Teens Driving Teens

  If you have a teen who is close to driving age, you are probably a little concerned.  It is terrifuing to think about putting your son or daughter into a powerful and potentially dangerous machine. You want to do everything possible to insure their safety as they are first driving without you in the car.

 AAA has a great website with lots of information  about teens and driving. What  follows are statistics and facts about young drivers with young passengers.  It may give you some ammunition to set boundaries and rules as your son or daughter first begins take the car.

 WASHINGTON (October 11, 2012) – Risky behaviors among 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes increased when teen passengers were present according to a study presented today by AAA and conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. With motor vehicle crashes ranking as the leading cause of death for teens, AAA is calling for greater parental involvement and stronger graduated driver’s licensing programs to promote road safety.
The new research, released as part of Teen Driver Safety Week (Oct. 14-20), shows that the prevalence of risky behaviors generally grew for 16- and 17-year-old drivers as the number of teen passengers increased.  Among 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes:

• The prevalence of speeding increased from 30 percent to 44 percent and 48 percent with zero, two and three or more teen passengers, respectively.
• The prevalence of late-night driving (11 p.m. to 5 a.m.) increased from 17 percent to 22 percent and 28 percent with zero, two and three or more teen passengers, respectively.
• The prevalence of alcohol use increased from 13 percent to 17 percent and 18 percent with zero, two and three or more teen passengers, respectively.

Additional Resources

• Research Results: Characteristics of Fatal Crashes Involving 16- and 17-Year-Old Drivers with Teenage Passengers
• VIDEO: New Research from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
• VIDEO: Steps to Take to Reduce Teen Passenger Fatalities
• VIDEO: What Parents Can Do to Keep Their Teen Driver Safe

“Mixing young drivers with teen passengers can have dangerous consequences,” said AAA President & CEO Robert Darbelnet. “AAA urges parents to set and consistently enforce family rules that limit newly licensed teens from driving with young passengers.”
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analyzed data on fatal crashes that occurred in the United States from 2005 through 2010. The report documents the prevalence of passengers ages 13-19 in fatal crashes involving drivers age 16 and 17, and examines the characteristics of those crashes according to age, sex and number of teen passengers present.  Researchers found that 9,578 drivers age 16 and 17 were involved in fatal crashes, and that 3,994 of these included at least one teen passenger.
“Teen crashes remain a huge problem nationwide,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. “Our past research clearly shows how young passengers substantially increase a novice driver’s risk of being in a fatal crash, and these new findings underscore the need to refocus our efforts, to address the problem, from state legislatures to parents.”
AAA recommends that all states adopt and enforce a comprehensive three-stage (learner’s permit, intermediate/probationary license, full/unrestricted license) graduated license system for novice drivers. These programs should limit driving at night and driving with young passengers, among other provisions designed to help novice drivers gain the skills and experience associated with responsible driving behavior.
“Graduated driver licensing programs have been shown to greatly reduce crashes, injuries and deaths for everyone on the road when they limit new teen drivers to no more than one passenger,” continued Darbelnet. “Steps parents can take, such as setting and enforcing a parent-teen driving agreement, can build on state laws to improve safety by gradually easing teens into driving.”
This study builds on a AAA Foundation report released in May that shows how risk of death in a traffic crash for 16- and 17-year-old drivers increases by 44 percent when carrying one passenger younger than 21, doubles with two and quadruples with three or more younger passengers, compared with driving alone. A previous study by the AAA Foundation found that potentially distracting loud conversation and horseplay were substantially more common with multiple teenage passengers in the vehicle than with siblings or adult passengers.
Teen drivers face a number of safety challenges including:

• Teenage drivers are involved in more crashes per mile than drivers of any other age group.
• Drivers aged 16 to 17 are involved in about seven times as many crashes per mile driven compared to drivers in their forties, fifties or sixties.
• Teenage drivers are overrepresented in crashes that result in the death of other people, such as their passengers, pedestrians or occupants of other vehicles.

AAA has a wide range of tools available at TeenDriving.AAA.com to help parents simplify the learning-to-drive process including parent-teen driving agreements, online webinars, licensing information and free online information developed from a National Institutes of Health program.
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Your WIsh is my Command

 America's children are spoiled.  Big Time. Phones.Cars.Clothes.Trips. Parties.Camps.Electronics.   We indulge their every whim.  Why?  When did parents become Santa Claus? And more importantly, what is it doing to our children?  Carleton Kendrick, Contributor to Family Education, offers his own take on our attitude about indulging our children.

by Carleton Kendrick Ed.M., LCSW

Is Our Guilt Causing Their Greed?
American teenagers are spending more than my father took home in his paycheck when I was a kid, and more than I received in my first job out of college. My father toiled in the textile mills for his money. My first job was teaching fourth grade. Our teens get more than $104 every week...for doing nothing. That's right, $104 a week! According to a national survey conducted by marketing firm Teenage Marketing Unlimited, the average American teenager spent over $104 per week in 2001.
The survey revealed that close to two-thirds of that $104 is spent on whatever the teens desire, while the remainder is spent mostly on feeding themselves. Nice work if you can get it. But evidently work has little, if anything to do with the cash teens carry in their pockets. Their parents give it to them with no strings like work or responsibilities attached to it. Ask or don't ask and you shall receive...a lot of money. That's the commandment at the core of parents turning their kids into carefree big-spenders.
I'm worried about this. We've already begun experiencing some of the dire consequences resulting from our teens' profligate spending habits. Robert Manning, author of Credit Card Nation, cites young adults under age 25 as the most rapidly growing group of bankruptcy filers. It appears that providing our teens with all this spending money might be creating generations of financially irresponsible adults. Teens see their parents as impetuous, conspicuous consumers who view considerable credit-card debt as an accepted way of life. The sins of the father...
What brought us to the place where teenagers feel entitled to cell phones, expensive brand-name clothing and the newest, high-priced electronic gadgetry? Have we and our children adopted the mantra from the movie, Wall Street -- he who has the most toys when he dies wins? How can we deny our teenagers' demands for CD burners and beepers when we feverishly acquire as many possessions as possible in a vain attempt to purchase immediate satisfaction and status?
During this last decade of unparalleled prosperity, the marketers have persuaded us that greed is not only good, but also necessary and natural. Then they took a look at the largest group of teenagers in our country's history and started marketing directly to them. Apparently they've taught them well. Teenage Research Unlimited reports that teenage spending has risen from $122 billion per year to $172 billion per year over the past five years. Our nation's teens may be failing standardized tests in alarming numbers, but they seem to be getting high marks in Greed 101.
Not only greed, but also guilt, drives us to dole out the discretionary big bucks to our adolescents. We spend more time at work than ever before. The dual-career family is commonplace. About half of our marriages end in divorce. Almost one-third of us are single parents. We are overwhelmed trying to balance our work and family lives. It's "I'm sorry that I'm not home more" money, "Sorry that we don't eat dinner as a family" money and "Sorry that I don't really know much about your life" money. We feel just plain sorry...and guilty.
Truth be known, your teenagers want more of you, not more money from you. That's what the studies say. That's what teens tell me. Don't bet that more cash can replace more of you. Stop feeling guilty. Put away your wallet. Spend more time with your teens. Show them that you care who they are and that you are genuinely interested in their lives. Maybe then you won't feel so compelled to show them the money.

Read more on FamilyEducation: http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/allowance/36546.html#ixzz2hHlVkE1p

Get Up Off That Couch

  Have you seen on the news that Florida schools are sending home BMI  (Body Mass Index) readings on their students?  The districts then recommend weight loss and exercise for children who are too heavy.  It is up for debate on whether schools are overstepping their bounds, but its no secret that America's children and youth are sedentary and overweight.  Family Education.com offers the following suggestions for getting our kids moving and healthier.

Teens Need More Exercise
The medical community has been sounding the alarm: America's kids are in worse physical shape than they were 20 years ago. This is particularly appalling since overweight teens often grow into overweight adults, and overweight adults develop more heart disease, diabetes, gout, and arthritis. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that obese teenagers in the top 25 percent of their weight categories have twice the death rate in their 70s as men and women who were thin as teens.
Every time our teens sprawl in front of the TV, their metabolism slows to a crawl. Researchers at Memphis State University and the University of Tennessee explored the link several years ago and were startled to find that kids' metabolisms were lower while they were watching television than when they were resting and doing nothing at all! The typical teen now spends almost 30 hours a week in front of the tube, while eating high-fat snacks.
Who's going to step in and prod teens off those cushy couches? That's right: It's up to us, as parents, to help them find ways of living a healthy lifestyle. But where do we start?

Read more on FamilyEducation: http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/exercise/29461.html#ixzz2hHgVN86C

Great Exercises for Teens
Aerobic exercise is perfect for teens who are independent and like variety. Some possibilities include running, in-line skating, cycling, swimming, power- or race-walking, tennis, full-court basketball, aerobic dancing, kick-boxing, Tae Bo, hockey, soccer, rowing, elliptical trainer, cross-country skiing, jumping rope, racquetball, handball, ice-skating, and trampoline. The American Heart Association suggests that teens raise their heart rates for 20 minutes without stopping, three or more times a week. Reassure your teen that aerobic exercise, when done correctly, shouldn't resemble running timed laps in gym class, when many kids feel like their lungs are ready to burst and their legs are on fire. This isn't about "no pain, no gain" it's about choosing fun physical fitness activities that also make you sweat and breathe a little harder.
Exercise should never hurt, although a little muscle soreness can be expected, especially in the initial weeks of a workout program. Be sure your teen knows the importance of stretching and warming up. And keep in mind that out-of-shape kids should start out slowly, since they are more prone to serious injury if they do too much too soon.
Ten Arguments for Exercising
Teens are great at coming up with reasons not to exercise, so be ready to give them incentives to get fit. Here are 10 pro-exercise arguments to present to your teen:
10. Running and walking are convenient. All you have to do is walk out the door and put one foot in front of the other. No need for pools, courts, or fields.
9. Running doesn't cost much. Splurge on good running shoes, but go the el-cheapo route for shorts, t-shirts, and sweats.
8. Your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood and oxygen through your body every time you exercise aerobically. You'll think more clearly. You'll also raise HDL levels (high density lipoprotein) in your arteries to protect you from heart attacks and strokes when you get really old -- like in your 40s and 50s!
7. It's an awesome time to chat with friends. (And talking slows your pace, so you'll exercise longer.)
6. It's a perfect time to be alone and think. You'll be blown away by the creative thoughts -- ideas for research papers, ways to end that fight with your best friend, and what to say to that cute kid in the neighborhood.
5. The benefits of cross-training extend to all sports you do. Aerobic exercise conditions your body to perform longer, faster, and more efficiently. Wait until your coach sees you play soccer or baseball!

Read more on FamilyEducation: http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/exercise/29461.html#ixzz2hHgdyd4R

Hard Headed -So What's New?

Willful 13-Year-Old

Toddler and Teenager Expert Advice from Carleton Kendrick, Ed.M., LCSW

Q: We are parents of a 13-year-old who is extremely willful. We've tried appealing to him as an adult because he says we don't use the same standards with him -- that doesn't work. We tried punishment in the form of taking away privileges from him. It works for the short-term, but not long-term. He always says that we don't listen to him, but we do. I know it sounds typical, but we are stymied.

A: Of course your situation sounds typical, you are a POA (Parent of an Adolescent). Just because your situation has all the components of healthy parent-teen conflict doesn't mean it's not troublesome, both for you and your son. First, appealing to him as a responsible adult probably is not going to work; he's probably, in adult terms, a rather irresponsible teenager. Punishment as opposed to disciplining with natural consequences is also not going to work, as you have discovered. Your boy is now being pushed and pulled between the "comforts" of being the "little kid" he used to be and the "big kid-adult" he wants to be (but can't quite pull off). Maybe it would be wise for you and your wife to think back to when you were his age and try to remember whether you were "willful" at all or whether you and your parents didn't quite see eye to eye on many matters.

During these teen years where he is attempting to establish an identity independent from you, there will be much contrariness and many disagreements; he will be ruled more by his desire to fit into his peer group than by a desire to live by your rules. We need to still love our youngsters unconditionally during these years; we also need to "walk and talk" the values and principles that are the foundations of our family life. Our teens will be ever vigilant to point out any hypocrisy on our part (you just had alcohol and drove a car!). We can communicate that we respect them and trust them to be honest, considerate, responsible, etc., while letting them know that they, like you, are expected to live by the values that define who your family is.

Teens need to know there are natural consequences to all their actions. They need you to let them experience the natural results of their misbehavior; you need to separate the deed from the doer when giving the appropriate natural consequences. Despite their insistence that they don't need you to set up rules for their lives anymore, it is especially important during these tumultuous adolescent years that you show them the strength of your love and the strength of your values. When all else around them can appear to dramatically change in a moment's notice, you will, for the most part, remain his dependable (and, of course, often aggravating) nurturing parents.
 I'm sure you will abide by and love and discipline your son (in the midst of constant changes in mood) as well as anyone can during these temperamental but also wondrous years.

Read more on FamilyEducation: http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/behavioral-problems/41480.html#ixzz2gR1UaMDZ