From 2001 to 2004 researchers at the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, interviewed 2,003 boys and girls ages 12 to 17. They asked them questions about TV viewing – including how often they watched more than 20 popular shows that have high sexual content. Sexually active children in the 90th percentile in terms of watching sexually explicit shows were almost twice as likely to get pregnant or to get someone pregnant during the study. It seems exposure to TV sex creates the perception there's little risk in unprotected sex – a perception parents need to protect against.
According to research published in the journal Pediatrics, children have to be protected from the Internet too. Children exposed to violence on the Internet are more likely to behave violently. In a study of 1,588 youths ages 10 to 15 – of which 48% were girls – those who said "many, most or all" the Internet sites they watched featured "real people fighting, shooting or killing" were 5 times more likely to engage in violent behavior than those who didn't watch violent Web sites. It's thought the Internet is more harmful than other media sources because it's interactive. Obviously, parents need to be more interactive.
In Dekalb County, Georgia parents are required to be active in their children's education. If children have 10 or more unexcused absences, parents are asked to sign a contract agreeing to make sure their children go to class. Failure to sign the contract results in parents being charged with educational neglect. Those parents are put on probation and must attend parenting classes, as well as have counseling. Parents who violate probation risk thousands of dollars in fines and up to 30 days in jail for each class their children have missed. However, there is an even bigger risk. Eighty-four percent of the inmates in Dekalb County jail dropped out of school.
Young people ages 16 to 29 – especially males - are most at risk when it comes to DWD. Driving while drowsy causes more than 56,000 crashes yearly. According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, these crashes usually occur late at night or early in the morning. Crash factors include sleep loss, sedating medications and alcohol consumption. Contrary to common belief, there is no scientific proof that opening a car window or turning on the radio will help drivers stay awake – information we all need to wake up to.
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