Helping parents stay up to date on the news that matters when trying to raise teenagers
While teens are not the riddle they want us to think they are, any extra help you can get to understand their world is welcome. Every day more and more news and content is blasted out into the internet to do just that – help us parents have a fighting chance. That’s where I am trying to do my part. Every day, I will post news you can use or even talk about over dinner with your teens. Throw out a topic, see what happens. Who knows what you will learn.
Teens worldwide aren’t getting enough exercise, especially girls (NPR)
A World Health Organization study found about 30% of teen girls get no exercise in a typical week, compared with 22% of boys. Only 11% of girls are active every day, versus 17% of boys.
Ask your teen: What gets in the way of being active, school, time, or just not wanting to?
1 in 3 young people in Canada have faced dating violence, pediatricians warn (CBC)
The Canadian Paediatric Society put out new guidance telling doctors to screen teens for dating violence. About a third of Canadian youth have experienced it, including physical and sexual abuse and online harassment.
Ask your teen: Have you heard about this? Do you and your friends ever talk about what a healthy relationship looks like?
ChatGPT for Teens’ safeguards don’t work, risk assessment finds (Marketplace)
OpenAI marketed its teen version of ChatGPT as age-appropriate. A risk assessment from the Youth AI Safety Institute found the parental controls and study mode are easy to get around.
Ask your teen: Do your friends use AI for homework, and do teachers know?
Do phone bans help students? (Fordham Institute)
A Fordham survey found most high school students and recent grads use tech they’re not supposed to during the school day, and about half do it daily. A separate national report found most high schoolers back phone limits in class but oppose all-day bans.
Ask your teen: Would a phone ban at your school actually change anything?
Parents left baffled by AI and emerging careers (The Mirror)
A UK survey found seven in ten parents feel out of their depth when their teens ask about careers. Most think their kids already know more about tech and future jobs than they do.
Ask your teen: What jobs do you think will still be around by the time you finish school?
B.C. teen embraces vulnerability to fight stigma around mental health (CBC)
Noah Perks went years with undiagnosed mental health problems before a crisis finally got him proper care. Now he talks about it openly.
Ask your teen: Have you heard about this? Do kids at your school talk about mental health, or is it still something people keep quiet?
That’s it for today. I hope you found something interesting that can help you on your journey of raising teenagers.
