Strollerderby : Risky Business

Weekly Check-Up: Good News/Bad News About Risky Business

Kelly Mills — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Okay, so good news first? Parents do actually have some influence over their kids' practice of risky behaviors like drinking and drugging and screwing, even when the kids are college-age. A new study found that if moms and dads are in the loop about what their offspring are doing, even when the kids are off at the dorms, the kids were less likely to do risky stuff like befriend a hooker and dance around in their underwear and consume tons of liquor. (Actually I think that Risky Business was about a teenager, not college kid, but you get the idea.) Specifically, when dads knew about their lives kids were less likely to have unsafe sex and use drugs; and when moms were in the know they were less likely to drink until they puked.

Bad news? I guess this means that it ain't over when they leave the nest, and while the study authors talk lots about how delaying adulthood is a good thing, I'm just saying, you've got more than 18 years ahead of you. But hey, beats having your kid wreck the Porche and help run a brothel for teens, so maybe there is no bad news here if you don't mind staying in touch with your kids for a long time.

P.S. Ahhh, remember when we didn't know that Tom Cruise was whackadoodle?

Ovulation Goggles: Women View Men's Faces Differently At Different Times of the Month

Kelly Mills — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:33:00 GMT

Hey, now here's a study that makes sense: Researchers found that women viewed men's faces differently depending on where they were in their menstrual cycles. Around ovulation, women had more brain activity in the areas associated with reward, and less in the areas connected with inhibition and cognitive control. In other words, everyone looks do-able when you are ovulating. Well, that might be an overstatement, but I think it explains many of my mid-cycle crushes, later replaced by the thought, "Uh, what was that all about?"

Researchers find more significance to this than just an explanation for the oft-used phrase "Ooooh baby, you know I could drop an egg at any minute so get me while I'm hot." Since inhibitions are down and reward-processing is more sensitive around ovulation, this could mean "women may be more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior or could be vulnerable to drug or alcohol abuse at this time." And is it possible that all these things could be intertwined? The drinking and drug use and risky sex with guys who just happen to be lookin' mighty fine at the time? Hmmm. Just be careful not to let your ovulation do the thinking for you.

Parent's House Trashed After Teen's Party Advertised on MySpace

Karen Murphy — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:11:00 GMT

I so do not want to be Rachael Brown, age 17. (Okay, I so do not ever want to be 17 again for any reason, but that's beside the point.) Nor do I want to be her parents, who are faced with a $40,000 bill after Rachael's party, advertised on her MySpace page, got out of hand. Rachael claims her MySpace site was hacked (and I believe her, poor kid) and that she attempted to bolt the door when hundreds of alcohol-soaked people began pouring into her house, unexpected and unannounced, but she was unable to stop the tide.

Rachael was going to clean up the mess the next day, thinking that she had a few days before her parents returned from their vacation (is anybody else thinking "Risky Business" here?), but instead went into hiding when she found out they were due home any minute. As a result she was unable to save them from a major "ohmygod" moment when they walked in and found the self-described "house rape": mom's wedding dress was urinated on, urine and vomit was everywhere, clothing and jewelry was stolen, ceiling light fixtures were ripped down from being swung on (and here I thought that was so cliche), and there were numerous cigarette burns in the carpet.

Dude! That's quite a party. Police are investigating the MySpace hack claim, and meanwhile Rachael's parents have moved out of the house while it's being professionally cleaned. Rachael's hanging at some undisclosed location and published an apology to her parents in her local paper.

Either possible actual scenario here is interesting:

a. Rachael's a total liar and she was swinging on the chandeliers with the rest of them, or

b. She spent an anguished worst-nightmare-come-true night watching her house be totally trashed, wracked with guilt.

I'm thinking "b", but then I'm pretty much an optimist. What's your vote?