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What the What?
7 Ways to Connect with Your Teen Using Technology
 According to the study Teens 2012: Truth, Trends, and Myths About Teen Online Behavior by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 76% of ALL teens are "social media users" and 64% use social media sites daily. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (and so many others!), it's more important than ever that parents become technology savvy.
By staying on top of the latest technology trends and monitoring the way your teens use technology, you can help guide them away from risky online behavior and develop a stronger parent-teen relationship.
- Learn how to use the digital tools your teen favors. Better yet, ask them to teach you!
- Get in on the code. Psst ... PAW means "Parents are watching."
- Familiarize yourself with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Let them know you will check their pages regularly - and do it.
- Be clear and consistent about what is off limits on the web. You can block sites and set parental controls.
- Limit the time your teen spends online. Set guidelines and consequences for breaking them.
- Keep tabs on your teen's Internet use. Monitor their online history to check where they've been.
- Be familiar with who your teen is talking to by text and online. Knowing who they are communicating with is just as important as knowing who they're hanging out with.
How do teens connect today? Here are a few of the most popular social media sites:
For more information about teens & technology, click here.
For additional stats & facts from the Pew study on teen online behavior, click here.
For other resources on building strong parent-teen relationships through communication, visit DrugFree.org
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National Sleep Awareness Week March 3-10, 2013
Is your teen getting enough sleep?
Did you know that the average teen needs about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best?  While some teens can manage on 8 1/2 hours, the fact is
most teens do not get enough sleep.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, only 15% of teens reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours.
Inadequate sleep puts teens at an increased risk for accidents, injury, or illness.
Other Consequences
- Lack of concentration
- Inability to learn
- Unhealthy eating
- Irritability
- Aggression/inappropriate behavior
- Drowsy driving
What can parents do? Encourage your teen to:
- Make sleep a priority
- Establish set sleep/wake-up times
- Limit caffeine
- Make a to-do list to relieve the mind of worry or stress before bed
- Turn off electronics at least 1 hour before going to sleep
For more facts, consequences, and solutions regarding teens and sleep, click here.
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 Learn more about
National Sleep Awareness Week's effort to celebrate the health benefits of sleep.
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Attention Parents! Read this!
Young People More Likely to
Drive Drowsy
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Invite A Guest to Dinner!
Eat Together, Laugh Together
Research shows that teens who eat dinner with their family are less likely to make risky decisions, such as drinking alcohol. So, why not make meal time a fun time! Ask each person at the table who they would invite to dinner and why. Sharing can be a fun way for your teens to show you what they have learned in history, or an eye-opening look at how much they know about pop culture! The point is, no matter who the special dinner guest is, you will be creating a positive and lasting relationship with your son or daughter.
For more ideas about how to connect with your family over dinner, visit theFamilyDinnerProject.org.
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The Fierce Urgency of Now
A Nation's Need to Protect Its Youth
By Stephen Wallace, M.S. Ed.
The following excerpt is from an op-ed recently released by SADD. The author is a senior advisor at SADD, Inc. and director of the Center for Adolescent Research and Education (CARE) at Susquehanna University.
According to a recently released study of teens by SADD and Liberty Mutual Insurance, the number of sixteen- and seventeen- year olds reporting that their parents allow them to drink at home, host alcohol-included parties, and drink at parties away from home is on the rise. For example, 37% of the teens revealed that their parents allow them to drink with them, up 10% from 2010.
Some believe that "de-mystifying" alcohol use by allowing kids to drink at home will make it less likely their teens will drink elsewhere. But other research tells a different story.
According to a 2005 SADD Teens Today study:
- Among high school teens, those who tend to avoid alcohol are more than twice as likely as those who repeatedly use alcohol to say their parents never let them drink at home (84 percent vs. 40 percent).
- More than half (57 percent) of high school teens who report their parents allow them to drink at home, even once in a while, say they drink with their friends, as compared to just 14 percent of teens who say their parents don't let them drink at home.
Similarly, between 2010 and this year, those stating that they are allowed to drink without their parents present or to attend alcohol-included parties rose from 21 to 29 percent and from 36 to 47 percent, respectively.
To read the full op-ed click here.
Need help starting the conversation with your teen about underage drinking and other difficult topics? Check out these SADD resources!
Opening Life Saving Lines
Family Communications Tips
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Learn More About Preventing Underage Drinking
A Preventing Underage Drinking Webinar Series
Nearly 10 million 12- to 20-year-olds in the United States are underage drinkers.
These underage drinkers can generate serious negative consequences for individuals, families, and communities. To address underage drinking, it is crucial to understand the nature and extent of the problem, details from recent research, and evidence-based strategies.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) is developing a series of webinars called Preventing Underage Drinking.
The current webinar, titled "Introduction and Series Overview," is the first in the series and is available for online viewing by clicking here.
The next webinar in the series will take place on March 7, 2013. Registration will be available soon.
To read more about the Preventing Underage Drinking Webinar Series and for information on how to register for the upcoming webinars or to access archived events, click here.
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Tips from Teens
Smart advice from your kids to you
Teens themselves can offer insights into the parenting strategies that are most effective in steering them away from alcohol and other drugs, says SADD's Teens Today research. What do teens tell us?
- Set and enforce curfews.
- Stay up until they return home.
- Require that they call (no texting) to "check in" from time to time.
- Talk with friends' parents to ensure supervision.
- Restrict overnights away from home.
In short, stay involved!
Young people who avoid alcohol and drugs are more likely than those who don't to report that they have a close relationship with their parents.
What you say and do matters!
For more information and resources on how you can help support your teen to make healthy decisions, visit
ParentTeenMatters.org
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