Teens in Balance - Tara Cousineau, PhD

BodiMojo is on Facebook with My Mojo App for Teens

A version of this posted was oringally posted at Bodimojo.com/blog.

I haven't posted in a while because we've been very, very busy at BodiMojo.com.

First, we got some great results from our field test of BodiMojo.com used in high school health classes. Hint: Girls exposed to Bodimojo.com over one month improved their attitudes about their own body image compared to girls who didn't use the site, especially around how they feel about their physical appearance and in comparing themselves to others). Read more from Boston Globe blog post. Now we recrafting the girl interactive tools into a new "Girls Confidence" dashboard, and my teenage daugther and her friends have been helping out. Stay tuned for that this fall!

Second, we optmized the bodimojo site for mobile smaarthones, to now it's easy for teens to set  and update thier health goals. 

Third, we pulled some of our tools into a Facebook app.  Here's the scoop from our Bodimojo blog:

So what's mojo anyway? At BodiMojo for teens we consider it your personal charm, the moment you feel most fully yourself, comfortable, confident... no self-judgment. In the zone. Mojo is also the kind of feeling or state of being you want to share, kind of like paying it forward.  So we've gathered a few of the BodiMojo.com tools and packaged them into an app on Facebook: My Mojo.  Five things you can do once you "allow" the app:

(1) Take a mojo quiz. We've posted 4 quizzes in the app but have many more on bodimojo.com. Be sure to check out and share with friends.

(2) Visualize your mood with the Mojo Mood Cloud. Feeling freaked out, joyful, silly, emo? Tag your moods here! (The Mood Cloud is on main site and log in is required for all personalized tools).

(3) Send friends a virtual gift to boost their mood or cheer 'em on via email or post on FB wall. We have some cool animations created by our friends at Doink. The 10 teen winners of a recent contest created some awesome art, so support the artists and your friends at the same time. A win win! (DoInk artist, Syas, created volleyball girl.)

(4) Get a BodiMojo Snapshot into your health habits.  The app allows you to connect via Facebook to BodiMojo.com where you can get personalized feedback on your lifestyle habits. Just visit the My Page section where you'll find your "Health Mojo" -- nutrition, fitness, body image attitudes, stress and more. So instead of hearing the same old, same old about what it takes to be healthy, you get customized feedback. How refreshing!

(5) Once you're on the BodiMojo's My Page you can create personal health goals, and set up email or text updates, too. You earn points every step of the way. And there's lots more content to check out.

Of course, we want your feedback, too. Teens have helped shape the site and we want to keep working at it to improve your experience! Tell us on Facebook!

 

Did You Know?

• BodiMojo  was listed as Cool Site of the Day. Give us a Thumbs up! (And like us on Facebook!)
• BodiMojo was ranked in top five: 2011 Reader's Choice Finalist for Best Teen Websites
• Research shows BodiMojo helps high school girls improve body image, as noted in Boston Globe. And new confidence tools will be out this Fall just for girls. So stay tuned, girlfriends!

We need your help. Send teens our way to check out the BodiMojo.com and show us some love on Facebook!

Ushering in SMS sweet nothings: A new way to stay connected to your teen

The number of text messages the average teen sends today is staggering. The last statistic I saw was that teen girls send over 3300 text messages a month, an average of more than 100 texts /day. Of course most of this happens at bus stops and after school, between activities, and distills down to messages about homework, rides, and boys. For kids who are “hypertexters” (over 120 messages/day) there is some research correlating the behavior to high risk taking, too... but I’m not convinced.

In fact, I’m trying to figure out my reaction to all the finger action and what seems to be the irresistible urge of the teen girls I know to text each other in the same room or when piled in the same car. Social scientists and journalists lament whether this is the end of authentic interpersonal interactions, the learning of social skills needed to be contributing adults in the world, ethical behavior, and so on. 

But I have to say I have come to see the texting as one way I know my 13-year-old daughter still cares.  If all I get is something like this:

“Can u pick me up@ graces?  <kisses>”

…. I’ll take it. 

I mean, when do you get a real hug or kiss at this stage anyway?

It strikes me that texting serves a new way for teens to hint to their parents they are appreciated, the kind of gesture that will no longer be acknowledged in a sideways hug, high five, or God forbid, a verbal “thanks” or “love ya” face to face.  It’s sort of like when around the age of 8, you can no longer kiss your kid on the forehead before she hops on the bus for her fear of being ruthlessly tagged as being a baby.

So while my not-so-little girl has entered the beginning of what Erik Erikson dubbed the “Identity vs. Role Confusion” - that betwixt and between developmental stage from child to adulthood, it seems that technology may ameliorate the experience of rejection, dismissal and withdrawal. I suppose it can go the other way, too. 

For now texting is like a tether, however flimsy or flighty, of sweet somethings that I can hold on to.

(\ /)
( . .)♥
c(”)(”)

 

Teens, Ethics, and Online Behavior

I suppose it is really heartening to know that people are trying to educate our youth on being responsible digital natives. Let’s throw all we got at them, including the law, and see what works. (The Massachusetts law that bans talking and texting for teens and forbids texting for all drivers takes effect this week, 9/30/10). 

Today, PBS launched a free online game, Webonauts Internet Academy. The site states: "The Webonauts Internet Academy empowers kids to make responsible and respectful decisions in their online interactions." The first lesson is remembering the game motto: Observe, respect, contribute. (A game hint for the grown-ups attempting to play.)  It’s geared to a younger audience. In fact, a tween or teen might not have the patience for it, so other strategies are needed for the cohort that is apt to show the least self-control when online. PBS is taking a responsible step here to get at 'em early. The Girls Scouts of America also has a website, as does MTV (A Thin Line), and there are many other initiatives to encourage young people to think before they text or post, use or abuse social technology.

These efforts come at a time when educators are trying to figure out how to help kids understand the complex issues around privacy and digital citizenship; and tactically, such education is often is thrown into the cyberbully prevention silo -- because most kids can relate to bullying on some visceral level and schools will fund prevention.  The larger issue of responsible online citizenship has yet to take hold.

Recent qualitative research from Harvard, the GoodPlay Project, suggests that tweens’ and teens’ perceptions of social media interactions are largely egocentric (no surprise), with little sense of responsibility for self or others. It is what the research team calls a “prevalence of consequence thinking” among teens -- in other words, only attending to how online activity affects them personally. While the researchers found that some teens engage in moral thinking around online engagement, which includes the concepts of the golden rule and fairness, such interpersonal responsibility was not dominant. Moreover, rare among the teens interviewed, was ethical or higher order thinking, in which one can envision a role in the larger digital community and holding a greater purpose than the self. These observations were derived from interviews with adolescents.  (See Mashable’s video on researcher Carrie James’ talk at the recent Social Good Summit.) 

Without seeing the research report, and before making judgments about youth, it seems that one must take into account adolescent developmental and cognitive abilities, too. Some kids will be able to think abstractly, problem solve, and act ethically, but others aren’t yet able to grasp these concepts. At this age, neural networks are sprawling out in all sorts of directions, and the pruning and fine tuning of certain cognitive abilities that allow for mature thinking just hasn’t happened yet.  Certainly, a 17-year old constructs his world differently than a 12-year old.  

Consider how online interactions are often immediate, social, sensation-seeking activities, pumping the reward system in the teen brain. Consider also that teens often stop thinking rationally when in a crowd, online or offline. Common sense goes out the window in pack mentality. This is not to let them off the hook, just to suggest that it’s more complex than a lack of ethical thinking.

This is a generation of kids who are raised to take social action, too.  They love causes and carwashes; they vote on the best public service or good deeds; and are more apt to purchase material goods and services by companies that embrace a social mission or funnel part of the purchase price toward a donation.  

They just can’t connect all the dots yet.

So I’m back to throwing everything we’ve got to educate youth at all stages of development, repeatedly, and to their maturational and cognitive phases.  It seems to me you have to educate, educate, educate -- across the lifespan. This includes the grown-ups. If we want our youth to grow up as model citizens, we need to model that behavior for them. Some parents I know can’t detach from their blackberries or laptops (not even at their kids sporting events on a Saturday). To wit, my tween recently said to me: "Mom, is your job to write emails all day?" Then there are those “friends” from high school past who share unusual tidbits of information (think FB) -- and to what end? Adults often seem to be the most awkward of learners when it comes to online activity. Maybe it is as simple as reflecting on a simple message or maybe it’s putting some new skills into action.

Observe, respect, contribute.

When should kids have a Facebook account?

When should kids have a Facebook account?  This is truly a contemporary dilemma that gets more confusing as the privacy debate is being wrangled by the Federal Trade Commission, Congress, and the online pundits.  For me, the almost weekly stories and essays on the misuse of FB by teens just drives a knife through my heart.  The Sunday Boston Globe cover story (The Agony of A Girl Who Just Wanted to Fit In ) was about one girl’s story of relentless bullying via FB on the third day of starting high school – one of those apparent grudges by a former friend that took off like wildfire.  The girl, Lexi, is toughing it out according to the article – but a girlfriend, cyberbullied by association, left the school district.

It could happen to my girls. 

One would think that I, as both a parent and a psychologist, might have some sort of advantage on understanding this topic. This is not the case.  It is my opinion that the Internet is simply a communication vehicle. It is neither good nor bad.  It just is. How people use and manipulate this communication is another matter entirely and this is the heart of the privacy matter. It also is a call for public policy, research, and education.

Because I am creating in an online health tool for teens, bodimojo.com, I confront this privacy issue daily. Currently, I am debating whether we should use the FaceBook Connect module for elements of bodimojo.com where teens can post a positive affirmation or health-promoting goal to their wall.  It seems simple enough in theory. I mean, why create a healthy lifestyle program that doesn’t filter up into the networks kids already communicate in. Right?  A no brainer.

But as an online content creator for children (and teens are still considered children) everything needs to be assessed.

On the personal side, however, I am forming an opinion on the FB issue. I have tweens and it will be any day now that my 12 year old asks for an account. Here’s my momentary thinking:

A member of Facebook must be 13 years of age.  This is not an arbitrary rule set by Facebook, but is set by the Federal Trade Commission to protect the use of personal information for commercial purposes.  (It is a privacy rule not a safety protocol.) Any younger age requires following the COPPA rules for children 12 and under where parent permission is required for online membership and a parent email confirmation, etc. There are rumblings about changing it to 18 years of age. (To read about the complex set of issues – and the downside of COPPA when it comes to access to mental health or suicide prevention sites, visit online culture expert danah boyd’s blog).

Ok, that makes one thing easy right now: a clear guideline intended to protect the use of personal information by outsiders. Kiddo, you have to wait until 8^th grade.

Of course, many parents help their kids fudge the age limit and kids inadvertently are taught it’s OK to break that rule.  After all, their kids can now FB their grandparents, Uncle Joe in the military, and friends from summer camp. My opinion:  Children don’t need FB to communicate with loved ones.   Have the family use Skype if computers are more convenient than old-fashioned cards and phone calls – and keep it centralized as a family activity.

I’ve spent a good hour surfing the net and reading parents’ opinions on the FB issue. It’s pretty polarized.  The Academy of Pediatrics put out a guideline on their website in 2009 about parent supervision of Internet use.  About.com has several “how to” pages on privacy settings for FB, including 22 tips (but there is no article date and I have no idea if this includes the recent FB privacy changes).  I think when these help guides broach the length of a workbook on how to ensure your child’s online privacy, one needs to take a step back and evaluate. (I know several grownups – one a social media expert – who closed their Facebook accounts because they’d had it with the constant changes to privacy settings.  (For a timeline of changes, check out the Deeplink’s blog.)

With social networking as a contemporary medium for tween and teens to socialize, when is the right age?  Does it depend on the child, as many parents comment on?  Is refusing to allow a child on a social network just fodder for teen rebellion? What about teens who do not have engaged parents and seek education, information, community or help in the digital space because they can’t get it at home?

My hunch, and being pretty connected to my kids, is that FB is something they can join when starting high school – sort of like a right of passage or coming of age event.  By then, I estimate, the emotional and cognitive maturity will have kicked in for common sense use, respecting self and others in this medium, and they’ll have more than an abstract understanding of what a “digital footprint” is.

Then again, let’s take Lexi’s story.

I could be all wrong.

***

Update:  Facebook Privacy Scanner, click for scan of your and your teen's FB page.

Mothers & Daughters: Can both be fans, groupies and admirers?

I had to chuckle when I read an article in the Boston Globe this week, It’s never to late to swoon, by Beth Teitell. The piece describes how moms and their teenage daughters go gaga over the same cultural icons, especially the young male talents, hunks and vampires.  The issue presented was that moms are vocal about it, leaving their girls mortified. 

Wasn’t it just the night before, sitting with my 10 and 12-year-olds watching the elimination of American Idol contestants that I remarked, “Well, that Casey sure is cute!” 

“Mom!” Both my daughters admonished. ”Well, I don’t think he should be in top 3! I’m sure it’s the teeny bops all over a America who are keeping him in the running because they think he’s cute, too!”  (All three of us wanted to see native Massachusetts contestant, Siobhan Magnus, on there instead.)

Teitell writes, ”A variety of cultural forces are turning women with crow’s feet into lovesick post-post adolescents.  For starters, the societal fixation with youth leads some people to believe they are still, in fact, young.” 

Not. 

 It’s not that moms are reliving their youth – although it is fun to recall those moments at times. I confess to buying some of my clothes in the junior sections of various retailers. It’s that parents and kids today are experiencing what youth expert Don Tapscott calls a “generation lap” in his book, Grown Up Digital.  This “overlap” is in part due to exposure to the technology, media and information available to kids that easily transcend generational lines.  In fact, in the digital medium, it’s kids who are the experts. “The implications are huge,” he writes. ”In some families, members have begun to respect each other as the authorities they actually are. This has created a more engaged dynamic within families. If managed well by the parents, this dynamic can create a more open, consensual and effective family unit.”  One good example of the convergence is how kids and parents alike appreciate songs by The Beatles. And, hey, didn’t American Idol have Bon Jovi perform last week as well?  (“They look as old as Dad,” was one remark). Or how about the resurgence of the Peace sign inspired by the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock that has infiltrated the fashion industry over the last year. (What comes around goes around?)

This lap is evident in our household.  Dad is a baby boomer, me (Mom) is Gen X, elder tween is Gen Y (a Millennial or Generation Net) and the youngest is Gen Z (also called Generation Next). That sort of covers a lot of ground.  When I heard my daughter crooning Journey’s big 80s hit, “Don’t Stop Believing” throughout the house for days on end, I just quietly giggled until it got unbearable. (I had to ask her to stop! That was a prom song in my high school days.) When you consider that the cast of Glee performed it on the season opener last year, what do you expect?

But here’s the thing about mothers and daughters today (or fathers and sons). It's not that moms are pining for their youthful days. Our daughters are enjoying and repurposing many of the same, classic cultural fodder we grew up with. I kind of like it. We don’t have to be “friends” or chum around – we can keep appropriate boundaries.  But we can also value certain styles and sentiments that make for a strong bond – and keep us youthful in spirit.

Teen Blogging Might Just Be a Good Thing

A study on teen blogging was recently published that looked at the content of what teens are writing about.  As it goes in the world of peer-reviewed, scientific journals the data is from 2007 and is possibly a bit dated. (It takes a while to get published.)  There is some indication that teen blogging is on the decline with the hyperspeak of status updates on Facebook and 140 character tweets. Still, studies on the qualitative often offer more meaningful insights into human behavior – which is basically pretty predictable – verses the latest stats of the day.

The sound bites in the medical news regarding this study seemed to show surprise that “most teens in the study blogged about positive behaviors, such as studying, participating in school activities, spending time with family, and going to church.”  I suppose this is in contrast to an (adult) assumption that teens would bare their heart and souls on the various dark dramas of adolescence. So I went to the original source to find out more about this content analysis of 100 teen bloggers, aged 13-18:  “Adolescent Weblog Use: Risky or Protective?” in Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, by Dawn Anderson-Butcher and colleagues at Ohio State University.

What is a content analysis?  It’s a lot of work. It basically comprises a small set of people, such as grad students, who comb through the narratives and look for themes -- in this case, risk and resiliency factors (or negative and positive behaviors), and how often these themes were posted over a 1 month period of time.  For instance, these “coders” looked for risky factors like substance use, problems in schools, and negative feelings, etc. Positive behaviors included writing about pro social activity, good relations with friends and family, and positive feeling states, etc.  The coders also looked at community building factors (comments on postings and parallel conversations) and other additive, creative content such as photos and songs.

So what did the researchers find?  Of the 100 teen bloggers they studied at Xanga.com, here are some of the interesting characteristics:

• Teens posted on average about 13 entries in a month (about 3 post/week)
• 74% used emoticons or text characters to depict facial expressions J
• 30% used artistic elements, 25 % quoted songs, and 31% posted a “currently playing” song to their blog page
• About 25% to 65% of content covered largely positive things they do in a day including sports, extracurricular activities, volunteering, hanging out, watching videos, going to the movies, or listening to music
• A 20 -30% of the content in blogs were about feeling out of place and lonely, blue, and more frequently, about feeling bored (56%)

The teens also use the "comments" section to communicate back and forth and promoting community building among friends and peers. Here is one example in the article: ”Hey Janie, haven’t heard from you in a really long time, hope your doing well.”

Overall, it strikes me that a certain segment of teens find online journaling pretty creative, possibly therapeutic, and certainly as a way to express themselves and connect with friends and online peers.  For all the scary stats one sees floating out there about teens texting sexually explicit material, cyberbullying that leads to apparent suicides, or the rate of pedophiles that could be lurking on social networks  – that has parents and teachers understandably in a constant state of anxiety of the next crazy thing teens will do -- overall it seems that blogging is simply modern tool for self-expression.  It’s another medium just like artwork hanging in the school hallways, scrap booking, and passing notes used to be. 

Of course, one could burn those items with a pack of matches behind the garage – after a breakup, friendship fight, or getting grounded. Now, any personal musing is a permanent electronic node in cyberspace  – requiring caution and education. But here’s my overall take: Let’s give today’s teens a little credit for being creative, authentic and connected.

Are Teen Parents More or Less Connected?

There have been a number of surveys, research reports and polls that are confusing. Are today’s parents in tune, overbearing, or clueless about what’s going on with their kids? Do they coddle or give to much power? Check out some recent reports from CBS’s Health in America poll, or the America Psychological Association's Stress in America survey.

Who are these kids anyway?

Don Tapscott, in his recent book, Grown Up Digital writes how the Net Generation (born between Jan 1977 and Dec 1997) is the first generation to be immersed in digital technology.  His multimillion-dollar research shows that this generation gets along pretty well with their Baby Booming parents. In fact, he refers to a “generation lap” vs. any gap. “The implications are huge,” he writes.” In some families, members have begun to respect each other as the authorities they actually are. This has created an engaged dynamic within families. If managed well by the parents, this dynamic can create more a open, consensual, and effective family unit.” 

 In our household, my husband is a Baby Boomer, I was born in the first year of Gen X (the baby bust generation) and my old daughter is was born in at the end Net Gen (aka Gen Y). Her 9-year-old sister falls in Gen Z (1998 to present). Four generations in one nuclear family.  We certainly experience a “generation lap.”  Like Tapscott describes in his book, our family enjoys and shares in certain cultural and social experiences that has spanned 40+ years.  The Beatles come to mind, as do living in this season’s “All you need is love” t-shirts from American Eagle.

Tapscott finds Gen Y (and  presumably Gen Z) is smarter (brains are wired differently), more civic minded, more creative, and, lo and behold, family matters. (Warning: These kids tend to stick around after college).

Yet, standing back and looking at the reports that seems to come across news headlines and twitter feeds it seems like parents are as clueless as ever about their kids behaviors: Sex, drugs and rock-and roll still prevail.  And to today’s parents seem to think their kids aren’t doing it as if total amnesia has occurred about their own coming of age in the late 60s, 70s and 80s.  

Like my 9 year old might blurt out, “What the?” 

Mostly, I take comfort in what Tapscott has to say about our digitally-marinated kids and he cites the trend data to show declines in unplanned teen pregnancies, lower rates of drug use, less violence, lower rates of smoking (not cool anymore), and higher IQs (cool to be smart), On the other hand, today’s teen behavior is also the by-product of the digital era:  They are more stressed, distracted, impulsive (think “sexting”), more exposed (You Tube and social nets), and have transferred school yard bullying to cyberland.

Seems like parents (I include myself, here ) might be missing the forest through the trees. Our brain neurons are too busy trying to keep up that we’re at risk for missing the obvious.

Are you sexting? MTV Launches "A Thin Line"

MTV launches A Thin Line, a new initiative to stop the spread of digital abuse –cyberbullying, sexting, and digital dating abuse. One hopes that the likes of MTV might have enough cache and brand loyalty to get kids’ attention.

 Surveys consistently show misuse of digital communication as a real problem among youth with concerning psychosocial consequences (see executive summary). More than half of teens (53 percent) report receiving digital abusive behavior. Thirty percent of young adults send photos of themselves nude or semi nude and depending on which survey you read, anywhere from 10-40 percent of teens have either posted or texted something sexually explicit. Since I have a tween girl, this news leaves me horrified to think that about one of every three girls in her friendship group might do something as dense as this someday. That’s just as horrifying as knowing that one in three women are sexually abused at some point in their lives – a statistic that has stayed with me for years.

Maybe it’s the classic teen impulsivity confronted with the alluring “send” icon, or the need to create an alternative identity as one grapples with lots of transitions; or the need to control a relationship and bolster one’s sense of self, or power or self-esteem. Whatever the case, the intriguing digital venues of today have outpaced digital common sense – and kids need to call on a whole set of skills that their brains have not quite mastered: delayed gratification, reasoning and planning, thinking through consequences. Emotional consequences are serious for digital abuse: 12 percent of teens who have sent or posted explicit material contemplate suicide. (Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens. Let’s not compound the situation!)

One of the thing I grapple with as a health psychologist is how to get effective public health campaigns right. Theories abound: Fear tactics don’t work in short term; show immediate rather than long-term consequences; tailor the information to the demographic; use role models to demonstrate the health promoting behavior, and so on. The challenge with teens is they don’t think bad things will happen to them: “That’s not my brain on drugs,” “I’m in total control,” and “Everyone else is doing it.”

What’s exciting about A Thin Line initiative are all the stakeholders on board, including Facebook and MySpace and numerous public health organizations: Love Is Respect, DoSomething.org, The National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline, WiredSafety, Anti-Defamation League, Blue Shield of California Foundation and PBS, which is premiering a companion program on Frontline (A Thin Line). Importantly, they are also engaging youth in a contest to come up with antidotes to digital abuse: Redraw the Line Challenge. It will be great to see how this campaign can provoke a national conversation and empower youth. For starters, take the quiz. I’m totally on board. 

How about you? 

Originally published on www.BodiMojo.com/blog (Dec 9, 2009).

Virtual Reality

 When I was a teen I spent a lot of time making collages on heavy board paper. I'€™d spend hours cutting out letters from magazines, pasting in photographs of friends (I had to pay for the development of the negatives with my babysitting money), and drawing in school spirit slogans with heavy marker. I'€™d place the artwork on my bedroom wall or make some smaller versions for friends.I could do this for hours into the night while whispering the latest gossip into the phone with a best friend -- and later, with a boyfriend.

I would have loved the Internet back then. This comes to mind because my daughters are now doing the same thing. Their current venue is the Beacon Street Girls website, based on the book series. Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend both girls spent hours creating their virtual "€œlockers"€ with cool backgrounds and fun stuff to fill them with. My older daughter, 11 going on 16, joined a number of groups; she was completely amused and proud when she gave another member a compliment and then received one back. She has since helped her school friends set up their accounts (she did the same with Skype). It's all very polite and creative. It'€™s pre-MySpace. Even so she had instant “friends” – several of the Beacon Street characters automatically became part of her friend group (which characters appeared depended on a matching of traits and interests at registration). But after a while she asked me for a shoebox and pulled out the paper and scissors. She created her own 3D locker and put her miniature toys inside. Hands on. Tangible. Readily visible. A white papewas recently issued by the MacArthur Foundation, entitled the Digital Youth Project.  It is based on numerous qualitative studies over the past three years with children, teens and young adults about how they perceive and use new media. It confirmed for me that kids are doing what they always have done: connecting, creating and working through identities. What has changed is the landscape. New media offers more tools for children and adults to communicate; it doesn'€™t replace the old ways.

Take it from my third grader. She seems to have struck a balance with real play and virtual play. Time will tell how she will negotiate technology within her intuitive and imaginative sensibilities.

Millennials: Describing Our Techno-savvy Teens

I attended at the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East, held at Boston University, and became immersed in the Gen Y teenspeak. I was enlightened one of the keynote speakers, Gary Rudman, who is a teen consulting expert. He offered up a series of adjectives describing today's young people and their engagement with technology -- and it seems there is a dictionary in the making. Most of the information offered by Rudman was based on qualitative research, such as focus groups and interviews with to thousands of teens.

For any educator, marketer and parents it'€™s worth listening to the recorded conference sessions. I learned a bit of what to expect in the next few years with my tweens. And it is all the more apropos since my daughter received her first iPod for her 11^th birthday this week. Euphoria doesn'€™t quite capture her reaction -- her happiness was beyond her own ability to express it. It was truly a coming of age moment when she unwrapped the gift. Here'€™s some of the terminology:

• iJunkies -- are gadget-bound teens. Teens expect technical gadgets to be super easy and provide instant gratification.
• Technocrats -- there is nothing teens can'€™t take with them that doesn't fit in a backpack. If it's not portable it'€™s not cool.
• Techno bling -- Teens are just as vested in personal style as they are invested in technology. So if the technology doesn'€™t look cool and offer a means to personalize it, it will fail.
• Neighborhood net  -- Today'€™s reality is that once school is over teens go online; they see the virtual world as social. Although online friends maybe different that offline friends, the online world allows teens to create an ideal self or alter ego, or digital disguises.
• IM -- Instant messaging allows teens to be clever, different, and run commentary through internal editorial process (useful in pre-dating or flirtation); this allows teens to avoid saying something awkward in person and offers a comfortable way to test the interpersonal waters.
• Chill challenged -- Teens don'€™t have time to relax and are rarely disconnected from their gadgets outside of school; they have less real world conversation with parents although today'€™s teens are much more "€connected"€ to them than previous generations (Gen Xers, Boomers) were with their parents. The one way many teens seem to relax is listening to music, something they hold as highly personal.
• Mock maturity -- Teens have a sense they can purchase just about anything given how influential they are about product purchases in the home, but are limited by parent'€™s control over credit cards. Teens think they "€œknow"€ things, but teens are teens -- and still do the impulsive, idiosyncratic and silly things that adolescents have also done as they test their ability to control the world.
• Brain blur -- Teens have difficulty focusing their minds on one thing. Today's children are growing up with unique neural networks; they are forced to respond to technology and adapt to it. They are physically connected to cell phone and MP3 players.  One consequence is that teens need not memorize; information is so vast, it is impossible to take it all in. If one doesn'€™t know something, it's easy enough to "€œgoogle"€ or go to Wikipedia.com. Another consequence is that teens are so used to studying while listening to music or texting, that when it comes to in-classroom tests or assignments, they can be at a disadvantage. They are the ultimate multi-taskers.

When I came home that day I laid a few rules down about the iPod, as glorious a gadget it is to my daughter. Not to burst her bubble, but I told her no iPod at the dinner table or while studying. Later, she Skyped me a smiley face and a thank you. 

I was in the next room.