It’s tough to be a teen girl today. Youth depression has risen significantly over the past decade, the uptick coming primarily from girls. The mother of a 17-year-old girl, I know pressures are high. Smartphones and social media fuel constant connection and comparison. Achievement expectations and perfectionism raise academic stakes, creating stress and burnout. Days are long;...
[Editor’s note: This column was updated after original publication to include recent data.] The latest device flooding schools resembles a flash drive but doesn’t store data. Its purpose: delivering a flavored nicotine hit. Called a JUUL, it’s a hipper iteration of the e-cigarette, which debuted a decade ago. Adolescents, who love JUUL’s super-slick appearance, brand...
Teen biology favors the night owl, not the early bird. This reality is prompting educators to reconsider when to ring school’s first bell, even as research on the academic and health benefits of later start times stacks up. A new RAND Corp. study offers yet another upside to sleeping in: Starting school later could generate billions of...
Smartphones are teenagers’ constant companions. The last thing teens check at night before drifting off to sleep, phones occupy pride of place in the morning routine, too. Even pillow talk — the digital kind — is common: Many teens sleep with their phones, maintaining 24/7 accessibility for Snapchats, texts, and status updates. Electronic blue light...
Growing research evidence shows the devastating effect of sleeplessness on adolescents.
Research showing the devastating effect of sleeplessness on adolescents is building.
Plotlines and prose provide more than mere entertainment. Reading for enjoyment is linked closely with test performance.
Working together, parents and schools can open young people’s eyes about the dangers of illicit drug use.
At the reception following Max's bar mitzvah, the 13-year-old's father raised the toast, "Today you become an adult ... yeah, right." Everyone laughed, including Max, but clinical psychologists Joseph and Claudia Allen found the contrast between the traditional ceremony and the modern reality very pointed. Their book, Escaping the Endless Adolescence: How We Can Help Our Teenagers Grow Up Before They Grow Old, looks at why teenagers seem to be backing away from adulthood, so often that the Allens say the age of 25 is "the new 15."
Parents shouldn't forget to look in the mirror when they're searching for someone to blame for teenage cheating.
RALEIGH — According to a recent assessment of American health and fitness by the U.S. government, “Fitness problems such as obesity and overweight have reached truly epidemic proportions in the United States.” In response, the North Carolina State Board of Education adopted a new physical activity policy at its meeting in Raleigh in January. The move incited controversy over who would have the authority to decide exactly how schools carry out the mandate. Schools want autonomy, but districts want oversight.
