Britain’s smartphone abusers
By Erica Alini - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - 0 Comments
Users thumbing away during meals is troubling, says a new study
Kainaz Amaria/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A new study from British telecom regulator Ofcom is warning of “a nation addicted to smartphones.” Thirty-seven per cent of adult smartphone users and 60 per cent of teenage users surveyed admitted to having succumbed to the ostensibly enslaving effects of being able to check emails and tweet one’s every thought from just about anywhere, the report said. Worrisome behaviour includes reaching for handsets first thing upon waking up, breaking up relationships via text message, and talking on the phone or thumbing away during meals. Nearly half of teenage users even admitted to using the devices while on the toilet—a confession that echoes another study’s finding that some users would be ready to fish their beloved device out of a public toilet. Yet, addictive or not, one thing is clear: smartphones are only getting more popular. In the U.K., over a quarter of adults and nearly half of teens own at least one.
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Teenagers wired to take risks
By Kate Lunau - Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 5:42 PM - 5 Comments
What’s difficult for parents to sort out is what is normal behaviour and what’s cause for real concern
Teenagers seem to be hard-wired to take risks. Scientists who study the adolescent brain are finding that experimentation is a natural part of these years, even though some risks can have serious consequences. Among those aged 10 to 24, three-quarters of all deaths are from preventable causes, like motor vehicle accidents and suicide, according to the most recent U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Survey. It can be hard for parents to recognize the difference between “normal adolescent behaviour,” like experimenting with drugs and sex, and what’s cause for real concern, says Dr. Blaise Aguirre, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Today’s teens are “stressed out,” Aguirre says, and it’s taking a toll. Over the last five years, there’s been a steady increase in the number of anti-depressants prescribed to Canadian teens, according to IMS Brogan, a health information and consulting company. “One in five teenagers, and one in four Ivy League students, are now self-injuring,” or cutting themselves, often in moments of emotional distress, Aguirre says. There’s evidence eating disorders are on the rise, too.
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Do you know what your kids are up to?
By macleans.ca - Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 9:40 AM - 1 Comment
What you’re thinking
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British Columbia: Only 33 per cent of British Columbians with teenagers at home say they are “very aware” of what goes on in their children’s social lives. In every other region, roughly half of parents say they know what their kids are up to, except Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where more than six in 10 say they are well aware.
Alberta: The Supreme Court recently ruled that although suspects have a right to consult a lawyer, they don’t have the right to legal counsel during police interrogations. Albertans—72 per cent of them—overwhelmingly disagreed with the court’s decision. In Quebec, only 44 per cent thought the court was wrong.
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Outraged moms, trashy daughters
By Anne Kingston - Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments
How did those steeped in the women’s lib movement produce girls who think being a sex object is powerful?
Bennett Raglin/ Getty Images/ Cole Garside
A few weeks ago, when she was chatting with her teenage daughter, Olivia, Leanne Foster mentioned the word “feminist.” “She just wrinkled her nose,” Foster recalls. “It was ‘Eww, yuck.’ ” Olivia, an articulate 15-year-old who’s about to enter Grade 10 at a Toronto private girls’ school, thinks feminists are about as relevant to her life as a rotary-dial phone. “When I hear the word I think of the hippie-ish generation where they’re all ‘girl-power,’ ” she says. And not in a sexy Spice Girls “girl power” way, more in a humourless, style-less way: “They refuse to wear perfume because they don’t want to be seen as sex objects,” she says dismissively.
Like many other teenage girls, Olivia regards the fight for female equality as over. “In the Western world, we’re pretty equal,” she says.
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Youth Survey: Generation tame
By Charlie Gillis - Friday, April 10, 2009 at 10:40 AM - 17 Comments
Exclusive Report: For the first time in ages, fewer teens are drinking, using drugs and having sex. What’s going on?
Asia Reid isn’t asking for a medal. The 15-year-old went to a party last New Year’s Eve knowing full well that liquor would be flowing. And it’s not like she’s never tasted the stuff. Reid is your typical teenager in Ottawa running with your typical crowd, and the scene that night might have been drawn from a Judd Apatow comedy. There was a booze-fuelled bash at the home of a girl who is an acquaintance of Asia’s ex-boyfriend (“I’m not really close with her”), plus a rare green light from the folks to get out and enjoy herself. If ever there was a time to indulge, this was it.Strange, then, that such old-fashioned qualms should have stopped her hand when the strong drink came around. “My parents’ opinion has always been a huge thing in my life,” the Grade 9 student admits, sounding sheepish. “It’s not so much the punishment I would get if they found out I’d been drinking. It’s that, if I ever disappoint them, it makes me feel, like, weird.” Then there was school. “The people who party a lot skip class, and I want to go into biology or engineering,” she explains. “I’m going to have to take some pretty hard courses. I won’t be able to miss school all the time.”
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Youth Survey: Teen girls in charge
By Cathy Gulli - Friday, April 10, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 3 Comments
When it comes to sex, teen girls are starting to act more like boys
It may be every parent’s worst nightmare: when it comes to what constitutes appropriate sexual behaviour, teen girls are starting to think a lot more like boys. The latest survey by Project Teen Canada shows that while adolescents collectively aren’t having more sex than they used to—in fact they’re having less—females have a drastically different attitude. Rather than passively waiting for a romantic partner to come along, they are more likely to find one themselves, and have sex on their own terms.The data shows that nearly half of female adolescents now say it’s acceptable to have sex after a few times out together, up from 35 per cent in 1984. During that same period, attitudes among male adolescents barely budged. Similarly, the proportion of teen girls who say that “making out” is okay after being with someone a few times has rocketed up from 79 to 94 per cent, which almost puts them on par with the guys, who are at 96 per cent. Reginald Bibby, the University of Lethbridge sociologist heading Project Teen, says the numbers reflect the fact that teen girls are “catching up” to their male counterparts.
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Youth Survey: Teens lose faith in droves
By Kate Lunau - Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 2:00 PM - 92 Comments
Islam and atheism are on the rise while Christianity fades
Every day, Mohamed Hadi wakes up before sunrise for morning prayer. The 19-year-old then boards a bus for the 90-minute ride from his home in Richmond, B.C., to the campus of Simon Fraser University, where he’s studying to become a physiotherapist. He’s involved in the Muslim Students’ Association, and with Rich in Faith, a Muslim youth group he founded that offers tutoring and mentoring services. Hadi’s a busy guy, yet he always finds time for his religion, including prayer five times a day. “It helps me stay composed,” he says, “and to maintain balance in my life.”Such devotion is rare among teens these days—or at least, among those from Protestant and Catholic households. Just as the younger generation is abandoning the Christian faith, though, non-Western religions, such as Islam and Buddhism, are growing in Canada at a surprising speed. According to new data from Project Teen Canada, more teens now identify as Muslim than Anglican, United Church of Canada and Baptist combined. As a group, the percentage who adhere to so-called “other faiths”—including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism—has grown fivefold since Project Teen began its surveys in 1984, while the percentage of teens who identify as Roman Catholic has declined by one third, and the percentage who identify as Protestant is down by almost two-thirds.
