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Within the emotional feelings network of sites, there is one teen site &
one more being developed, but while it's under construction, it's still available for the information that's presently within
the site.
Angels & Princesses is also accessible although the site isn't complete!
click here to go there now!
At Teenscene, there was a listing of pages for the guys & a separate
section of pages for the girls. Now - Angels & Princesses will take care of the girls & a guys site will be available
soon!
There is also a teen page at anxieties 101. You can access the teen page in that site by clicking here!
Driving to The Funeral
If someone told you that there was one behavior most likely to lead to the premature death of
your kid, wouldn't you do something about that?
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
June 11, 2007 issue - The 4 years of high school grind inexorably to a close, the milestones passed. The sports
contests, the SATs, the exams, the elections, the dances, the proms. And too often, the funerals. It's become a sad rite of
passage in many American communities, the services held for teenagers killed in auto accidents before they've even scored
a tassel to hang from the rearview mirror.
The hearse moves
in procession followed by the late-model compact cars of young people, boys trying to control trembling lower lips & girls
sobbing into one another's shoulders. The yearbook has a picture or two with a black border. A mom & dad rise from their
seats on the athletic field or in the gym to accept a diploma posthumously.
It's simple & inarguable: car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death among 15- to 20-year-olds in this country.
What's so peculiar about that fact is that so few adults focus on it until they're planning an untimely funeral.
Put it this way:
if someone told you that there was one single behavior that would be most likely to lead to the premature death of your kid,
wouldn't you try to do something about that? Yet parents seem to treat the right of a 16-year-old to drive as an inalienable
one, something to be neither questioned nor abridged.
This makes no sense unless the argument is convenience & often it is. In a nation that developed mass-transit
amnesia & traded the exurb for the small town, a licensed son or daughter relieves parents of a relentless roundelay of
driving.
Soccer field,
Mickey Ds, mall, movies. Of course, if that's the rationale, why not let 13-year-olds drive? Any reasonable person would respond
that a 13-year-old is too young. But statistics suggest that that's true of 16-year-olds as well. The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration has found that neophyte drivers of 17 have about 1/3 as many accidents as their counterparts only a
year younger.
In 1984 a solution was devised for the problem of teenage auto accidents that lulled many parents into a false
sense of security. The drinking age was raised from 18 to 21. It's become gospel that this has saved thousands of lives, although
no one actually knows if that's the case; fatalities fell, but the use of seat belts & airbags may have as much to do
with that as penalties for alcohol use.
And there
has been a pronounced negative effect on college campuses, where administrators describe a forbidden-fruit climate that encourages
binge drinking. The pitchers of sangria & kegs of beer that offered legal refreshment for 18-year-olds at sanctioned campus
events 30 years ago have given way to a new tradition called "pre-gaming," in which dry college activities are preceded by
manic alcohol consumption at frats, dorms & bars.
Given the incidence of auto-accident deaths among teenagers despite the higher drinking age, you have to ask
whether the powerful lobby Mothers Against Drunk Driving simply targeted the wrong D.
In a survey
of young drivers, only half said they had seen a peer drive after drinking. Nearly all, however, said they had witnessed speeding,
which is the leading factor in fatal crashes by teenagers today.
In Europe,
governments are relaxed about the drinking age but tough on driving regulations & licensing provisions; in most countries,
the driving age is 18.
In America some states have taken a tough-love position & bumped up the requirements for young drivers:
longer permit periods, restrictions or bans on night driving. Since the greatest danger to a teenage driver is another teenager
in the car - the chance of having an accident doubles with two teenage passengers & skyrockets with 3 or more - some new
rules forbid novice drivers from transporting their peers.
In theory this sounds like a good idea; in fact it's toothless. New Jersey has some of the most demanding regulations
for new drivers in the nation, including a provision that until they're 18 they can't have more than one nonfamily member
in the car.
Yet in
early January 3 students leaving school in Freehold Township died in a horrific accident in which the car's 17-year-old driver
was violating that regulation by carrying 2 friends. No wonder he took the chance: between July 2004 & November 2006,
only 12 provisional drivers were ticketed for carrying too many passengers. Good law, bad enforcement.
States might make it easier on themselves, on police officers & on teenagers, too, if instead of chipping
away at the right to drive they merely raised the legal driving age wholesale. There are dozens of statistics to back up such
a change: in Massachusetts alone, 1/3 of 16-year-old drivers have been involved in serious accidents.
Lots &
lots of parents will tell you that raising the driving age is untenable, that the kids need their freedom & their mobility. Perhaps the only ones who wouldn't make a fuss are those parents who have accepted diplomas at graduation
because their children were no longer alive to do so themselves, whose children traded freedom & mobility for their lives. They might think it was worth the wait.
source: MSNBC/MSN online
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teens need lots of understanding & so do parents!
these are facts we all need to know, teen & parents alike! believe me it's an eye-opener
teens & anxiety disorders - generalized anxiety disorder & social anxiety
disorder
teens & panic disorder... it's understandable these days
some kids find these humorous or mystifying, but real phobias can truly affect
your life!
many teens, too many teens experience trauma in their young lives... ptsd develops
around trauma or crises
embarrassing... although some look to be perfectionists, ocd is truly deceptive
dangerous in the teen years, confusing & frustrating for young adults...
depression is treatable, but first it must be recognized & identified!
What Do You Think About This Topic?
(Article directly left - Driving to the Funeral)
Please participate in this poll & if you have a personal opinion or
story you would like to share, click here to send an email or fill out the form provided below!
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