What teens watch and do on television - and the computer - have a lasting impact on their behavior. Last week, Abigail wrote about a study linking sexual content on TV with teenage pregnancy. Well, this week it’s all about linking violent video games - like Halo, a video game popular with the boys in our book, and Halo 2 and 3, games popular today - with violent behavior. Teens are what they see, it seems.

A new study out this month in Pediatrics reveals that when tweens and teens are exposed to violent behavior in video games, they tend to become violent and aggressive themselves. Researchers conducted the study on teens in Japan and the United States over a school year, and concluded that across cultures, “playing violent video games is a significant risk factor for later physically aggressive behavior.”

Halo is just one series in a crowded market of violent games. Thought it’s rated M (for Mature, because of its blood, gore, mild language, and violence) and “may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older,” there’s little blocking a younger teen from accessing the game, and then imitating it later on.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this. It’s a straight forward case of monkey see, monkey do. We can’t expect that teens will instinctively know that what they see is not what they should do. So we need to be mindful of what media they’re exposed to, and continue talking with them about it, too.

Teens who watch television with more sexual content are twice as likely to experience a pregnancy as teens who watch less sexual content, a new Rand Corporation study reports.

The news comes during a year that witnessed the pregnancies of high profile teenagers Jamie Lynne Spears and Bristol Palin - who no doubt play into the media’s focus on sex, or at least its potential consequences - not to mention the 18 teens in Gloucester, MA. A few years ago, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that sex scenes on television doubled between 1998 and 2005, with primetime television shows averaging nearly 6 sexual scenes per hour. That was before Gossip Girl and the new 90210.

The Rand researchers advocate for exactly what Marissa and I have been suggesting ever since Restless Virgins came out last fall: Parents must talk with their children. So watch Gossip Girl, the Real World, and all the other shows that showcase or romanticize sex. It may be impossible to control what your teen watches on YouTube or downloads off of iTunes, but parents CAN be there for their children. If they aren’t, these TV shows will be.

One final thought: On October 27, the Candies Foundation ran a full-page ad in the New York Times about teenage pregnancy, which began, in large white and pink letters, “AMERICA, WAKE-UP! WE HAVE AN EPIDEMIC!” Take a look below, and talk about it with your teens:

For more on the following startling news story, click here to read the rest of my blog on the Huffington Post:

“The news is staggering: As many as 50 teenagers at Normandy High School in St. Louis, Missouri, may have been exposed to HIV. The school, which has a student body of 1,300, set up a testing center in the gym for its students; after consulting with a representative from the St. Louis County Health Department, the girls and boys are then tested with a mouth swab. The kicker? Students only have to get tested if they want to. “It’s entirely up to the student,” said Normandy School District spokesman Doug Hochstedler. “There’s a lot of stigma associated with this.”

When it comes to a child’s health, stigma shouldn’t matter. All fifty of those potentially infected students must be tested, and the same goes for the entire student body. Furthermore, Normandy High School officials should have come out strong, advocating for openness, pushing sex education, and acknowledging the problems and pressures of teenage life. Instead, the circumstances surrounding the HIV scare are murky at best.”

When parents lose their jobs, homes, and retirement accounts, how do teens respond? Last week the Minneapolis Tribune published interesting data from the Michael Cohen Group, a NY-based consulting firm that specializes in education and child development. Among the group’s findings:

- 68% of teens in a sample of 500 say the current economic situation would have immediate negative impact on them and their families.

- 58% are very concerned about their family finances.

- 75% of teens say the current economic crisis would have future negative impact on them and their families.

With so many teens sensing the enormous impact of the financial crisis on their families’ lives, it seems that now is as good as time as any to talk about risk. Yes, we tend to focus on sexual risk on this blog, but there are so many other risks to talk about, too — risks around drinking, using drugs, driving, and yes, charging credit cards. Risk is risk.

So back to the money. Here’s a great reference for parents from the Wall Street Journal this weekend on how to have “the talk” with teens — about finances, that is.

On Tuesday night, I watched the new episode of “Without A Trace,” the CBS drama about a team of FBI agents tracking down missing persons. This episode follows a teenage boy who gets straight A’s and strives to please his father—until he catches his dad having an affair. What comes next is a swamp of troubled behavior: The boy hacks into his high school computer system to steal exams for students, stops studying, impregnates his girlfriend (admittedly an accident), and then, in a change of heart, after discovering the apartment his father keeps for his mistress, the boy loses all hope, stops dealing exams, and tries to convince his best friend that she shouldn’t cheat to get into college—that there are much more important things in life than not getting into Cornell. The result? He disappears.

Teenage pregnancy, cheating, and college acceptances? Welcome to teenage life. Though the details of this boy’s life may be extreme, his desperation is quite real. Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that many TV shows, including “Without A Trace” as well as the “Law and Order” and “CSI” families, focus on the troubles and tests of adolescence. Just another reminder that being a teenager is fraught with challenges that even adults would have trouble enduring.

Last week Rhode Island passed an important new law to prevent dating and domestic violence: the Lindsay Ann Burke Act, named after a 23-year-old North Kingston girl who died at the hands of her abusive boyfriend. Under the law, public middle and high schools across the state will be required to teach teens about how to avoid and prevent abusive relationships.

According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, teens 16-24 are very likely to encounter what is called “intimate partner abuse.” So abuse education early on is imperative. The Fund points to one study that shows 25% of 8th and 9th graders have experienced some form of dating violence. More states need to step up to the plate and take proactive steps to prevent such tragedies.

Your teenage daughter wants a new iPhone AND a new laptop AND a trendy laptop case. But there are tennis lessons to pay for, not to mention SAT tutoring, college visits, and every other expense involved in raising an active, competitive teen today. So you say “no” to the iPhone AND the laptop AND that trendy laptop case. Her reaction? Total and utter shock.

This past Sunday, the New York Times ran an article about the intersection of the economy, teenagers, and our culture of instant gratification. To read more about how teens and parents are affected, click here.

The early ’90s mantra - Let’s Talk About Sex - is making a comeback on MTV. But the group Salt n’ Pepa has little to do with it. What am I talking about? A new MTV reality series featuring teens, their parents, and sex and relationship expert Dr. Drew Pinsky (aka “Dr. Drew”). The show, called “Sex…with Mom and Dad” vows to fill a void in sexual health education and awareness — by encouraging parents and their teenage children to talk about sex.

New episodes air this Sunday, and here’s a trailer. What do you think?

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Celebrity News

According to today’s New York Times, the Bush administration is now cutting off contraceptive supplies to “some of the world’s poorest women in Africa.” Nicholas Kristof writes:

“There is something about reproductive health—maybe the sex part—that makes some Americans froth and go crazy. We see it in the opposition to condoms to curb AIDS in Africa and in the insistence on abstinence-only sex education in American classrooms (one reason American teenage pregnancy rates are more than double those in Canada). And we see it in the decision of some towns—like Wasilla, Alaska, when Sarah Palin was mayor there—to bill rape victims for the kits used to gather evidence of sex crimes. … The latest bout of reproductive-health madness came in the last couple of weeks when the U.S. Agency for International Development ordered six African countries to ensure that no U.S.-financed condoms, birth control pills, I.U.D.’s or other contraceptives are furnished to Marie Stopes International, a British-based aid group that operates clinics in poor countries.”

To find out why—and to understand why this is a disastrous decision—click here.

After a tumultuous year spent in international headlines, Gloucester, MA, the community now known for its 18 pregnant teenage girls, is back in the limelight, and for good reason. Yesterday, the School Committee voted to permit the local high school to distribute contraceptives to students who have parental consent.

The Committee made an important and necessary decision. Regardless of your religious views—or your belief that your teen is not sexually active—you must realize that no teenager, not even one wearing a purity ring, is immune to sexual desire or pressure. Teens in Gloucester and every other community in the country should have access to birth control.

Not convinced? Just ask the girls and boys of Gloucester High. According to a recent high school survey, 86 percent of students believe contraceptives SHOULD be available in school. Furthermore, 49 percent are UNCOMFORTABLE discussing sex with their parents. As Gloucester High School Superintendent Christopher Farmer said, “People are increasingly realizing the lives of adolescents now are very complex. We have a significant number of teenagers who are sexually active.”

Still not convinced? Read Restless Virgins. For more on this news story, click here.

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