Society for Adolescent Medicine Meeting to Focus on 'E-Teens' and How Adolescents Incorporate Technology ...( BLUE SPRINGS Mo. March 17 /- Today's ...),Health

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's adolescents have the dubious distinction of being the most "wired" generation to date. They somehow complete homework while simultaneously texting on mobile phones, listening to iPods, IM-ing from computers and posting photos and video to Facebook. These young people are able to bring the world to their fingertips in a way that previous generations never imagined. The Society for Adolescent Medicine is examining "e-teens" and how they incorporate technology into their personal health at their annual scientific meeting in Los Angeles, March 25-28, 2009. It will be the first meeting ever to address technology and health in teens.

One of the "hot topic" sessions specifically focused on "e-teens" is entitled "Can We Use the Internet to Screen Adolescents for Chlamydia? Satisfaction and Results of the iwantthekit.org." This session will examine results from the Web site iwantthekit.org, which provides free home testing kits for sexually transmitted infections, including Chlamydia. What researchers have found is that the adolescent girls recruited for home sampling demonstrated a high prevalence of Chlamydia, and reported high acceptability for confidential, in-home private testing. Girls are able to access results privately and are then encouraged to seek treatment should test results be positive. The program provides access to high-risk populations who do not access clinic services.

The term "helicopter parents" has been around for more than a decade to describe parents who pay an undue amount of attention to their children in college, checking in daily via cell phone and even negotiating grades with professors. But increases in technology mean more methods for parents to be involved in their college students' lives, and hovering seems to have increased. The Hot Topic session, "Helicopter Parents: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," will examine how beneficial or detrimental "heli
'/>"/>