Parents in the Dark - Part 2

Continuing on from Parents in the Dark.

I found another study that illustrates how disconnected parents are from the lives of their children. The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, reported a study by Thomas Young and Rick Zimmerman on Middle School children and risky behaviors, like smoking, sex and drugs. The survey 140 middleschool children and their parents.

Here are some of their results:

Question for parents: Do your children smoke cigarettes? 12% yes
Question for kids: Do you smoke cigarettes? 43% yes

Question for parents: Has your child smoked marijuana? 3% yes
Question for kids: Have you smoked marijuana? 34% yes

Question for parents: Does you child drink alcoholic beverages? 5% yes
Question for kids: Do you drink alcoholic beverages? 49% yes

Question for parents: Has your child had sexual intercourse? 2% yes
Question for kids: Have you had sexual intercourse? 52% yes

I'd say more on this, but I need to go catch a bus to Sutter's Fort.


For the last post in the series see More on Fight Clubs and Aggression.


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Now that we are home, here's the complete reference for the above mentioned study:

"Clueless: Parental Knowledge of Risk Behavior of Middle School Students," Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 152:1137-39, 1998

Also, this study is referenced in "Why Gender Matters."