by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 22, 2010
Gloucester, a Massachusetts fishing town, made national headlines in the summer of 2008 when it was discovered that 17 teenage girls from the same high school were pregnant. This pregnancy pact hasn’t been confirmed by any of the teens, but that hasn’t stopped Lifetime from making a movie based upon these events. The movie, “The Pregnancy Pact,” is scheduled to premier Saturday, January 23.
Joanne Cox, MD, medical director of Children’s Primary Care Center and Young Parents Program, offers her views on the Gloucester event and how to prevent a new epidemic of teen pregnancy. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 22, 2010
This week the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report detailing just how much media kids are using.
What’s going on?
A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation confirms that media are a constant presence in kids’ environments:
- Kids spend more time using media than they spend in school: Kids use TV, music, computers, video games, movies and print for a total of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 17, 2010
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 16, 2010
by Kristin Cantu on January 12, 2010
by Kristin Cantu on January 10, 2010
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 8, 2010
Post update: Dr. Rich responded to the comments on this post, including whether he got some of the facts about the game wrong. Check out his response.
Media expert Michael Rich, MD, MPH, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston, answers your questions about media use. Last week, he discussed junk food ads on kids’ websites.
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: I don’t wish for my teen son to have more “first-person shooter” experiences, and yet all he wants in this world is this Modern Warfare game. All of his friends have it already, and he says he’ll be laughed at and left out if he doesn’t get it. He said these games are so much fun…he gets a real rush. How do these games impact teen boys? Are there any positive impacts? What’s a parent to do?
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Wary of Warfare in Glencoe, IL
Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 7, 2010
Can teenagers’ bedtimes be an indicator of whether or not they’re more likely to be depressed or suicidal? A recent study in the journal SLEEP suggests so. Children’s sleep specialist Dennis Rosen, MD, talks about why this study is an important indicator that teens should be getting a good night’s rest.
by Dennis Rosen, MD
The observation that most teenagers (roughly 80%, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2006 “Sleep in America” survey) get fewer than the recommended 9 hours of sleep a night is not new. Full story »
Other stories we’ve been reading:
If your answer is no,there are two studies published this week to encourage more rest for your kids.
