When the first installment of the “the Fast and the Furious” franchise hit theaters I was in High School and like most of my friends at that time I thought it was the greatest film ever made. This was only natural of course because any movie that features cool cars, high-speed chases and attractive women is inevitably going to appeal to teenage boys.  My friends and I were so affected by the movie that when we left the theater that night, several of us jumped into our cars and tried to replicate the stunts from the movie.  Of course this was a bad idea and as I recall at least 2 of my friends received speeding tickets that evening. 

Looking back on this and other ill-advised driving decisions I made as a teen I’ve come to realize that I’m extremely fortunate that I was never seriously injured in a car accident.  Unfortunately, many teens aren’t this lucky.  Claiming over 6,000 teen lives a year, auto accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths in America and drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 are involved in twice as many fatal crashes as drivers over the age of 35. 

Some of these accidents are caused by substance abuse, but others are related to distracting behaviors like text messaging, eating, and listening to loud music while behind the wheel.  Other factors like driving at night, in bad weather, or while drowsy can also contribute to teens getting into accidents.

To combat these dangers, several groups have developed solutions for parents that want to keep an eye on their teen even when they are alone on the road. Ford has developed a high tech way for parents to control their teen’s driving with the Mykey system that will be featured on vehicles beginning in 2010.  This key-based system will let parents limit their car’s top driving speed to 80 miles per hour, cut off the stereo’s volume at just 44% of its max output, and sets a chime to go off if the seatbelts aren’t being used (the stereo also gets muted until everyone buckles up).

Another technological advancement for parents to look into is the use of GPS systems that can be installed in vehicles to track the speed and whereabouts of your teen.  These systems are being offered by several major insurance providers and can also be purchased online. For parents worried about their teen texting while driving, a new cell phone service called Vlingo enables users to send text messages by voice without typing.

Another way parents are tracking their teen driver is through the use of decals like the ones seen on the back of semi trucks. If a young driver with a “How’s my teen driving?” sticker cuts you off on the highway, you simply call the 800 number on the sticker and report the incident and the identification number of the car.  The parent of that driver will then be sent an e-mail within 15 minutes, alerting them of the incident.

While these ways of supervising your teen’s driving may be useful in keeping them accountable and safe, the best place to supervise them may be from the passenger seat.  The more time parents spend practicing driving with their teen the better.  During this time parents can expose teens to different driving conditions and give tips while observing their habits.  Also, when your teen is riding with you it is important to set a good example.  If your teen sees you speeding, not wearing a seatbelt or talking on the phone while driving it is likely he will do the same. 

By focusing on preparing teens to make good driving decisions, setting an example of responsible driving, and possibly making use of new ways to track teen drivers, parents can help ensure their teen’s safety behind the wheel.  You can find more tips to protect teen drivers in one of our previous articles found here.

When I was about 15 I remember watching an episode of Friends on NBC and thinking to myself, “These characters sure have sex with a lot of people.”  I figured this was either because it is a totally unrealistic sitcom or maybe that’s just how adults in cities like New York actually live.  But then I noticed that even the small town teens on Dawson’s Creek were having sex with people and it left me wondering if what I was seeing on TV was an indicator of what is normal and if I should be doing the same thing.  Luckily, I came to my senses and realized TV is the product of a group of writers that are in the business of making relationships between characters shocking, dramatic and complicated and sex is a good tool to make that happen.

Unfortunately though, many teens do not see this and new research shows that TV shows with sex-saturated programming are actually causing greater rates of teen pregnancy in the United States.  The research, conducted by the nonprofit RAND Corporation, studied over 2000 teens over a three year period and found that teens that watch shows like Friends, Sex in the City, or other programming with sexual content are twice as likely as other teens to either become pregnant or get someone pregnant.  This research follows a previous study by RAND that found teens that watch shows that contain sex also begin having sex at younger ages. 

In light of this new information it’s easy to place blame on the media and say popular teen shows like Gossip Girl, 90210, and others are the cause of the rise in teen pregnancies in America. However, whenever we deal with issues concerning teens it’s important to ask what role parents should play in controlling the situation.

One of the main problems in all of this is that many parents don’t know what their teens are watching on television and young people often spend far more time with the TV each day (an average of 3 hours) than in meaningful interaction with parents (an average of 20 minutes). As a result of this inequality teens often cite TV, and not their parents, as a major source of knowledge about life issues like sex, drugs and alcohol.

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Most of the time when people think of issues that concern teens, subjects like sex and drugs come up.  These issues are of extreme importance and teens that are not provided with adequate guidance regarding such issues risk making mistakes that will ruin their lives.  But while most teens hear the sex talk and know not to abuse drugs and alcohol, an alarming number of teens are completely out of the loop when it comes to another issue that involves life changing decisions:  money.  However, with economic news appearing on news channels and front pages around the globe, this moment in history can serve as an extremely valuable opportunity to talk about finances with your teen.

Many parents may be under the impression that teens don’t think the economy affects them, but the truth is that young people are feeling confused, scared, and unprepared for the future.  In fact a recent poll conducted by the Michael Cohen Group found that 58% of teens are concerned about their family finances and 30% know someone that has either lost their home or is going through a foreclosure. 

One reason many teens are so worried is because they don’t understand what is happening.  Most of today’s young people, myself included, do not remember a time without easy credit, consumer excess, and bull markets.    The best way to help your teen with these worries is to sit down and talk about how your family is being affected by the state of the economy.  Explain areas where your family may need to cut back such as not going out to eat as much, driving less, etc. You can even use this as an opportunity to teach your teen about living on a budget.  Explain how much money you have coming in, the bills you must pay, and brainstorm with your teen about ways to cut back. This is a great way to teach your teen about necessities and luxuries. 

You can also use this as a way to teach your teen about saving. Thanks to such easy access to credit in recent years, we as a society have lost sight of the idea of saving money.  As recent as 2006, Americans’ rate of saving was -0.4%. 

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As families begin to take stock of how the financial crisis is affecting their lives, many parents of teens are seeing that one of the biggest changes to come lies in their teen’s college education.  As a result of the dwindling value of some college and retirement funds and increasing tuition cost many families are now taking a hard look at how to pay for college.

In fact, a new national study by Applywise.com found that 50% of families polled are now limiting their teen’s college choices to cheaper campuses because of the economic downturn. Many of the schools that are seeing an increase in applications are publicly funded state schools while private colleges are seeing lower application numbers.  For many families the choice to go public rather than private may take much of the burden off of paying for tuition.  According to CollegeBoard.com the average cost of attending a four-year public school this year is $18,326 that is about half the cost of the average private school, which comes in at $37,390.

Many families are also seeing that a possible option for paying for college tuition is to take out a student loan. However, it is important for families to look to the future and ensure that it will be possible for the student to make payments once they graduate and get a job.  When choosing a school and a field of study families should calculate the average loan payment and the average salary the student will earn once employed in their field of study. To help families decide how much debt is sensible based on a student’s future earning power, parents and students can use the Student Loan Advisor calculator at Finaid.org

Parents with younger students that have a few years to go until college can also look into ways to save for their college years. 

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Teens today love to communicate. They feel a need to be connected to others and the rise of technology in their lives has allowed them to exchange thoughts, feelings and ideas more freely than any generation before them.  This is evidenced by the teens at the theater that talk all through the movie, young people that pick up their cell phone every 5 minutes to respond to a text message, and teens that post the intimate details of their lives all over blogs and Myspace profiles. 

However, as many parents know, a teen’s enthusiasm about sharing information and feelings can virtually disappear when adults are involved.  When I was a teen I could talk to my friends for hours but when my mom or dad asked me basic questions about my day I struggled to squeeze out a vague single sentence answer.  This was because, like all adolescents, I desired to be independent. As part of this desire for independence I craved privacy and wanted as little parental intervention in my life as possible.  For me, I felt as though my parents just wanted to know about my life because they thought I was doing something wrong and they wanted to know about my problems so they could solve them for me. 

Today I realize that my parents actually wanted to know about my life because they love me and are interested in what’s going on in my world. Unfortunately, many teens don’t see it this way and as a result they withhold information and shut parents out of their lives.  While there is no guaranteed way to get your teen to open up to you, experts agree that one of the basic principles to help your teen open up to you is to provide support and acceptance as you communicate with them. To get you started, here are some suggestions from the Harvard School of Public Health’s Parenting Project:

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As the stock market continues to bounce from record lows to amazing comebacks and uncertainty about the future of our nation’s economy weigh on the minds of politicians and everyday citizens alike, our teens are also left wondering what’s going on and how it is going to affect their families.  Their questions during this time can be pretty difficult for some parents to answer because in many cases they don’t even completely understand what the bailout will do and exactly what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are. To make this easier for you the Wall Street Journal has an awesome online resource called The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition that students and adults can both use to gain relevant and engaging understanding of what is going on in the world of business.  So the next time your teen asks you what that $700 billion is really being used for and how all of this is going to affect them, you will not just have answers, but a place to send them to find out even more.  If knowledge is power and we are making an effort to prepare the next generation of adults to tackle the issues that plague us today, then resources like this one are extremely important in assuring that they are strong enough to make a difference.

Last week federal authorities reported that abut a quarter of the nation’s teen girls received the Gardasil vaccine that prevents young women from contracting HPV, the sexually transmitted disease that causes most cases of cervical cancer.  While many experts are thrilled that so many young women are protected from this disease critics view it otherwise. 

Gardasil has been a controversial vaccine for a number of reasons.  One objection is that many feel that the vaccine has not been properly tested and that no one really knows what the long term side effects might be.  Another objection is that it isn’t as effective as many believe it to be.  Consumers also feel that the cost of $360 for a series of three shots is quite steep.  Lastly, many critics believe that giving this vaccine to 11 and 12 year old girls implies a permission to have sex.  

These objections to Gardasil are all very valid and because of that it is important for parents to research this vaccine and discuss it with their teen daughters before making the decision to become vaccinated.