Facebook, MySpace, chat rooms,iPods, cell phones and texting... How much time do your kids spend on technology? How can you effectively monitor what your kids are seeing and doing?

Did you know that....

• The Internet is a teen's second most used medium after television. 84% of teens go online in a given week, spending an average of eight hours online per week.
• More than half of teens (52%) report listening to MP3s in a given week, with an average listening time of more than four hours per week.
• 9 our of 10 teens (93%) have online access at home, school, work, or elsewhere.
• 77% of teens, nearly four out of five, have access to the Internet at home.

Visit http://www.theantidrug.com/resources/pdfs/Teens-Tech-Guide.pdf for a guide about teens and online exposure.

Know what all those letters mean when your kids are texting? For abbreviations, acronyms, emoticons, etc., visit: http://www.netlingo.com/dictionary/all.php

Key talking points for having the conversation with your teen:

• We are here to make it clear that we will not tolerate any drug or alcohol use by you.
• We have rules in the family. The rules do not permit teen drug and alcohol use.
• Even though you thik everyone is using drugs or alcohol, it is illegal and not allowable.
• You can endanger your life and the lives of others. We don't want anything bad to happen to you. We don't know what we would do if we lost you.
• We count on you as a family member. Your brothers and sisters look up to you and care about you. What would they do if you were gone?
• Drug and alcohol use can ruin your future and chances to...graduate, go to college, get a job, and keep your driver's license.
• We are here to support you. What can we do to help you not use?
• Sometimes kids use drugs and alcohol because there are other issues going on like stress, unhappiness and social issues. Have you thought about this? Are there other problems you want to talk about?
• Are your friends using? How are you handling that? Is it hard to not use in that environment?
• We won't give up on you because we love you. We are going to be on your case until you stop completely. If you need professional help, we will be there to support you and help make it happen.

Source: Parents. The Anti-Drug

You may wonder sometime just what on earth is going on inside your teenager's head. Why does he forget to tell you about lunch money? How can she sleep so late? Why is he so inconsiderate? Why does she make the same bad choice over and over?

Recent research has revealed that the teenage brain is very different from an adult's brain. Understanding it doesn't change it, but it can help you to deal with it!

Research shows that the biggest changes to the parts of the brain that are responsible for things such as self-control, judgment, emotions, and organization occur during the teen years, and may not be complete until a person is in their early 20's. This may help explain certain teenage behavior that adults can find frustrating, such as poor decision-making, recklessness, and emotional outbursts.

And here is an important note...Duke University scientists say "the available research suggests that adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of alcohol on learning and memory" (White, 2001).

Read this quick and interesting fact sheet on teen brain development.

Courtesy of Paul Thompson/UCLA School of Medicine
Time-lapse MRI images of human-brain development between ages five and 20 show the growth and then gradual loss of gray matter, which consists of cells that process information.

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Need to talk to your teen about drinking, their appearance, or cell phone usage, but are not sure what to say? Click here to hear sample conversations of parents with their teens.

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