HomeWord's Culture Brief
February 10, 2012

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

Google Hot Internet Searches - 2/10/12
   1. cpac
   2. andrej pejic
   3. steve jobs fbi file
   4. telsa model x
   5. no child left behind
   6. nazi ss
   7. jeremy lin
   8. culkin
   9. luol deng
  10. joe namath
Source: Google

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

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 2/10/12
   1. We Are Young - Fun.
   2. What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) - Kelly Clarkson
   3. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
   4. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
   5. Give Me All Your Luvin - Madonna
   6. Turn Me On - David Guetta & Nicki Minaj
   7. Ass Back Home - Gym Class Heroes
   8. Rack City - Tyga
   9. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
  10. Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 2/5/12
   1. Super Bowl XLVI
   2. Super Bowl XLVI - Postgame
   3. Voice
   4. American Idol - Wednesday
   5. American Idol - Thursday
   6. The Big Bang Theory
   7. Person of Interest
   8. The Mentalist
   9. NCIS
  10. Blue Bloods
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - This Week - 2/10/12
   1. M&Ms "Sexy and I Know It' Super Bowl
   2. OK Go - Needing/Getting - Official Video
   3. Halftime in America
   4. Shocking Before and After Transformation
   5. Pop Superstar Madonna at Super Bowl
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 2/9/12
   1. Chronicle
   2. The Woman in Black
   3. The Grey
   4. Big Miracle
   5. Underworld Awakening
Source: Variety

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Teen Pregnancy, Abortion Rates at Record Low

Birth and abortion rates among U.S. teens fell to record lows in 2008 as increased use of contraceptives sent the overall teen pregnancy rate to its lowest level since at least 1972, a new study shows. Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute looked at government statistics on teen-age sex, pregnancies and births, as well as the institute's own data on abortions for 2008, the most recent year for which all the numbers were available. They found that nearly 750,000 U.S. women under the age of 20 became pregnant in 2008 -- nearly 98 percent of them between the ages of 15 and 19. That translated into a pregnancy rate of 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, the researchers said, the lowest pregnancy rate seen since 1972. It was also down 42 percent from 1990, when teen pregnancies peaked at 116.9 per 1,000 teen girls and women. The teen abortion rate in 2008 dropped to the lowest rate seen since 1972 at 17.8 per 1,000 teen girls and women, the analysis found, and was down 59 percent from 1988 when the abortion rate peaked at 43.5 per 1,000 teen women.

Source: Reuters

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Tween Dating: It's All About Texts

Nearly half of 11- to 14-year-olds say they have been in a dating relationship, according to a 2008 survey of 1,043 tweens by Tru, a Chicago youth market-research firm, for Liz Claiborne. A larger share—60%—think parents should let middle-schoolers date, according to a recent online poll of 787 users by Yoursphere, a social-networking website for tweens and teens. But "dating" in middle school doesn't mean what many adults think. Tween couples talk mostly via text and chat. Their relationships are fleeting but all-consuming. They date in packs—but expect their boyfriends and girlfriends to be monogamous. When they break-up, it's often via text. And they keep their parents largely in the dark. Anthony, 14, is "more than friends" with a girl at school. When he sees her in the hall, "we give each other a hug and go on with our lives," he says. But they fire more than 300 text messages back and forth each day. If they do go out, they go in a pack of friends because it helps avoid "that awkward moment, when we're staring at each other for five minutes, not saying anything," Anthony says. Experts say talk about dating becomes pervasive when kids turn 9 or 10, amid earlier onset of puberty and social pressure to grow up fast.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Depressed Adolescents More Likely to be Bullied

A new study provides evidence that adolescents who suffer from depression are more likely to develop difficulty in peer relationships including being bullied at school. It's often assumed that being bullied leads to psychological problems, such as depression, but the study doesn't support this line of thought. "Often the assumption is that problematic peer relationships drive depression. We found that depression symptoms predicted negative peer relationships," said Karen Kochel, Arizona State University School of Social and Family Dynamics assistant research professor. "We examined the issue from both directions but found no evidence to suggest that peer relationships forecasted depression among this school-based sample of adolescents."

Source: MedicalXpress

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