YCU: Making It Harder for Teens to Drive

Steering Toward New Standards? — The U.S. Congress is considering a new bill that could make it significantly harder for teens to get their driver’s license. The Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), would require teens nationwide to be 16 before getting a driver’s permit and 18 before they’d be issued a license. Current requirements vary widely between states. The law, Bishop says, is intended to make the streets safer. Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for youth ages 15-20. “We educate people to take on all kinds of responsibilities,” says Bishop, “and the statistics are overpowering in terms of the damage that can be caused when kids get on the road and they’re not prepared to drive.” (ABC News)

Learning from Games — Video games a waste of time? Some experts say they’re anything but. Professors and scientists believe there are some very tangible benefits that come from playing games. An Israeli study, for instance, found that pilots-in-training who played “Space Fortress” ranked higher than those who didn’t play. “Pro-social” games that encourage cooperation among players can make them more empathetic. Daphne Bavelier, who has studied people playing first-person shooters such as “Medal of Honor,” found that gamers’ peripheral vision improved, and such games can be used to treat folks who have a lazy eye. “People who play these fast-paced games have better vision, better attention and better cognition,” she said. Bavelier believes many games also improve memory, hand-to-eye coordination and teach players how to allocate their resources better. She even says that games eventually will be used in the classroom. (Associated Press)

Drinking Problem — California’s state senate recently passed a measure to ban sports drinks in middle and high schools. The drinks already had been eliminated from elementary schools, and no California school has sold sodas since 2007. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Los Angeles) says the electrolyte-loaded sports drinks still will be available during sports practices and games: Students just can’t buy them from the school’s vending machines. Not everyone thought the law was a great idea, though. “I think this is nanny government run amok,” says Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks). (ABC News)

Looking for Some Privacy — While many folks seem to believe youth are less concerned with privacy than their forbears, the opposite may be true. A recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that youth ages 18-29 are more likely to delete comments from their social networking profiles than their parents, and 71 percent have strengthened their security settings on their Facebook or MySpace sites. Moreover, 28 percent of these youth say they “never” trust social networking sites. That’s twice the rate that folks ages 50-64 said they didn’t trust them. Experts say youth are more cautious of sites such as Facebook because they’re so much more familiar with them. They’re also extraordinarily brand-conscious—and are very aware that they have their own brands to protect. Says Mary Madden, a Pew researcher: “Young adults have in many ways been forced to become experts in their own form of social revision.” (Associated Press)

Quote: — “I have to present a public face that doesn’t have the potential to hurt my image.” — 21-year-old Marlene McManus, who’s scoured her Facebook page for any photos or comments that might hurt her during her ongoing job search. Source: Associated Press

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