Teens allow popular kids to influence decisions

New research confirms what parents have long suspected about the power of popularity in school: It makes kids more vulnerable to peer pressure.

A study in the journal Child Development placed 40 teens in an Internet chat room where they thought they were socializing with some of their popular and unpopular classmates. (In fact, they were receiving messages that had been programmed in advance by the researchers.)

The teens agreed more often to take part in risky and aggressive behaviors, like smoking, drinking and fighting, when they believed that such actions were endorsed by their well-liked peers.

According to the study, parents and schools can improve teens’ behavior by changing the way kids view and react to peers.

Girls read more than boys

Percentage of kids who say…

They enjoy reading “a lot”

Boys, 49 percent

Girls, 57 percent

They read for fun every day

Boys, 26 percent

Girls, 36 percent

Reading is “not at all important”

Boys, 14 percent

Girls, 5 percent

Source: Yanklovich survey of 500 kids ages 5 to 17

Delaying parenthood

Couples are waiting longer to have children, and they have more discretionary funds to spend on them.

Sales of high-end baby products grew an estimated 20 percent in 2005 – five times as fast as the total $24 billion infant and preschool industry.

Total fertility rate in the U.S.

Number of live births per 1,000 women age 15-44 in the late 1950s was 3.8 children per woman in the United States. In 1999, the number fell to 2 children per woman.

There was a 51 percent increase in births among women age 40 to 44, from 1990 to 2000.

Sources: CNNMoney.com; World Factbook, Population Reference Bureau, Health magazine