A few weeks ago I attended the 140 Characters Conference on everything related to Twitter. I purposely left out a session from my article on this twitter conference because I thought that the presentation by Howard Greenstein and Dean Landsman on The Wisdom of Twitter deserved its own writeup.

It is very difficult to explain twitter to people that haven't used it. It is also difficult for beginners to understand all of the unique benefits of twitter until they see them. Even regular users don't know of all the benefits that the many twitter apps now give us. Did you know that you can tweet into the future with TweetLater.

Here is The Wisdom of Twitter slideshow:

Wisdom Of Twitter

View more documents from Howard Greenstein.

If you are interested in learning more about twitter, you might want to also look into the book, The Power of Twitter.

See also: 25 Most Popular Twitter Entertainment Users

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Alcohol has ruined the lives of many people of all ages. However, it can be particularly dangerous for teens who do not yet have fully matured brains to begin with (See The Real Reason Teenagers are so Shortsighted). I just read Testimony by Anita Shreve, one of my favorite authors, and if any novel is going to show teens the dangers of drinking, this is it.

The plot of Testimony is about the repercussions of a night of drinking at a private high school in Vermont. Many lives were ruined from this one event, including not only the teens that drank, but their families, other students, administrators at the school and townspeople. The book is written in the voices of all involved so that we can see all of the different perspectives.

I would highly recommend having your teenage sons and daughters read Testimony as a cautionary tale. Teens need to learn that all of their decisions have consequences and that alcohol impairs their ability to make decisions. Alcohol played a part in loosening two of the adult character's inhibitions which had horrific consequences also, so adults need to heed the same warnings. Testimony would be a wonderful book for the entire family to read and then discuss.

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Since learning of Michael Jackson's death, I have been thinking of the Michael Jackson we all knew and loved during the 1970s and 1980s. That is the way I want to remember him. However, I realized that my teenage sons and most of Gen Y, never knew that Michael Jackson.

To me, Michael Jackson was an extremely talented young man. To my kids, he was a weird androgynous person whose skin color changed and who allegedly molested young boys. They do appreciate the genius of Billy Jean and Beat It, but never made an effort to learn the rest of his music.

I have such memories of listening to the Jackson 5 during my tween years. I loved every single song they came out with. We were both approximately the same age, so when Off the Wall came out, it seemed the perfect music for that time in my life.

Then came Thriller. I still remember the first time I saw the music video of Thriller and was just as scared as if I was watching a horror movie. I remember the first time he performed his moon walk live on a Motown special. During the mid 1980s, the Thriller years, Michael Jackson really was the King of Pop.

Do you remember We are the World? The song for this charitable music video was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie and Michael was one of the key performers:



That is the Michael Jackson I am going to remember. And I am going to try to share those memories with my teenage sons. I want them to see the huge talent and genius that Michael Jackson was.

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Last week I attended a presentation by Ubisoft of new video games for kids and tweens that will be going on sale this fall. Most of these video games are for tween girls, however there is one, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Ubisoft, that both sexes will enjoy. This game is based on the classic children's book of the same name, and is a tie-in to the Sony animated feature film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs coming to theaters September 18th.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
You are Flint, the inventor of the machine that causes food to rain down from the sky in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. You must save the world from from this out-of-control machine using all kinds of inventions and gadgets. Available on all platforms, this video game will be available on September 15th.

Style Lab
Style Lab is a completely new brand in Ubisoft's catalog of games. Made for the DS and DSi, these games for tween girls allow them to find their own style while having fun. The first two titles to be released will be Style Lab Makover and Style Lab Jewelry Designer. They include a game to web functionality that allow players to extend their experiences online. I tried these games and had fun. If your daughter has the DSi with the camera, she can upload her picture to the makeup game and try out different styles on herrself. With the jewelry game, you can actually order any of the jewelry you or your daughter design to be made up, which you can then purchase for a small price.

Imagine
Ubisoft Imagine Video games were made to let your 6-14 year old experience her dream career. Some of the many titles already released are Imagine Teacher, Imagine Boutique Owner, Imagine Interior Designer and Imagine Family Doctor. Three new Imagine video games are being added in time for the holidays, "Imagine Fashion Designer World Style, Imagine Artist and Imagine Zookeeper. These games are all available for the DS and DSi.

Petz
Ubisoft Petz video games are made to provide girls from 6-12 with all the cuteness and interactivity they would want from a real pet. Some of the games already available are Petz Dogz Pack and Petz Horseshoe Ranch. New games being added this fall are Petz Nursery and Petz Dogz Talent. These games are available for the DS and PSP.

I saw a preview of the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie and it was adorable. Although made for kids and tweens, any parent that goes with them should enjoy this very entertaining movie.

See also: 3 Ubisoft Video Game Holiday Previews

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Do you want some advice on living with teenagers but don't want to read a long boring treatise. I have a few short, funny books to recommend that will make you laugh while giving great guidance.

Living With... series
A brand new series of books is hitting the stores this week. The first three books are all about living with different types of teens and is appropriately known as the Living with... series:

1. Living with a... Gamer - my favorite of the three, but only because I could completely relate. You will be introduced to the world of gaming and learn how to get through to your gaming teens.
2. Living with the... Next Big Thing: diva division - are you living with a teenage girl that wants to be the next American Idol? You will learn how to encourage her, deal with her moods and to laugh with her and not at her.
3. Living with an... Emo Kid - do you even know what an emo teen is? Learn about the emo world and discover ways to deal with your emo teen's angst.

These three "Living With" books are quick and easy to get through. They are filled with pictures, lists, and various graphics and are a lot of fun.

Teenagers Suck
No, I don't think teenagers suck, that is the name of the other book on living with teens that I would like to recommend. Teenagers Suck is a book about surviving parenting teens. This is closer to a regular book, with regular paragraphs and no pictures and graphics. However the style of writing is so humorous, I couldn't stop laughing as I was reading it.

The subtitle of Teenagers Suck says it all, "What to do when missed curfews, texting, and "Mom can I have the keys?" make you miserable. Some chapter names are:

• Hormones: How the simplest creatures become criminally insane
• Mars, Venus and Teentown
• You're not leaving the house looking like that
• What we have here is a failure to communicate
  

Enjoy these books and laugh while learning how to live with your teens.

See also:
2 Essential Books for Parents of Teenagers
ABC News Video on Teens and Texting with JuJu Chang

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I just previewed the pilot of a new Lifetime channel television series, Drop Dead Diva, premiering Sunday night July 12, at 9pm (ET/PT). I thoroughly enjoyed this hour long comedy drama. In addition to being very funny, Drop Dead Diva deals with body and self-image issues that make it a perfect TV show to watch with your teenage daughters.

Drop Dead Diva tells the story of Deb, a shallow model who dies in a sudden accident and then finds her soul has resurfaced in the body of a brilliant, plus-size attorney. Deb must come to terms with inhabiting Jane's plus-size frame in the ultimate showdown between brains and beauty. It is Heaven Can Wait with women and a message. Check out this very short video:



At the very beginning of the episode, I was worried that Drop Dead Diva was either going to be silly, or worse yet, do the exact opposite of what it is intended to do and make the wrong statement on body issues. However, once Deb inhabits Jane's body, Drop Dead Diva succeeds beautifully. When I finished watching the episode, I wanted to see the next one right away. Check out Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime on Sunday, July 12th.

See also:   
Drop Dead Diva Returns to Lifetime TV in June
Drop Dead Diva: TV comedy/drama dealing with body image

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Earlier this week I was lucky enough to be able to attend the 140 Characters Conference in NYC. It was one of the more interesting events I've been to. In twitter style, each speaker was limited to 10 to 20 minutes presentations, so there was a tremendous amount to absorb over a short period of time. I did walk away from the conference, more sure than ever, of the growing value of Twitter.

The highlights of the 140 Character Conference for me were (I will not be writing about every session, my apologies to anyone that I have left out):

Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver), the organizer of the conference, spoke first about the State of Now. The advent of twitter has democratized access to information for everyone.

JackDorsay (@jack), the cofounder and chairman of twitter spoke of twitter's approachability, transparency and immediacy. We can now read the thoughts of all types of people from all over the world. What is happening in Iran seems closer and more approachable due to twitter. He applied the quote, "Expect the unexpected and whenever possible be the unexpected" to twitter.

Time O'Reilly (@timoreilly), founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media spoke about the roots of media. Media is about serving a community. Being a publisher means finding interesting people and amplifying their voices. On twitter he likes to share chunks of what he learns each day through reading, talking, etc. When you do this you become an aggregator and distributor of content. He RTs to build community and share topics that he can't cover himself. Think to yourself, "How can I add value to the community?". Follow people that care about the same things as you.

Fred Wilson (@fredwilson), of Union Square Ventures spoke about the power of passed links. Links are the currency of the Internet. Most links to websites come from Google, but the traffic that twitter is referring is growing daily. He thinks that the combined power of twitter and Facebook will eventually pass Google for many websites.

John Borthwick, CEO of betaworks, spoke about the twitter ecosystem. The ecosystem will function better with authentication; thinking about the world on real time access; streams are a new form of representing data; and how will twitter make money?

David Saranga (@DavidSaranga), of the Israeli Consulate in New York was a very entertaining speaker. He spoke of how the media always portrays Israel as just tanks and conflict. He is using twitter to shows all sides of this country that has culture, science, technology, etc. The fact that we can bring our messages directly to the people, and bypass the mainstream media, is a revolution. For the first time we can all see what people are thinking on our own, without needing public opinion polls. It is easier, now, to reach people that you might not have been able to before. Government can now bypass the media to get their word out.

The effect of twitter on newspapers panel was moderated by Erick Schonfeld (@erickschonfeld) of TechCrunch. The line is breaking between people that disseminate text and people that use it. News people can now stay connected to people they've interviewed through twitter. Twitter also makes it possible to use RSS feeds less often, because if you follow the right people, they will stream what is important to you. When you report news that you've actually seen, put yourself in the story.

I was definitely looking forward to the panel on twitter:TV moderated by Shelly Palmer (@shelly_palmer) the host of MediaBytes. Caissie St.Onge (@Caissie) of Best Week Ever (being cancelled), Craig Engler (@Craigatscifi) of Sci Fi digital (channel renamed to SyFy) and Gavin Purcell (@gavinpurcell) coproducer of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon were on the panel. Craig mentioned that public opinion is not always the best because very often people don't know what they want. Before the updated Battlestar Galactica was made, most people were against the remake. Gavin said that you have to know that twitter is a conversation. People seem nicer on twitter than when making comments on blogs, possibly because they are less anonymous. Often twitter will be used to gain interest in a new show before it premieres, i.e. Jimmy Fallon. Twitter is great for connecting strangers.

Liz Strauss (@lizstrauss) spoke on marketing. Twitter is something like a TV show where the characters are aware there is an audience. You may talk to your friends but know that your talking for eavesdroppers also. There is a difference in promoting yourself and promoting your product. You should talk to friends about what you do in conversation. Don't push. Use @ sign as much as possible to keep everything a conversation. Listen for other perspectives to challenge your own assumption. "My blog lets me go deep, twitter lets me go wide". Her advice on how to get RTs: Make your message short and fun; one that somebody would be proud to pass on; and say Thank you.

Stowe Boyd (@stowebody) spoke about the evolution of microsyntax on twitter. Over time, people that used twitter developed their own methods of structuring syntax. It was users that created the RT, @, $, # and more.

Panel on the effects ot twitter on my business moderated by Brian Solis (@briansolis) of FutureWorks. Line up for your customers instead of forcing them to line up for you. Listen to what relates to your brand, people express needs on twitter, answer their needs. There were difference in how the different companies on the panel (Someecards, Radian6, Zappos) handle aspects of twittering such as should employees be themselves or the brand.

Maegan Carberry (@maegancarberry), blogger for the Huffington Post spoke about politics and twitter. Our social contract has changed. Congressman now tweet to constituents. You can quantify your sphere of influence by how many active twitter followers you have. We should tweet our best selves and put ourselves forward. What would the 60s protests have been like had we had twitter? Would the Berlin wall have come down sooner? We are making statements on twitter, sometimes just by changing the color of your picture.

The number one highlight of the conference was the panel on TV newsers. Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) was the moderator and Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) and her producer were there as well as Rick Sanchez (@ricksanchezcnn) and his colleague from CNN. What a heated and intelligent discussion. CNN had been criticized over the past weekend for not covering the Iran election protests enough. Twitter took the lead in this coverage, so much so that the U.S. State Department asked twitter to postpone a scheduled shutdown for maintenace. Rick Sanchez was very loud and persistent in his defence of CNN. Scoble said that twitter won't take over the news media but will force it into a smaller role. Ann Curry has become my new idol. Every word out of her mouth was gold. Some of her highlights:

• It is difficult to do as many stories as she would like to about what is happening in other countries, because the American Public are not as interested. We need to globalize the world.
• She did an hour story on Iran the week before the election because she realized that this was something we needed to know about.
• We have these ideas about Iran that plays into the demonization of the enemy. Ann saw, while in Iran, that we are very much alike.
• When covering foreign countries the mistake often made is not being able to empathize. Make it your mandate, whether in Iran, Darfur, etc. to do the story like it is your family you are writing about. It is the road to clarity, truth and understanding; to fully becoming more global.
• It is important to make sure that the story is true, on twitter as elsewhere. There is an obligation to tell the truth.
• Guard against misinterpretation constantly. Understand your reader.
• Judgment is not taught, it is gained over time.
• Reporting is a service job, not a business.
• Twitter is whatever you make of it, but for news, it is 2-way broadcasting.
• Money plays too big a part in the news. There are reruns of Larry King even during big news times, because it is cheaper.
• What people want to know (celebrity gossip), needs to be overcome by what they need to know (what is happening in the world).

John Byrne (@JohnAByrne) - of Business Week said that 80% of what journalists do can be opensourced. Twitter is a way to bring the outside in and the inside out. Tell people what you are working on in advance.

James Cox (@imajes) of CNNBRK - People wanted bitesize news throughout the day, which is what we have now on twitter. People want trust in their source of news. Stop trying to tell the news, tell stories instead.

Moeed Ahmad (@moeed) of the Al Jazeera Network spoke about how twitter is transforming reporting in crisis situations. #Gaza was a trending topic for awhile but it was just discussion and no facts, so Al Jazeera set up a twitter account to report on the story. "Telling the truth is hard. Not telling it is even harder".

Jeremy Epstein (@jer979) a marketing navigator spoke of the signal to noise ratio on twitter. He feels the rules of marketing are to share quality links and don't tweet too often. Build relationships.

Christopher Weingarten (@1000TimesYes), very funny music writer for Rolling Stone and the Village Voice spoke about magazines going away and the need for critics becoming nonexistent. Now, everyone has a music blog. Also, promo CDs are online immediately so that everyone can review new music as quickly as critics can and you can hear it yourself and make up your own mind. Music has become more diverse because of this. However, on twitter, most people say what music they like, but not why. That is why we need critics, to discuss the because.

Kevin Slavin, founder of area/code spoke about "things" that twitter. Plants with sensors in them twitter that they need water. Nike has sneakers that can tweet to you. College laundry rooms will tweet to students when machines are available. Food trucks tweet when they are in your area. These are just a small example of things that tweet.

Moms and twitter panel @AudreyMcClellan @JessicaGottlieb @rockandrollmama - Audrey started using twitter by talking about how to lost baby weight. Since stuck in with 4 little kids, twitter gave her a way to connect and share online. It is like a Webmd for mothers. Get more info on kids sickness, etc. from twitter. Lindsey Maines, got into twitter to promote her website and musical identity. She uses it mostly during 10pm - 1am, kids are in bed. Jessica found a community within twitter - when someone shares pictures of events she connects and writes the dialog for it. Lindsey said that twitter removes geographic limitations on community. Lower barrier of entry than blogging.

Laura fitton (@pistachiofounder) of 140inc and co author of twitter for dummies spoke of her love for twitter. With twitter I'm never without my people - never alone. When you are not alone incredible things can happen. When isolated she became stronger through connections on twitter.

Twitter and Mad Men was a fun time with CarriBugbee (@peggyolson) and Helen Klein Ross (@bettydraper) talking about playing characters on twitter. They do this on their own but work hard at it. AMC originally took down their profiles but changed their mind the next day. More character profiles were created even for tiny characters and objects. Won shorty award for tweeting as Peggy Olsen.

Twitter Celebrities does not refer to celebrities on Twitter. The twitter celebs panel was made up of people that are extremely popular on twitter: @adventuregirl, @chrisbrogan, @juliaroy and @ijustine. Justine gained popularity by sharing her own videos on twitter. How do they do it - on all day, uses dms. Can use this power for good by promoting charities.

Eric Peterson (@erictpeterson) - spoke on the topic of twitter stats. 10% of people use twitter. Less than half tweet more than 10 times a week. You can use twitalyzer to check twitter statistics.

Steve Rubel (@steverubel) from Edelman Digital spoke about twitter and PR. People need to hear something 3-5 times before they trust it and from multiple sources. Companies that identify their all-stars and activate them in a meaningful way will win. But don't get too attached to twitter. No online community has ever had a staying power of more than 5 years - people are fickle. He thinks next big thing will be open social, Facebook will be an ecosystem not a destination.

Twitter book publishing panel: The publishing model is broken, but not the industry. New methods are needed.

Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) said you should build relationships on Twitter, then leverage them. (It's OK to do that!). The Web is a network. The more you act like it is a network, the more you realize and leverage the power of it. You want to do business with people you like so be human and intimate on twitter.

Panel on twitter as the GPS for the Greater Social Media Mesh: What shouldn't you do? When to not use twitter? Don't use auto bots. Use relevance and timing. If you are not adding value you are spam. Square space ? made noise didn't add value. Commitment - know that you are in this for the long haul, and converse. Twitter helps you to be discovered.

Video on twitter panel: When you put video on twitter, people will get to know you. Video is the next moment before you actually meet people in real life. Video is different than photos because of mannerisms and voice.

Bronwen Clune (@bronwen) of Norg media said that as remote as you live, twitter helps you overcome geographical handicap. Control media is any media that seeks to take control of news media - newspapers, tv and radio and some websites. Twitter is almost the opposite of control media.

Panel on Brands on twitter: Listen and learn what people want from you. Many will have customer service questions even though the people that are twittering from the company are usually not customer service people.

Marlooz (@marlooz) spoke about finding relationships on twitter. Can you find love? Will this take over from Internet dating services. She has dated people she has met on twitter more than once.

Twitter and publishing panel: The way that books are marketed needs to be completely changed. Publishers must turn to social media.

Hjortur Smarason (hjortur) spoke on how he became a twitter character. Followers that you get with automated responses are worthless. "You want to go where everyone knows your name". Replace volume with character. Hjortur live tweeted the birth of his son and the earthquake in Iceland (where he lives).

Scott Porad (@scottporad) from the "I Can Has Cheezburger" website spoke about community. Twitter is going to get more centered around events. Tweet in the context of community.

Jeffery Sass (@sass) gave a talk called "Everything I know about twitter I learned in grade school." Share and show that you respect the community. Find out who the cool kids are. Ease your way in. Listen. Make friends by sharing. You also need to participate. Help answer peoples questions. Don't be a tattle tale, don't embarrass someone on twitter. Your homework is to read something before you share or RT it. Show up, attendance counts and Ignore bullies.

Mellisa Pierce (@melissapierce) is producing a documentary on twitter. A planned life isn't worth living because tech makes everything immediate. If you are impassioned then the people around you become impassioned too. Your integrity is only as good as the people you interact with. Her followers made it so much easier for her to make her film "Life in Perpetual Beta".

Congratulations for making it through the longest post I've ever written. I didn't cover the wonderful talk by @howardgr and @DeanLand on the "Wisdom of Twitter" because I am leaving that for another post. I will also write future posts on many of the exhibitors that attended the 140 Character Conference on Twitter.

Updated to add: 25 Most Popular Twitter Entertainment Users

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Update 5/2010: Secret Life of the American Teenager Season 3 episodes and Volume 4 DVD

December 2009 update: Interview with Shailene Woodley of The Secret Life of the American Teenager


I know all of you Secret Life of the American Teenager fans must be getting pretty excited with the season 3 debut less than a week away. Also, a reminder that The Secret Life of the American Teenager Season Two DVD went on sale June 16.

Kristen at E!Online has some very interesting news about the 3rd season of Secret Life, premiering June 22nd. According to Kristen:

• Somebody major dies.
• Somebody gets pregnant.
• Somebody loses their virginity.
• Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, will guest star as a pregnant teen.
• More of Adrian's backstory will be revealed.
• The Amy, Ricky and Ben triangle gets even more difficult now that the baby is born.

Parents, if your teens watch The Secret Life of the American Teenager, watching it with them will give you a great opportunity for many discussions. Enjoy the 3rd season.

Added October 31: Secret Life of the American Teenager - New Season and DVD coming soon!

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One of the biggest benefits that I received from attending the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup a few weeks ago was the ability to meet some wonderful people that are interested in helping our youth. One of them, Ian Gold, former football player with the Denver Broncos has created WhatAreKidsSaying.com to provide youth with a platform to have a voice and express their views through creative writing and personal expression. WhatAreKidsSaying is an honest and safe venue for youth to write and express their opinions. It is free and open to all kids and teens between the ages of 7 and 18.

Members can either make their writings public or place them in their "Time Capsule", a private place for them to house their writing, music, videos, and pictures free of judgment. The website also offers weekly writing contests open to all kids 7-18 in the following areas: True Story, Short Story, Q&A, Music Lyrics, Poetry and Quote Board. The winner's posts will be featured on the homepage of WhatAreKidsSaying for a week and will then move into the Winners Archive.

Coming up in WhatAreKidsSaying are College scholarship drawings, Virtual Classrooms for teachers, and a variety of other ways in which kids and teens can creativly express their opinion. The National Spokeman for WhatAreKidsSaying is Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers wide receiver. He also runs a charitable Foundation for Underpriveleged Children and makes a great role model.

Parents, there are many benefits for you also. You can read all the materials that the kids and teens make public and get a better view of what they are thinking and feeling. It is also a safe, kid friendly environment. There are no discussions, chat rooms or judgments. This website helps to build kids self-esteem and increase awareness of their feelings and what their peers are thinking. Founder, Ian Gold designed WhatAreKidsSaying.com to improve the lives of children, increase computer literacy, enhance creative writing skills and give kids a platform for self expression.

See also: SuperFutures Offers Teens Online Guidance Counselors

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Does your teenager spend too much time on their iPhone? If so, have them put it to good use. There are many educational iPhone apps that can help teens in school, tests and with general knowledge. Here are 13 iPhone apps that I find best for teenage students (all Lite versions are free):

See 2010 update: 10 More iPhone Apps for Students

General
1. My Homework - Keep track of homework, classes, project and tests. Free
2. Dictionary.com - Top rated app includes a dictionary, thesaurus and word of the day and includes audio pronunciation. Free

Social Studies
USA Factbook - Facts about all 50 states and the country. Free
USA Presidents - Flash Card application with quiz mode. Free
History: Maps of the World - Free
World Countries - Facts about 238 countries and quizes. $ .99

Math
Graphing Calculator - Turns your iPhone into a high-resolution function plotter and scientific calculator - $ .99
Math Ref - formulas, figures and tips. $ .99 and Lite version.

Science
The Chemical Touch - Periodic Table with a wealth of information. $.99. Lite version available.

Art
Art - Right now only Lite version is available with 5 of the world's most famous artists, facts, bio and pictures. Great quiz. When new version comes out if will have 81 artists.

Language
Free Spanish Tutor - Free
Free French Tutor - Free
Human Japanese - $9.99 or Lite version available

Are there any other educational iPhone apps that you would recommend?

Added:
Cool New Apps!
8 Back to School apps for College Students
3 Teen and Tween Logic Solitaire Games
How to Find the Best Apps
Study and Homework Help - 5 Great Student Websites
4 Great iPhone Apps for Teens 2010

. 

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20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler is yet another Young Adult novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am really starting to think that the line between YA and books for adults is becoming more blurred as time goes on. This is a wonderful summer novel for teenage girls and their mothers.

"TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer." The characters and conversations are very real and the story at times is heartbreaking.

Anna and Frankie are teenage girls who have been best friends their entire lives. Anna has always had a crush on Frankie's older brother Matt. She is swept away when they secretly begin a relationship after her 15th birthday party. One month later Matt dies in a tragic car accident. Frankie and her parents grieve terribly over there loss. For Anna the grief is quite different. She feels she must keep their secret, so she can't fully grieve in public. The next summer Anna accompanies Frankie on a family vacation to their beach house. Frankie devises a plan for them each to meet 20 boys that summer. However, Anna is still thinking "What is the statute of limitations on feeling guilty for cheating on a ghost?"

20 Boy Summer is Sarah Ockler's first novel. It is a compelling story, which not only deals with grief, but about making the most out of your life. I look forward to Sarah's next book. For more information on the author and 20 Boy Summer, follow Sarah's blog.

See also: Will Grayson, Will Grayson - YA Novel by Two Award Winning Authors

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Change the Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking for Teens is a book that can change your teen's life. This is the third book in a series of Asset-Based thinking books. The first was written for people in business and the second for adults in their personal life. The authors, Kathryn Cramer and Hank Wasiak, decided that their Asset-Based way of looking at everything differently would be perfect for teens and published this third book to their series.

I am not a big fan of self help books in general, so I was a bit skeptical when I began reading Asset-Based Thinking for Teens. I read through the entire book in one seating and was amazed. The book helped me.

The philosophy of the book is very simple. It teaches your teen (and you) to put a positive spin on everything, rather than looking at the negative side of things. The authors make that easier to do by giving concrete examples of specific situations.

Change the Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking for Teens has chapters on three different areas of life:

1. Change the way you see you - The deeper you look the more you find.
2. Change the way you see relationships - Relating is an attitude and an action.
3. Change the way you see responsibilities - How things turn out depends on how you tune in.

The authors have also set up a website abtteen.com with some additional tips and tools for teens. You can also learn more about the Asset-Based approach on this site. I highly recommend giving this book a try. It is written at a level that even the youngest teens can read and understand, however it is appropriate for any age. If you really put into motion the lessons from this book, and change the way you look at everything, you will be happier. Could your teens use this?

See also:   
Unstoppable in Stilettos - Lessons in Self-confidence and Success
Gabrielle Bernstein offers Gen Y a Hip Guide to Happiness
Self-help book for teen girls to gain self-respect
Tips for Teens by Teen Author in Brain Snacks for Teens on the Go

 

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Are you missing Lost as much as I am? I know of a few groups online that are re-watching and discussing old Lost episodes, but I'm not ready to do that yet. I have been surfing the web for anything related to Lost, and have recently found some interesting news and a great Video put together by ABC to help untangle the ending of season 5.

First the news articles:

1. Matthew Fox Tells Us How Lost Ends (and How Season Six Begins) - EOnline!

2. Dominic Monaghan ABC mystery: Solved? - Zap2it

3. Getting Lost: Is a Full-On Flight 815 Reunion Headed Our Way? - TV Guide

ABC has put together an Untangled Video to help make sense of the ending of Season 5. The video even has music from the singing duo Previously on Lost, the group that puts together musical recaps to all Lost episodes. The video is a lot of fun:



To keep you busy this summer, don't forget that the ABC Lost Website has free episodes of Lost online and many activities in the Features and Community links on the site. I can't wait for Season 6 of Lost!

See also:

Lost at Comic-Con: Top 10 Highlights

Lost Theories iPhone App

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Ovarian Cancer research is very near and dear to Kelly Ripa, and yesterday she launched a unique method of raising money for it. I had the privilege of attending the launch party at the Boat House in Central Park where Kelly posed for pictures, answered questions and lemonade was served to all.

The lemonade stand is actually a virtual one. You are not going to see Kelly Ripa on a corner pouring lemonade. Kelly has teamed up with Electrolux Appliances to "Invite Americans To Get Cool For A Cause".

There are two ways of helping out. You can open your own lemonade stand on Kelly's website, Kelly Confidential or Electrolux Appliances. It took me about two minutes to make mine. You get your own url link to your stand which you can then ask your friends to visit and buy a glass of virtual lemonade, i.e. make a donation. If you don't want to set up your own stand, you can visit Kelly's website and donate to any stand such as my "Jennifer's Lemonade Stand".

Not only will you be donating to a good cause, but when you open a lemonade stand, and then every time you visit your stand or donate money to a stand, you are entered to win a new French Door Refrigerator from Electrolux. So join Kelly Ripa and help support Ovarian Cancer research.

See also:  
Lady Gaga Partners with Zynga to Save The Children in Japan
The Talk on CBS - Funny Moms Great Time

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Today you are being treated to a guest post by Vanessa Van Petten, the teen author of the parenting book “You’re Grounded!” She writes a parenting blog, Radical Parenting, with 12 other teen writers from the kid's perspective to help parents. Her work as a young family peacemaker have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Teen Vogue, CNN, Fox News, CBS Miami and much more!

6 Ways to Bond With Your Teen or Tween

Even though I am not a parent, I know how hard it can be to get kids—especially angsty teens to connect and open up to parents. Writing a parenting blog from a teen’s perspective has forced me to look back at my own teen years (only 3 years ago) and feel really, really bad for my parents.

My moods, like most teens, ranged from benevolent to furious to exhausted. We can be horrible. Parents today have to be a mix of a hotel concierge, taxi service, maid, technology spy and health food marketer. I wish we were all less hormonal, but that probably will not happen anytime soon so here are a few ideas for bonding with your teen.

1. Always Have Conversation Starters Ready

Instead of asking the standard questions about school and weekend plans in car rides home or at the dinner table always have some thought provoking questions at the ready. These will help you bond and get to know your child, as well as helping them learn to articulate their feelings. Try:

What is your proudest accomplishment?
Or
What is the greatest song ever written?
Or
There is a whole list of teen and tween conversation starters here. (http://www.vanessavanpetten.com/2008/06/02/table-topics/)

2. Take A Usual Activity and Turn It Upside Down

This works really well with teens or tweens who are really resistant to trying anything new. If they are couch potatoes make a TV scavenger game where in an hour of TV whoever can catch the most cliché phrases, brunettes or “likes” in a Disney Show gets to go to Ice Cream. If they are really into Baseball or Tennis have them put together a free clinic for younger kids on your street. If they love to talk on the phone and gossip with friends about shopping have them start a new fashion podcast with you. This will show them you want to do something they like, but you want them to do something with it and with you!

3. Have them Plan Something

Giving your teens complete control to plan something can actually be a great bonding activity because you are empowering them to make choices for you, which can reverse the roles and have them act more adult. Have them plan a day trip where they can decide where and when you go, where you eat and how to decipher maps. While this is going on they will be in a more take-charge mode and you can make awesome conversation.

4. Do A New Activity

Take a dance/sushi/soccer skills class or workshop together. Anything you can do to get them out of their habit will help open up new conversation for you and them. You can also both learn new skills. Here is another great list of 10 Activity Ideas for your teen (http://www.vanessavanpetten.com/2008/01/31/10-activity-ideas-for-your-teen/).

5. Bond With Their Friends

You can learn a lot about your child from their friends and you can earn some serious brownie points from them if you make an effort with them. Host a game night or movie night for their friends with the stipulation that you get to run some of the Ice Breakers that they play with you as the host. You might have a little trouble getting started, but once you start playing some of these games, everyone will get into it—including you! RoseMary Honnold lists some great ones. (http://www.cplrmh.com/icebreakers.html)

6. Find a Cause

This one is important for their development as well. Appeal to something they are passionate about whether it is the environment, pets, music or reading and decide to make it your cause together. If they like music, there are great programs that bring music into lower income schools or encourage music lessons in violent areas as another release who always need music and instruments. You can your kid can volunteer or start an instrument drive. If they like puppies have them take your dogs to local hospitals or elderly homes. This is good for the community and your relationship. Here is a great article on 20 Volunteer Ideas for Teens (http://www.bygpub.com/books/tg2rw/volunteer.htm).

If you liked this post, please check out the rest of my blog at www.RadicalParenting.com a parenting blog from the kid’s perspective!

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During the past six months or so, the word Sexting has became part of our daily language. The media use it constantly. Even parents that don't have teens are up in arms about it. New technologies have their price. I want to talk about some of the bigger issues involved with

Sexting:

What exactly is it?
According to the youth written Urban Dictionary: "the act of text messaging someone in the hopes of having a sexual encounter with them later; initially casual, transitioning into highly
suggestive and even sexually explicit". Sexting doesn't necessarily mean pictures and are very often not involved. Although sending provacative photos has become the biggest issue, it is not that common.

Legal Issues
Recently the question has come up as to whether minors, sending nude pictures to other minors, should be prosecuted under child pornography laws. Many states are grappling over this issue right now. I think there are two different issues. If a teen sends a nude picture of herself to a willing viewer, that should not be a crime. However, if the friend that forwards that pictures to all his friends without the consent of the teen in the picture, that is a whole different story. I'm not sure if they should be punished under adult, child pornography laws, but there should be consequences to help prevent this from happening.

Teen Safety
As parents, how can you help prevent your teens from making these mistakes? And teens, what should you know about digital safety? Yahoo Safely has put together a website to help both teens and parents with online safety issues. The parent site is filled with blogs written by experts on topics such as sexting, cyber-bullying and teaching your kids about online risks. The teens area has a section written by other teens on being safe and a great Q&A.

As always, talk to your teens about Sexting and let them know you are there for them. This is a whole new world that today's teens are facing and we must keep up with all of the new technology to understand their world and help guide them through it.

See also:
Bullying: Words Can Kill - Must See for Parents and Educators
YA Authors and Musicians Take On Bullying

ABC News Video on Teens and Texting with JuJu Chang
NS Teens - Fun Website Teaches Teens to be Safe Online 
Teen Checkup - Blog for parents to learn about teens and the Internet 
Urban Legends - Don't fall for them

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The Learning Games Network is a non-profit organization established to spark innovation in the design and use of games for learning. It is a network of scholars, teachers, producers, parents and game designers committed to developing and distributing the type of learning tools that teachers, parents and students need to learn in the 21st Century. What they do "ranges from helping publishers and other media companies develop new games specifically for learning to creating and collecting new ways to use popular entertainment games in education".

The Learning Games Network is holding a contest to help convince the world that digital games are not only cool, but they can also be very educational. The contest is open to all current students in the United States age 13 and older. There will be separate winners for middle school, high school and post-secondary. Entries can be made in one of two categories

1. My "Aha" Moment - Make a 2 to 3 minute video talking about an experience you had while playing a video game where you saw a connection between something that happened in the video game and something that you learned elsewhere.
2. My Dream Assignment - Make a 2 to 3 minute video picturing yourself as a teacher or coach assigning homework or a class activity and you choose a great game for learning for them to use. What kind of video game would you choose and how would this game help them learn better?

Be creative and passionate. For more details on this contest and the prizes, go to the Learning Games Network contest web page. All entries must be received by July 31, 2009.

The Learning Games Network has teamed up with AMD to run this contest. AMD, Advanced Micro Devices, is an innovative tech company dedicated to igniting the next generation of computing and graphics solutions. They recently created the AMD Foundation, which includes AMD Changing the Game, an initiative designed to help youth harness the power of digital games with social content, while learning critical education and life skills.

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I just returned from a very interesting and educational conference all about teens. The conference was run by Ypulse, a media platform founded by Anastasia Goodstein, the author of the book Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online.

Throughout the next few weeks, I will be writing about some of the wonderful companies and websites catering to teens that I discovered at this conference. For now, I'd like to share the findings on this generation of teenagers with you. Please go to the article that I wrote on my Parenting Teens Examiner page for these results.

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Just added: Contest for ABC Family Secret Life and Pretty Little Liars Books, DVDs and More

Update 5/2010: Secret Life of the American Teenager Season 3 episodes and Volume 4 DVD

If you are a fan of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, there is plenty of good news right now. Season 3 will premiere on June 22nd and The Season 2 DVD will go on sale on June 16, 2009. This will give you six days to re-watch season 2 of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and get ready for the brand new season.

Here is a sneak peek video from the season 3 premiere:



You can pre-order the Season 2 DVD of The Secret Life of the American Teenager on Amazon at a discounted price. With Amazon's pre-order price guarantee, if the price decreases between now and June 16th, you will be charged the lower price even if you pre-order now. For more information on The new season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, go to its official site at ABC Family.

The first episode of The Secret Life will premiere at 8/7c pm Monday night June 22nd. Immediately afterward at 9/8c a new series will be premiering on ABC Family. Make It or Break It is set in the world of gymnastics. Emily is so excited to join a team of Olympic hopefuls at a Colorado training center but has trouble fitting in. For more information on this series, go to its web page on ABC Family.

Check out this sneak peek video of the premiere of Make It or Break It:



I hope you enjoy a great night of television on Monday night, June 22nd and the remaining summer Monday nights thereafter. The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It of Break It look like they will be a winning combination.

See also: 
Huge - New ABC Family TV Series about Overweight Teens
Secret Life of the American Teenager - New Season and DVD coming soon!
Secret Life of the American Teenager News!
The Secret Life of the American Teenager 2nd season

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