HomeWord's Culture Brief
February 17, 2012

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

Google Hot Internet Searches - 2/17/12
   1. gary carter
   2. stephen colbert
   3. colbert report
   4. pat buchanan
   5. underwear bomber
   6. presidents day
   7. randy travis
   8. whitney houston
   9. heart attack grill
  10. daytona 500
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 2/17/12
   1. Google
   2. Facebook
   3. YouTube
   4. Yahoo!
   5. Amazon
   6. Wikipedia
   7. eBay
   8. Twitter
   9. LinkedIn
  10. Craigslist
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 2/17/12
   1. Part of Me - Katy Perry
   2. We Are Young - Fun.
   3. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
   4. Rolling in the Deep - Adele
   5. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
   6. Starships - Nicki Minaj
   7. What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) - Kelly Clarkson
   8. Turn Up the Music - Chris Brown
   9. Someone Like You - Adele
  10. What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 2/12/12
   1. Grammy Awards
   2. NCIS
   3. American Idol - Wednesday
   4. American Idol - Thursday
   5. Voice
   6. NCIS: Los Angeles
   7. The Big Bang Theory
   8. Person of Interest
   9. The Mentalist
  10. 60 Minutes
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - This Week - 2/17/12
   1. Арест Владимира Путина
   2. RE: Everything
   3. Rhino Sausage
   4. No se Me Olvida
   5. I Was Brainwashed!
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 2/16/12
   1. The Vow
   2. Safe House
   3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
   4. Star Wars: Episode I - Phantom Menace
   5. Chronicle
Source: Variety

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Relationships Key to Teens' Mental Health

Interpersonal relationships at home, school and with peers appear to be critical for positive mental health among young Canadian teens, a major study suggests. "We focused it on mental health for a reason," said John Freeman, director of the Social Program Evaluation Group at Queen's University and a study co-author. "Mental health is a large issue for Canada's young people right now. It's in our conversations ... it's in the news." Freeman said that as obvious as it may seem, relationships with others are a key indicator as to whether a teen is mentally healthy. Freeman said the study found that connections with adults are important. For instance, adolescents who reported finding it "very difficult" or "difficult" to converse with their mother or father are far more likely to have high levels of emotional problems than those who find it "easy" or "very easy" to talk to their moms or dads. "And it's for both boys and girls, it's very consistent," Freeman explained.

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

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Controlling Parents More Likely to Have Delinquent Children

Authoritarian parents whose child-rearing style can be summed up as “it’s my way or the highway” are more likely to raise disrespectful, delinquent children who do not see them as legitimate authority figures than authoritative parents who listen to their children and gain their respect and trust, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire. “When children consider their parents to be legitimate authority figures, they trust the parent and feel they have an obligation to do what their parents tell them to do. This is an important attribute for any authority figure to possess, as the parent does not have to rely on a system of rewards and punishments to control behavior, and the child is more likely to follow the rules when the parent is not physically present,” said Rick Trinkner, a doctoral candidate at UNH and the lead researcher.  Authoritative parents are both demanding and controlling, but they are also warm and receptive to their children’s needs. Children of authoritative parents tend to be self-reliant, self-controlled, and content. One the other hand, authoritarian parents are demanding and highly controlling, but detached and unreceptive to their children’s needs. Researchers found that authoritarian parenting produces children who are discontent, withdrawn, and distrustful.

Source: University of New Hampshire

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Pinterest: Next Wave in Social Media?

Online pinboarding site Pinterest is fast-becoming one of the most talked about services in the social networking space. According to a report by TechCrunch, the site has reached more than 11 million unique monthly users in the US alone, making it the fastest independent site to reach over 10 million users. According to comScore, users spend a considerable amount of time on the site per month. Pinterest is exceptionally sticky and keeps it users engaged for long periods of time. The average visitor spent nearly an hour-and-a-half on the site over the course of a month and more than 15 minutes per visit, ranking it third on consumer engagement (after Facebook and Tumblr). “Pinterest is on its way up, and online pinboarding looks like it just may represent the next wave of social networking,” says Eli Goodman of Search Engine Watch.

Source: IT Web

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