Massive Mature Teen
GDL systems exist in all U.S. states and the District of Columbia (D.C.), but the strength of GDL laws varies by state. GDL systems provide longer practice periods, limit driving under high-risk conditions for newly licensed drivers, and require greater participation from parents as their teens learn to drive. Research has consistently demonstrated that GDL systems are effective for reducing teen crashes and deaths.36,44,45 For example, a meta-analysis including 14 different studies about GDL systems found that GDL systems are associated with reductions of about 19% for injury crashes and about 21% for fatal crashes for 16-year-olds.44
massive mature teen
Parents can play an important role in keeping teens safe on the road. Some studies indicate that parental monitoring and involvement can help reduce risky driving behaviors and increase safe driving behaviors among teen drivers.36,43,54,55
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety publishes a list of affordable vehicles that meet important safety criteria for teens. They also recently released a research paper explaining the benefits of newer vehicle technologies, like crash avoidance features and teen driver-specific technologies. These technologies have the potential to dramatically reduce teen crashes, injuries, and deaths.
Parents, pediatricians, and communities can find more information on how to keep teens safe on the road at www.cdc.gov/ParentsAretheKey. You will find free materials including a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement.
Changes in a teen's physical and thinking development come with big changes in their relationships with family and friends. Family relationships are often reorganized during puberty. Teens want more independence and more emotional distance between them and their parents. A teen's focus often shifts to social interactions and friendships. This includes same-gender friends, same-gender groups of friends, and cross-gender groups of friends. Sexual maturity triggers interest in dating and sexual relationships.
This means making decisions for one's self and acting on one's own thought processes and judgment. Teens start to learn to work out problems on their own. As teens develop more reasoning and intuitive abilities, they start to face new responsibilities. They start to enjoy their own thoughts and actions. Teens also start to have thoughts and fantasies about their future and adult life (for instance, college or job training, work, and marriage).
Close friendships tend to develop between teens with similar interests, social class, and ethnic backgrounds. While childhood friendships tend to be based on common activities, teen friendships expand to include similarities in attitudes, values, and shared activities. Teen friendships also tend to be based on educational interests. Especially for girls, close, intimate, self-disclosing conversations with friends help to explore identities and define one's sense of self. Conversations within these important friendships also help teens explore their sexuality and how they feel about it. Teen boys' friendships are often less intimate than those of girls. Boys are more likely to have a group of friends who confirm each other's worth through actions and deeds rather than personal sharing.
The sheriff on Monday said the teen mother had just been awarded full custody of her son after he spent months in the foster care system. The two were reunited on Jan. 13 - three days before they were both killed.
Because the prefrontal cortex is still developing, teenagers might rely on a part of the brain called the amygdala to make decisions and solve problems more than adults do. The amygdala is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour.
Bonus: Many of these teen activities are FREE or inexpensive, so you won't have to raise their allowance. Find more teen activities in our Teen and Tweens Guide to NYC and our jam-packed Activity Calendar.
If your teen is more interested in getting on stage than watching from the audience, check out the Firebird Youth Theater. Founded in 2013 by a committed group of talented NYC teens, the award-winning company presents one full-fledged, off-Broadway production a year, starring and directed by youngsters. This year's production is A Midsummer Night's Dream and employs a hybrid of online and in-person programming. Register now for the summer intensive or a roleplaying workshop.
There are a lot of bowling alleys in NYC that welcome teens. But the state-of-the-art Bowlmor Chelsea Piers offers so much more, including a 3,000-square-foot, NYC-themed laser tag arena featuring replicas of landmarks like the Washington Square Park Arch and the Statue of Liberty, an aerial ropes course, plus pingpong and arcade games. Teens are welcome until 8pm when it becomes 21 and over. Warning: They'll most likely blow an entire month's allowance here.
Back when I was a teen, there were arcades all over the city where I could play Pac-Man. These days, there seem to be more gaming bars, and teens can't go to those. However, there are a few old-school video game havens that are great for minors, so tell them to skip Times Square's touristy Dave & Buster's and head down to Chinatown Fair. Overhauled in 2012, this longtime arcade bursts with teens who seem to love its slightly seedy vibe and games like Ultra Street Fighter, Dance Dance Revolution, and pop-a-shot.
Want to make the teens ditch the screens altogether? Send them to a board game cafe. There are tons within the five boroughs, and the list is growing all the time. The Brooklyn Strategist hosts workshops in everything from chess to Dungeons & Dragons, as well as drop-in open-play sessions for an hourly fee. Gamestoria boasts a full calendar of collaborative games, too. The Uncommons cafe in Greenwich Village lets you choose from a vast on-site collection. Hex&Co now has locations on both the Upper East and Upper West Sides. There's also Brooklyn Game Lab, which offers afterschool games, summer sessions, and virtual Friday Night Hangouts, where kids can play Dungeons & Dragons with a master.
Send your teens and their crew to Area 53 NYC, a trio of brand new action-packed entertainment centers, that's great for a group and offers tons of activities to choose from. With locations in Williamsburg, Hunts Point, and Dumbo, teens can tackle everything from ropes courses to laser tag, paintball, mazes, climbing walls, air hockey, and even kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding. Teens must bring a signed waiver and copy of their parent's driver's license to play sans supervision.
If your teen has ever wanted to try parkour, in which participants treat our city like one big obstacle course, NY Parkour Academy offers outdoor beginner sessions for ages 15 and up. It's challenging, exhilarating, and admittedly dangerous to try on your own (just Google "parkour fails," and you'll see what we mean), but the pros at NY Parkour put safety first in their classes, which are held on Sunday afternoons in the East River Amphitheater on the Lower East Side. No long-term commitment is necessary. Just show up at the specified time with $20 for two hours of training. Also check out The Movement Creative, which offers parkour classes in Central Park and other locations all over NYC.
If your kid would prefer to climb walls instead of hopping over them, consider sending them to one of these kid-friendly rock-climbing spots. Those that are particularly teen-friendly include Brooklyn Boulders Teen Academy and Steep Rock Bouldering's two Harlem locations. We love The Cliffs at Harlem, a sprawling new bouldering gym, too. You can also climb at one of The Cliffs' other locations, including the seasonal, outdoor wall in Dumbo.
That youthful perspective has proven valuable, like when Whitlock told his team that plenty of teens today learn defensive driving and CPR. The company created a feeder program, in which high school seniors train to become SafeTrip drivers after graduation.
As Harry Potter's saga ends with the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" on July 21, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), can help parents, librarians, and educators keep the attention of teens hooked on Harry with read-alikes and resources for planning teen-focused programs.
"Ever since massive numbers of teens finished the first Harry Potter book and began to look for something else 'like that' to read, librarians have been faced with the welcome challenge of connecting these eager readers to new authors, series and characters," said Paula Brehm-Heeger, YALSA president.
And they do welcome that challenge, noted Marin Younker, chair of YALSA's 2008 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (PPYA) Committee. The committee compiles themed reading lists each year with the goal of encouraging young adults to read for pleasure by presenting them with popular or topical paperback books with teen appeal.
"There are so many other reading options for teens who are hooked on Harry Potter. It's just a matter of teens finding the right book, which we hope they will do by talking to their library media specialist or teen services librarian," said Younker.
Younker points to the nominations for the 2008 PPYA list "Magic in the Real World" as a starting point for Harry read-alikes. This list of recommended reading is meant to encourage teens to imagine what life would be like if magic really existed.
"Many of these titles are sure to appeal to Harry Potter readers," she said. "Teens who love Harry Potter can give 'Warrior Heir' a try, with its intense battle between good and evil plus newly discovered magical powers or the incredibly popular 'Lightning Thief' series by Rick Riordan. I'd also recommend Justine Larbalestier's 'Magic or Madness,' the first in a trilogy exploring family secrets. For something entirely different, the older teen reader can discover the complicated and fantastical world of London Below imagined by Neil Gaiman in 'Neverwhere.'" 041b061a72