Saturday PSAs

One of the things I love about writing here for Parenting Teens Blog is all the people that contact me with exciting surveys, contests, and products for our teenagers. Some of the things I never would have thought to look at, others make me thing, and a lot of them I am pleased to pass on to you. So today, we’ve a collection of product reviews (Scroll down) as well as – in this post – some PSA type announcements, etc.

First off, there’s a FANTASTIC design contest for teenagers living in California. I know, it sucks that it’s only for you Cali-kids, but I know you’ll come up with some great designs that the rest of us will approve of. The contest is to create a t-shirt design for their Design Not Drama line. Check it out:

Interested? Click here for more info. Contest is open until December 5th, so get your entries in now!

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The lovely Monica recently wrote to me with some more tips and tricks and stats for teens on behalf of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They recently released data that highlighted teen and tween exposure to violent behavior and substance abuse via popular youth websites and social networks. We’ve talked before about how I handle the use of Myspace and such in my home, but it never hurts to take a second look and make sure that your chosen strategies are working for you.

Partnered with Nielsen Online, the Drug Czar tracked the online viewing habits of teens. They found that:

• Nearly one in 20 teens online viewed drug-related videos during a one-month period; 35 percent were under age 16 (Nielsen Online Custom Study);
• Almost 40 percent of drug-related videos contain explicit use of drugs and/or intoxication (Nielsen Online Custom Study);
• Even the youngest kids have access to dangerous online content. More than 8.9 million (8,934,000) two- to 11-year-olds viewed video online in August (Nielsen Online, VideoCensus);
• The average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old. Eighty percent of 15- to 17-year-olds have been exposed to hardcore porn multiple times (Internet-Filter-Review.com);
• More than one in eight teens say someone has spread a rumor about them online. Nine percent of teens who use social networking sites say someone has posted an embarrassing picture of them online without their permission (“Cyberbullying and Online Teens.” Pew Internet & American Life Project: Data Memo);
• Nearly a third of students say their parents would disapprove if they knew what they were really doing on the Internet (i-SAFE Survey);
• Drug use and underage drinking don’t make parents’ top 10 list of concerns of their kids’ online computer use (State of Internet Security: Protecting Children Online.” Webroot Software).

ONDCP has several tips that they recommend for us parents, to be sure that we know what our children are doing while they’re online. They’re common sense – but it never hurts to mention them again!

• Do Your Homework: Check out the popular teen sites like MySpace and YouTube. See for yourself the kinds of images and video teens can find by searching basic keywords like “teens” and “drugs”;
• Set Rules and Consequences: Be explicit about the behaviors and activities that are acceptable in your family and set rules to establish when and how new technologies can be used; and
• Monitor Your Teens: Know who your teen’s friends are and where they go, on and offline. Check your computer’s browser history and downloads, cell phone text messages, and incoming/outgoing phone numbers.

As always, I stress that the MOST IMPORTANT thing in any conversation about limits placed on our kids, the most IMPORTANT thing is communication without accusations. Talk to your kids. Let them know your concerns. Come to a consensus that you both can live with. You’ll be surprised how far mutual respect will take you! For more help, check out the AntiDrug website.