The Top 10 Christmas Gifts For Teens

Being a modern teenager going through an awkward stage of life is not easy. Not yet adults, but no longer children, they usually feel misunderstood, isolated, and are frustrated most of the time. Pleasing them seems like an impossibility. Whether it's what's for dinner or what to watch on television or curfew times, there is likely going to be resistance from the teen. If you are buying for a young woman or a young man, we have a list of the top 10 Christmas gifts that will leave them happy - at least for a little while.

Top 10 Christmas Gifts for Teens

Kids And Teens

MP3 Player - While the iPod Touch is at the top of most teen wish lists, there are many other great MP3 players available in all sorts of price ranges. If your teen listens to music, an MP3 player is going to be a hit. Video Games - Whether it's a console - the XBox 360 or the Nintendo Wii - or a video game for the PS3, a video game is sure to make most teens happy. Clothes - While girls like new clothes for Christmas, boys do too, especially the ones who like to look their best. An extra special high priced brand name clothing item might be the perfect gift for the teen in your life. Gift Card - Some would consider this tacky, but for many teens it is the perfect gift that lets them get what they want. Whether it's a restaurant gift card they can use with their friends or a gift card for a department store, teens like to spend money. Tickets - If you know the teen's favorite band, you can try to get them tickets to the next show in your area. Or, if they are a sports fan, a good pair of tickets might be the perfect Christmas gift this year. Laptop / Netbook - This is a high priced item, but if the teen is your own and you want to help them in school, a laptop or netbook might be the gift they use all year long. New Phone - Most teens love their phone and getting a brand new one with lots of new features will likely make them leap in joy - on the inside anyway. Digital Camera - There are digital cameras in all price ranges these days. Most teens like to take pictures when they're out with their friends. If you have the money, a low-end DSLR camera would make most teens ecstatic. Music - In the past this would have meant CDs (and it still may depending on the teen), but it could also mean a gift card for Napster, iTunes, or another music store where they can download MP3 music files. Puppy / Kitten / Hamster - Or some sort of pet. An animal isn't for every teen, but this unique gift is sure to be remembered. Just make sure the animal doesn't require a lot of work.

The Top 10 Christmas Gifts For Teens

This list should give you a good idea of what Christmas gift is going to make the teens on your shopping list happy. Good luck and happy holiday shopping - the recession is over (spread the word that shopping online is back!)

The Top 10 Christmas Gifts For Teens

K. Paul Mallasch publishes Top Toys Blog, a great website to find gift ideas for teenagers! Check it out today. http://www.toptoysblog.com.

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Teens, Jobs and School: The Pros and Cons

Most teens realize at a fairly young age the old adage that "money equals power." Money equals designer clothes, a car and insurance, and in many cases, a certain amount of freedom. And in order to get money, many teens get part-time jobs.

While the benefits and/or drawbacks of teens and part-time jobs have been researched, studied and debated since at least 1979, the teens, jobs and affects on schoolwork verdict is still out. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 50 percent of American teenagers hold informal jobs, such as babysitting or yard work, by age 12. And by age 15, nearly two-thirds of American teens have had some kind of employment. And many researchers, including those on government panels like the National Commission on Youth praise part-time work and say it contributes to the transition from youth to adulthood.

Kids And Teens

Parents and educators alike have, for decades, said that part-time jobs teach children how to be responsible and manage money. But Temple University researcher Laurence Steinberg found that only 11 percent of students report saving most of their money for college, and only three percent contribute to household living expenses. "The bulk of teen's money goes to clothing, cars, entertainment, and in some cases, drugs and alcohol," according to results of a study published in Harvard Education Letter in 1998.

Teens, Jobs and School: The Pros and Cons

Steinberg says, "Students who work longer hours report diminished engagement in schooling, lowered school performance, increased psychological distress, higher drug and alcohol use, higher rates of delinquency and greater autonomy from parental control." A 1997 study by David Stern, director of the National Research Center for Vocational Education at the University of California, Berkeley, proves Steinberg's viewpoint. In research conducted over 20 years, students who worked more than 15 hours per week had lower grades, did less homework, had higher dropout rates and were less likely to go to college than students who worked under 15 hours per week.

But Jerald Bachman at the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Project, warns not to jump to cause and effect conclusions. "I would argue that most of the problems that correlate with working long hours are more fundamentally caused," he says. "That may contribute the to spiral, but I think the spiral is well underway at the time they elect to work the long hours."

Though the drawbacks to a busy, part-time job are many, so are the benefits. A teenager's job can teach work skills that school does not, and it can instill in the teen new confidence, sense of responsibility and independence. Earning money will enable your teen to buy things and to manage money. An after-school job can also provide adult supervision, especially if you work longer hours than those in a typical school day. And the right job may provide networking possibilities and set your child on a rewarding lifetime career path.

But before your child gets a job, there are some things you should know. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, "Minors under 14 years of age may not be employed or permitted to work in any occupation, except children employed on farms or in domestic service in private homes." Children under the age of 14 can also work on farms, be golf caddies, newspaper carriers or juvenile performers in the entertainment industry. But special permits may need to be required.

Also according to many state labor laws, teens aged 14 and 15 are not permitted to work more than four hours per day during the school year and not before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. (During the summer, the amount of hours of work per day can be increased to eight.) Children under the age of 16 are prohibited, by Pennsylvania law, for example, from working in bowling centers (unless as snack bar attendants, scorers or control desk clerks), building heavy work, highway work, anywhere liquor is sold or dispensed, manufacturing, on scaffolds or ladders and window cleaning.

For 16 and 17 year olds, the some state laws say, "minors are not to work before 6 a.m. or after midnight on school days and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays." Also, not more than eight hours per day and 28 hours per school week. (During the summer, the only restrictions on 16 and 17 year olds, is that they can work no more than eight hours per day or 44 hours per week.) Young adults under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in billiard rooms; doing electrical work; operating elevators; performing crane and hoisting operations; excavating; operating machinery that does woodworking, bakery mixing, cleaning, oiling or punch pressing; roofing; welding; and doing demolition.

Your teen securing a job is a big step on the road to maturity. Be sure to discuss the pros and the cons with him or her. You may also want to agree to a job on a trial basis, such as "you can work x number of hours a week this grading period and then we will decide if you can keep working, based on your grades." Maintaining good grades, continuing extra curricular activities and keeping a social life will be important to your child's psychological health and development. Also, prepare a budget with your child, setting limits on spending and enforcing a percentage-of- paycheck-into-savings policy. Good money management skills, acquired when young, will last a lifetime. Part-time jobs can be a wonderful experience, with the right supervision and parental guidance.

Teens, Jobs and School: The Pros and Cons

Jill L. Ferguson is a writer, editor, public speaker and professor of creative writing, literature and communication at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Sometimes Art Can't Save You, her novel about teenage angst in a dysfunctional household, was published by In Your Face Ink LLC in October 2005.

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Using Chiropractic Treatment For Headache Relief

Headaches are such a common ailment that many Americans perceive them as normal. More than 45 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches and of those, 28 million people suffer from migraines. Seven million Americans suffer from a headache at least every other day. A headache is the reason for approximately one-third of pain clinic visits. Even more amazing, a severe headache results in five percent of visits to a hospital emergency room. On any given day, millions of people in the U.S. look for ways to get headache relief.

Researchers and medical professionals have diagnosed 150 categories of headaches. Tension headaches, sometimes called chronic daily headaches, are the most common type among adolescents and adults. Muscles contract, causing mild to moderate pain, and these headaches frequently come and go over a prolonged period. Causes of headaches of the migraine variety are unknown, though doctors believe migraines are related to changes within the brain, including blood vessel contractions.

Migraines are often characterized by throbbing, pounding pain that ranges from moderate to severe in degree. A migraine can last from four hours to as long as three days and typically occurs between one and four times per month. Associated symptoms include nausea or vomiting, appetite loss, and sensitivity to noise, odors, or light. Children suffering from migraines may also feel dizzy, look pale, experience blurred vision, and get a fever. The condition can be so debilitating that sufferers of all ages are willing to try anything to get migraine headache relief.

People suffering from sinus headaches report a constant, deep pain in their forehead, cheekbones, or the bridge of their nose. Sudden movement of the head only intensifies this pain. Other sinus-related symptoms including fever, nasal discharge, and facial swelling often accompany these headaches. Cluster headaches are the least common primary headache types and these are characterized by intense constant or throbbing pain behind one eye or within the eye region that has a piercing or burning quality.

Depending on the type of headache being experienced, pain may be felt in the forehead, around the eyes, in the temples, or in the back of the head. While headaches of the cluster variety occur on one side of the head, other types occur on both sides. Patients may grow so accustomed to experiencing a certain type of headache that they refer to it as "normal." While headache pain may be common, it is never normal and migraine, sinus, cluster, and tension headache relief should be sought as soon as possible.

While exact causes of headaches that fall into some categories are unknown, research indicates that upper neck joints and nerves are the source of pain experienced by many common headache suffers. This area of the body is referred to as the cervical spine and the condition is referred to as a cerviogenic headache, which means "headaches coming from the neck." In its headache classification system, the National Institutes of Health classifies cerviogenic headaches as one of the five major types of headaches.

Spinal manipulations, also called spinal adjustments, are safe and effective remedies for headaches due to irritated upper neck joints and nerves. Within the U.S., Doctors of Chiropractic perform most spinal manipulations. The adjustments they perform safely and gently establish proper movement of the upper neck and its joints. Reported side effects have been few, if any, making spinal manipulation a viable alternative to medication-based headache remedies commonly used by American headache sufferers.

Non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS, are commonly taken to achieve stress, tension, and migraine headache relief. These medications are available without a prescription, making them easy for headache sufferers to obtain. However, they can also be quite harmful due to their side effects. Every year in the U.S., more than 100,000 people are hospitalized and more than 16,000 die from irritation or bleeding ulcers within the stomach and gastric tract stemming from NSAID side effects.

Another difference between medications and spinal manipulations is the result of the treatment. Medications tend to mask the pain experienced by headache sufferers. Spinal adjustments are designed to correct the cause of the headache. Using spinal manipulation rather than medication treatments for headaches also has major healthcare cost-saving implications. Research conducted by one expert reveals that the U.S. healthcare system could save more than $13 billion dollars a year if chiropractic treatments primarily used as headache remedies.

Whether they are seeking migraine, stress, tension, or sinus headache relief, people should explore all available treatments. Some may come to discover that the most recommended remedies for headaches are not as beneficial as they claim to be, due to their side effects. Chiropractic manipulation represents a safe and effective treatment option.

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