Exploring Teens Issue 8 / Feb-Mar 2016 | Page 5

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Fears about teens' digital habits
exaggerated

© monkey_business / Stockfresh

Parents' fears about their teenagers' heavy use of mobile phones and social media may be
exaggerated, according to a new report from Duke University researchers. However, there
are important exceptions in the areas of cyberbullying and sleep disruption.

Supplying alcohol
to someone else’s
underage teen
According to a new report, Australians
continue to break the law and supply
alcohol to underage drinkers in the belief
that there is little risk of detection or
punishment. In Australia, ALMOST

60 PER CENT OF ALCOHOL
CONSUMED BY 12 TO 17 YEAR
OLDS IS SUPPLIED BY ADULT
FRIENDS, RELATIVES OR
STRANGERS, despite the fact that the

provision of alcohol to young people under
the age of 18 by someone other than their
parent or guardian is illegal in most Australian
jurisdictions. People also substantially
overestimate the social acceptability of
underage drinking.
Foundation for Alcohol Research and
Education (FARE) Chief Executive,
Michael Thorn says parents, community
members and other adults should understand
the health risks associated with drinking
alcohol under the age of 18 when a young
person’s brain is still developing.

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More at http://bit.ly/1mmZA5U

TEENS WITH STRONG OFFLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS TEND
TO REINFORCE AND STRENGTHEN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS
THROUGH ONLINE INTERACTIONS, the review found. Rather than

connecting with strangers, most adolescents use digital media to interact with friends
and acquaintances already in their face-to-face social networks.
Teens at risk for cyberbullying are the same ones at risk for traditional forms of
victimisation. The pervasiveness of bullying in the online world and levels of distress
among victims offer cause for concern, the authors note.
Parents' fears about sleep loss are also well founded. Four out of five adolescents report
sleeping with their phone on or near their bed. Those who use their phones after lights out
were twice as likely to report being tired the nex ^H\