PLUS: Friending your family; more phones than books; greatest movie and TV characters
Two of Every Five Teens Has Had Sex — About 40 percent of teens ages 15-19 have had sex, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four of every five sexually active teens use some sort of birth control—most often a condom—but a surprisingly large minority actually would be happy if a sexual encounter led to pregnancy. About 14 percent of sexually active girls and 18 percent of sexually active boys say they’d be “a little” or “very” pleased if they or a partner became pregnant. Moreover, 64 percent of boys believe it’s “OK for an unmarried female to have a child,” up from the 50 percent who said so in 2002, the last year the CDC conducted the study. (WebMD, USA Today)
Friending Your Family — Facebook has become a great way for people to connect with each other, but many teens apparently would like a little online distance between them and their parents. While 56 percent of teens with Facebook accounts give their parents full access to their profiles, according to a new study by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, 34 percent don’t give their parents any access at all. Another 9 percent give their parents limited access. Of course, some teens may not be actively restricting their parents from looking at their online profiles: Some parents may not have asked. About 58 percent of teens said their parents didn’t have Facebook profiles. (Washington Post)
More Brit Kids Own Phones than Books — More than 85 percent of British children ages 7-16 own their own mobile phones, while only 73 percent have books of their own, according to the country’s National Literacy Trust. (Telegraph)
Greatest Characters in Movies and Television the Last 20 Years
1. Homer Simpson
2. Harry Potter
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Tony Soprano
5. The Joker
6. Rachel (“Friends”)
7. Edward Scissorhands
8. Hannibal Lecter
9. Carrie Bradshaw (“Sex and the City”)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants
Source: Entertainment Weekly
More Youth Culture:
- Meet TV’s ‘Most Powerful Teen’
- YCU: Mind Your Manners — Online PLUS: Smokeless tobacco on rise, spanking leads to aggressive behavior, more
- Twilight: Eclipse Opens June 30
- YCU: A Chance Happening? PLUS: Downloads said to feel like drugs; the good side of bullies; YouTube at 5
- YCU: Fat Kids Face Scary Future PLUS: “Kindie rock” booming; top 10 video games franchises of all time
