The Center for Parent/Youth
Understanding's
Youth Culture
E-Update
Edition #58: May 5,
2004
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Contents:
I. Youth Culture Stats and Trends:
1) Teen Brain
2) Teen Music Piracy Attitudes
3) TV Alcohol Ads
4) Top Teen TV
5) Marijuana and Teens
6) College Smoking
7) Teen Summer Employment
8) Male Body Image
II. CPYU Resources
V. Current Culture Image
VI. Culture Links
VIII.
E-update & CPYU
information
Youth Culture
Stats and Trends:
1) Teen
Brain
Time magazine (May 10, 2004) has a
feature cover story titled, "Secrets of the Teen
Brain".
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,1101040510,00.html
2) Teen
Music Piracy Attitudes
The Barna Group reports the results
of an online survey of 1,448 teenagers conducted in February 2004 in regards to
teen attitudes and behaviors about music piracy. Overall, 8% of teens (10% for
Christian teens and 6% for "non-born agains") called music piracy morally wrong,
21% said it was morally OK, and 65% said it was not a moral issue.
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=162
See also: CD sales and file-sharing
impact study
http://www.hbs.edu/about/news/032904_file_sharing.html
See also: 14% of Internet users no
longer download music
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=122
3) TV
Alcohol Ads
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and
Youth at
http://camy.org/research/tv0404/
4) Top
Teen TV
According to Nielsen, as reported by
USA Today, May 5, 2004, 5D, the top TV shows for 12-17 year old girls were:
American Idol, The O.C., Will & Grace, and One Tree Hill. The top TV shows
for 12-17 year old boys were: The Simpsons, Malcolm, and The
O.C.
5)
Marijuana and Teens
The National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University reports a 48% increase in
marijuana-related Emergency Room visits between 1999 and 2002 (from 12,730 to
18,845) from its report, Non-Medical
Marijuana II: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette? Also, the percentage of
youth under the age of 18 who were admitted for marijuana treatment jumped to
62.6% in 2001 from 25.9% in 1992.
http://www.casacolumbia.org/absolutenm/templates/PressReleases.asp?articleid=358&zoneid=56
http://www.casacolumbia.org/pdshopprov/files/Marijuana_Paper_on_Letterhead.pdf
(45 page pdf file)
See also: Marijuana use disorder
study
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/291/17/2114
(free abstract, fee to access)
See also: "Perc-A-Pops"
abuse
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-04-28-narcotic-lollipop_x.htm
See also: "National Drug Threat
Assessment 2004"
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs8/8731/
6)
College Smoking
Researchers from the
http://www.news.wisc.edu/9676.html
7) Teen
Summer Employment
The summer employment outlook for
teens looks bleak based on analysis conducted by The Center for Labor Market
Studies at
http://www.nupr.neu.edu/5-04/summerjobs.shtm
8) Male
Body Image
Researchers, reporting in the Journal
of Social and Clinical Psychology, as reported by Reuters, discovered that
advertisements featuring fit and lean males can have a negative influence of
body satisfaction from a study of 158 male college
students.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=4895847§ion=news
CPYU
Resources:
To order resources from CPYU visit our "
All suggested donations include shipping and
handling.
Newsletter: "YouthCulture @ Today" is the Center for
Parent/Youth Understanding's 24-page, ad-free, quarterly newsletter that is full
of up-to-date information and in-depth analysis on today's youth
culture. The just released Spring 2004 edition highlights the
music and message of Outkast, and
much more. "YouthCulture @ Today" is available for
a suggested donation of $15 for one
year (4 issues). To order your copy go
to http://www.cpyu.org/pageview.asp?PageID=7265 or give us a call at 800-807-CPYU (2798).
"How to
use your HEAD to guard your HEART: a 3-D
Guide to making responsible music
choices" This colorful 12 page booklet is one
of our most popular resources. The "3-D Guide" walks you through the 3-Ds of "Discover," "Discern," and "Decide" as you listen to today's
popular music and media. The "3-D Guide" will help you to "mindfully critique" media and not "mindlessly consume" it. This is a great
tool to use in youth meetings as you discuss with your teens how to "think
Christianly" and make wise media choices. The suggested donation has been
lowered to $2.00 each for 1-5 copies or $1.00 each for 6 or more
copies!
Seminars:
Pop Culture
Quotes
"Everyone is saying that your teenage
years are really hard, but they're actually really easy. You're not working,
you're not paying taxes, you just have to go to
school."
- 14 year old golfer Michelle
Wie, Sports Illustrated, May 3, 2004,
p. 70.
"I think [being a teenager] is a time
in your life when you gravitate toward a somewhat dark realism, and you want
people to stop talking to you as if you were a child. You want people to give it
to you straight."
- Rock artist Morrissey, Spin, May 2004, p.
62.
"Hanging out with 13-year-olds reminded me
that there were times when I would be standing in a store with money I had
earned baby sitting and the salesperson would walk by and talk to an adult. It's
as though you're invisible in the world. You're just discounted. And
13-year-olds are actually pretty capable and sophisticated. They just can flip
and then be children and adolescent and
dramatic."
- Actress Jennifer Garner,
Associated Press, April 22, 2004.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FILM_JENNIFER_GARNER
"I was very lost and very lonely in
high school . . . I didn't drink because I disagreed with it at that point in my
life. People didn't understand that, and they made fun of me for it. They were
always putting a beer can up to my lips and being like, 'Come on, you know you
want to.' And I was like, 'No, I really don't. That's not what I want my life to
be about right now."
- Actress Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries movie), CosmoGirl, May 2004, p.
137.
"Give them an education on what's
right and what's wrong."
- Cal Ripken Jr. offering advice on
how adults should address kids about the current steroids controversy, USA
Today, April 19, 2004, 4C.
"There are those out there that
definitely play up their sexuality and whatnot, but I don't and I never really
have, so it's kind of weird to kind of see yourself in that light or for people
to regard you in that light."
- Singer/actress Mandy Moore,
Associated Press, April 16, 2004.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PEOPLE_MANDY_MOORE?
"Just because you don't like the
words 'anal sex,' doesn't make it
indecent."
- Viacom president and chief
operating officer Mel Karmazin, Adage.com, April 27,
2004.
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=40374
"It's a big deal, getting married.
For a while, it wasn't an issue. We were very committed. And then, once we had
our second child, we just wanted to say, this is our family. This is who we
are."
- Actress Julianne Moore, Time,
May 3, 2004, p. 97.
"As a child I was insecure. My father
and I didn't have a good relationship. My mother said he liked me until I
started talking. He wasn't a very affectionate
guy."
- Actor Billy Bob Thornton, Rolling Stone, April 29, 2004, p.
62.
"I never kissed a girl, so I don't
really want to kiss a girl. But, it's part of my job, and so I'm kissing a
girl."
- Actress Alexis Bledell (TV
show Gilmore Girl), Spin, May 2004, p.
21.
"I'm able to keep my work life
separate from my real, personal, intimate
life."
- Actor Chad Michael Murray (TV
show One Tree Hill), CosmoGirl, May 2004, p.
158.
"It was really important for me that
my character in Havoc be nude,
because she gets naked with guys due to her extreme lack of self-confidence . .
. So what was I supposed to do as an actress? Go in there and not be my
character and not go as hard-core as she would?
No."
- Actress Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries movie), CosmoGirl, May 2004, p.
137.
"How you see me is how I am. My image
is really reflective of how I was raised and where I came from. I don't really
force it. If you force it, you're not being true to yourself - and that's what
hip-hop is all about."
- British Hip-Hop artist Dizzee
Rascal (real name, Dylan Mills), csmonitor.com, April 30,
2004.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0430/p13s01-almp.html
"As a performer, much of my life has
been spent in the spotlight. I know how important appearance can be to teens,
especially the impact it can have on the way you feel about
yourself."
- Christy Carlson Romano (voice of
Nickelodeon's "Kim Possible"), PRNewswire, April 26,
2004.
"Maybe I'm a little embarrassed about
the fact that I've been taking Xanax for five years. Morally, between me and
God, I don't want to take these drugs. But I need
to."
- Courtney Love, Blender, May 2004, p.
106.
"I never think about why it happened. It was
just straight and simple evil—just
evil."
-
"I don't think there are seven deadly
sins—there is just one: fear."
- Erykah Badu, CosmoGirl, May 2004, p.
133.
"Harry Potter's like Santa
Claus—something you can't see but wish was real so badly that you end up
believing in it."
- Actress Emma Watson (Hermione
Granger in Harry Potter movies), YM,
June 2004, p. 108.
"I believe we're all smart in our own
way, but I'm always searching for the truth. I just believe that King Solomon
was right when he said knowledge is the only thing in the world that will
enlarge your days on the Earth."
- Toronto Blue Jay's pitcher
Miguel Batista, USA Today, April 28, 2004,
2C.
"I am a walking, talking secular
example. I am an Islamic hero. My wife is Hindu. My children - I always say this
openly - they will learn both the religions. There is no difference at all. I
would like to teach them Christianity,
too."
- Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan,
Associated Press, April 28, 2004.
I love the guys in the Ku Klux Klan
as one of my human brothers, but I don't have to like them ... If one of them
was in a burning lake, or something like that, and I was there and I had the
chance to save them, I would. I'm just a follower of Jesus. And a real follower
of Jesus would do that
- Veteran singer/songwriter
Smokey Robinson, Reuters, April 28,
2004.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=4970034§ion=news
"I'm a very spiritual person in that
I feel like this must be for a reason. This wasn't in my plan. But you know
what? It's in my plan to raise my kids and be in my marriage, to make that
successful. So you have to adjust."
- TV journalist Maria Shriver
(Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife), USA
Weekend.
http://usaweekend.com/04_issues/040425/040425maria_shriver.html
"I was raised Roman Catholic, and
when I was 13, I got confirmed . . . Honestly, I imagine giving it all up and
becoming a servant of the world. I don't necessarily think I'd do it with a
religion."
- Actress Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries movie), CosmoGirl, May 2004, p.
137.
Lyrical
Expressions
[Chorus:]
Did you
think that I was gonna give it up to you, this time?
Did you think that it
was somethin I was gonna do and cry?
Don't try to tell me what to do, Dont
try to tell me what to say, You're better off that
way
Don't think that your charm and the fact that your arm is
now around my neck
Will get you in my pants I'll have to kick your ass and
make you never forget
I'm gonna ask you to stop, thought I liked you a lot,
but I'm really upset
Get out of my head get off of my bed yeah thats what I
said
Did I not tell you that I'm not like that girl, the one who, throws it
all away
- Don't Tell Me by Avril Lavigne from her
soon-to-be-released album Under My
Skin
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/avrillavigne/donttellme.html
See the video interpretation:
http://www.mtv.com/music/video/
or
http://launch.yahoo.com/artist/default.asp?artistID=1098109
I tried my best to feed her appetite, Keep
her coming every night
So hard to keep her satisfied, Kept playing love like
it was just a game
Pretending to feel the same, Then turn around and leave
again
This love has taken its toll on me, She said
Goodbye too many times before
And her heart is breaking in front of me, I
have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore
I'll fix these broken
things, Repair your broken wings
And make sure everything's alright, My
pressure on your hips
Sinking my fingertips, Into every inch of you, Cause I
know that's what you want me to do
- This Love by Maroon 5 from the Songs About Jane album. The song is #6,
after 13 weeks, on the Billboard Hot 100™ chart, dated May 8,
2004.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/maroon5/thislove.html
See the provocative video:
http://launch.yahoo.com/artist/default.asp?artistID=1098353
Current Culture Image
This Trojan® condom ad appeared in
the June 2004 issue of YM, p. 43. The
ad shows a smiling female pointing to a condom tucked under the top of her pants
with the tag line, "B.Y.O.T." (Bring Your Own Trojan®), which is a play off the
familiar B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bottle). The small print at the bottom of the
ad begins, "Why rely on the guy?" The placement of this ad in a young girl's
magazine reflects the culture's changing sexual ethics even as it directs
vulnerable and impressionable girls about their attitudes and behaviors
regarding sexual expression. The ad could be used to ignite a discussion on
sex.
Culture Link
The
newly launched MentorYouth.com web-site "exists to enlist, encourage, equip and
empower Christian adults, and the community as a whole, to become mentors to
young people."
Walt Mueller's
Commentary
Television has also declared open
season on the institution of marriage. While marriage in American may be on
shaky ground, TV usually misses the opportunity to provide positive models and
encouraging messages that would facilitate stronger marriages . . . When TV
popularizes and legitimizes notions of home life and family roles that have
never before been accepted as normal, our kids can grow up to accept and act out
these attitudes.
- Excerpt from Walt's award
winning book, Understanding Today's Youth
Culture, p. 148.
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The CPYU "Youth Culture e-Update" is a
bi-weekly e-mail resource on relevant topics of interest for youth workers,
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
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necessarily endorse, support, or condone the organizations/sites for which we've
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research purposes only as they are prevalent in youth culture
today.
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