Where There’s Smoke …
A new study says media plays an important role in whether youth start smoking.

The four-year study, tellingly titled, “The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use,” found the media does both. The $250 billion the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion is effective in drawing new users to its products, the report notes, and further says that smoking in movies and television continues to spark interest in tobacco use.

“The depiction of smoking is still pervasive in movies,” the report reads. “It occurs in three-quarters or more of contemporary box-office hits. This exposure leads to more youth smoking.” The study also notes that ads discouraging the use of tobacco use also are effective. It’s nice to know the 50 percent drop in tobacco use in the last 40 years wasn’t just a fluke. (U.S. News & World Report)

Going Pro
Blake Peebles left school early to concentrate on what could be a lucrative career as a professional “Guitar Hero” player.

Peebles, 16, is being tutored at home, leaving him more time to practice being a virtual virtuoso. “We couldn’t take the complaining anymore,” says Blake’s mom, Hunter. “He always told me he thought school was a waste of time.” With the best “Guitar Hero” players able to pocket $80,000 a year (not including sponsorships), some might argue Blake has a point.

“He’s amazing,” says Mike Gibson, who owns a couple of local gaming stores in Blake’s hometown of North Raleigh, North Carolina. “I can’t have tournaments for that anymore. I might as well just give him the prize.” (The News & Observer)

The Wonderful Web of Disney
Another sign of how important the Internet is to selling, well, pretty much everything these days, www.Disney.com is undergoing a major overhaul. It’s the second such revamp the Web site has undergone recently—startling, considering it already was the No. 1 Internet destination for children’s entertainment.

The new www.Disney.com includes more free videos (including some fulllength movies), games and do-dads for their cell phones, as well as a video interface similar to YouTube.

“It’s a repositioning of our digital front door,” said Paul Yanover, managing director of Disney Online. (New York Times)

I’ll Take ‘Household Distractions’ for $200, Alex
Television jeopardizes toddlers’ attention spans, according to a recent study published in the journal Childhood Development.

Researchers watched children between the ages of 1 and 3 play for an hour. For 30 minutes, the kids would play without a TV being on; for another half-hour, a television would air the game show “Jeopardy.”

While the kids only would look up and watch the tube occasionally, according to researchers, the kids weren’t nearly as focused, spending just half the time actually playing as they did without the television on.

“You actually can see sometimes more aimless behavior, walking around like they’re not quite sure what they’re going to do next,” said Daniel Anderson, a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts. Maybe they’re just contemplating how much they’d put down for the Daily Double. (Health Check)