Fans of ABC’s LOST study online for credit. PLUS: teen depression, high-powered videogames.
Hard Times for Teens — Youth workers already know that today’s teens are stressed, depressed and, well, maybe even a little neurotic. Now, new research suggests all these trends are getting worse. According to a study, which looked at mental health data from 63,000 high-school and college youth between 1938 and 2007, found that 85 percent of modern-day youth scored higher for mental illness than those who grew up in the 1930s and ‘40s – never mind that youth of yesteryear were dealing with the Great Depression, World War II and a distinct lack of downloadable music.”When you talk about generational change—as this study does—it’s really about changes in the culture,” says lead researcher Jean Twenge. “These results suggest that as American culture has increasingly valued extrinsic and self-centered goals such as money and status, while increasingly devaluing community, affiliation, and finding meaning in life, the mental health of American youth has suffered.” (ABC News)
STDs Infect Adolescents At Alarming Rate — New research tells us that half of girls ages 14-17 who are a) sexually active, and b) live in urban areas have been infected with at least one of three common venereal diseases within two years of their first sexual activity. Moreover, a quarter of the girls had contracted their first disease by age 15. (Reuters)
High-Powered PlayStations — The United States Air Force wants to buy 2,200 PlayStation 3’s—and not just for fun and games. The Air Force plans to link the machines together and turn the units into a huge, relatively inexpensive supercomputer. Normally, the Air Force would buy a whole bunch of high-powered cell processors to get the job done. But a pair of cell processors can cost $8,000, while a pair of PS3’s—which contain hardware nearly as good—run a meager $600. Now, that’s a solid deal. Metal Gear Solid deal, you might say. (ABC News)
Lost Education — ABC’s obsessive, geekified show Lost has always challenged its viewers’ intellect, incredulity and, occasionally, patience. Now the show’s challenging fans in a whole new forum: an online college. Lost University offers Internet classes — taught by bonafide college professors — on some of the show’s intellectual underpinnings. Subjects include philosophy, physics and hieroglyphics, among others. “It’s a great medium, because you don’t want a TV show to become didactic,” says Caltech professor Sean Carroll, who’s teaching a class titled “Introductory Physics of Time Travel.” “It’s the perfect marriage of entertainment and education.” (Los Angeles Times)
