In a new study the University of Montreal and the Canadian Cancer Society have discovered that most teen smokers want to quit smoking but can’t.  They reported that most teens try to quit after smoking for only 2 1/2 months and after smoking for 21 months they lose confidence in their ability to quit at all.   The reason for this might have something to do with a study I read this past winter that found that since young people’s brains are developing at such a rapid pace, the introduction of substances like nicotine and alcohol can allow them to become addicted after only a few cigarettes.  

Nevertheless, what we know from this research is that 70% of teen smokers want to quit smoking but can’t.  Because of this it is important that we safeguard teens from beginning smoking at all, before it’s too late. 

USA Today has released a survey that reveals teens today aren’t that much different than teens a generation ago. Things like suicide, literacy and high school graduation rates have remained pretty stagnant in the past 30 years and the researchers seem surprised that the results weren’t worse. Some things that have changed are that teens today are more likely to be obese and live in poverty but less likely to die of violence, accidents or disease. Also, teens today as compared to those in the 70’s are less likely to attend church but more likely to think religion is important. What we know from this is that teens are teens and while each generation faces different challenges the essential role of parents remains the same: raise children into responsible and independent adults through a balance of protection, freedom and love.

When I was a kid I didn’t particularly enjoy reading.  In fact, I don’t think I ever completely read a book that didn’t have pictures until I was 16. I accomplished this by writing book reports based on the information I had gleaned from a book’s first chapter, last chapter, and the synopsis on the back cover and by choosing books that had been made into movies that I’d seen. To me, reading was something that people did before modern technology like TV and cell phones. I thought that since those superior forms of entertainment and communication are available, books, and the skills associated with reading them, are obsolete.

Today, this is an attitude shared by many teens and it’s affecting their performance not only in school, but also in the real world. A study by the National Endowment for the Arts found that as adolescent reading for pleasure declines so do scores on reading and writing exams. At the same time, performance in other academic disciplines like math and science have dipped for students whose access to books is limited, and employers are rating young workers as deficient in basic writing skills.

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When I graduated high school I remember attending at least 5 graduation parties where alcohol was furnished to teens by parents.  To me this was unusual because it seemed like assisting young people in getting drunk and breaking the law wasn’t the most responsible send off for a group that has such a bright future ahead of them.

But, as research shows, many parents see it differently.  According to a Harris Research study, 1 in 4 parents think teens should be able to drink while at home with parents present. Additionally, new government research shows that nationwide 600,000 teens get alcohol from their parents. The belief among many adults is that since most teens will be drinking anyway, it’s better for them to do so while under adult supervision and in the safety of their own home.

However, while many parents claim that drinking is part of adolescence and this approach is merely an effort to keep teens safe and to teach them to drink responsibly, it may be doing far more damage than parents know.

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As a teenager I remember reading innumerable news stories about how crazy my peers and I were and how teens were a troubled group of sexually promiscuous, drug addicted party animals that cared about nothing but themselves.  I always found this to be a little off putting because I knew that I wasn’t crazy, sexually promiscuous or drug addicted and I was pretty sure that the majority of my peers weren’t either.  But I still wondered if I was an abnormal teen that was just out of the loop about what was cool.  This bothered me because like most teenagers I desired to fit in and be normal.  I wondered, “Am I expected to experiment with drugs and have sex? Am I uncool if I don’t?”  

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Health researchers have identified a surprising new predictor for risky behavior among teenagers and young adults: the energy drink.

Super-caffeinated energy drinks, with names like Red Bull, Monster, Full Throttle and Amp, have surged in popularity in the past decade. About a third of 12- to 24-year-olds say they regularly down energy drinks, which account for more than $3 billion in annual sales in the United States.

The trend has been the source of growing concern among health researchers and school officials. Around the country, the drinks have been linked with reports of nausea, abnormal heart rhythms and emergency room visits.

In Colorado Springs, several high school students last year became ill after drinking Spike Shooter, a high caffeine drink, prompting the principal to ban the beverages. In March, four middle school students in Broward County, Fla., went to the emergency room with heart palpitations and sweating after drinking the energy beverage Redline. In Tigard, Ore., teachers this month sent parents e-mail alerting them that students who brought energy drinks to school were “literally drunk on a caffeine buzz or falling off a caffeine crash.”

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Do you ever wonder why teens do some of the peculiar, crazy and seemingly irresponsible things that they do?  Well, in many cases it’s merely a difference in brain fuction.  The human brain is constantly developing and maturing until age 25.  During adolescence a lot is happening in the teen brain and as a result teens think and behave differently than adults and even children.  For an interactivive visual explanation of exactly how brain development affects teen behavior and decision-making you can visit New Scientist magazine.

Children today are growing up too fast and acting like adults at a very early age, child health experts say.

With television and the internet playing an increasing role in their lives, children are often exposed to ideas and issues they cannot comprehend fully. They are coming under influences that were kept away from them in the past , and sometimes their parents are to blame.

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When I was a teenager my mom was sure that I would grow up to become a lawyer. Whenever I was late for curfew or caught in a compromising situation I would debate my parents for hours trying to convince them that I wasn’t in the wrong and that my punishment was too harsh. What recent research has shown is that those marathon arguments with parents might be related to a teen’s brain development.

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“I’m seventeen and I’m crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.”

The other day while reflecting on my teen years I remembered this phrase from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and I realized that when I was a teenager I did a lot of really stupid and dangerous things. It probably seemed like I was crazy to my parents but in reality I was just being a teen.  

Of course it’s tempting to think adolescence is a period of temporary insanity. How else do you explain young people who don’t seem to grasp the dangers of driving too fast, driving drunk, having unprotected sex, experimenting with drugs, and binge drinking? Do they think they are invincible?

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