Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

What's Hot? 01/29/21

Trending Today on Twitter - 1/29/21
1. #WandaVision
2. Brian Williams
3. #fridaymorning
4. #FridayMotivation
5. #FridayFeeling
6. #FridayThoughts
7. Durk
8. Johnson & Johnson
9. Good Friday
10. Schwarber
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 1/29/21
1. WandaVision episode 4
2. Silhouette Challenge
3. Katherine Heigl
4. Gonzaga Basketball
5. Cicely Tyson
6. American Airlines stock
7. AOC
8. Lakers vs Pistons
9. Wolf Moon
10. Tottenham vs Liverpool
Source: Google

Top Five on Spotify - 1/29/21
1. drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo
2. Good Days - SZA
3. Streets - Doja Cat
4. Whoopty - CJ
5. Mood (feat. iann dior) - 24KGoldn
Source: Spotify

Top Five on Apple Music - 1/29/21
1. drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo
2. Good Days - SZA
3. On Me - Lil Baby
4. Streets - Doja Cat
5. Wasted on You - Morgan Wallen
Source: Apple Music

TV Shows Trending on Streaming Services - 1/29/21
1. Snowpiercer - HBO Max
2. Yellowstone - Peacock
3. WandaVision - Disney+
4. A Discovery of Witches - Fubo
5. Fate: The Winx Saga - Netflix
Source: Reelgood

Trending Today on YouTube - 1/29/21
1. If Everything Was Like Among Us 6
2. Minecraft, But If You Laugh You Lose...
3. Minecraft, But You Can Mine The Entire Chunk...
4. carolesdaughter - Violent
5. "KUWTK" Final Season Begins This March on E!
Source: YouTube

Netflix Trending Now in the U.S. - 1/29/21
1. Cobra Kai
2. Lupin
3. Disenchantment
4. Our Planet
5. Greatest Events of WWII in Colour
Source: Netflix

Children Can Bypass Age Verification Procedures in Popular Social Media Apps

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on EurekAlert!

Children of all ages can completely bypass age verification measures to sign-up to the world's most popular social media apps including Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype, and Discord by simply lying about their age, researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software have discovered.

And even potential age verification solutions identified by the research team can be easily sidestepped by children, according to the team's most recent study: Digital Age of Consent and Age Verification: Can They Protect Children?

Lead researcher Lero's Dr. Liliana Pasquale, assistant professor at University College Dublin's School of Computer Science, said children could easily bypass the mechanisms adopted by apps to verify their age.

The study which examined Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, HouseParty, Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger, Skype, Discord apps scrutinized age verification procedures in April 2019 and repeated it in April 2020 and it found all ten apps permitted users, regardless of age, to set up accounts if they first gave their age as 16.

Dr. Pasquale said the widespread use of the age of 13 as the minimum age for accessing social media services derives from the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), effective in the USA since 2000. Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires children below the age of digital consent (13-16) to have verifiable parental consent for the processing of their data.

"Our study found that while some apps disabled registration if users input ages below 13, but if the age 16 is provided as input initially then none of the apps require a proof of age. Providing mechanisms that deter a user from installing an app on a device on which they have previously declared themselves to be underage is currently one of the most sensible solutions not to incentivize users to lie about their age," Dr. Pasquale said.

The study was published in IEEE Software on 15 December 2020.

Source: EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/l-ccb012621.php

Just 2% of U.S. Teens Eat Recommended Amount of Veggies

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

In findings that may ring true to parents, a new government survey shows that a paltry 2% of U.S. high school students are eating enough vegetables.

The study is the latest look at teenagers' eating habits by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And experts described the results as "disappointing."

Of more than 13,000 high school students surveyed in 2017, only 2% were getting the minimum recommended allotment of veggies: 2.5 to 3 cups per day.

Fruit, meanwhile, was only mildly more popular. About 7% of high schoolers were getting enough, and 100% fruit juice counted toward those servings.

The figures show no progress since the CDC's previous report on the topic: In 2013, as well, 2% of high school kids were eating their veggies as recommended.

"The findings aren't necessarily surprising, but they are discouraging," said Marlene Schwartz, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut, in Hartford.

The findings, published Jan. 22 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, paint a generally bleak dietary picture.

Vegetable intake was low across the board (among boys and girls, and white, Black, and Hispanic teens). The median veggie intake was just one serving per day, which means half of the students ate even less.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/1-26-just-2-of-u-s-teens-eat-recommended-amount-of-veggies-2650068016.html

Being Bilingual as a Child Leads to Sharper Cognitive Abilities as an Adult

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

Children brought up in a home in which more than one language is regularly spoken are often sharper from a cognitive perspective as an adult. That’s the main finding by researchers at Anglia Ruskin University, which compared cognition among early bilinguals and late bilinguals.

An early bilingual is someone who becomes fluent in multiple languages at an early age, perhaps even at the same time they started to learn their native tongue. Late bilinguals, on the other hand, are people who learn another language after they mature.

Study authors report that once they reach adulthood, early bilinguals are able to shift their attention much faster than late bilinguals. They are also quicker at noticing visual changes.

To reach these conclusions, a group of 127 participants took part in two distinct experiments. The first entailed viewing two images on a screen, with one image gradually fading away and the other remaining constant. Early bilinguals noticed these visual changes much faster than late bilinguals.

The second experiment asked subjects to shift their attention from one image to another as fast as possible. Once again, the early bilinguals did a much better job of controlling their attention.

The research team previously collected evidence suggesting that infants brought up in a multilingual home cope and adapt to their more unpredictable verbal environment by developing faster visual attention skills. These latest results indicate that those skills remain with early bilingual children all the way through to adulthood.

The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/bilingual-children-sharper-abilities/

Young Adults Who Spend 5+ Hours Daily on Social Media Much More Likely to be Depressed

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

For children and young adults alike, it can sometimes seem like their smartphones are a part of their bodies. While younger people aren’t the only ones who can develop an addiction to surfing social media all day, a new study finds it can have a serious impact on their mental health. Researchers at the University of Arkansas say the more minutes young adults spend on social media, the more likely they are to suffer from depression.

Specifically, the study finds young adults who spend over 300 minutes (five hours) a day on social media are nearly three times more likely to suffer from depression than those who spend less than 120 minutes (two hours) online each day. Researchers believe obsessions with platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Snapchat, and Facebook are quickly replacing of forming real-world friendships and achieving goals.

Study authors also think teens are comparing themselves to “photoshopped” perfect lifestyles they see online, which are impossible to obtain in reality. This makes them feel worthless in comparison to these images.

In the first large study to show a link between social media use and depression, researchers fear the COVID-19 pandemic will only increase internet use and worsen mental health problems. Study authors examined more than 1,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 30, measuring levels of depression and their use of social media.

The results reveal young adults using social media more than five hours per day are 2.8 times more likely to become depressed within six months. This is compared to their peers who browse these platforms under two hours per day.

 

The findings appear in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Source: StudyFinds
https://www.studyfinds.org/young-adults-five-hours-social-media-depression/

What's Hot? 01/22/21

Trending Today on Twitter - 1/22/21
1. #ImpeachBidenNow
2. #fridaymorning
3. Shaq
4. #FridayFeeling
5. sabrina
6. #FridayThoughts
7. xiao
8. Pueblo
9. #FridayVibes
10. Finally Friday
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 1/22/21
1. Gigi Hadid
2. Mira Furlan
3. Jill Biden
4. Keyshia Cole
5. GameStop
6. Lakers
7. Warriors
8. Powerball winning numbers
9. QAnon
10. Filibuster
Source: Google

Top Five on Spotify - 1/22/21
1. drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo
2. Good Days - SZA
3. Whoopty - CJ
4. Bad Boy (with Young Thug) - Juice WRLD
5. Mood (feat. iann dior) - 24KGoldn
Source: Spotify

Top Five on Apple Music - 1/22/21
1. drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo
2. Good Days - SZA
3. Wasted On You - Morgan Wallen
4. On Me - Lil Baby
5. Sand in My Boots - Morgan Wallen
Source: Apple Music

TV Shows Trending on Streaming Services - 1/22/21
1. WandaVision - Disney+
2. Lupin - Netflix
3. A Discovery of Witches - Fubo
4. Yellowstone - Peacock
5. Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer - Netflix
Source: Reelgood

Trending Today on YouTube - 1/22/21
1. The Inauguration of Biden/Harris | Jan. 20, 2021
2. Bellie Eilish, ROSALIA - Lo Vas A Olvidar
3. ANUEL AA & @Ozuna - LOS DIOSES
4. Apex Legends Season 8 - Mayhem Launch Trailer
5. AMONG US with THANOS
Source: YouTube

Netflix Trending Now in the U.S. - 1/22/21
1. Outside The Wire
2. Lupin
3. Our Planet
4. Fate: The Winx Saga
5. Bling Empire
Source: Netflix

Having Kids Means Less Sleep for Moms — But Not for Dads

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

It’s no secret that having children can lead to some sleepless nights, but new research finds that mothers are suffering more than anyone when it comes to a night of good rest.

The preliminary study, released by the American Academy of Neurology, was conducted through a nationwide telephone survey of 5,805 people. The researchers questioned participants as to how long they typically slept and how often they felt tired. They also took into account other factors besides children such as age, education, race, exercise habits, current employment, marital status, BMI, and income.

The researchers found that the only consistent factor that seemed to play a role in how much sleep participants got was linked to having kids. They found that 62 percent of women without kids got at least seven hours of sleep, but that only 48 percent of women with kids did the same. Women with children also reported feeling tired three more days a month than women without children, and there did not seem to be any changes in the sleep habits of men whether they had children or not.

The research team found that each child in a household increased the odds of a woman having less than six hours of sleep by nearly 50 percent.

The results of the study were presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/study-finds-mothers-sleepless-nights-kids/

Women 50% More Likely to Suffer Concussion in Sports Than Men

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

Brain injuries to athletes — including chronic concussions and their long-term impact on cognitive abilities – is a hot topic in professional and college sports these days. It might seem obvious that male athletes, who compete fiercely in a number of brutal contact sports, would also suffer the worst head injuries.

But a new study from researchers at Columbia University that compared concussion rates suffered by men and women in the school’s various sports programs found that concussion rates were over 50% higher among women — 23%, compared to just 14% for men. The study focused on athletes not just in comparable sports, like soccer and basketball, but also in football, where men clearly predominate.

“It is unclear why women appear to be at higher risk for sports-related concussions than men,” Dr. John Noble, who headed the University research team, said in an American Academy of Neurology release. “The findings from this study highlight the need for more research on the gender differences in concussion.”

Studies of the phenomenon are more than a decade old. In 2003, researchers examined data on concussion gender differences using the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Injury Surveillance System for the 1997-2000 academic years and found that 9.5% of women compared to 6.2% of men sustained concussions in a variety of sports, including soccer, lacrosse, basketball, softball, baseball, and gymnastics.

And yet despite the passage of time, researchers seem no closer to explaining the phenomenon, which could be due to anatomical disparities (a woman’s head mass is smaller and neck muscles weaker) or cultural differences (men are more likely to tough it out).

The results of this latest study were presented at the AAN’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/study-finds-women-concussions-sports/

Youth Vaping Triples Odds for Adult Smoking

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

Vaping may not be a way for kids to avoid the smoking habit, after all. A new study finds that teens who start vaping are three times more likely to smoke cigarettes in adulthood than those who never started with electronic cigarettes.

Although the number of teens who start smoking cigarettes in high school has declined, vaping has soared. From 2016 to 2019, the number of cigarette smokers among U.S. high school seniors dropped from 28% to 22%, but e-cigarette use increased from 39% to 46%, the researchers found.

"The rapid rise in e-cigarette experimentation among the youth of our country appears to mean that we will have a whole new generation of cigarette smokers along with all the health consequences that follow," said lead researcher John Pierce. He's a professor emeritus in the department of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego.

For the study, the investigators collected data on nearly 16,000 people in the United States, aged 12 to 24. Nearly two-thirds had tried at least one tobacco product, and almost one-third tried five or more tobacco products, of which e-cigarettes and cigarettes were the most popular, the findings showed.

Each additional product tried increased the users' odds of becoming a daily cigarette smoker, as did trying tobacco before age 18, according to the report published online in the journal Pediatrics.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/1-11-youth-vaping-triples-odds-for-adult-smoking-2649751989.html

New Study Suggests that College Campuses are COVID-19 Super-spreaders

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

College campuses are at risk of becoming COVID-19 superspreaders for their entire county, according to a new vast study which shows the striking danger of the first two weeks of school in particular.

Looking at 30 campuses across the nation with the highest amount of reported cases, experts saw that over half of the institutions had spikes—at their peak—which were well above 1,000 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people per week within the first two weeks of class.

In some colleges, one in five students had been infected with the virus by the end of the fall term. Four institutions had over 5,000 cases.

In 17 of the campuses monitored, a new computer model developed by scientists at Stanford University shows outbreaks translated directly into peaks of infection within their home counties.

The team's research—published in the peer-reviewed journal Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering—crucially shows, however, that tight outbreak management, for example, the immediate transition from in-person to all online learning can reduce the peaks within about two weeks.

Members of the research team used advanced modeling, which assesses the real-time epidemiology of the COVID-19 outbreak using an SEIR (susceptible, exposed, infectious, and recovered) model to map how the disease spread across the campuses.

"Our results confirm the widespread fear in early fall that colleges could become the new hot spots of COVID-19 transmission. But, at the same time, college administrators should be applauded for their rapid responses to successfully manage local outbreaks," said Senior author, Ellen Kuhl.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that these initial college outbreaks are unrelated to the national outbreak dynamics. Instead, they are independent local events driven by campus reopening and inviting students back to campus. Our results confirm the widespread fear in early fall that colleges could become the new hot spots of COVID-19 transmission. But, at the same time, college administrators should be applauded for their rapid responses to successfully manage local outbreaks."

Professor Kuhl concludes: "We anticipate that the most important aspect upon campus reopening within the coming weeks will be the human factor. Unfortunately, the fall term has shown that the best of all strategies can become meaningless if people do not follow the recommendations."

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-college-campuses-covid-superspreaders.html