The folks on Capital Hill are just as star-struck as the rest of us, when a famous celebrity is in their midst.  This certainly proved to be the case on June 23, when pop sensation Nick Jonas headed to Washington…

The US Preventive Services Task Force says the rate of depression in children between 12 and 18 years old is high enough to warrant routine screening by their primary care physicians.  The recommendation, announced in the latest issue of the…

A report just released by the National Institute on Media and the Family suggests 10% of all American children between 8 and 18 years of age are likely addicted to their video games.  The report has left many parents wondering…

Teenage vegetarians may embrace the all-fruits-and-veggies diet for its healthful benefits but they are more likely to turn to binge eating and other unhealthy dietary behaviors than their meat-eating counterparts, according to a recent Minnesota study.  The higher likelihood of…

Bullying is much more than kids just being kids.  For Eric Mohat, it was a matter of life and death.  His classmates taunted him unmercifully and school officials did little to stop it.  One day, Eric, 17, had apparently had…

In more and more communities across the nation, laws and ordinances against social hosting are popping up, an effort to curb the number of teenagers who drink and drive.  These social hosting laws incriminate the parents, or any other adult,…

Adults raised under the “don’t kiss and tell” school of thought would never consider posting tales of their sexual exploits online nor would they consider revealing their illicit drug use or acts of violence.  Their children, however, enjoy a heightened…

The National Research Council and the US Institute of Medicine released a report that describes the nation’s current healthcare system as fragmented and poorly designed when it comes to the matter of health care for teenagers.  The report, ‘Adolescent Health…

Adolescent substance abuse is a problem in many parts of the world, particularly so in the United States, where almost 50% of all high school students admit trying at least one illegal drug before graduation day.  The heaviest users are…

The Oakland Unified School District educates 42,000 students, a good many of whom struggle with the energy-zapping symptoms of asthma.  Its urban location and high number of low-income students made the Oakland school district a prime destination to study the…

Some of the most popular prescription drugs for treating asthma may be too dangerous for children under the age of 18, according to a panel of experts.  Some of them are thought to be too dangerous for use in adults,…

The families of many children injured or sickened by the antipsychotic drugs they’d been prescribed are calling for the testimony of a prominent child psychiatrist whose endorsement of such drugs led to a 40-fold (4,000%) increase in diagnoses of pediatric…

In the last 13 years, 82 American kids have died playing the choking game but the thousands of other teenagers who play the game risk death every time, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  With parents…

Researchers at Iowa State University say the violent video games come first, influencing children in negative ways.  Critics say aggressive kids just like playing aggressive games.  With 90% of American kids between 8 and 16 playing video games an average…