One label that many teenagers are keen to shake off is that of being lazy. A national survey of 3,500 16-19 year-olds found that nearly three-quarters wanted to be involved in positive activities including sports, other active pursuits, and music, as well as participating in youth groups and volunteering in the community.

Part of the problem seems to be a lack of opportunities — perceived or real — with nine out of ten teens saying that they spent a lot of their time hanging around with friends. Four in five said that there wasn’t enough to do where they lived, and they’d like to see more activities made available to them.

Nearly one in ten teens have part-time jobs, with another one in six keen to get them.

The survey was run by Teen Talk on behalf of the Department for Children Schools and Families, which has a ten-year strategy called “Aiming High for Young People” that seeks to increase young people’s participation in positive leisure time activities, and is investing £679m to create those opportunities.

DCSF minister for children, young people and families, Beverley Hughes, said, “It’s extremely important that we listen to what teenagers themselves are saying. The Teen Talk survey did just that, and showed that the vast majority of young people want to use their free time constructively. This puts paid to the all-too-familiar portrayal of them as only being interested in hanging around on the streets or playing computer games.”

DirectGov: activities for young people

The poll of 3,000 people found that working mums are the profession least likely to take a day off sick, choosing to soldier on whatever the state of their health. Whether it’s juggling a career with family life or taking responsibility for the housework and childcare, it would seem that Britain’s mums don’t let an attack of the sniffles get in their way.

Dr Serene Foster, expert immunologist and herbalist said, “With so many people relying on them it’s no wonder that so many mums feel they cannot afford to be ill. When you start to feel run down, it’s your body’s way of telling you to take it easy, so not taking a day off when you need to may
mean you’ll feel under the weather for longer.”

With 84% of working mums keeping going when ill, and probably a similar, if not higher, proportion of stay-at-home mums doing the same, it’s surely very important for them to have others around them who can lend a helping hand when they’re feeling ill.

When asked what measures families are taking to cut down weekly food bills, 59 per cent said they are taking greater care when planning meals and are generally trying to buy less, a further 22 per cent said they were buying the same products but have switched to cheaper own-brand versions and 19 per cent have even ditched their favourite supermarket for a cheaper alternative.

Sarah Sadler at Organised Mum commented, “More now than ever, families need to ensure they are getting value for money from what they spend on food each week, but focusing on what you buy is just as important as not overspending in the first place. Our survey has already revealed that people
are making changes to the way they shop and that they are prepared to look
at different ways of making cut backs if needed. A little bit of good old fashioned organisation and planning can also do wonders for your bank balance”.”

Here are Sarah’s seven tips for saving money on food:

1. Buy your free range eggs from local farms rather than the supermarket at around 75p for a dozen rather than £1.50 for half a dozen. Eggs are also very versatile and can make a great evening meal for the family.
2. Buy your meat from the supermarket “reduced” cabinets and freeze it for use at a later date.
3. Buy a bread making machine where you can make a loaf of bread for around 52p compared with a premium brand at around £1.20 per loaf. You get to wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread and it won’t have anywhere near as many preservatives in it, which can only be a good thing.
4. Change your lunch habits. Make your sandwiches at home in the morning before you leave for work, or do one single shop at the supermarket on a Monday morning and buy everything you need for your lunch that week. You will still save pounds over buying pre-packed sandwiches every day.
5. Look out for special offers at your supermarket, stock up on good deals – but don’t be tempted to overspend on something that you didn’t need. Stick to your list and only indulge in special offers if you need or will need the item anyway.
6. Take the time to sit down and make a weekly meal plan making sure that you include recipes that will use any food stuffs that are nearing their use-by-date. When making the list ensure that you have considered the week’s activities. For example, one of your children may be out at a sleepover and won’t require dinner that night. You can then use the meal plan to make a shopping list that makes sure you only buy the food you will need for that week’s meals.
7. Finally, the golden rules of shopping: don’t shop when you are hungry. Inevitably, if you food shop whilst hungry you are more likely to be tempted by the mouth watering delicacies on show.

These are by no means exhaustive ideas. What are your money-saving tips? How is your family being affected by the “credit crunch”? Share in the comments below.

In 2004, around 9% stated that they were looking for sex via the “intimate encounter” option. That figure is now around 18%.

With some ten million members, the male-female ratio of those looking for long-term relationships or traditional dates has remained consistent at 55:45, but three years ago, men looking primarily for sex outnumbered women by ten to one. That’s now down to 5:1, with a prediction that in ten years’ time, there’ll be equality in promiscuity.

Suggesting that the female lifestyles portrayed in “Sex In the City” and the like may have something to do with a shifting societal attitude, Markus Frind, CEO of Plentyoffish.com, says, “Our average user, among males and females, is between 38 and 42 years old. Yet, the data shows that the behaviour exhibited is more of what you would expect from those in their early 20s. Plentyoffish.com statistics may be indicative of a fundamental shift in society and behavioural norms.”

Longer term, of course, this continued shift will have a marked effect on what society considers “family” to be.

Having said that, it’s good to see some of the classics are still in place, including LEGO, plus some educational items from LeapFrog.

So here we go. (Please note that the links are to relevant searches on Amazon.co.uk. If you buy anything from Amazon directly from these links, we earn a small commission. Thanks )

• High School Musical Dance Mat
• Hannah Montana Tour Bus
• Baby Annabel Doll
• Ben 10 Action Figures
• Ben 10 Omnitrix Watch
• In the Night Garden Upsy Daisy and her Bed
• Dance with me Teletubby
• Lego
• Star Wars Clone Wars
• Dr Who Classic Figures
• Bakugan Battle Brawlers
• My Meebas
• Catcha Beast
• Fur Real Biscuit
• Silverlit Picoo-Z Helicopter
• Nintendo Wii & Nintendo DS
• Monopoly Here and Now; the World Edition
• Baby Chou Chou My First Tooth Doll
• LeapFrog Tag
• LeapFrog Musical Fold Up Trike
• Asus Eec PC 7" Laptop
• Nintendo Wii and DS Lite

It’s an online service which allows anyone to share 140-character snippets of information about themselves, what they’re doing, and what’s important to them. It’s a bit like text messaging on the Internet.

March of Dimes has announced that it’s providing daily pregnancy tips — or “tweets” — for mums via the service.

It’s available in both English and Spanish.

“We’re using all the new technology that’s available to us to help women make sense of the latest medical and scientific research,” said Beverly Robertson, national director of the Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center at the March of Dimes. “This service is in whatever format you want it. You can get it on your cell phone via text message, through instant messaging and online. The March of Dimes already has almost 1,000 Twitter followers around the country.”

Talking of Twitter, you can get updates from the Family Relationships Magazine here

When the BBC polled one-thousand people, it found that two-thirds supported the concept of sex education lessons in schools from the age of 11.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said that there was “a need to challenge the perception that sex and relationships education happened in a ‘moral vacuum’ in schools and … that parents and schools can and should work together to decide how best topics should be taught.”

Various issues need to be handled sensitively, such as the right for faith-based schools to modify the programme to include their own moral beliefs, while still providing consistent education.

“We are not suggesting that five and six-year-olds should be taught sex,” said minister for schools, Jim Knight. “What we are saying is we need to improve in particular the relationship education, improve the moral framework and moral understanding around which we then talk about sex later on in a child’s education.”

Though a number of organisations and charities have welcomed the news, the head of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), John Dunford, has raised concerns that a centrally-managed policy of personal, social and health education could take away the rights of an individual school to tailor its education programme in a way that best suits its individuals.

“It is part of the ethos of the school, helping to develop the young person in ways that schools deem most appropriate to their circumstances,” he said. “It should not be the subject to further central prescription and certainly not compulsion.”

The way sex education is taught (or not taught) in schools will always be a contentious issue to some, but hopefully the new proposals will ensure at least a minimum standard of education, not simply confined to biology, that can be tailored according to the needs of each individual school.

What do you think?

(Via BBC News)

Though one may be sceptical as the research was commissioned by Sony (the company which makes the PlayStation consoles), it does suggest that children are learning to think strategically by playing them.

• Nearly three-quarters of parents questioned said that their children’s problem-solving skills had improved since they started playing video games;
• Well over three-quarters saw a marked improvement in typing skills from playing PC/online games;
• Seven in ten parents said that their kids play games online with other people either sometimes or all the time;
• Four in five parents said their children played video games in a common area of the house.

The survey, which was conducted on Yahoo!’s “Shine” website, found that around nine out of ten parents spent time playing video games with their children. This sits well with a survey carried out last year by PopCap Games, which showed that casual computer games can help parents and children bond.

“The good news is that parents are involved with and aware of what their kids are playing,” said Sony Online Entertainment’s president, John Smedley. “The even better news is that parents and kids are playing together.”

That’s according to a new survey carried out in the US by Schering-Plough, which also found that well over half of women using a hormonal contraceptive had increased stress levels when having sex if they’ve not used their birth control product correctly.

Women using birth control say they worry more about their own or their partner’s satisfaction (29%) and body image (24%) than pregnancy (10%) or contracting a sexually-transmitted disease (8%).

Of women aged 18 to 34 who currently use birth control, four in five use contraception primarily to prevent pregnancy. However, 93 percent of women aged 18 to 34 (both on and off birth control) do not know that half of unintended pregnancies in the United States occur with couples that used some method of birth control.

Sixty-two percent of women indicated they discuss birth control with a potential partner. Women of all ages who currently use, or have previously used hormonal contraceptives, reported that a physician’s recommendation was among the top five attributes that are most important to them in choosing a birth control method.

Nearly a quarter of 18-34 year-old women said that a daily method of birth control would be most convenient for them, though 46 percent of women in the same age group who currently use a hormonal contraceptive have more difficulty remembering to use their current method correctly when their daily routine is interrupted.

“The findings from this survey signal that while we may be living at a time when women have many contraceptive options and are empowered to make their own informed decisions, many are either dissatisfied with or have concerns about their method,” says clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. Minkin. “Overall, this is a wake-up call for women to evaluate how happy they really are with their current method and recognise that they don’t have to settle for the status quo when it comes to birth control options.”

I’ve just found out about a rather exciting new resource, due to launch next Thursday, 23rd October.

TV4Parents is an online forum, based in the UK, developed by Tomorrow’s Child, and aimed at parents, carers, and children aged 0-11.

This online TV styled web site will look at ways of parenting, offering hints, tips, advice, and a place for parents to share their experiences with others.

An ongoing nationwide survey — “Pressure Cooker Kids” — confirms that parents and children are under pressure to spend time together, deal with separation anxiety, and eat healthily and together.

A book and DVD will also be launched next week. “Creative Wellbeing” is written by education specialist Jacqueline Harding and medical advisor Dr Sanjay Chaudhuri, both who are heavily involved with Tomorrow’s Child and the new site.

Visit the site now to get a taste for what’s to come, and bookmark it, because it looks like it’s going to be a fantastic resource for anyone looking after children.

TV4Parents.com