Princeton Review has recently released its 2010 edition of The Best 371 Colleges, ranking American colleges and universities by almost every criterion possible, from knowledgeable professors to quality of dorm food. But despite the fact that nearly seventy lists are included in the guide, there is one list in particular that has students, parents, and college officials across the country talking: “Party Schools,” which ranks the top 20 party schools of 2009.

According to Princeton Review, the “party schools” are determined (More…)

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 2 Comment(s)
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As a father of two teens, I know it’s impossible to shield our kids from messages that promote underage drinking. That said, it’s always nice to be given a heads-up so we know just who and what in pop culture may be negatively influencing our kids – and right now in particular, I think you’ll be surprised to find out some of the sources sending pro-drinking messages to our teenagers. Here’s a quick round-up of where our kids have been seeing and hearing “cool” alcohol-related messages lately:

Tweens and younger teens: The latest Harry Potter movie. If you think I’m kidding, check out this article from the New York Times, which cites a number of scenes in which our favorite young wizards, only about 16, drink “butterbeer” and appear to get drunk.

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• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 6 Comment(s)
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“I am free, I am free, I am free!”

I have heard both parents and teens chant this as they pack up the minivan and leave for college.  Yet, parents often watch their kids leave, with tears in their eyes and forget to cover some essential pre-freshman topics. Since it’s now June, and your high school seniors are either graduating soon or have just graduated, I thought I’d share some advice with you so you can use the whole summer to start preparing your teen for college. (More…)

• 	Posted by: Vanessa Van Petten | 2 Comment(s)
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Last summer I blogged about how the presidents of more than 100 colleges and universities asked lawmakers to consider lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Then this month, comedian Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s satirical news show “The Colbert Report” interviewed the man leading the charge. John McCardell, the former President of Middlebury College, believes the current drinking age drives young adults to consume alcohol out of public view, putting them at greater risk.

Watch the clip (05:45) and tell me what you think. Do you agree with McCardell that the drinking age should be lowered to 18? Or do you think this would be a gigantic mistake?

Update: July 1, 2009

Just came across this very interesting New York Times article stating that drinking among young adults under 21 has decreased greatly in recent years…except for those in college. A 27-year-old study shows that men between the ages of 18-20 who don’t attend college binge drink 30% less than they did when the study first began — but there’s been absolutely no statistical change in 18- to 20-year-old men who do attend a university! So perhaps its the college lifestyle — not the high legal drinking age — that’s causing so many young people to binge. Thoughts?

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 5 Comment(s)
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From Medical News Today: A survey of 3,616 college students at two American universities found an overwhelming majority of women overestimated the amount of alcohol a typical guy would like his female friends, dates or girlfriends to drink. The results can be found in the March issue of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, published by the American Psychological Association.

“Although traditionally, men drink more than women, research has shown that women have steadily been drinking more and more over the last several decades,” said the study’s lead author, Joseph LaBrie, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Loyola Marymount University. “Our research suggests women believe men find excessive drinking sexually attractive and appealing, but it appears this is a giant misperception.”

More about this study at Medical News Today.

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 2 Comment(s)
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Oops, he did it again. News reports of Olympic swimming phenom Michael Phelps’ latest embarrassing brush with drugs and alcohol last weekend almost outpaced news of our troubled economy and that other big sports event that takes place every February.

Following the 2004 Olympics, Phelps was caught drunk driving, and promised his fans it would never happen again. Just four years later, Phelps was photographed taking a bong hit at what was reported to be a party at a university Phelps was visiting. (View the photo here.) The US Olympic Committee said, “Michael is a role model, and he is well aware of the responsibilities and accountability that come with setting a positive example for others, particularly young people…in this instance, he failed to fulfill those responsibilities.”

Many of us know by now that the brain doesn’t fully develop the ability to make good judgments until age 25 — Phelps is 23 — but I’m still surprised at seeing that this unfortunate decision was made so publicly. Reports that Phelps has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also pique my concern — some research studies have shown a greater risk of drug abuse among kids with this diagnosis. It’s not my place to be a parent to Phelps, but it’s definitely my place to talk to my kids about this situation.

Have you talked to your kids? What did they say — and what did you tell them?

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 7 Comment(s)
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Yesterday, news broke of a public plea to lawmakers to consider lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. But it didn’t come from a bunch of 18-year-old college freshmen with newly-issued voter registration cards. The push to let kids drink legally at 18 comes from the presidents of more than 100 colleges and universities across the country.

The move has sparked huge debate both supporting and opposing the idea — at last count, Google News picked up 1,500 articles written in the past 24 hours. Here’s where it gets tricky: both the college administrators and the groups who oppose lowering the legal drinking age claim to have the same reason for their point of view — they want to reduce binge drinking on campus and keep students safer. Who doesn’t?

But what about the 18-year-old high-school seniors who would be of legal drinking age to buy a six-pack? What impact would this have in high schools if some students can legally drink? What’s your take?

Update: July 1, 2009

Just came across this very interesting New York Times article stating that drinking among young adults under 21 has decreased greatly in recent years…except for those in college. A 27-year-old study shows that men between the ages of 18-20 who don’t attend college binge drink 30% less than they did when the study first began — but there’s been absolutely no statistical change in 18- to 20-year-old men who do attend a university! So perhaps its the college lifestyle — not the high legal drinking age — that’s causing so many young people to binge. Thoughts?

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 51 Comment(s)
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I spent last weekend in Ann Arbor visiting friends from school. On the final morning of my trip, in an effort to print out my boarding pass, I checked my e-mail and was confronted with the subject line no child ever wants to read:

Facebook: Nina Hoffman has requested you as a friend!

To make matters worse, when I signed on to the actual site, I realized that my mother had attached to her request the most heartbreakingly adorable and clueless message to ever grace the world of social networking. “Hi, Jessie!” it read. “How are you? I miss you! Guess what. I joined Facebook!”

My mom doesn’t know this, but I did sit quite torn for a while, staring at that familiar blue and white screen, drowning in mental anguish, knowing full well that I could make my mother’s day—heck, her month—by taking .3 seconds out of my life and clicking “I Accept.” But finally, I hit the button that rejected the request and went about my day as usual. I felt—and still feel—guilty. But I also know perfectly well that if my mother had access to my college photos, friends’ profile pictures, and comments left on my electronic message board, I would never ever set foot in Ann Arbor again.

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• 	Posted by: Jessica Hoffman | 7 Comment(s)
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Harry is standing in my bedroom doorway, wearing a look of distress and a pink dress shirt that, thanks to his growth spurt, no longer fits. “I have nothing to wear,” he announces. This is a problem because the eighth-grade graduation dance is in less than two hours, and Harry has a date he needs to look good for and the popular kids’ picture-taking party to attend. So even though I have stuff to do and even though I’ve been advising Harry all week to plan his outfit and even though I have absolutely no gas ‘cause it costs six million and two dollars a gallon, I somehow find the two of us in my Camry, heading in the direction of Menlo Park Mall. Within the hour, I have friends who have made plans without me, and Harry has a crisp blue button-down from Abercrombie with “those cool sleeves that roll.” Welcome to caring for—and caring about—a teenager.        

Living with a teen can be difficult. Harry—like every other teenage boy on the planet—communicates mostly by a series of grunts and monopolizes the family computer with IM conversations that are mind-numbingly dull. But adults, for some reason, never seem to tire of complaining about teens. Parents are bizarrely preoccupied with punishments and worst-case scenarios and calling their kids spoiled, distant, and irresponsible. Many of you forget that having a teenager close at hand is also ridiculously fun. No show on MTV has relationship drama half as juicy as the kind that plagues middle schoolers, and there’s nothing quite like the rush of adrenaline you feel when desperately trying to locate an A&F sales girl who isn’t too busy flirting to unlock a dressing room. Living with a teenager is part scavenger hunt (to find: materials for the roller coaster project, Rock Band for Wii), part choose-your-own-adventure (when the teen in your household remarks that your new haircut makes you resemble an “old grandma,” do you a) punt him or b) just walk away?). Living with a teenager is, if nothing else, something that should never be taken for granted, or worse: wished away.

For me personally, the hardest part of being at college is the unshakable feeling that I’m missing out on watching my baby brother grow up. I used to know everything that happened in Harry’s life, while it was happening—who Katie was kissing, that Ben threw a Cheeto at Kenny at lunch and then had to sit up front. The only news I now receive is a recap of whatever’s occurred on the days I can squeeze in a phone call between Intro to Poetry and English 313. I miss the surprisingly insightful—and honest—life commentary and the dramatic monologues on the unfairness of revoked iPhones and the feeling I get whenever it hits me that the same kid who was once a helpless, fussy, spit-up-y baby is developing into a real live person, with ideas and feelings as complex as my own. Simply put, I miss the wild ride that is living with a teenager, and you will too, when the ride is over.    
 

• 	Posted by: Jessica Hoffman | 3 Comment(s)
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