Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Gift of Gab: Talkative Children Perform Better Academically

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

We all know that talking during class is a quick way to end up on your teacher’s bad side. However, a surprising study finds the chatty kids actually perform quite well in class. Researchers from the University of York report young children with “enhanced verbal skills” usually go on to achieve greater academic success than their less talkative classmates.

Originally, study authors set out to examine why kids born into wealthier and well-educated families often do better in school. They ended up discovering that children born into an affluent family tend to have strong language skills by the time they reach nursery school age. From there, those elevated abilities lead to higher grades throughout adolescence.

Researchers examined close to 700 British children in the study. They assessed each child’s verbal skills at the age of four and then tracked their grades through age 16.

All in all, researchers say language skills account for about 50 percent of the effect of family background on a child’s first-year school performance. As more academic years go by, that achievement gap continues to grow.

“Our findings show that a child’s learning at home when they are under five is really important to their chances of later academic success. Children from more advantaged backgrounds are more familiar before starting school with the language patterns and linguistic codes that are used in formal educational settings and are expected by teachers,” says lead study author Professor Sophie von Stumm in a university release.

“Not all children get the same start in life, but this study highlights the importance of helping parents of all backgrounds to engage with their children in activities which enhance verbal skills – such as reading bedtime stories and engaging the child in conversations,” she continues. “Activities designed to improve verbal skills boost cognitive, social, and emotional development, in addition to benefitting parent-child bonding.”

The study was published in the journal Child Development.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/talkative-children-perform-better-academically/

Pandemic Has Cut Into College Kids' Drinking

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

There's been a large drop in drinking among U.S. college students who went home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds.

It included more than 300 students who were surveyed about two months after pandemic-related campus closures in the spring.

The students were asked about their drinking habits and living arrangements before and after school shutdowns in the spring of 2020: living with peers before and after closure, living with parents before and after closure, or living with peers before closure but with parents after.

Among students who used alcohol, the number of days they drank per week fell from 3.1 to 2.7 for those who moved from living with peers to parents, but rose from 3 to 3.7 for those who remained living with peers, and from 2 to 3.3 for those who remained living with their parents.

The total number of drinks per week for students who moved home dropped from 13.9 to 8.5, remained about the same (10.6 vs. 11) among those who continued to live with peers and rose from 6.7 to 9.4 for those who continued living at home.

The maximum number of drinks in a day decreased from 5.4 to 2.9 among students who moved home, from 4.4 to 3.7 for those who remained with peers, and from 3.5 to 3.2 for those who remained at home, according to the study. It was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/b-12-16-pandemic-has-really-cut-into-college-kids-drinking-study-shows-2649428038.html

What's Hot? 12/18/20

Trending Today on Twitter - 12/18/20
1. #TheMandalorian
2. #fridaymorning
3. sunmi
4. Pence
5. Jessi
6. #FridayThoughts
7. soobin
8. #FridayMotivation
9. Dionysus
10. #PowerTrip
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 12/18/20
1. Eminem
2. Tiger Woods
3. Raiders
4. Jeremy Bulloch
5. Lakers
6. Deb Haaland
7. How much snow did we get
8. Sheffield United vs Man United
9. Vanessa Bryant
10. Dolly Parton
Source: Google

Top Five on Spotify - 12/18/20
1. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
2. All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
3. willow - Taylor Swift
4. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
5. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.- Andy Williams
Source: Spotify

Top Five on Apple Music - 12/18/20
1. On Me - Lil Baby
2. Body - Megan Thee Stallion
3. Dakiti - Bad Bunny, Jhay Cortez
4. willow - Taylor Swift
5. Cry Baby (feat. DaBaby) - Megan Thee Stallion
Source: Apple Music

TV Shows Trending on Streaming Services - 12/18/20
1. The Flight Attendant - HBO Max
2. Yellowstone - Peacock
3. Your Honor - Showtime
4. The Undoing - HBO
5. The Mandalorian - Disney+
Source: Reelgood

Trending Today on YouTube - 12/18/20
1. Glitterbomb 3.0 vs. Porch Pirates
2. I Gave People $1,000,000 But ONLY 1 Minute To Spend It!
3. Yung Bleu - You're Mines Still (feat. Drake)
4. Haters will say it's in reverse.
5. Minecraft: Zombie Apocalypse
Source: YouTube

Netflix Top 5 in the U.S. Today - 12/18/20
1. A California Christmas
2. Tiny Pretty Things
3. Manhunt Deadly Games
4. The Ripper
5. Braven
Source: Netflix

Kids Who Play Sports Less Likely to Suffer From Depression

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

There’s plenty of heart-healthy reasons to get children involved in recreational sports, but now the emotional benefits may be just as important. That’s because a new study finds active children are less likely to experience depression.

That conclusion had already been reached in previous studies for adults, but researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology say they’re the first to study the effect in children. The study is published in the February 2021 issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers studied 800 children between the ages of six and ten over a four-year period. To get a good take on the emotional health of the children the researchers did interviews with their parents throughout the years.

To test out their physical activity levels the researchers tracked the kids with accelerometers. During those three intervals, the kids were asked to wear the accelerometers for seven consecutive days, 24 hours a day, and only remove them to bathe. Only those participants with at least three days of recordings and 480 minutes of activity per day were included. Researchers also took into account their body mass index when they were tracking their amount of physical activity.

The researchers ultimately found that the kids who had the highest levels of physical activity had fewer signs of depression when they were reassessed after two years.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/study-finds-children-sports-fitness-depression/

Surge of Teen Vaping Levels Off, But Remains High as of Early 2020

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

Findings released today from the most recent Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of substance use behaviors and related attitudes among teens in the United States indicate that levels of nicotine and marijuana vaping did not increase from 2019 to early 2020, although they remain high. The annual MTF survey is conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, and is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

In the four years since the survey began including questions on nicotine and marijuana vaping, the use of these substances among teens has increased to markedly high levels. From 2017 to 2019, the percentage of teenagers who said they vaped nicotine in the past 12 months roughly doubled for eighth-graders from 7.5% to 16.5%, for 10th graders from 15.8% to 30.7%, and for 12th graders from 18.8% to 35.3%. In 2020, the rates held steady at a respective 16.6%, 30.7%, and 34.5%. However, somewhat encouragingly, daily, or near-daily (20 occasions in the past 30 days), nicotine vaping declined among 10th and 12th graders from 2019 to 2020, by close to half—from 6.8% to 3.6% in 10th grade and from 11.6% to 5.3% in 12th grade.

"The rapid rise of teen nicotine vaping in recent years has been unprecedented and deeply concerning since we know that nicotine is highly addictive and can be delivered at high doses by vaping devices, which may also contain other toxic chemicals that may be harmful when inhaled," said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. "It is encouraging to see a leveling off of this trend though the rates still remain very high."

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-surge-teen-vaping-high-early.html

Body Dissatisfaction at 14 Predicts Depressive Episodes at 18

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

Body dissatisfaction at age 14 years is associated with depressive episodes at age 18 years, according to a study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Anna Bornioli, Ph.D., from the University of the West of England in Bristol, and colleagues examined the influence of body dissatisfaction on the occurrence of later depressive episodes among 2,078 female and 1,675 male adolescents from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. Body dissatisfaction was assessed at age 14 years, and the association with the onset of depressive episodes at 18 years was examined, controlling for baseline depression.

The researchers found that body dissatisfaction predicted mild, moderate, and severe depressive episodes among girls (odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 1.63 [1.31 to 2.04], 1.67 [1.28 to 2.18], and 1.84 [1.09 to 3.12], respectively). Body dissatisfaction predicted mild and severe depressive episodes among boys (odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 1.50 [1.00 to 2.25] and 2.85 [1.18 to 6.87], respectively).

"These findings demonstrate that body dissatisfaction should be considered as a public health issue of pressing concern," the authors write. "Body dissatisfaction is highly prevalent among young people in the general population and has an increasing incidence; the findings indicate that reducing body dissatisfaction might be an effective strategy to reduce mental health issues."

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/body-dissatisfaction-at-14-predicts-depressive-episodes-at-18-2649205499.html

Drinking Most Harmful at 3 Points in Life Span

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

Alcohol poses the greatest threat to brain health at three periods of a person's life, according to new research.

During those three periods -- from conception to birth, from ages 15 to 19, and after age 65 -- people undergo "dynamic" brain changes that may be particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of alcohol, researchers say.

More than 20% of teens ages 15-19 in wealthy nations report at least occasional binge drinking.

Research shows that binge drinking in the teen years is associated with reduced brain volume, poorer white matter development (critical for efficient brain functioning), and small to moderate shortfalls in a number of mental functions, the authors said.

How the COVID-19 pandemic will affect alcohol use is unclear, but there have been long-term increases in drinking after other major public health crises, according to the authors.

They said an integrated approach to reducing alcohol-related harm at all ages is needed.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/b-12-7-drinking-most-harmful-at-3-points-in-life-span-2649126879.html

What's Hot? 12/11/20

Trending Today on Twitter - 12/11/20
1. #fridaymorning
2. #LoserOfTheYear
3. Cudi
4. #FridayFeeling
5. #FridayThoughts
6. #SandersHoliday
7. Spready Mercury
8. Time Magazine
9. Good Friday
10. Sir Salter Scott
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 12/11/20
1. Brandon Bernard
2. Tommy Lister
3. Patriots
4. Hanukkah 2020
5. Taylor Swift
6. Game Awards 2020
7. Star Wars
8. Sephiroth
9. Hayden Christensen
10. Ellen DeGeneres
Source: Google

Top Five on Spotify - 12/11/20
1. All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
2. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
3. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
4. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.- Andy Williams
5. Dakiti - Bad Bunny, Jhay Cortez
Source: Spotify

Top Five on Apple Music - 12/11/20
1. On Me - Lil Baby
2. Dakiti - Bad Bunny, Jhay Cortez
3. Errbody - Lil Baby
4. Body - Megan Thee Stallion
5. For the Night (feat. Lil Baby & DaBaby) - Pop Smoke
Source: Apple Music

TV Shows Trending on Streaming Services - 12/11/20
1. The Flight Attendant - HBO Max
2. The Undoing - HBO
3. Yellowstone - Peacock
4. The Mandalorian - Disney+
5. Euphoria - HBO
Source: Reelgood

Trending Today on YouTube - 12/11/20
1. AirPods Max Uboxing & Impressions: $550?!
2. HELLUVA BOSS - Loo Loo Land // S1: Episode 2
3. Starship | SN8 | High-Alltitude Flight Test
4. Arirana Grande - excuse me, i love you
5. Can You Upload Your Mind & Live Forever? feat. Cyberpunk 2077
Source: YouTube

Netflix Top 5 in the U.S. Today - 12/11/20
1. Ava
2. Selena The Series
3. Big Mouth
4. Manhunt Deadly Games
5. Virgin River
Source: Netflix

Most Parents Fear Remote Learning Will Lead to Children Falling Behind in School

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

Will students who are attending school remotely fall behind compared to their peers taking in-person classes? Three in four parents (76%), a new survey shows, are concerned that their child’s academic performance is being impacted by the shift to remote learning.

In fact, 94 percent of American parents are concerned about “summer slide” or learning loss as the result of COVID-related disruptions to the previous school year, according to new research. In spite of these concerns, many parents see opportunity in the new school year, as more than half of respondents (55%) believe digital schooling is conducive to their child’s learning style.

Conducted by OnePoll, the survey of 2,000 American parents of school-aged children also examines both parents' and students’ biggest challenges with digital learning during this unique school year.

On average, respondents’ children have been enrolled in digital or hybrid schooling for three months over the course of the current school year and the last. According to parents, top remote learning pain points in this period include bandwidth issues (54%), their children missing the group interactions of in-person class (40%), and students being distracted by other things in their remote learning environment (39%).

When it comes to the features that parents feel would make their child’s online learning process easier, having all classes recorded for reference (40%) is the top suggestion. The ability to live chat with teachers or instructors for help (35%) is also a highly desired attribute.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/parents-fear-remote-learning-children-fall-behind-school/

Kids' TV Teaching Children Wrong Lessons About Pain

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

Children engrossed in popular kids' TV programs such as Peppa Pig, or films like Toy Story or Frozen, are exposed to up to nine incidents of pain for every hour of TV watched, according to new research from psychologists.

A new study, published in the international journal Pain from researchers at the universities of Bath (UK) and Calgary (Canada)—analyzed how characters' experiences of pain were depicted across different media aimed at 4 to 6-year olds.

The team behind the research was interested in assessing what painful incidents characters were subject to, as well as how they and others around them responded.

Researchers say this work matters because what children watch on TV shapes and models their behaviors. They want producers to use their influence to re-think how pain is portrayed in order to better equip young people to cope with common, everyday pain which they are more likely to experience but is often forgotten and misunderstood.

Lead researcher, Dr. Melanie Noel, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology from the University of Calgary said: "We examined shows and movies that millions of young children in North America and beyond are watching. The findings were, frankly, shocking.

"It is undoubtable that the media is a powerful force in how children learn about the world. The way pain is unrealistically portrayed is teaching young children that pain is not worthy of help or empathy from others and that it will be experienced and responded to differently if you are a boy or a girl. We have a responsibility to change these societal narratives about pain."

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-kids-tv-children-wrong-lessons.html