The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding’s

Today’s Youth Culture E-Update

Edition #17: July 15, 2002

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Contents:

I. Youth Culture Stats and Trends:

1) Not “Like Mike”

2) “WWE Smackdown” Down for the Count?

3) Spiritual and Healthy Teens

4) Teen Sex Survey

5) Risky Youth Behavior

6) Perceptions on Popularity

7) Cohabitation and Commitment in Marriage

8) Monitoring Teen Drivers

9) Spank Not!?

10) Teen Employment

11) Bullying

II. CPYU Resources

III. Pop Culture Quotes: Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Gwen Stefani, Kelly Osbourne, Tom Hanks, and others

IV. Lyrical Expressions: Korn, Avril Lavigne, Nelly, and Dave Matthews Band

V. Culture Links:

VI. Current Culture Image

VII. Walt Mueller’s “CQ” (Commentary/Quote)

VIII. E-update & CPYU information

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Youth Culture Stats and Trends:

1) Not “Like Mike”

Several energy providers, concerned about potential emulation and electrocution, are issuing warnings to parents and children about the possible influence of (Lil) Bow Wow’s character, Calvin Cambridge, in the recently released movie “Like Mike”, where he is seen climbing a tree to retrieve sneakers from a power line.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainmentnews&StoryID=1142358

2) “WWE Smackdown” Down for the Count?

According to Nielsen Media Research, as reported by Reuters, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.’s “Smackdown” is attracting fewer teenage male viewers. An average of 668,000 12-17 year old males tuned in during the current 2001-2002 season, compared to 925,000 in 2000-2001, and 1.1 million in 1999-2000.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainmentnews&StoryID=1142766

3) Spiritual and Healthy Teens

The June 25, 2002 Gallup Tuesday Briefing reveals a connection between spiritually active and physically healthy teens, in a survey of 501, 13-17 year old teens conducted from March through May 2001. Researchers found, after constructing a health behaviors index and comparing the “good habits” group with the “poor habits” group:

o Religious teens were more likely to belong to the good habits group (66%) as compared to the poor habits group (39%)

o 64% of good habit teens believe “God gives us strength to deal with problems, to call on our God-given resources, and to draw on our inner strength”, as compared to 43% of bad habit teens.

o 41% of teens with good habits describe their religious faith as “the most important influence in my life”, compared with 23% in the poor habits group.

4) Teen Sex Survey

Seventeen magazine and the Kaiser Family Foundation teamed up to survey teens about sex. Some of the findings from the most recent “SexSmarts” survey of 503 15-17 year old teens:

· 37% of sexually active teens’ parents don’t know they are having sex

· 56% of sexually active teens have never talked with a parent about sexual decision making

http://www.kff.org/content/2002/3240/SexSmarts_Summary_Final.pdf (4 page pdf file)

5) Risky Youth Behavior

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the results of its bi-annual 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey of 13,601 9^th-12^th grade students.

Some encouraging trends between 1991 and 2001:

Ø Students who carried weapons to school dropped from 26% to 17%

Ø Students who never or rarely wear seatbelts dropped from 26% to 14%

Ø Students who rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol dropped from 40% to 31%

Ø Students seriously considering and planning suicide dropped from 29% to 19% and 19% to 15%, respectively

Some disturbing trends between 1991 and 2001:

§ Lifetime and current cocaine use rose from 6% to 9% and 2% to 4%, respectively.

§ Lifetime and current marijuana use rose from 31% to 42% and 15% to 26%, respectively, although numbers have declined from the 1997 highs

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r020627.htm (press release)

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/fs020627.htm (fact sheet)

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss5104.pdf (68 page pdf file)

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/t020627.htm (teleconference transcript)

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/trend.htm (trends of risky behaviors)

See also: June 2002 edition of Pediatrics reports on the association between body piercings and risk-taking behaviors.

http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/109/6/1021 (free abstract, fee for article)

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=929525

6) Perceptions on Popularity

The Annenberg National Risk Survey of Youth reveals a connection between popularity and risky behaviors—such as smoking cigarettes and marijuana, gambling, using inhalants, and drinking alcohol—based on phone interviews of 900, 14-22 year olds conducted from May 8 to June 23, 2002. Some key findings:

§ Unpopular peers are perceived to use inhalants and own a gun (43.7% and 43.1%, respectively) compared to popular peers (18.7% and 16.3%, respectively)

§ Popular peers are perceived to use cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol, and play sports (39.3%, 39.3%, 56.8% and 69.1%, respectively) compared to unpopular peers (19.6%, 19.6%, 9.1% and 11.4%, respectively).

http://www.appcpenn.org/press/risk-release.pdf (3 page press release)

http://www.appcpenn.org/press/risk.pdf (full 7 page report)

7) Cohabitation and Commitment in Marriage

According to researcher Scott Stanley from the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver, as reported by USA Today, “men who cohabit with the women they eventually marry are less committed to the union than men who never lived with their spouses ahead of time.” According to the article, 50-60% of newly married couples lived together first.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020708/4253719s.htm

See also: The National Marriage Project at Rutgers University released a report about male commitment fears titled, “The State of Our Unions 2002”.

http://marriage.rutgers.edu/SOOU2002.pdf (35 page pdf file)

See also: According to year 2000 government census data, 5.5 million (or 5.2%) households were classified as “unmarried partner” compared to 3.2 million (or 3.5%) in 1990.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-8.pdf (see page 7 of 8 page pdf file)

8) Monitoring Teen Drivers

USA Today’s July 5, 2002 front page story about monitoring teen drivers with a “black box” device called SafeForce, developed by Road Safety International, due out in November 2002. The “black box” uses a flash memory card to record car data, which then can be viewed on a personal computer.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020705/4251042s.htm

9) Spank Not!?

In the July 2002 issue of Psychological Bulletin, psychologist Elizabeth Thompson Gershoff, PhD, of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, found a strong link between spanking and 10 negative behaviors after analyzing 88 studies on spanking.

http://www.apa.org/releases/spanking.html (press release)

http://www.apa.org/journals/bul/press_releases/july_2002/bul1284539.pdf (41 page pdf file)

See also: Murray Straus of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire says, as reported by USA Today, that children who are not spanked are better behaved, do better in school, earn more money, and have better marriages and lives.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020708/4253651s.htm

10) Teen Employment

The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in June 2002, 39.2% of 16-19 year old youth were employed—the lowest percentage since 1992. In July 2001, 70.8% of 16-24 year old youth were working or looking for work—the lowest since 1972—while 24.4% were enrolled in summer school (up from 16.3% in 1994).

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost (16-19 year old employment history, Jan 1992 through June 2002)

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/youth.nr0.htm (Summer 2001 youth employment) http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm

http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_package.html?FRONTID=BUSINESS&PACKAGEID=teenagers

11) Bullying

The American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs review of bullying among U.S. youth. Some key findings:

· 7-15% of students are bullies

· 10% of students are victims of bullies

· 2-10% of students are both bullies and victims

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/1616-6385.html

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2499.html (scroll down to upcoming report on bullying)

http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_01/hlsa0709.htm (July 9-16, 2001)

See also: The Journal of School Health 2002, as reported by Reuters Health, reports on the prevalence of elementary school violence in a survey of 1,912 4^th and 5^th grade (9-12 year old) students. Over 40% of students said they were hit, pushed or shoved by student peers during the previous year. 33% said they would hit back. Age, race and grades were also factors in a child’s hit back response. 61% said they would try to work things out without resorting to fighting and 59% would encourage their friends to walk away from fights.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=healthnews&StoryID=1169024

See also: UK’s children’s charity NCH reports that one in four youth have been bullied by hi-tech means, whether by text-messaging, e-mail or Internet chat rooms, in a survey of 856, 11-19 year old UK youth.

http://www.nch.org.uk/news2.asp?ReleaseID=125

CPYU Resources:

NEW MUSIC RESOURCE from CPYU’s Walt Mueller: A colorful 12 page resource titled, “How to use your HEAD to guard your HEART: a 3-D Guide to making responsible music choices”. Prices, including shipping and handling, are $3 each for 1-5 copies and $2 each for 6+ copies. To order, contact CPYU at 717-361-8429 (voice), 717-361-8964 (fax), or e-mail cpyuinfo@cpyu.org

Newsletter: “youthculture@today” is the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding’s quarterly 24-page newsletter that’s full of up-to-date information and in-depth analysis on today’s youth culture. Order now and we’ll send you a copy of our recently released Summer 2002 newsletter featuring Pink and much more. Available for a donation of $15 a year, you can sign up by either calling CPYU on the phone (717-361-8429), or by using the downloadable order form found on our website at http://www.cpyu.org/ycorder.htm and faxing it to CPYU at 717-361-8964.

Website: Check out the CPYU website (www.cpyu.org). The site is loaded with all kinds of current information and analysis on today’s youth culture. You’ll find a searchable database of back issues of “youthculture @ today” an extensive bibliography, culture facts, a youth culture bulletin board, links to dozens of valuable youth culture oriented websites, a listing of CPYU resources, and much more. The site is constantly changing so be sure to visit often. A searchable “e-Update” archive is available at http://www.cpyu.org/bboard.htm

On-Line Discussion Group: Sign up for our youth culture e-mail discussion group at www.cpyu.org/bboard.htm With one e-mail, you will be able to share questions, comments, and answers with youthworkers, parents and educators from around the world.

Pop Culture Quotes

“I was a kid who got picked on a lot, and I had thoughts like that (referring to the Colombine High School shootings). I would have loved to have walked into school with a baseball bat and taken some kids' heads off. I'm not condoning that kind of behavior, but I think a lot of our problems today have been caused by a lack of parenting. A lot of parents use the TV as a babysitter, but then they deal with sex and violence on TV and in the movies by saying, 'You can't watch that! It's horrible!' I mean, this isn't 1950. The world has changed a lot, and children grow up faster.”

Korn’s Jonathan Davis, USA Today, June 19, 2002, page 4D

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020619/4204891s.htm

Korn’s latest album, “Untouchables”, sold 434,000 copies its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_package.html?FRONTID=NATIONAL&PACKAGEID=schoolshootings&STORYID=APIS7K9F6V00&SLUG=SCHOOL%2dSHOOTING (school shooting suspect, Charles “Andy” Williams, who blamed bullying for the shooting spree that left 2 students dead and 13 others injured, pleads guilty)

“As a teen I was a Catholic girl from a really great family. I wasn’t having sex—that wasn’t the way I was brought up. And I pray, because if you take the time out to be thankful, it calms you down. My mom tells me, ‘Pray and you will find peace.’”

- Gwen Stefani, lead singer of No Doubt, talking about where religion fits into her life, Teen People, August 2002, p. 140.

“My parents. I think we need each other to survive. Everyone has times with their family where they’re like, ‘Oh my God, get away.’ Then they go away, and you realize you really need them.”

- Kelly Osbourne’s response to a question about who her heroes are, CosmoGirl, August 2002, p. 132.

“Throughout the vast majority of his (oldest son Colin Hanks) youth and adolescence, I did not have a clue as to how to be a father or a parent. I was at that point in my career where it was all about getting work.”

- Tom Hanks, Time, July 8, 2002, p. 82.

“[Television] is neither good nor bad; it's what we do with it that makes it that way. I think once you've established a bond of trust, it's just endless what you can impart in a positive way.”

- Fred Rogers, former star of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in The Dartmouth Online, June 9.

http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=200206090103

“Athletes are cultural icons, and some have great influence. They can use it in a positive or negative way, but it's not neutral. They're more than athletes.”

-Orthopedic surgeon Nicholas DiNubile, team doctor for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, as quoted from USA Today, July 9, 2002, 1C, http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020709/4256220s.htm

Lyrical Expression

We come to this place, Falling through time, Living a hollow life
Always we're taking, Waiting for signs, Hollow life
Is there ever any wonder, Why we look to the sky, Search space, Asking why?
All alone, where is God? Looking down, We don't know
We fall in space, We can't look down, Death may come, Peace I have found
What to say , Am I alive? Am I asleep, Or have I died?

“Hollow Life” by Korn from their latest album, “Untouchables”.

To walk within the lines would make my life so boring
I want to know that I have been to the extreme, so knock me off my feet,

Come on now give it to me, anything to make me feel alive
Is it enough to love? Is it enough to breath? Somebody rip my heart out and leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die? Somebody save my life, I'd rather be anything but ordinary please

“Anything but Ordinary” by Avril Lavigne from her debut “Let Go” album

[Chorus: Kelly Rowland]
No matter what I do, all I think about is you, Even when I'm with my boo, y'know I'm crazy over you
[Nelly]
Check it, check it, check it, uhh, I met this chick and she just moved right up the block from me
And uhh, she got the hots for me the finest thing my hood done seen
But oh no, oh no, she gotta a man and a son, doh'ohhh, but that's okay
Cause I, wait for my cue and just listen, play my position, Like a shortstop, pick up e'rything mami hittin

And in no time.. (no time) I..I plan to make this wah-one mi-i-ne.. and that's for sure
Cause I, I never been the type to, break up a happy home
But uh, there's somethin bout baby girl I just can't leave alone
So tell me ma what's it gonna be? She said
(You don't know what you mean to me)

“Dilemma” by Nelly featuring Destiny’s Child Kelly Rowland from the platinum selling album (after only 2 weeks) “Nellyville” and greatest airplay gainer on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, dated July 20, 2002.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nelly/dilemma.html

Crazy as I may, Make my way through this world,
Oh, it's for no one but me to say, What direction I should turn in now.
Cause I am the captain of this ship, Wanting eyes and kissing lips.
The same as it was, And will remain until I'm done and gone.

“Captain” by the Dave Matthews Band from the soon to be released album (July 16), “Busted Stuff”.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/davematthewsband/captain.html

Culture Links

This site is co-sponsored by Youth Specialties, Gospelcom.net and Youth for Christ. It “features daily devotions, the Bible Gateway, a search engine linking to thousands of Christian web sites, dozens of articles and stories, and thousands of messages in the forums and chat rooms.”

http://www.christianstudents.com/

Revamped and renamed web-site designed for youth workers to connect with parents.

http://www.parentministry.org/

The mission of the ASA is to explore and connect faith and science.

http://www.asa3.org/

If you want to view the top-rated ads on television, then check out this site.

http://www.ads.com/ads/index.jsp

Links to these and many other sites can be found at CPYU’s web-site: http://www.cpyu.org/links.htm

Current Culture Image

This Calvin Klein cologne ad appeared in the July 4-11, 2002 edition of Rolling Stone, p. 28, the June 2002 issue of Vogue, p. 37, and the back cover of the June 28/July 5, 2002 edition of Entertainment Weekly. It reads, “Introducing Truth Calvin Klein Men”. Discussion could center on the nature and source of truth.

Walt Mueller’s “CQ” (Commentary/Quote)

“Second, the loss of our culture's corporately shared moral compass leaves kids to be blown about by the winds of personal preference and feeling rather than Godly truth. The results can be seen in our attitudes and behaviors. Bullying used to be wrong - now we cheer for grown men who get paid millions of dollars to bully on athletic playing fields and courts. And what about the bullied? Rather than deciding to respond to bullying by examining God's truth to discover God's will for handling adversity, the supreme guide for making decisions becomes individual preference based on personal feelings. Consequently, there's nothing "wrong" with fighting fire with fire. The bullied now bully back.”

- Walt Mueller writing about contributing factors to rejected and bullied kids’ extreme response from CPYU’s Fall 1999 newsletter, p. 9. http://www.cpyu.org/news/99falll.htm

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The CPYU “Today’s Youth Culture E-Update” is a bi-weekly e-mail resource on relevant topics of interest for youthworkers, parents, and educators. The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding is a non-profit organization providing information and analysis on today’s rapidly changing youth culture. To contact us, write to Eupdate@cpyu.org or PO Box 414 Elizabethtown, PA 17022, or call 717-361-8429, or fax 717-361-8964.

“Browser Discretion Advisory”: CPYU does not necessarily endorse, support, or condone the organizations/sites for which we've provided you with links. Some are listed for informational and research purposes only as they are prevalent in youth culture today.

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