Sweet Dreams

image: polyvore.com

Hey teens -- what if there was an easy way to help your friends do better at school, manage stress & avoid depression? You'd do that, right? Well, good news: All you need to do is stop texting your friends late at night.

Teen sleep needs average 9 hours a day, say the experts, but most don't get it. There's a whole cluster of reasons for that, but a growing one is late-night cell phone use. Several studies have looked at this trend -- e.g., the epidemic of teens sleeping with phones under their pillow, which to adults "sounds like torture," CMCH's Michael Rich, M.D. observed wryly -- and found negative consequences. "Hypertexting" teens -- those who text 120 times or more on an average school day -- are especially prone to problems with schoolwork, stress, and depression.

So if you care about your friends, resist the urge. Text before 10 or wait 'til the next day. Your pals will still be there for you, and in much better shape to offer advice and support once they've had some shut-eye.

Survival Skills

Given that it centers on a televised children's fight-to-the-death, Suzanne Collins's electrifying Hunger Games certainly pushes the envelope on the "Kids Helping Kids" theme. But the two protagonists are teens who survive by sticking together. My sons were so crazy about the book that they made me read it, and I'm glad. Commonsense Media has a good summary & discussion tips for Hunger Games, which is the first in a series of 3 (so far) and is best for ages 12+ due to violence & gore, especially toward the end.

The Case for Cartoons

"Absorbent and yellow and porous"...and educational? Arr, matey, that he is. When New Jersey 8-year-old Reese Ronceray saved a 5-year-old from drowning last month at a party for families of kids on their school bus route, he was replicating something he'd seen on "Spongebob Squarepants."

Andrew Gentile, 5, had wandered into a man-made lake and begun struggling when he discovered he couldn't touch its floor. His mom plunged in to help but panicked when she couldn't find the bottom, either. "I just knew how to react; I jumped in," Reese told the local paper. "The hardest part was when we both went under, getting us back up to the surface."

No medical attention was needed, luckily, and the school held a day in Reese's honor. "He was an angel to me," said Andrew's mom.

Mighty Media: Thoughts from Michael Rich, M.D.

My kids aren't online a ton, but we've talked about internet safety and will continue to do so. At times the discussion has touched on helping friends -- by not asking for their internet passwords, for instance (this is one case where "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is right on the money), and never pushing a friend to post a photo or comment that could embarrass him/herself or somebody else. At this point they're probably sick of my reminders that once something is online, you can't control where it goes or who sees it.

Fighting the impulse to phone or text a peer when (s)he should be sleeping is also helpful. I remember a 10-year-old friend of my boys bragging gleefully that he'd awakened his cousin with a 5 a.m. text message. Yikes!

Wanting to learn more about how kids and teens can help each other be media savvy, I asked Michael Rich, M.D., for input through his wonderful "Ask the Mediatrician" feature on the Center on Media and Child Health website. Not only are kids "experts on media," he said, but they often listen to peers (especially slightly older kids) more than their parents. Some tips from Dr. Rich and his colleagues:

~Older siblings can model healthy media use for younger ones: "When an older brother turns on the TV to watch a specific show, and then turns it off when the show is over, he's teaching his little sister that media is used for a specific purpose, rather than something to passively consume."

~YouTube fans can post "behind the scenes" looks at how ads are created to their Facebook profiles to spark conversations with their friends, such as How do they make that burger look so good? or What does it take to make a regular person into a model?

~Kids can nudge each other to tune in to song lyrics: "Have you really listened to the words in this song?"

Go here for Dr. Rich's full response.

Gaming for Good

"Jumbo shrimp"..."working vacation"..."healthy videogame." All oxymorons, right? Not at Generation Cures, an online community that lets kids "game for good." Through the Caduceus adventure game, set in a fantasy world where characters work to cure a deadly virus, young gamers can seek pledges from friends and family to benefit Children's Hospital Boston. Kids unlock a chunk of the pledged gift each time they complete part of the mission toward a cure. The site's animated Zebrafish series inspires youth-led fundraisers, too, through the story of a kids' band that organizes a benefit concert when one member gets sick. Finally, videos made by kids, for kids take viewers behind the health-challenge scenes--meeting and interviewing the surgeons who helped them, for instance, or visiting a research lab. Finally, a chance to say "yes" to some extra screen time--guilt free :-)