to aggressive behavior in youth," he said in a university news release.

The study involved nearly 4,000 students in Quebec. The researchers wanted to know how witnessing violence at age 13 affected their social and academic behavior. The study looked at students' use of drugs, delinquency and school performance, as well as their emotional well-being two years later.

The researchers also compared the long-term effects of witnessing violence with those experiencing violence directly.

The study, published recently in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found most students had observed violence at school.

Those who had seen physical assaults or someone carrying weapons in the eighth grade had a higher risk of drug use and delinquency later on, the study found. The same was also true for those who had witnessed thefts and vandalism, which the researchers described as hidden or veiled violence.

In addition, exposure to less serious acts such as threats and insults was associated with increased drug use, social anxiety, symptoms of depression and less involvement at school, the researchers noted. But only an association rather than a cause-and-effect link was observed.

Study co-author Linda Pagani is also a professor at the School of Psycho-Education. "There were several take-home messages. First, witnessing school violence in Grade 8 predicted later impairment at Grade 10. Second, bystander effects were very similar to being victimized by violence directly," she said in the news release.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/violence-health-news-787/just-witnessing-school-violence-can-leave-psychic-scars-737804.html

What's Hot? 10/19/18

Trending Today on Twitter - 10/19/18
1. #FridayFeeling
2. #FridayMotivation
3. #FridayReads
4. #FlashbackFriday
5. #Friyay
6. Nick Clegg
7. Summer Walker
8. Wimbledon
9. Joel Fitzgerald
10. USS Ronald Regan
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 10/19/18
1. Lakers
2. Broncos
3. Halloween
4. Power Ball winning numbers
5. Boban Marjanovic
6. Miranda Cosgrove
7. Stanford football
8. Britney Spears
9. Karlie Kloss
10. Kristen Bell
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 10/19/18
1. Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
2. Sunflower (Spider-Man) - Post Malone & Swae Lee
3. Always Remember Us This Way - Lady Gaga
4. Happier - Marshmello & Bastille
5. Without Me - Halsey
6. High Hopes - Panic! At the Disco
7. Natural - Imagine Dragons
8. Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer
9. MIA (feat. Drake) - Bad Bunny
10. when the party's over - Billie Eilish
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 10/14/18
1. Sunday Night Football
2. Thursday Night Football
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. NCIS
5. 60 Minutes
6. Young Sheldon
7. Football Night in America Part 3
8. The Voice - Mon.
9. The Voice - Tues.
10. FBI
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - Today - 10/19/18
1. Inside the Mind of Jake Paul
2. Post Malone, Swae Lee - Sunflower
3. Ariana Grande - pete davidson
4. Can You Guess Which Part of Cardi B's Body Her Baby Broke?
5. Brad Forages for Porcini Mushrooms It's Alive
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. Venom
2. A Star Is Born
3. First Man
4. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
5. Smallfoot
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Almost Half of U.S. Births Happen Outside Marriage, Signaling Cultural Shift

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

An increasing number of births happen outside of marriage, signaling cultural and economic shifts that are here to stay, according to a new report from the United Nations.

Forty percent of all births in the U.S. now occur outside of wedlock, up from 10 percent in 1970, according to an annual report released on Wednesday by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the largest international provider of sexual and reproductive health services. That number is even higher in the European Union.

The EU likely sees more births out of wedlock because many member countries have welfare systems that support gender-balanced child care, said Michael Hermann, UNFPA's senior adviser on economics and demography, in an interview. Public health care systems, paid paternal leave, early education programs and tax incentives give unwed parents support beyond what a partner can provide.

The data show such births in the U.S. and EU are predominantly to unmarried couples living together rather than to single mothers, the report says. The data suggest that societal and religious norms about marriage, childbearing and women in the workforce have changed, said Kelly Jones, the director for the Center on the Economics of Reproductive Health at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Jones also noted that the rise in births outside of marriage is closely correlated to delays in childbearing. “Women are claiming their ground professionally,” she said. “Delaying motherhood is a rational decision when you consider the impact it can have on your career, and that’s contributing to this trend.”

The average age an American woman has her first child is now 27, up from 22 in 1970. As the marriage rate has fallen in the U.S.—and those who do tie the knot do so later in life—the number of adults in cohabiting relationships has steadily risen. This shift is most evident among those under age 35, who represent half of all cohabiting couples, however the rise in cohabitation is occurring across all age demographics.

The traditional progression of Western life “has been reversed,” said John Santelli, a professor in population, family health and pediatrics at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. “Cohabiting partners are having children before getting married. That’s a long-term trend across developing nations.”

Source: Bloomberg
https://www.bloombergquint.com/pursuits/almost-half-of-u-s-births-happen-outside-marriage-signaling-cultural-shift#gs.oZVXFvw

Kids' Concussion Symptoms May Persist for a Year

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

A year after a concussion, up to one-third of kids still have symptoms such as headache and irritability that may affect school performance, a new study finds.

"Children with all types of injuries may show post-concussion symptoms," said lead researcher Linda Ewing-Cobbs, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School in Houston.

Her team found as many as 31 percent still had symptoms that included inattention or fatigue 12 months after their head injury.

Girls who had mood problems beforehand and kids from poor or troubled families seem the most vulnerable, the researchers said.

According to Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, "This study is valuable because it demonstrates that our approach to post-concussive management should take into consideration prior psychological issues, gender, familial harmony, as well as income disparity."

Taking these factors into account might help identify children at higher risk for persistent symptoms, suggested Glatter, who was not involved with the new study.

Physical symptoms are usually seen soon after the head injury, Ewing-Cobbs said. Emotional and mental symptoms may become more noticeable several weeks later when children return to school and sports.

Although symptoms often disappear within a month, some children have prolonged difficulties that likely affect their school functioning, she explained.

"Children with symptoms that persist beyond a month should be monitored by their pediatrician so that they can be referred for any needed physical or psychological health services," Ewing-Cobbs added.

For the study, the researchers looked at nearly 350 children, aged 4 to 15, who suffered either a concussion or an orthopedic injury. Parents completed surveys that asked about their kids before the injury and general information about their home life.

The researchers then used a ratings scale to evaluate post-concussion recovery.

Although girls and boys had similar pre-concussion characteristics, girls had significantly more persistent symptoms than boys. They also had twice the odds of symptoms lasting one year after injury, the findings showed.

How soon a child can return to school and sports after a concussion needs to be tailored to each child, Ewing-Cobbs suggested. "There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of return-to-play in high-impact sports," she said.

That decision should be based on collaboration between medical and school personnel and family, she added.

Each year, 1 million to 2 million children in the United States are treated for mild traumatic brain injury, which includes concussion from sports and other causes.

Glatter said this study suggests special accommodations may be needed when kids return to school in order to ensure that recovery continues.

"This may include medications to manage headaches, regulate mood and anxiety, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy to help with adjustment and problem solving," he said.

Parents and teachers need to look out for any signs of depression or anxiety that could influence school performance and social integration, Glatter advised.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/cognitive-health-information-26/concussions-news-733/kids-concussion-symptoms-may-persist-for-a-year-738578.html