We post this photo with great reluctance: We know that teenagers have no will of their own, and a single media image of smoking, or sex, or violence, or ANYTHING will instantly turn them into anti-social hooligans. Yeah, right. Photo by ronsho at flickr.com
Hot on the heels of our scathing expose that teenage girls talk too much, comes another shocking report from the No Duh! Department: teenagers don’t listen.
A study at the University of Georgia shows that middle school students who have seen anti-smoking ads are actually more likely to smoke. In fact, the more ads they see, the greater the chance they will light up.
Hye-Jin Paek, an assistant professor at the University, speculates the ads backfire because of the natural instinct for kids and teens to do the opposite of what they are told. (See: Beans Up Your Nose, Don’t Put.)
Paek suggests
[A]ds should focus on convincing teens their friends are heeding the anti-smoking warning because peer pressure has the most direct effect…. "It doesn't really matter what their peers are actually doing."
More damn adult lies.
Meanwhile, here’s a review of an anti-drug campaign which the writer suspects is more effective than the typical “horror story” approach.
Tags : We know that teenagers have no will of their own, and a single media image of smoking, or sex, or violence, or ANYTHING will instantly turn them into anti-social holligans. Yeah, right. Photo by ronsho at flickr.com
Please contact us if you have questions about the rights on this image.
All you do to me is talk talk: A new study finds that too much sharing can actually be a bad thing. Photo by Steffe from flickr.com
No surprise there. Every parent of a teen could tell you that. But now, thanks to a study at the University of Missouri-Columbia, science has confirmed what we already knew.
The study found that girls who talk to their friends extensively about their problems are unlikely to resolve those problems, but instead are more likely to become anxious and depressed.
This reminds me of a study I read about years ago (sorry, no link) about the different communication styles used by men and women. That long-ago study found that when a man asks a question, he is generally seeking information. But often when a woman asks a question, she is seeking validation. (These are just broad trends – obviously, this does not hold true for all people or for all questions.) Women are more likely to use questions as a form of social bonding, and making sure everyone is in agreement.
Connecting these two studies, I would postulate that when the girls talk about their problems with friends, the friends confirm and validate each other's feelings, making the problems seem more real and more important.
Keeping your feelings bottled up inside is the route to mental health. Stoicism rules!
(I also have a theory as to why men never ask for directions, if anyone is interested.)
A new study finds that too much sharing can actually be a bad thing. Photo by Steffe from flickr.com
Please contact us if you have questions about the rights on this image.
Teen perspectives on animal research
in Scientific World View, Scientific Inquiry, and Interdependence of Life
On Wednesday the Make It Team from the museum's Youth Science Center talked about research using animals.
MakeIt Team
The teens watched four short videos:
- Diabetes Hormone, a video about Diabetes research using mice
- Fluoride in the Brain, a video about the effects of fluoride on mice and humans
- A video about animal research from PETA
- Hibernation, showing how animal hibernation research impacts space exploration.
After watching the videos, teens used the Democs Game to talk about the pros and cons of animal testing. Democs is a role playing activity where teens are assigned different view points and then asked to debate issues from those view points.
MakeIt Team
On Wednesday, the Make It team at the museum's Youth Science Center talked about stem cell research and the election season.
Recently, Michael J. Fox appeared in ads for candidates who support stem cell research. After one of the ads aired, several people commented on Fox's appearance in the ads. Katie Couric interviewed Michael J. Fox where he commented on the original ads and the press they received.
The Make It team watched video clips of one of the ads with Michael J. Fox, the First Lady's reaction to the ads, and Katie Couric's interview with Michael J. Fox which includes a clip of Rush Limbaugh's comments.
Afterwards we talked about what stem cell research is, why some people want the government to fund stem cell research, and what reservations people have about how stem cells are used. You can check out the teens reactions to the discussions on the Make It Blog here, here, here and here.
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