HomeWord's Culture Brief
January 27, 2012

HomeWord's Culture Brief is provided to help parents and ministry leaders stay current with today’s youth culture.

Google Hot Internet Searches - 1/27/12
   1. welcome back kotter
   2. vanna white
   3. pat sajak
   4. republican debate
   5. joe paterno memorial service
   6. epstein
   7. jan brewer
   8. morgellons disease
   9. saul alinsky
  10. gop debate
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 1/27/12
   1. Google
   2. Facebook
   3. YouTube
   4. Yahoo!
   5. Amazon
   6. Wikipedia
   7. eBay
   8. Twitter
   9. Craigslist
  10. BlogSpot
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 1/27/12
   1. What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) - Kelly Clarkson
   2. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
   3. Turn Me On - David Guetta & Nicki Minaj
   4. Rack City - Tyga
   5. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
   6. Young, Wild & Free (feat. Bruno Mars) - Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa
   7. International Love (feat. Chris Brown) - Pitbull
   8. Domino - Jessie J
   9. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
  10. We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - Rihanna
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 1/22/12
   1. Fox NFC Championship
   2. Fox NFC Championship - Postgame
   3. American Idol - Wednesday
   4. American Idol - Thursday
   5. The Big Bang Theory
   6. Person of Interest
   7. The Mentalist
   8. Betty White 90th Birthday
   9. NCIS
  10. Two and a Half Men
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - This Week - 1/27/12
   1. Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe (Explicit)
   2. Steven Tyler Messes Up National Anthem
   3. Boomer Breaks the Backboard
   4. Real Death Note!
   5. Sh*t Drake Says
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 1/26/12
   1. Underworld Awakening
   2. Red Tails
   3. Contraband
   4. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
   5. Haywire
Source: Variety

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Eight in Ten Teens Lie to Parents

In a survey released by the Josephson Institute of Ethics on the values and ethical actions of more than 40,000 high school students, the gap between what students believe and their actions does not bode well for future generations. Survey highlights: more than two in five students said they sometimes lie to save money (48 percent of males and 35 percent of females). While 92 percent of students believe their parents want them to do the right thing, more than eight in ten confessed they lied to a parent about something significant. While 89 percent believe that being a good person is more important than being rich, almost one in three boys and one in four girls admitted stealing from a store within the past year. Moreover, 21 percent admitted they stole something from a parent or other relative, and 18 percent admitted stealing from a friend. Rampant cheating in school continues. A majority of students (59 percent) admitted cheating on a test during the last year, with 34 percent doing it more than two times. One in three admitted they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment.

Source: Josephson Institute

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Teen Passengers Are Driving Distractions

A pair of new studies identify factors that may lead teens to drive with multiple peer passengers and, then, how those passengers may affect their driver's behavior just before a serious crash. The studies were published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The first study surveyed found that teens who are most likely to drive with multiple passengers shared the following characteristics: considered themselves "thrill-seekers," perceived their parents as not setting rules or monitoring their whereabouts, and possessed a weak perception of the risks associated with driving in general. The second study analyzed teen drivers involved in serious crashes to compare the likelihood of driver distraction and risk-taking behaviors just prior to the crash when teens drive with peer passengers and when they drive alone. "Both male and female teen drivers with peer passengers were more likely to be distracted just before a crash as compared to teens who crashed while driving alone," explained study author Allison Curry, PhD, director of epidemiology at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention. "Among the teens who said they were distracted by something inside the vehicle before they crashed, 71 percent of males and 47 percent of females said they were distracted directly by the actions of their passengers."

Source: MarketWatch

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One in Six Teen Moms Didn't Believe They Could Get Pregnant

Half of teen mothers say they were not using birth control when they got pregnant, and a new report outlines the reasons teens give for not doing so. Of teen moms who reported not using birth control, 31 percent said they did not believe they could get pregnant at the time. Others gave various reasons for not using birth control — 24 percent said their partner did not want to use contraception, 13 percent said they had trouble getting birth control, 9 percent said they experienced side effects from using contraception and 8 percent said they thought their sex partner was sterile. Twenty-two percent of the teens said they did not mind getting pregnant.

Source: Fox News

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Items for this culture brief are compiled from Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch blog.