This week's Gossip Girl is going to be awfully controversial. According to previews, three of the characters are going to have a threesome (or "3SOME," as the ads are spelling it). Now that I've told you that, you're probably more likely to watch it than before, to the bane of parents everywhere - including the Parents Television Council. They're worried that showing a graphic sex act that's usually only seen in adult movies will change what teens think of as normal sexual behav... Read Full Story

This week in the Teen Advice Forum, Lil_J asked a question about how to make friends: Well i need help in making new friends in high school but the bad thing is im shy. i need advice to help me to boost my confidence in meeting new people, having a great friendship, and even having a new best friend??? I gave him some friend-making advice, but I bet he'd love to hear from you. Stop by the forum and tell him what you think. And if you've got your own question about friends, dating, p... Read Full Story

A new study out of Australia found that, as dumb as it is, some teens are drinking so much at once that they're blacking out. More than a quarter of 15-year olds down under say it's happened to them. Not only can blackouts cause permanent brain damage (especially in teens), they also erase big chunks of your memory, making you forget all the dumb stuff you did the night before because you were too drunk to control yourself. Plus, there's an 800% greater chance that someone wil... Read Full Story

You know all those news stories and warnings you've been hearing about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu? If you're a teen, you'd better listen up. Unlike other flu strains that hit very young and very old people the worst, the H1N1 has been going after kids and teens the most ravenously. Why? Probably because their immune systems aren't as built-up as adults. The good news is, most cases of H1N1 aren't much worse than a bad flu, and if you do catch it, it can usually be treated wi... Read Full Story

Read Full Story

If you've got community service hours you need to fill for school, it can be hard to know where to begin. Here's some inspiration: for their annual Teens Make a Difference Day, about 2,500 Texans spent an afternoon doing everything from cleaning to gardening to visiting with senior citizens, then they topped it all off with a pizza party. How about throwing your own Make a Difference Day with your friends? Call your local City Hall and see what projects they need help with, then divv... Read Full Story

Halloween is just a couple of days away! If you still haven't come up with a costume yet, try one of these easy-peasy costumes that won't require you to shop much further than your own closet: Wear a bathing suit, shorts and flip flops, put a towel around your neck and sunblock on your nose, and go as a lifeguard. Wear your regular clothes, cover your face in grey makeup and spray your hair so it's all messed up, and go as a zombie version of yourself. Make a toga out of a bed sheet and ... Read Full Story

There's no doubt that teen dating violence affects every school in every town. A third of teens say they know someone who's been in an abusive relationship, and a quarter of teen girls say they've been pressured into sexual activity. Verizon Wireless is trying to do something about it with a program called Letter to My Child. They're asking parents to "write letters to their teens encouraging them to seek healthy relationships and defining unhealthy behaviors." Just curious: would... Read Full Story

Do any businesses in your town (besides bars and nightclubs) have rules about letting in teens? This week in Norfolk, Virginia, one of the area's biggest malls started banning teens after 5pm unless they're with an "escort." What's the point of the ban? Some adults seem to like it because it makes the mall less scary (WTF?). But even if a couple of teens have caused trouble in the past, it's way more fair to deal with those problems individually than to assume that all teens ... Read Full Story

It's Teen Read Week! Why not celebrate in the most devious way possible - by reading something that'll make the adults around you worry about your mental health? One of the Most Banned Books Ever The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. A classic because of its depiction of African American life in the 1940's; banned by libraries everywhere for its themes of incest and child molestation. A Book So Freaky You'll Have Trouble Sleeping The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A terrifyingly bleak story about ... Read Full Story