Teens and Parents
Aqueelah Seifullah
The relationship between teens and their parents is a relationship that can be the basis of a teens well being or destruction. It has been proven true over time that, for teens, the source of all their problems, is the household. If parents are involved in the life of their teens, teens a re less likely to start smoking, drinking, drug use, sexual promiscuity, violence, and suicide attempts. Studies say that when families eat dinner together they tend to be closer. Some parents may fail to realize that the teenage years are a time of transition from childhood into adulthood. Teens often struggle with being dependent on their parents while having a strong desire to be independent. They may experiment with new values, ideas, hairstyles and clothing as they try to define who they are. Although this may be a challenging time for parents, this is the time that teens need parents the most, mainly for support. Parents who give their teenagers their love, time, boundaries, and encouragement to think for themselves may find that they actually enjoy their children’s adventure through adolescence. a good home life can increase the odds that kids will avoid many of the pitfalls of adolescence. If the teen is having a problem at home or in life, parents need to recognize and asses these problems quickly, in order to avoid the harm their children may cause towards themselves or someone else. Some signs that a child is having problems are:
· Agitated or restless behavior
· Weight loss or weight gain
· Trouble concentrating
· Ongoing feelings of sadness
· Not caring about people and things
· Lack of motivation
· Fatigue, loss of energy and lack of interest in activities
· Low self-esteem
· Trouble falling asleep
In the past, the percentage of the amount of teens who said they have good home situations and good relationships with their parents were significantly low compared to today’s numbers. USA WEEKEND’s Teens & Parents survey reveals a generation of young people who get along well with their parents and approve of the way they’re being raised. Many of the teens feel they can talk with their parents if they have a problem and many even feel that their parents are in fact “cool”. The results in the survey are based on answers from students in grades 6- 12th.
I believe that communication with parents is the main basis in surviving teen years. Most of the time parents have been in the same situations that we, as teens, find ourselves in today. I personally have a good relationship with my parents and I feel that they help me through a lot of things and I know that if my parents hadn’t been there for me, I might have made some stupid choices that would have led me to be in a worse situation now.
4 in 5 say their relationship with their parents has improved or remained the same over the past two years.
4 in 5 say one of their parents has told them he or she loves them in recent days. 3 in 4 have told their parents they love them in recent days.
3 in 5 eat dinner with their parents at least five nights a week.
4 in 5 would confide in one or both parents if they had a serious problem.
1 in 2 characterize their parents as always supportive.
3 in 4 think their parents understand the problems and situations they face as teens very or somewhat well.
1 in 2 give their parents a grade of A in raising them.
Top ten things teens wish their parents would say are:
1. I was wrong about……
2. Your friends worry me, but I trust your judgment.
3. Don’t worry about cleaning your room.
4. Let me tell you about some of the learning experiences I had as a teen.
5. I love you no matter what you do.
6. I am going to sit down and listen while you talk.
7. I’m sorry.
8. Thank You.
9. Even if you are struggling with that one class, the rest of your grades are awesome.
10. When you hug me it fills up my heart.
11. How can I help?
Sources
http://www.focusas.com/parenting.html
http://www.sideroad.com/Parenting/parents-and-teens.html
http://clinton3.nara.gov/WH/EOP/CEA/html/Teens_Paper_Final.pdf
Teens and Technology
Aqueelah Seifullah
The human touch is being lost and the human voice is no longer heard. People, especially teens, are so used to talking over the Internet and text messaging, people sometimes don’t know what it’s like to hear the voice and expressions of another in person. Because of text messaging, auto-correction, and the short hand used in typing on the computer or the phone, teen’s vocabulary and writing skills have decreased over the years.
The number of teenagers using the Internet has grown 24% in the past four years and 87% of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online. Among other things, there has been significant growth over the past four years in the number of teens who play games on the internet, get news, shop online, and get health information. Email, which was once the cutting edge “killer app,” is losing its privileged place among many teens as they express preferences for instant messaging (IM) and text messaging as ways to connect with their friends. (Pew/ Internet)
- 62% of all Americans are part of a wireless, mobile population that participates in digital activities away from home or work.
The U.S. isn’t the only place with a up rise in technology use. China’s Internet user population has been outpacing that of the U.S., and China is projected to overtake the U.S. in the total number of users within a few years.
The generation of technology users is getting younger, while about 60% of the 6th graders in our sample, reported using the internet, by 7th grade, it jumps to 82% who are online. From there, the percent of users in the teen population for each grade climbs steadily before topping out at 94% for eleventh and twelfth graders. (Pew/ Internet)
- Older teenage girls (aged 15-17) have driven the growth in many of the communication and information-seeking categories. They are more likely to use email, text messaging, search for information about prospective schools, seek health and religious information, and visit entertainment-related websites.
- Close to half of teens (45%) own a cell phone, and 33% have used a cell phone to send a text message.
- While teens have a great appetite for new information technologies, the landline telephone remains the most dominant communication medium in teens’ everyday life. 51% of online teens usually choose the landline telephone when they want to talk with friends.
- Nearly one-third (29%) of students surveyed said their parent or guardian would disapprove if they knew what they were doing on the Internet.
I think that these statistics are very true; the amount of teens in this decade using the Internet is overwhelming. I personally don’t like to go anywhere without my cell phone, and I am pretty sure this is true for other teens around the world. Technology is a sign of growth and it is very positive in many ways, however there are some advances in technology that have proven to be dangerous for the teen generation. For instance, Internet and the predators that stalk the net and the inappropriate sites that continues to be a part of the net.
Sources
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/162/report_display.asp
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Tech_July2005web.pdf
http://www.mediacampaign.org/newsroom/press06/071806_fs.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2006-05-29-teen-texting_x.htm
Wanna join the new fad? Don’t.
Self mutilation has become something like the “next big thing”. There are so many teens cutting, carving, scratching and harming themselves. Some teens may think its cool, while others have a “valid” yet still invalid reason as to why they harm themselves. Although cutting, etc. because one thinks it is “cool” is not truly self mutilation, it should be seen that way, because either way, the person is causing harm to themselves. Studies show that some believe that self mutilation attempts can mean anything to someone from relaxation, to coping techniques, even to illness or disease. Self mutilation is seen in many different forms such as branding, burning, marking, bruising, hitting, and even picking or pulling skin and hair. Whether a person who does not self mutilate finds it crazy or out of the question, they may not understand what the people who actually do practice self mutilation go through, and should more than likely shoot for helping the people out instead of looking down upon them. Self mutilation could ease the mental pain from psychological problems that one may have. According to studies, some people give the reason that it gets rid of their jitters or helps them cope with issues they are going through in their lives. It is somewhat easy to understand the reason why these people harm themselves, but why they would take that measure instead of others is what most people don’t understand. Many teens do not know how to express themselves emotionally, which is another reason given as to why people self mutilate, however, that still does not seem like reason enough to harm one’s self. Many parents do not know that their kids harm themselves because the marks are easy to hide, however, if the parent does know, there are ways to help out. One way to help out is to show yourself being a strong person in extenuating circumstances, as well as seeking professional help or showing their teen how much they care and understand. Sometimes, the simplest things can help out the most and parents, whom obviously have been teens before in their lives, seem to not understand. Random fact:::Studies show many people, teens included, self mutilate. As a matter of fact, 17% of Ivy League students have “cut” once, if not multiple times. -Tatijana
Under age drinking
“Alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive substance during adolescence.” Teenage alcohol use can have many negative effects on a child. Alcohol use can induce motor vehicle accidents, fighting, problems in school, and even death just to name a few. The numbers and statistics for teenage alcohol abuse are rising everyday, here are a few statistics to give you a taste of how big of a problem this is.
Teen Alcohol Statistics In 2004: · 10.8 million Underage persons 12 to 20 (28.7%) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. · 2.8% of 12th graders reported daily alcohol use. More than 1% (1.3%) of 10th graders and 0.6% of 8th graders reported daily alcohol use. · 29.2% of 12th graders reported having five or more drinks in a row in the last 2 weeks. Twenty-two percent of 10th graders and 11.4% of 8th graders reported having five or more drinks in a row in the last 2 weeks.
· More males than females aged 12-20 reported binge drinking (22.1% vs. 17%) and heavy drinking (8.2% vs. 4.3%).
(http://www.troubledteen101.com/articles18.html)
Every year in America around 5,000 underage kids die from underage drinking in some way. The number one way is through motor vehicle accidents. Kids think they are invincible, they think even after a couple of drinks they are still fine to drive. About 1,900 of the 5,000 kids that die every year die from motor vehicle accidents. Kids also don’t of the other people that they are endangering while they are intoxicated. Getting into an accident doesn’t just endanger your life but everyone in and around the car.
There are many reasons that young people drink today including the so-called positive effects, expectancy, and peer pressure. Many kids under the age of 21 drinks because of the feeling it gives them. Getting drunk may make a child feel good for a while but the after effects are never fun. Vomiting, headaches, even alcohol poisoning can be a consequence. Expectancy is when a kid thinks that drinking is fun so they will have more fun at a party because they expect that alcohol makes it better. You are more likely to have fun while drinking if you expect that it will be fun. Peer pressure is one of the biggest reasons that kids drink. If one friend does it, it’s almost expected that your other friend will do it. The need to fit in plays a big factor in kids these days. They think that if they drink they will be cool and more people will want to hang out with them.
To me peer pressure is stupid, I know its hard to overcome but you should always do what you want to do, not everyone else. Plus you may think that people want to hang out with you but theres nothing more annoying then someone who always wants to drink. No one likes an alcoholic. I think its natural that most high schoolers will at some point taste or try alcohol in their hich school experience. But that doesn’t mean you should go out every day and weekend drinking. Kids these days are getting out of control with drugs and alcohol.
High School dropouts
“…In Michigan you have the right to be a legal drop out and at 16 you can choose whether to go to school or not…” High school dropouts not only in the state of Michigan but in the united states is becoming a major problem. One third of all high school students and nearly half of all black, Hispanic, and Native American students fail to graduate high school. “Dropouts are much more likely than their peers who graduate to be unemployed, living in poverty, receiving public assistance, in prison, on death row, unhealthy, divorced, and single parents with children who drop out from high school themselves.” (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ed/TheSilentEpidemic3-06FINAL.pdf) When kids drop out of school it doesn’t just hurt them it hurts the whole community. It gives the community a smaller pool of skilled workers to choose from. This all together hurts the economy of those areas.
There are many reasons that kids say that they HAVE to drop out of high school. Most of the kids who drop out say that their major reason was because they needed to get a job, around 32 percent. Other minor reasons seem to be the hardships that come with being a parent or having to take care of a sick or dying family member. The most astonishing figure is that almost half, 47 percent, were said to drop out because their classes weren’t interesting enough. Most kids these days are just not motivated enough to stay in school. A Study says that “Nearly 7 in 10 respondents (69 percent) said they were not motivated or inspired to work hard, 80 percent did one hour or less of homework each day in high school, two-thirds would have worked harder if more was demanded of them (higher academic standards and more studying and homework), and 70 percent were confident they could have graduated if they had tried.”
These figures are out of control, I didn’t even know that classes not being interesting enough were a reason that kids dropped out. Kids these days just don’t really care about their futures. These kind of figures make America look lazy. No wonder were doing so bad educationally on an international level. Kids are dropping out every day over here. Most of the time kids don’t even have a good reason for dropping out. Dropping out of school is never a good option but for some who absolutely need to help their family out it may be the only option. We need to figure out new ways to keep kids in school, cause ultimately these kids are the future of our country. The way its looking is that America is going down hill educationally.
Teens And Suicide, A Rising Phenomenon
Although some may not always think about it, because I mean hey, it’s not exactly a happy conversation piece, teen suicides are a rising issue in our society today. Besides car accidents and homicides, suicides are the third leading killer of individuals age 15-24. This means that the majority of teen deaths in our society preventable. Being a teenager alone is stressful and frustrating. As a teenager, you are caught between the responsibilities of both child and adult, and sometimes it can be confusing as to which role you are suppose to take on. Teenagers are always asked to act like adults, but always reminded that they aren’t, confusing? Other stresses such as sexual abuse or living in a household with domestic violence can cause some teenagers to experience extra anxiety and stress. Teenagers also have new things to deal with socially and academically, and have to deal with new types of pressures. No one can know the exact cause of a suicide or why an individual chooses to commit suicide. But there are many reasons that psychologists and social workers have come up with that help explain some reasons why teens become suicidal:
- the presence of a psychological disorder, especially depression, bipolar disorder, and alcohol and drug use (in fact, approximately 95% of people who die by suicide have a psychological disorder at the time of death)
- feelings of distress, irritability, or agitation
- feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness that often accompany depression (a teen, for example, who experiences repeated failures at school, who is overwhelmed by violence at home, or who is isolated from peers is likely to experience such feelings)
- a previous suicide attempt
- a family history of depression or suicide (depressive illnesses may have a genetic component, so some teens may be predisposed to suffer major depression)
- having suffered physical or sexual abuse
- lack of a support network, poor relationships with parents or peers, and feelings of social isolation
- dealing with homosexuality in an unsupportive family or community or hostile school environment
There is no way to tell whether or not someone is suicidal. Yet, there are signs that you can look for to help someone you think may be suicidal.
- withdrawal from friends or family and no desire to go out
- inability to concentrate or think clearly
- change in eating or sleeping habits
- major changes in appearance (if a normally neat person looks very sloppy, for example)
- talk about feeling hopeless or feeling guilty
- talk about suicide
- talk about death
- talk about “going away”
- self-destructive behavior (drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or driving too fast, for example)
- no desire to take part in favorite things or activities
- the giving away of favorite possessions (like if someone offered you his or her favorite piece of jewelry, for example)
- suddenly very happy and cheerful moods after being depressed or sad for a long time (this may mean that a person has decided to attempt suicide and may feel like there’s a “solution” to be happy about)
If you believe you friend or someone you know is suicidal, the best thing to do is to tell someone with a little more authority than you, like a parent or trusted adult. In an emergency, you can call (800) SUICIDE or (800) 999-9999. One of our biggest mistakes as a society is that we are not educated on the issues, get educated on suicide.
http://endoflifecare.tripod.com/kidsyoungadults/id40.html
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/suicide.html
Teen Crime: Do you think we’re causing all the trouble?
Gang violence, drugs, murders, guns. Do you really think that the majority of the crime in the jail and penal systems is caused by teens? If so, you should really check the statistics. Although it is common for teens to be involved in crime, especially urban teens, it is not necessarily true that they are the involved in most of the crime. As a matter of fact, juvenile crime rates have gone down since 1980. Teen crime usually spins off of trying to “fit in with the crowd” or peer pressure, and sometimes even from the home. Many urban children now feel as if they are supposed to commit crimes to get what they want because their families can’t afford the things they want. Although this may be the truth and some teens believe this, this may not always be the case.
Some teens commit crimes to fit in, such as with gangs. Many teens that want to enter gangs have to do things such as fight someone of the opposing gang, and while they may not think fighting is a crime, it surely is. Other crimes can be simple things, such as possession of drugs, which we all know is common in the teenaged population, and even hate crimes. A group of young girls were charged with hate crimes toward homosexuals in mid-2007, and while some may not think these are crimes, they are. The simplest things can be crimes that teens may not know about, and many of these things get teens arrested, causing a bad perception of the teen population. I’m not trying to join one side of the argument, because trust me, I know right is right and wrong is wrong, and if one does wrong, they should be punished for it. Although this is true, not all teens should be grouped into the category of being “bad”, because not all teens commit crimes, and not all teens do what is terribly wrong. Teen crime rates are high to adults, because teens should still be learning and in school trying to do what is right, however, they are doing things they shouldn’t. However, even though these rates are high, we also have to take into consideration the situation the teens come from, such as a troubled home or past, and even backgrounds that are just fine. We should not stereotype, either, placing everyone in their teen years into that criminal state, because not everyone is guilty until proven innocent, nor innocent until proven guilty.
DRAINING THE POCKET, TEENS PAYING FOR COLLEGE
The price of a college education continues to get steeper, and teens are forced to pay for the ever rising costs. The average price for instate tuition is $17,000 a year and the average price for out of state tuition is $26,000 a year. This cost is steadily rising with no sign of letting up. Over the past 4 years, tuition prices have risen about an average of 4.4% in public intuitions and 2.2% in private institutions. These figures do not include other costs and expenses associated with college, it’s strictly tuition. Meal Plans, laundry, and other fees are not included in the total yearly price for colleges. These additional costs tend to add an additional $6,000 a year.
It seems like the price of college doesn’t seem to phase students until their senior year, by this time its to late. According to a teen college survey conducted by CollegeBoard.com, most teens are very optimistic and unrealistic about how they will be paying for their college education. Most teens believe that scholarships and grants will cover the cost, about 38%. Another 25% believe that their parents will be paying for schooling. Only 12% of students plan on working to pay for their education. And a shocking only 10% believe they will need to take out loans. This belief is what causes some students to be unprepared for the price of a post secondary education. According to CollegeBoard.com, student loans and aid packages make up 58% of all college costs and scholarships only make up 25%. This false idea that many students have of a free education is hindering, not helping.
Some argue that college discriminates against the poor and favors the rich. After all, you can’t go to college if you can’t afford it and that’s not really fair now is it? So what is our government doing to help ensure that students are able to afford a postsecondary education? Some individual states and school districts offer scholarships and grant to students that meet certain qualification. For instance, the Michigan Promise Scholarship offers a $4,000 scholarship to all students who score well on the MME. The Utah House of Representatives recently voted to approve a bill that would give graduating seniors a $1,000 scholarship to all those who took a rigorous curriculum during their high school careers. The Federal Government is also thinking about making the Pell Grant more attainable so that more American students can receive additional funding. The senate has also asked colleges to tap into 5% of their endorsements every year so that tuition prices will go down and than remain constant. Some of America’s priciest schools have as much as 1.5Billion dollars in endorsements, which many believe they can use to maintain costs. Even with all the government is trying to do; there is still a huge amount of college costs left unpaid.
http://www.nclnet.org/finances/teensurvey1.htm#paying http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/trends/trends_pricing_07.pdf
Teen Voters
Voting is one of your rights as citizens of the united states of American, and with one of the most important elections in our countries history right around the corner, it is more important than ever. Yet in recent elections, its aid that young people, between the ages of 18-25, vote less than any other category. In fact, voters ages 18-25 have always had the lowest voter turnout. Why is it that in the past, young people didn’t vote? No one is quite sure of the reason, but many theories have risen. Some say that young people don’t care for politics, while others suggest that there is a lack of education. Many believe young people are simply just uneducated about the voting process and the issues at hand. Here are some statistics for the potential that young people in America have to influence politicians according to youthvote.org.
- 42,834,082 US citizens are between the ages 18-30
- 27,413,813 or 64% of 18-30 year old citizens are registered to vote
- 18-30 year olds make up 24% of total eligible voters
- 26,917,473 US citizens are between the ages 18-25
- 16,123,566 or 59.9% of 18-25 year olds are registered to vote
- 18-25 year olds make up 14.4% of the total eligible voters
- 42% of 18-24 year olds cast a ballot in 2000
All and all, nothing has ever been able to get young people to vote, until now! The 2008 presidential election has stirred up significant amount of young voters. The momentum of this election has brought out young people by the thousands. Many political analysts say that the increase in young voter turnout is due to a better education in our nation’s schools on U.S. government. Yet many believe that the current position of our country has led many young people to speak their opinions and take charge of their futures. In many instances, youth voters beat out adult voters, age 30-44 in the 2008 primaries; their numbers have more than quadrupled since the 2004 elections.
It is said that by the time the current 0-18 year olds are ready to vote, they will out number the baby boomers. This means that youth are now taking a more active role in politics and deciding their futures. More campaign dollars must be spent to direct advertisements to the young voters. Young voters will be contributing a huge amount to our next president, and having a bigger say than every before. In some cases, the presidential candidates for 2008 have already begun to notice the importance of the young voters. For instance many of the candidates have joined the social networks like Myspace and Facebook, they are finding ways to reach the young people through the media and other tools. Do you really believe that the politicians need to be worried about the young vote, or are they not a concern?
http://futuremajority.com/node/689
http://www.youthvote.org/voter/facts.cfm
Teen Pregnancy
Teen pregnancies are so common in the society that they are almost being accepted as a norm. Some statistics for teen pregnancies are as follows:
§ Each year, almost 1 million teenage women–10% of all women aged 15-19 and 19% of those who have had sexual intercourse–become pregnant.
§ The overall U.S. teenage pregnancy rate declined 17% between 1990 and 1996, from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 to 97 per 1,000. 78% of teen pregnancies are unplanned, accounting for about 1/4 of all accidental pregnancies annually.
§ The fathers of babies born to teenage mothers are likely to be older than the women: About 1 in 5 infants born to unmarried minors are fathered by men 5 or more years older than the mother.
§ Nearly 4 in 10 teen pregnancies (excluding those ending in miscarriages) are terminated by abortion. There were about 274,000 abortions among teens in 1996.
Teen pregnancies are usually unplanned and in Chile there is a controversy going on about the contraceptives available and the morning after pills, the statistics for teenage mothers in Chile as of 2003 was around 15% in Chile. Many people in Chile are against supplying teenage girls with morning after pills, without their parents consent. They think that it should only be supplied to girls over the age of 14 with consent and over 19 without consent. There was some research done by the Washington Post that proved that, when teen pregnancy rates drop, the amount of children in poverty decreases. Nationally, the teenage birth rate fell 30 percent from 1991 to 2002, the most recent year for which such statistics are available. If the rate had not dropped during the decade, 1.2 million more children would have been born to teenage mothers in the United States.
I think that the amount of teenage rates would go down if there was a lot more education among the youth about safe sex and abstinence. And according to some statistics that I found many young women have sex willingly, but really don’t want to, which then can also be a way teens end up pregnant. If teens can get pass the peer pressure and doing things because other people are doing them, there would be a decrease in underage sex, which can then result in a decrease in teen pregnancies. If there are girls out there that choose to have sex please be smart and safe when engaging in sexual activities. Try not to become another statistic, talk to someone if need be. Being a teen parent is not easy and it takes a lot of your freedom and fun away that you would have otherwise had. Here are a few sites that can be of some help to teens thinking about sex, teens that are expecting, and teens that are already parents:
§ Stayteen.org *
§ www.teenbreaks.com/pregnancy/pregnancyhome.cfm *
§ www.coolnurse.com/pregnancy.htm
* Highly recommended
Sources:
1. The Economist http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7925036&CFID=13837653&CFTOKEN=905713dddb5fc9e9-4DBE5A3B-B27C-BB00-0127BF903C2CE541
2. Childbirth Solutions INC
http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/pregnancy/teensex/index.php
3. Guttmacher Institution
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
