4 Troubled Teens Blog

One in seven teenagers, or about 15 percent, believe that they have only a 50 percent chance of living to age 35 -- a fear that experts have associated with greater risk-taking.

Teams who share this pessimistic attitude tend to engage in dangerous behaviors such as attempting suicide, using illegal drugs, getting into fights that require medical care, engaging in unprotected sex.

The results of these behaviors include being arrested, falling behind in school, experiencing developmental delays, and contracting diseases including HIV/AIDS.

These findings are the result of a new study from the University of Minnesota:

• Dr. Wagman Borowsky and his colleagues studied 20,594 teenagers in the seventh through 12th grades.
• Dr. Borowsky's team interviewed the teens periodically to obtain their views on personal mortality and to find out the degree to which they engaged in risky behaviors.
• Minority youth tended to be more pessimistic about how long they would survive.

The study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

Labels: risky_behaviors, attitudes, death

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For many teens who attempt suicide, dying seems like the only way out of a seemingly impossible situation, or away from extremely painful thoughts or feelings.

"A teen with a sufficient network of friends, family, religious organization, peer groups, or extracurricular activities may have an outlet to deal with their frustrations. But many teens don't believe that they have this type of support and report feeling disconnected and isolated from their loved ones. These teens can be at risk for suicide."

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 24, following accidents and homicide. Youth with psychological issues or a family history of psychological issues are believed to be at greatest risk, experts say.Source: Kauai Garden Island News

Labels: suicide, depression, death

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The leading cause of death among teenagers is automobile crashes, according to a new study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The six-year study also revealed that of the 10,000 children killed in car accidents, 54 percent were in a car with a teen driver. Drivers ages 15 and 20 account for only 7 percent of the driving population, but are involved in 14 percent of all accidents.

The three risk factors for death by automobile are riding without a seat belt, riding with a newly licensed teenaged driver, and driving at a high rate of speed. Over 75 percent of crashes occurred at speeds over 45 mph, and 66 percent of the young passengers killed were not wearing seat belts.

The study was conducted through State Farm Automobile Insurance.

Labels: death, car_crashes, driving

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A survey from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program found that one in four drivers ages 16 to 17 years old was involved in an automobile crash in 2006. Drivers ages 16 to 19 years old also had the highest number of driving fatalities.

Several factors contribute to the high accident rate among teenage drivers. Alcohol was one important risk: 28% of the teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were legally drunk. Other factors are lack of sleep, lack of supervision, driving after 9 PM, moving away from home, and having passengers in the automobile.

People ages 15 to 20 years old are only 8.4% of the population and 6.3% of all licensed drivers, yet they make up 13.6% of drivers involved in major automobile accidents.

Labels: safety, death, driving

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In the past 22 months, 150 children have died in the U.S. as a result of a game often called 'The Choking Game' or 'Blackout'. The goal of the game is to achieve a feeling of euphoria that's caused when the flow of blood and oxygen is first cut off from the brain, then allowed to come rushing back.

"The game and its addictive high is decades old, said Michelle Borba, an educational psychologist in California who has studied dangerous childhood games...'While it's never safe, the trend that's the scariest now is that kids, once they've played it on a dare or with friends at a party, will try it again alone...'"

In order to disrupt the flow of blood and oxygen, kids put pressure on the arteries in their necks, usually by tying something around their necks and essentially choking themselves. Some experts think many more kids may have died from this game than are reported, because accidental asphyxiations can look like suicides. It's game that parents need to be aware of and need to be talking about with their kids. Look for warning signs like marks around the neck or bloodshot eyes.

Like choking each other, teens often engage in risky behaviors such as drug use because they don't know the dangers. Learn how you can help at the Teen-Help-Directory.

Labels: risky_behaviors, death, euphoria

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In July, a 17-year-old boy from Denmark died after drinking so much at the Sunny Beach resort that he choked on his vomit. The death has sparked lively debate in many European countries about tours that are organized mainly as binge-drinking trips.

"On the tour operators' websites, Sunny Beach is described as the place 'where you drink until you pass out'. They boast of their pub crawls, 'where we jump between bars and discotheques at 300km an hour to show you how to party in the sun.'"

Though Swedish tour operators have decided to stop offering pub-crawls on their trips and people must now be at least 18-years-old to buy a charter trip, operators in other countries are resisting pressure to change. Read more News24.com. Learn more about the dangers of binge drinking and teen alcohol abuse at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, death, teen_alcoholism

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