Big Time Rush

It is not easy to keep up with what is trending in pop culture. It never was, but with the Internet, everything moves much faster, and trends change even more quickly. Advertising Age recently released The Ad Age Pop Thermometer, an article of what's trending, trailing and tired in pop culture right now.

While you will have to go to the article to read about all of the pop culture trends, here are a few that might interest parents of teens:

• Magnetic Nail Polish is trending, say goodbye to Rubber nail polish.
• Sperry's boat shoes are in, Keds are fading and Converse Chucks are so yesterday.
• If you haven't heard of Big Time Rush yet, you will, they are the trending Boy Band right now (picture above).
• Razorbombing has become the new college prank. It involves taking a picture of something with a razor in the foreground to create a visual pun.

To learn what else is trending or not in pop culture, go to Advertising Age and read The Ad Age Pop Thermometer. One of my favorite places to keep up with pop culture on a regular basis is Entertainment Weekly, both in print and online. It isn't easy, but you don't want to be so uncool that you still think that the Jonas Brothers are the big hot thing.

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Most teenagers use social networking websites. Networking is very helpful in building careers. What if there was a social networking website for teens that focused on its members career goals and dreams and had sponsors available to help? Would your teen join? Your LifeBox is exactly that website.

Your LifeBox is a free website for teenagers and college students to share their dreams, goals and passions with other members and sponsors. Members create profiles, make friends and can manage messages, blogs, invites and interactive commentary. Many also make videos to broadcast their dreams. Members with common goals and dreams can connect and support each other.

Members can ask for help of a non-monetary nature, something practical, like a social connection, opportunity or introduction. In this economy, very often, the best shot in getting a job is often who you know. Your LifeBox creator, Jonathan Bullard, realized this and included this aspect into the website to help make dreams a reality. It might be as simple as another member informing you of an opportunity after reading your goals or as much as an introduction to an interviewer.

As if Your LifeBox wasn't already doing enough, it has also launched a program to reward scholarships to participating members. $1,000 scholarships are given out on a quarterly basis throughout the year. Details can be found on the Your LifeBox Student Scholarships webpage.

Watch a short commercial video for Your LifeBox:


What are you waiting for? Have your teenager sign up for Your LifeBox today!

See also:  
Change My World Now Website Empowers Youth
Help your Teens make Career Decisions

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Paying bills online saves time, money and our environment. However, it is more difficult to track when our bills are due. Without the paper bill sitting on your desk as a reminder, how do you remember to pay each bill? Email reminders get lost in the shuffle. A FREE new website, Manilla, was designed to solve this very problem and give you a one-stop place to pay all your bills.

Manilla was created to give consumers an easier and better way to manage their household accounts. Manilla gives you:

• One central place to manage your household and financial accounts, travel rewards programs and subscriptions with only one log-in
• Automatic reminders to keep you from incurring late fees and losing points and miles
• An easy-to-use site that helps you reduce paper clutter and keep up with your accounts in less time

You might be thinking, why not just pay all my bills through my bank website? That is what I thought at first. However there are big advantages using Manilla, such as seeing the due dates for every bill you have all on one page and having all your old bills saved for years on one website.

Once you are using Manilla, it is almost impossible to forget a due date. On your accounts page, every account you have is listed with the due date below. Once a due date falls within a certain number of days (you can set up and adjust alerts yourself) a bright red alert will appear on your home page. An email alert(s) will follow after another few days depending on setup.

With Manilla, you can do everything within this one site. You can open your bills from Manilla, pay them and check the balances. You can also use Manilla for keeping track of subscriptions, travel rewards and daily deal coupons. You can even check your balances on the go with Manilla mobile apps. Since Manilla is still in Beta, who knows what they will add next.

In a survey released by Manilla, it is women, not men, that lose sleep over finances and a lack of financial organization is a leading factor in sleep deprivation for women. Manilla is a great way to organize your household finances. Don't forget that soon your teens will be on their own and paying bills and they are likely to emulate what they see at home. So be organized and set a good example.

Full Disclosure: I met with executives of Manilla at their offices to learn about the program and was served coffee, snacks and lunch. I received no compensation and all opinions are my own.

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Girl Fight, a new Lifetime Original Movie, is inspired by a headline making true story of a group of teenage girls beating another girl so that they could video it and post it on You Tube. Real-life couple, Anne Heche (Hung, Men in Trees) and James Tupper (Men in Trees, Mercy) play the parents of Haley, the 16 year old victim in Girl Fight.

Haley has always been an outsider until the leader or Queen Bee of the group takes a liking to her. She enjoys her new found popularity, however not everyone in the group is thrilled with Haley's arrival. Eventually they all turn against her.

The violent scene was not easy to watch. Is is shown in bits and pieces, however we see replays of many of the bits throughout the remainder of the movie. The aftermath of the violence was a large part of Girl Fight and I thought they handled very well the impact it had on Haley and her family not only physically, but emotionally, legally and socially.

I've written about bullying lately, but it has been mostly about verbal abuse. This is bullying of a completely different nature. While the other is more commonplace and this is fairly bizarre and one is words and this is punches, they can both cause the same amount of damage to a teen's psyche. Bullying is bullying no matter how it is done.

Watch Girl Fight, a Lifetime Original Movie, premiering on Lifetime on Monday, October 3, at 9pm, ET/PT.

See also:  
Five: All Star Cast in Breast Cancer Anthology on Lifetime
Bullying: Words Can Kill - Must See for Parents and Educators 
Amanda Knox Lifetime Movie

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Majors & Minors is a singing competition TV show, beginning Friday night, that an entire family can enjoy. Twelve very talented 10 -16 year olds (the minors) compete and nobody is voted off. However, only one will win a recording deal and a nationwide tour.

Better yet, in a move similar to The Voice, celebrities (the majors) coach the contestants. However the coaches are all fairly young singers also and include Jordan Sparks, Brandy, Adam Lambert, Avril Lavigne, Sean Kingston, Colbie Caillat and will.i.am.

Check out this preview of Majors & Minors:


If this trailer is still jumpy go to The Hub to watch another trailer instead.

Majors & Minors will premiere on Friday night, September 23 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT on The Hub TV Channel. The Hub is a fun destination that brings kids and their families together. You can find the channel for The Hub on your television by going to The Hub Channel Locator and putting in your zip code and TV service provider.

I think this TV show looks like one of the nicest most entertaining shows that I've seen in a long time. I've already set my DVR for Friday night for Majors & Minors on the Hub channel.

See also: Family Game Night TV Series on New Hub TV Network

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English Idioms Illustrated App

Words. Unless you were an English major, most people, no matter how old, do not remember everything they need to know about words in our crazy English language. Luckily, there are now apps that we can have wherever we go to help us. The word apps and website that I am recommending below are great for teenage students and their parents.

WordWit - iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad $1.99
This app was created to help you make sense of commonly misused words. Do you ever mistake compliment with complement? What about disperse and disburse? If so, this app is for you. There are hundreds of these pairs in a fun to use, colorful app that use clever mnemonics and quotes to help you learn.

Word Magic English Thesaurus - iPhone and iPad $1.99
What makes this app stand out from any other thesaurus app? You can search phrases, not only single words! That is big. There are many times that I am using a thesaurus specifically because I want to replace a phrase with a single word. There are many other benefits to this wonderful app, which you can read about on the app description but to me, the phrase search alone makes it a must have.

English Idioms Illustrated - iPhone and iPad (coming soon to Android)
An idiom is an expression or term that is unique to each language such as "An axe to grind". Professor Potts brings each idiom to life by illustrating each one of them as a series of cartoon panels. This is a fantastic way for parents to help explain what these sayings mean to their kids. And, it is a very interesting way to learn how some of these idioms came about, even if you know what they mean. 160 idioms are included. If you want to sample the app first, you can get the first 23 for free.

Word Dynamo Website
Word Dynamo is part of the Dictionary.com website. The site was developed for students from elementary to high school to work on their vocabulary, reading and writing skills. This new site combines the engagement of gaming with proven study techniques. There are sequenced challenges, personalized study guides which students can follow at their own page, a study dashboard that allows students to track and monitor their progress and an entire library of lessons.

With all of these great Word app and website tools, we should all be experts at our own language one day.

See also:  
Cool New Apps!
8 Back to School apps for College Students 
New Art, History and SAT Test Prep Apps
Wikets App Rewards Social Recommendations
 

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When I first saw the new advice book, What Do You Expect? She's a Teenager! A Hope and Happiness Guide for Moms with Daughters Ages 11-19, I thought, not another advice book for mothers of teenage girls. However, the author of this book, Arden Greenspan-Goldberg, has a unique philosophy which made What Do You Expect? very interesting and worth reading.

The author's philosophy is to help parents respond instead of reacting. Instead of doling out punishments and curfews, parents should enlist their daughters in creating solutions to the problems their mistakes have caused. It makes so much sense. Greenspan-Goldberg calls this Aerial parenting, which is all about seeing the big picture and getting perspective.

The first chapter of What Do You Expect explains how aerial parenting works while the second chapter discusses why teen and tween girls are the way they are. After that there are chapters for all of the typical teenager problem areas such as school, technology, sex, bullying, alcohol and drugs, and eating disorders. In each area the author offers advice, answers questions and gives great tips.

If your would like to try a new approach with your teenage daughter or just need some advice, check out the new book, What Do You Expect? She's a Teenager! A Hope and Happiness Guide for Moms with Daughters Ages 11-19 by Arden Greenspan-Goldberg.

See also: 
Book Helps Moms and Tween Daughters Bond Over Beauty 
Moms and Daughters Share 'Think' by Lisa Bloom
2 Essential Books for Parents of Teenagers
Geena Davis on Gender in Media at The Paley Center 

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Yesterday I not only got to attend an advance screening of Sarah Jessica Parker's wonderful new movie, I Don't Know How She Does It, but Sarah Jessica  and Allison Pearson, the author of the book on which the film was based, came by afterword to talk. This fabulous event was hosted by Denise Albert, Melissa Gerstein and Raina Seitel-Gittlin of WNBC NewYork's Moms & The City.

Movie
I Don't Know How She Does It was a complete delight. It was funny, the cast was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Any working mom will completely relate to this movie. As many women have found out by now, working moms can not have it all without sacrifice and compromise. Yet maybe we can change our priorities.

One caveat for other potential audience members. Fathers will love this movie also. There were a few young women in the audience who had not had children yet and they said the movie scared them from doing so. (This might actually be a good movie to take your teenage daughter to). The film also somewhat makes fun of stay-at-home moms, but its all in fun, and the mom in the movie is an extreme case.

Cast
I Don't Know How She Does It co-stars Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Busy Philipps, Olivia Munn, Christina Hendricks, Kelsey Grammar and Seth Meyers. They were all perfect for their roles, but I must say that every word out of Olivia Munn's mouth was hysterical. She was definitely one of the highlights in an already very funny movie.

Discussion
After the movie, Denise Albert and Melissa Gerstein of Moms & The City led a discussion with Sarah Jessica Parker and Allison Pearson, author of the novel, I Don't Know How She Does It, on parenting, working and all the issues in the movie. The audience participated also. Sarah realizes that she has it easier than many because she is lucky enough to have a nanny. However she deals with the issue of guilt about not always being there just as all working moms do.

Sarah Jessica Parker

This is the second time that I've seen Sarah Jessica Parker speak, the other time was at a NY Times Talk event. I have to say that she is the nicest, most down-to-earth celebrity that you can imagine. You can tell that it is not an act.

Go see I Don't Know How She Does It, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, opening tomorrow, Friday, September 16, 2011. Then, please come back and let us know what you thought of the movie.

See also: 18 Best Movies for Teens Fall 2011

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Bullying is a hideous problem that won't go away and has only gotten worse with the advent of technology. Very few schools are willing to take on bullying so more than 160,000 kids stay home from school each day out of fear. This Friday night, September 16, at 8pm ET/PT, CBS New/48 HOURS presents "Bullying: Words Can Kill" a very important program for parents, educators and legislators about how bullying effects children.

I learned a great deal about the program and some of the people involved at a roundtable discussion which included Susan Zirinsky, Sr. Executive producer of CBS News, 48 Hours, Tracy Smith, Reporter, 48 Hours Mystery, Liz Vachon, a social worker at the Birchwood School who actually did something about bullying, and Lisa Cagno, the mother of one of the bullied children at Birchwood School. The 48 Hours crew were allowed access for six months into the school, one of the only ones in the country actually addressing the bullying problem.

Here is a preview of what you will see Friday night on Bullying: Words Can Kill":



It is extremely important for parents to educate themselves about bullying. The CBS website has links to resources for parents, students and schools. Check to see if your state has anti-bullying laws and if so, what are they.

We need to create a war on bullying. Nothing can destroy a child's life more than being bullied. Education against bullying needs to begin very young. Kids, parents and teachers all need to be educated. Kids copy what they see and they do see bullying from adults. We also need to stop creating a stigma around tattling. Kids have to be told that if they see somebody do something bad they should TELL.

There is more than one type of war on terror. To a student in school, being bullied is as bad as it gets. Watch "Bullying: Words Can Kill" and lets work harder on stopping bullying terror from happening to our kids.

See also: YA Authors and Musicians Take On Bullying

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Discovery Communications amazes me in all that it provides the public, especially with its Discovery Education division. Although it provides numerous resources for administrators, teachers, parents and students, the one that I've most recently discovered and want to share is the Curiosity [In The Classroom] website.

Parents
Although there are sections for Teachers, Students and Parents, it is the parents section that really stood out for me. That is because it involved the family doing and discussing everything together.

"As parents, you are a critical piece of the puzzle as it relates to your child's pursuit of knowledge. Cultivate curiosity at home by using these materials to embark on a journey of exploration."

The website contains an episode from the Curiosity Television Series which can be watched directly from the site. You can click to download a viewing guide with ideas on family discussion topics. You are also give 10 Tips to Encourage Curiosity in Kids.

Students
This section includes quizzes and facts on all kinds of items that teens might be interested in. There is also a career section to inspire and student resources.

Teachers
The three main areas for teachers are:

• Resources to download materials for students to explore careers in communications, computers, nanotechnology, robotics and artificial technology.
• A webinar series in which the class can discuss life's biggest questions
• Profiles in Curiosity which profiles modern day visionaries to stimulate conversation with students

For more on Discovery Education and its resources, see the About Discovery Education page. Parents, discussing educational topics in a fun way with your kids goes a long way towards broadening their formal education.

See also:  
Best Interests of the Students
Head Rush - New Science Channel TV Series for Tweens 
How to Help Teens Reach Their Full Educational Potential

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On 9/11/2001 I lived and worked on Long Island, NY and my husband worked in midtown Manhattan. My two sons were 12 and 15.

I remember getting ready for work while The Today Show was on in the background.

I remember that right before I was ready to leave I heard Matt Lauer report that a plane hit the World Trade Center, but they thought it was a small plane and an accident, so I left for work.

On my short drive to work, I heard on the radio that another plane hit the other tower and knew it had to be terrorism. I didn't know if I should turn around or continue on to work, but because it was a new job I continued on.

I remember spending almost the entire time at work listening to radio reports (we didn't have a TV) on everything that was happening.

I remember trying to call my husband's cell phone at least a 100 times without being able to get through to him.

I remember my sons calling from school (they didn't have cell phones yet but all the schools let every student make a call from their phones) to see if dad was okay). I told them that since he works in midtown, far away from the WTC, that he is fine.

I remember that my biggest fear for my husband was how would he get home. All forms of transportation were shut down and all tunnels and bridges were closed to cars.

I remember leaving work by 2pm because I wanted to get home before my kids. It is normally a 5 minute drive home on the Long Island Expressway. It turns out that the LIE was closed going toward the city for everyone except emergency vehicles. It took me an hour to get home.

I remember being shocked when I walked into my house and my husband was already there watching coverage of the WTC on TV with my kids. In a stroke of luck, a co-worker commuted by driving to Long Island City and then took the subway into Manhattan. So he and my husband walked across the 59th street bridge and to his car and then drove out to Long Island. They had no traffic at all since no cars were actually able to leave the Manhattan.

I remember getting a call from a friend of ours telling us that a mutual friend, Andy, worked in the World Trade Center. We didn't realize it because he had just started the job one week earlier. He was on a high floor and became a casualty of 9/11.

I remember going to his home the next night to visit his wife and kids along with all his other friends. It was surreal. It wasn't the same as with a regular death, because you couldn't be 100% sure.

Living in NYC, I don't have to remember 9/11 because I never forget.

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DVD Booklet

I've been watching The Vampire Diaries 2nd season DVDs getting ready for the new season which begins next week. As usual with TV DVDs, my favorite part is the Special Features. I love learning more about the actors and the making of my favorite television series and The Vampire Diaries is no exception.

Until I watched the special feature "her own worst enemy...elena, katherine and nina!" I never really thought about how hard Nina Dobrev works. She makes it look effortless, but as pointed out, she actually has played four characters - Elena, current Katherine and Katherine in two different past time periods. She also plays Elana and Katherine together using split screens often, which is much more difficult than I realized. Her castmates all praised her in this special feature. I have incredible respect for her hard work and talent.

A funny gag reel is included, but what I found even funnier was the cast of The Vampire Diaries trying to keep track of all the Mystic Falls relationships. They couldn't stop laughing as they tried to figure out who was related to who and in what way.There is also some great werewolf features that are more serious.

Check out The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Second Season on DVD/Blu-Ray and see the extras for yourself. You won't be sorry.

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Second Season on DVD/Blu-Ray.

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 I recently attended an event in which Educational Technology and other Startups demonstrated their websites to the group in an effort to obtain additional funding for their ideas. The event was held in NYC at General Assembly, a campus for technology, design and entrepreneurship. Not only do they provide workspace and Wi-fi as many incubators, do, General Assembly offers classes and training in business, programming and design and social networking.

The program was co-produced by General Assembly and Startl, an organization that helps New Digital Media Learning Products get funding. These are 2 interesting Educational Technology Startups that I saw that night:

1. Hoot.me - Switch Facebook into study mode. College students have many friends on Facebook in the same classes and it could be a great place to work together. However, as everyone knows, the distractions are enormous. That is where the hoot.me app comes in. When you use the app and switch Facebook into study mode, the rest of Facebook is completely blocked out. There are many other benefits as well. Once you are in hoot.me, you can just enter your school and class name and the app will let you know if there is already a study group online for that class that you can join. Install the Facebook app and give it a try.

2.LearnBop - LearnBop is an educational technology tutoring tool. It enables experts to create educational content with hints and feedback messages that respond to student behaviors, as the experts themselves normally would. Therefore, it is possible to have the benefits of personal tutoring without the cost.

What do you think of these new educational technology startups? What type of website, gadget or app would you like to see created in the educational arena?

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Not all family members are easily able to connect with family through technology. Many seniors do not own or use computers due to fear of technology and lack of senior friendly features. The new Telikin Touchscreen computers solve both of those problems.

The Telikin Touchscreen computers are created to make the transition into the world of personal computers simple and hassle-free. The user-friendly touchscreen is so much easier for new computer users than learning to use a mouse.

Both models come with only commonly used family features such as video chat, photos, email, web browsing, calendar, address book, news, weather, DVD player, CD player, games, Write, Powerpoint, help, tools and updates. There is no third party software installed, so less chance of viruses. They have an all-in-one design so there are no parts to put together and they come WiFi ready.

The two models are the:
1. Telikin Touch - 18" Touchscreen computer White  $699
2. Telikin Elite - 20" Touchscreen computer Black $999

Telikin Touchscreen Computers has launched an initiative Telikin Cares to donate a Telikin computer to individuals in need, community-focused organizations and businesses that support the senior community. For a limited time, two computers will be donated every month and recipients will be chosen from written letters and announced online.

Is there anyone in your life that could use a Telikin Touchscreen computer?

See also:  Organize Cord Clutter with Colorful Dotz Products

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We have reached a point where the effects of bullying in the United States have produced a rallying cry and a call to arms of groups that are coming together to help in any way that they can. Two groups that have recently come together to try to help are Young Adult authors and Musicians.

Dear Bully
70 personal essays on bullying contributed by Young Adult authors in Dear Bully, an anthology which launched today, September 6, 2011. The anthology was edited by Megan Kelley Hall (Sisters of Misery and The Lost Sister) and Carrie Jones (Need and Entice). The essays discuss bullying from many different angles, as some of the writers were bullied, some were bullies and others witnessed bullying. The goal is that readers of Dear Bully will see that they are not alone. A portion of the proceeds will go to the anti-bullying organization Stomp Out Bullying.

Musicians Opposed to Bullying (M.O.B.)
This website was inspired by the tragic death of Brandon Bitner and others who have been bullied into depression and worse. M.O.B. was created as a way to help spread a message of tolerance, understanding and inclusion. From the home page of the M.O.B.:

"As a music industry we have come together in support of aid to Africa, Tsunami relief, the aftermath of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and Haiti relief, just to name a few causes. I believe it's time for us to preserve our future and help the youth of our nation. Bullying has gotten out of hand and needs to be stopped."

The M.O.B. website includes Video PSAs, resources, information, links and more.

A young teenage musician, 18 year-old singer Taylor Bright, recently premiered her new music video Psycho, about a teenage girl being stalked. The message is one of self empowerment and the Musicians Opposed to Bullying chose to feature Psycho on their website. It is a much more serious song than her pop-rock debut two years ago of "Striped Socks".



Everyone, not only authors and musicians, must come together to end bullying!

See also: Bullying: Words Can Kill - Must See for Parents and Educators

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I highly recommend these four mobile apps for parents of teens and tweens. Three of them are extremely useful, and one will help you connect with your teens.

1. Love is Not Abuse (LINA) - This brand new iPhone app, from Liz Claiborne Inc., gives parents insight into what it feels like for a teen to be a victim of digital dating abuse and also helps parents recognize the signs. The app is free and very timely after a recent report finding that parents in the U.S. are less likely to talk to their teens about the dangers of dating than sex, drugs or alcohol. Use the Love is Not Abuse App (LINA in the Apple store) to learn about dating abuse and talk to your teens. For more information, go to the Love is Not Abuse website.

2. ESRB Mobile App - This free app allows parents to learn much more about a video game's content and maturity level before buying. Using an iPhone, Android or Windows 7 phone, a parent only has to take a picture of the front of the video game box, and a host of information appears to help him make a decision. Sometimes you need more than just the video game rating on the box.

3. iCurfew - Created by the Radical Parenting website for the iPhone, this is a great way for teens and parents to check in with each other remotely. When teens checks in, parents automatically see the teens location on the map. Very useful when the parent needs to know where to pick the teen up and for peace of mind. Also includes customized message templates.

4. I Heart Mom - How can you not like an app with a name like this? This is basically an app (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad) of conversation starter cards for families, leaning towards topics for moms and older kids, such as teens and tweens. A few example questions are

• Mom to Teen: What is the best concert you have been to?
• Teen to Mom: What do you most value in life?
• Mom to Teen: Do you remember any of your imaginary friends?

Can you recommend any other mobile apps for parents of teens?

See also:  
Cool New Apps!
Wikets App Rewards Social Recommendations
22 iPad Apps for New iPad Owners

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If you worry that your teens spend to much time playing video games, then you might be worrying for nothing. Video games bring many benefits to the user, one of the biggest being educational. Below is an infographic created by the Online Colleges website which shows how video games are changing education. Via: Online Colleges Guide The reason that many adults don't treat video games seriously is that they are considered "play". However, most video games that teenagers play are actually hard work. From this hard work comes a huge variety of benefits. So many that I am actually in the process of putting together a book for parents, chronicling the studies of all the benefits of video games.

See also:
Books vs Video Games - Beware! Your Views May Change
12 Video Games for Teens - Holiday Gifts 2011
Best Interests of the Students
 

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