Baby gets free lifetime entry in nightclub after being born on its dance floor

A 19-year-old woman’s night out ended up changing her life in a most interesting way, when she gave birth on a club’s dance floor last Monday, Nov. 11, in Toulouse, France.

The teenager (unnamed in report) welcomed her child at around 5:30 a.m. at the O’Club, as per French newspaper La Depeche via Newsweek on Tuesday, Nov. 12.


Marie-Helene, a manager at the club, explained that the woman was already into her late pregnancy at the time. The teenager went to the club at the urging of a friend to help “get her mind off some personal problems.”

“I know she didn’t drink,” the manager was quoted as saying.

After a short time at the club, the young woman had become incapacitated as she suddenly came into labor.

“She was one of the last people to leave, because she couldn’t walk,” Marie-Helene pointed out, unaware that the woman was about to give birth.

Marie-Helene found out about the situation when one of the employees approached her, saying something was “urgent.”

“I could see that the woman was about to give birth,” the manager was quoted as saying. “We had to act very quickly.”

Since there was not enough time to bring the teenager to a hospital, as per report, Marie-Helene and her staff took the responsibility of delivering the baby into their own hands.

“A staff member called the urgent medical aid service, who talked us through what we had to do,” she said. “The young woman wasn’t panicked, but she was worried. Then the baby came out.”

Moments after the child’s birth, emergency medical staff arrived at the club to assist the young woman and her newborn.

“It’s one of the more bizarre closings we’ve had. My team worked together,” Marie-Helene said in the report. “We all cried. The positive thing to come out of all of this is that none of us panicked and we weren’t scared. Anyway, we got it done.”

Marie-Helene also noted that the staff is eager to know about what happens to the teenager and her child, adding that she hopes the mother would update them about the baby.

Following the child’s birth, as per report, the club has decided to give the newborn “free admission for life” at their establishment. Ryan Arcadio/JB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Online harassment a problem for many US teens — survey

A majority of US teenagers say they have been victims of online harassment or bullying, and that social media companies aren’t doing enough to fight the problem, a survey showed Thursday.

The Pew Research Center survey found that 59 percent of US teens reported being bullied or harassed online, and 63 percent said it was a major problem for people their age.


The most common type of harassment cited was name-calling, cited by 42 percent, while 32 percent said someone had spread false rumors about them on the internet and 16 percent said they had been the target of physical threats online.


Among teens surveyed, one in four said they had received unwanted explicit images, received queries about their whereabouts from people other than a parent or had explicit images of them shared without their consent.

“Name-calling and rumor-spreading have long been an unpleasant and challenging aspect of adolescent life. But the proliferation of smartphones and the rise of social media has transformed where, when and how bullying takes place,” said Monica Anderson, the lead researcher for the Pew report.

According to Pew, similar shares of boys and girls have been harassed online, but girls are more likely to be the targets of rumor-spreading or non-consensual explicit messages.

Teens from lower-income families are more likely than those from higher-income families to encounter certain forms of online bullying, Pew said.

Most young harassment victims feel that teachers, social media firms and politicians are doing a poor or fair job in addressing the problem of cyberbullying — an issue which has drawn the attention of US First Lady Melania Trump and Britain’s Prince William.

The teens believe parents are doing better — with 59 percent saying that parents are doing a good or excellent job in addressing online harassment.

One of the factors fueling online harassment is that many teens are on their phones or online so frequently. A previous Pew study showed 95 percent of US teens had a smartphone and nearly half were online “almost constantly.”

The latest report showed two-third of teens who say they are online almost constantly have been cyberbullied, compared with 53 percent of those who use the internet several times a day or less.


Pew said that 59 percent of parents interviewed during the research were worried about their teen being harassed or bullied online, and a similar percentage were concerned about their teen sending or receiving explicit messages.

The researchers surveyed 743 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 and 1,058 parents between March 7 and April 10. The estimated margin of error is five percentage points for the teen group and 4.5 points for the parents. CC

source: technology.inquirer.net

Auto Insurance Quote for Teens

Children today want to be more independent and have more freedom. But as parents who find it difficult to let them go. Everyone wants the best for their children, as parents, we want to make sure that they are in good hands. When requesting several self insurance quote , we can better understand the coverage they need at a price we can afford. Make a list of the following important factors before signing the line where the insurance policy.

1. Driving history. Always explain to them how important a good driving history is. Your rate will always reflect this.

2. Set an example first, make sure that you follow all laws and teach them to do the same.

3. Saving is also the security is not logical to have your teen drive a Honda or a Volvo than a fast car and furious sports? Or a heavy SUV? Or a Mercedes-Benz or Porsche. The safest and cheapest car your teen or less power you have will equate to a lower premium.

4. A vehicle that has a history of accident damage will only increase your premium rates. Buying a vehicle has a clean title, make sure it is not a salvage title. How do you know? It’s easy, just ask for a Carfax.

5. Make sure the car your teen drives has all the safety features like air bags and anti-lock breaks. This will not only protect your child, it will also reduce your insurance rates.

6. Make sure your child does his homework. Teenagers who excel in school can sometimes get special discounts with certain insurance companies.

7. Increase your cover, you never know how many cars the teenager will bump into.

8. Lecture their children. This is not pleasant for your children, but they need to remember safe driving measures as always the seat belt, no texting while driving, limit the passengers in the car, etc. The less the cheapest accidents the self insurance .

9. Just like at home, there should be ground rules that the teen should follow while driving. Otherwise, if they do not follow them to reach the earth. Driving a vehicle is a level of maturity and it is meant to be taken seriously.

10. Get the most secure self quote as you can. The more the better, often insurance companies will increase their premiums if they see that you have been with them for a number of years.

As a parent, you are responsible for educating your teen about the responsibilities of driving a vehicle on the road. They are also responsible for their passengers and other drivers on the road. Make sure they realize the impact of being caught driving under the influence (DUI) for themselves and the lives of others as well. Just have a good insurance self is not enough to get them off the hook. We want to protect them not only today but tomorrow as well, following the above tips, we can ensure that they receive the best insurance policy for the lowest price possible.

source: autoinsurancequotes2.info

The secret lives of teens

There are many tech-savvy parents out there, but there are also those for whom the online world is uncharted territory, who have no idea what goes on when their child is glued to the screen, alternating between social media networks.

For teens, the internet can make it easier to hide from their parents. "Madiskarte na rin kami. Also, mas maalam kami sa social media compared to them. So hindi nila alam na kayang gawin kunwari sa Facebook, puwedeng i-hide mo sa kanila yung specific post," a 19-year-old student told GMA News Online. Another student, also 19, said that many teens even make separate accounts—one for relatives, and another for friends—in order to maintain secrecy.

Clinical child psychologist Dr. Ma. Lourdes Carandang notes that most parents have not really dealt with their children's online lives, because children know more about how to navigate online. "So in that sense, they have more power than the parents. So that's already a big difficulty that we have," Carandang told GMA News Online after delivering a talk at the 2nd Philippine Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry National Convention last month.

During her keynote presentation, "Entering the Inner World of Digital Natives and Taking a Closer Look at Adolescent Depression," Carandang urged parents to look into their children's online activities. "Try to look into their games. Try to look into Facebook and Instagram. Just make pakialam because it's really very interesting that they now have the power over us because they know about this and we don't. So let's know a little bit, enough so that we are not ignorant about it. We have to equip ourselves also with some knowledge about it. Be curious to be able to have a little bit of knowledge of what this thing is all about, which is their life now. Talk to them about it," she said.

'Emotional contagion' and cyberbullying

Adolescents in particular are vulnerable to emotional contagion on the internet. As an example, Carandang talked about how some adolescents would post photos of their bleeding wrists, then receive comments from others who would post photos of their own. "It's a contagion. The internet is a very, very potent tool for emotional contagion among the adolescents," she said.

Emotional contagion also leads to the escalation of cyberbullying, which can lead to depression and suicide.

Carandang explained that bullying involves the bully, the bullied, and the bystander. But on the internet, there is no "bystander."

"So who's going to stop it?," she said. "And when it happens, it happens so fast it spreads like wildfire and even when you try to make bawi, ayun na. And that has caused a lot of heartaches, depression, and even suicides among our adolescents."

A recent blog post by a Filipino adolescent reads: "Dearest loves, I've decided that I'll kill myself when I'm 18 but now I think I'll do it earlier." There are many more similar posts that allow a glimpse into the world of the depressed, whether through words, poetry, or art. Carandang emphasized that depression is not just feeling sad, but feeling powerless and worthless.



Dealing with depression

It is important for families to understand what depression is like, so that they can better understand when a loved one is suffering from it—and know that they have to be patient when the depressed person rejects their help. "The patient will push the family member away and sometimes they do not understand. But I think if they know that that's what it is, they won't be rejected. They can take it as part of the situation and can still be empowered to help," Carandang said.

Because depression isolates, it's highly important to stay connected. Carandang recalled one adolescent who attempted to kill herself but said, "I couldn't do it because I was thinking of my mother and her face and how she has cared for me." According to Carandang, it’s this type of connection that needs to be built, even if it isn’t to family. “Connect so that the isolation will be taken care of," she said.

The most important thing for parents and families, however, is to be sensitive to the child's cues. Not all expressions of depression will be as direct as the above examples.

In certain cases, the cues may even hardly visible, such as in one teenager's letter to her parents. "It was a beautiful letter: Dear Mom and Dad, I love you. You've been giving me this and so on and so forth. It looked very positive. Sabi pa nga, this is not a suicide note. But if you look very mindfully, there is a line there that said, 'I wish you had noticed,'" said Carandang.

"Their songs, their poems and other art forms, contain the message. Sometimes they will not tell you, and people say 'Why did this person, who was so wonderful, such a happy girl, etc., suddenly does that?' But when you look at the journal, you look at the poems, the drawings, you see it there. Or in some casual remarks that they say which we ignore, because it's not something we normally talk about. It is still a bit taboo," she said.

Sincere and open communication

Carandang told GMA News Online that more than looking for cues, it is about sincerely caring for the child and communicating honestly with them. "Instead of checking [their online accounts], they need to be more honest with their adolescent and say something like, 'Alam mo, I'm very worried. I noticed something going on and I don't want to miss it. I don't want to let it just go. I want to know because I care that something might happen. I want to know from you.' But talk to them with respect. 'Yun ang gusto nila eh, and be direct with them," she advised.

Similarly, both 19-year-old students' advice to parents is not so much to try to use social media, but to focus on the personal relationship. "Social media is a way to be more connected to people, pero importante pa rin talaga kasi yung in person mo magawa. Hindi ‘yung with something that is in between you," one said.

The other added that the teen should also make an effort to connect to his or her parents. "It takes two to tango. Parents and kids should give time for personal space, hindi lang puro computer. Doon tayo sa technology ngayon, pero kaya pa rin naman 'yun... dapat sanayin pa rin ng both parties na may connection na personal," she said.

Carandang shared a case with one adolescent who at first was reluctant to show her Instagram account, until one day, she asked the girl, "How do you do ba the Instagram?"

"She showed it to me, then she said, 'Look at my posts,'" Carandang said, adding that the teen's openness might have been because she was sincerely interested, as opposed to being interested in order to be able to tell the child what she should do. "It's not so much that, but 'I'm interested because I care what happens to you.' If you communicate that, they will start communicating."

Carandang added that the parent should not be discouraged if the results are not immediate.

Her advice is for parents to set a regular time for their child, during which they don't teach the child anything, but just get to know them. "When that happens, it's magical. It's so interesting how the person starts to open up because first of all, it's regular, so you can depend on it. Talk to them, just say, 'This is our time', and pretty soon they will start opening up," she said.

The best practices for parents are to communicate, give time, and be open to them. "It's about not being judgmental so that they will be open, acceptance and showing them that unconditionally, you're there," she said.

Mindfulness and parenting

Setting limits and being able to deal with the intrusion of technology in family life are well and good, but the more internal and lasting positive change can happen if the child develops the ability to self-regulate through emotional intelligence.

According to Carandang, who trained under meditation master Thich Nhat Hanh, mindfulness training is one way to develop this. She explained the Eastern definition of mindfulness as "paying total attention to what is going on inside you, being aware of what is going on inside you and being aware of what is going on around you in your environment without judgment and criticism, warmed by kindness and spiced by curiosity."

This way of life can be applied to parenting, she said. An example of mindful parenting would be when one is angry about something at work, but not unjustly taking it out on the child. "It's a very common thing: something troublesome happens outside the home, we go home, and the best and easiest target of our anger which we may not be aware of is the child," said Carandang.

"The greatest gift you can give your child is yourself. It might be the best gift, it might be the worst gift, depending on who you are. The child doesn't just follow what you say, the child absorbs what you do. But more than that, the child absorbs what you are—who you are," she said. — BM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Justin Bieber hearing set for May in Canada

OTTAWA - The next hearing on Canadian pop star Justin Bieber's assault charge for striking a limousine driver on the back of the head was set for May 12, court officials said Monday.

The troubled celeb was not in court for the routine pretrial hearing, nor were the throngs of teenage girls that showed up last month hoping for a glimpse of their idol.

Instead, Bieber was represented by his lawyer and the proceedings wrapped up very quickly after prosecutors provided additional disclosures in the case.

The actual trial date has yet to be set.

Toronto police have accused Bieber of hitting a limousine driver "several times" over the back of the head. The car had picked him and five others up from a nightclub in the city in the early hours of December 30. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Obesity declines among rich US teens, rises in poor

WASHINGTON - In the past decade, obesity has declined among US teenagers from rich families but has risen among their impoverished counterparts, a gap driven by lack of exercise, said a study Monday.

The research by experts at Harvard University examined what appeared to be an encouraging decline in adolescent obesity and found that only the upper class is benefiting.

"We find that although the overall obesity prevalence has plateaued, the trend looks very different across different subgroups," said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Using family income as well as the education level of the parents to analyze two major US surveys, researchers found a growing class gap where obesity was concerned.

Beginning in the mid-2000s, obesity rates declined among children of parents who graduated from college.

Meanwhile, obesity rates rose among children of parents who had only a high school diploma.

Similar trends were seen when researchers separated the data by income level.

However, when it came to probing racial differences, researchers said they did not have enough data to reliably explore interactions between class and ethnicity.

The obesity rate among those aged 12-17 in the United States nearly doubled from the late 1980s until the mid-2000s, but began leveling off about a decade ago.

About nine percent of adolescent were obese in the time span of 1988 to 1991, but that rose to 17 percent by 2003-2004, according to government data.

There has been no change in the teen obesity rate since then.

In the United States, obesity in adolescents and children is based on growth charts issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A body mass index, or ratio of weight and height, above the 95th percentile for age and gender is considered obese. Between the 85th and 94th percentile is considered overweight.

Key reasons the poor may be gaining weight are lack of physical activity and excessive food intake, the study said.

According to the study, calorie intake among kids of all income classes has gone down in recent years, but only kids of educated parents have reported getting regular exercise.

"The difference comes down to physical activity," study co-author Kaisa Snellman told AFP.

"Educated families, they are much more likely to engage in physical activities, exercising, biking around, walking."

Access to healthy foods also remains an obstacle for the poor.

The US Department of Agriculture has reported that 9.7 percent of the US population, or 29.7 million people, live in low-income areas more than a mile from a supermarket.

In those areas, "the only options for grocery shopping are 'convenience' stores, liquor stores, gas stations, or fast food restaurants that sell foods high in fat, sugar, and salt," said the study.

Obesity in young people can cause a host of health concerns, including higher risk of type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, high blood pressure and psychological problems, experts said.

The study was based on two nationally representative federal health surveys, the 1988-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2003-2011 National Survey of Children's Health.  — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Screen time again linked to kids’ extra weight

NEW YORK - Children and teenagers who spend lots of time in front of screens—especially TVs—tend to gain more weight as they age, according to a new study.

The findings are consistent with research suggesting all that idle sitting and exposure to advertisements may fuel poor eating habits.

Many parents believe their children are getting a reasonable amount of recreational screen time, Mark Tremblay said. But most US and Canadian kids exceed the recommended two-hour maximum per day.

"We don't pay attention to the fact that it's half an hour here, half an hour there, an hour here, an hour there," Tremblay told Reuters Health. He is the director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada, and wasn't involved in the new study.




Researchers used data from a long-term study of kids who took surveys every other year. The surveys included questions about their height and weight as well as how much time they spent watching TV and DVDs and playing computer and video games.

Kids were between ages nine and 16 when the study started.

Out of about 4,300 girls in the study, 17 percent were overweight or obese. Twenty-four percent of the 3,500 boys were also above a healthy weight.

From one survey to the next, each one-hour increase in children's daily TV watching was tied to an increase of about 0.1 points on a body mass index (BMI) scale, which measures weight in relation to height. That's a difference of approximately half a pound per extra hour of TV.

Increases in total screen time between survey periods were linked with similar but smaller changes in BMI.

"The weight of the evidence is pretty strong that television viewing is related to unhealthy changes in weight among youth," Jennifer Falbe said.

But, she told Reuters Health, "It's important for parents to be aware of all the potentially obesogenic screens that they should really be limiting in their children's lives." Increases in DVD and video watching were tied to weight gain among girls, in particular.

Falbe led the study while at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. She is now at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

When kids watch TV, "There is more purposeful, deliberate exposure to eating options, commercials that come on that might cue you to go off to the pantry and grab a cookie or a soft drink," Tremblay said.

"Typically your hands are free when you're watching TV, so should that temptation capture you, you're able to sit there and munch on whether it's a healthy or an unhealthy snack."

What's more, he said, "You can get into a pretty much hibernative state on the couch." Even if kids are sitting down while playing a computer game, for instance, they might be a bit more active, Tremblay said.

The study didn't include many non-white or poor children, the researchers noted. So the findings may not apply to all US youth.

Another study of factors affecting childrens' weight published today in Pediatrics found that kids whose mothers and fathers reported consistent parenting—setting age-appropriate rules and expectations and following through on them—had a lower BMI than their peers. But those differences were small, Pauline Jansen from Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues wrote.

In a third report in the same journal issue, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked 1.2 million children from low-income families in the US to see how their weight changed over time.

They found 11 percent of kids who were not obese before age two became obese over the next two to three years. Close to two-thirds of children who were initially obese as babies and toddlers were no longer obese a couple of years later. Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native children were more likely than white kids to become obese and less likely to stop being obese.

The study "underscores the importance of early life obesity prevention in multiple settings for low-income children and their families," according to researchers led by Dr. Liping Pan. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

9 Effective Tips to Save on Car Insurance for Teenagers

Car insurance for teenagers can cost as much as five times more than the rates for adults. This is because of the greater driving risk involved in teenagers evidenced by greater number of accidents and higher number of serious injuries and fatalities compared to adult drivers.


In order to lower actual rates and maximize your teen’s auto insurance coverage, you can give your teen a simpler or older car; let your teen keep a good driving record; let him keep a clean insurance record; enroll him to a driver safety education; get your teen a safer car; let him maintain good academic grades; keep the mileage low; keep the car safe; and apply for multiple policies with your insurance company. To help you save on auto insurance costs for your teenager, here are proven tips you can consider:

Give your teen a simpler or older car

A brand new sports car would make a very nice birthday gift for your beloved teen, but if you want to save to insurance costs, this would not be a smart move. Remember that one of the factors that make up an expensive car insurance would be a brand new car because of its high book value. A sports car would also be expensive to insure with its higher horsepower compared to a four-door sedan. With a stronger car, your teen would tend to drive faster, making it more prone to accidents and damages. If you are giving your teen an older car model, you can also save by dropping collision coverage.

Let your teen keep a good driving record

If this is not your first year in getting your teen a car insurance and he or she had a good driving record, you can ask for a discount from your insurance provider. Most auto insurance companies give discounts to drivers who have not been issued a ticket or those who have not been involved in any accident since they have been driving. Remind your teen that it always pays to be a good driver.

Let him keep a clean insurance record

Aside from having a good driving record, insurance costs may also be lowered if your teen keeps a clean insurance record. It is advisable for him to keep from claiming for very minor car damages from insurance companies in order to avail of discounts.

Enroll him to a driver safety education

Some states require teenagers to get driving lessons first before he gets a driver’s license. Aside from this condition, the cost of getting a car insurance quote for teenagers may also be reduced if your teen had been enrolled to a driving course before driving his own car, most especially if he had good grades. The insurance company would most likely give discounts to responsible student drivers who have had lessons to safe driving than to those who have not.

Get your teen a safer car

Just like in applying auto insurance for adult-driven cars, discounts also apply to teenager-driven cars with safety features. Airbags, anti-lock brake systems, and alarm systems can help lower the insurance cost of your teen’s auto insurance as they reduce risk for injuries as well as theft and damages.

Let him maintain good academic grades

Yes, indeed. If your teen proves to have good grades in school, most especially if he is in the honor roll, you can avail of the good student discount. Most insurance companies offer this incentive to responsible students who are most likely more sensible and responsible too when it comes to driving.

Keep the mileage low

When you ask for auto insurance quotations, companies do ask for estimated mileage your teen has to travel from residence to destination, as well as estimated annual mileage. As much as possible, advice your teen to keep his mileage low and use the car only when needed. Do not encourage weekend road trips and the like. Higher mileage leads to higher risk of meeting accidents, thus resulting to higher insurance cost.

Keep the car safe

Another very important determining factor for insurance premium is the place where your teen brings and parks his car. Insurance companies will be asking where the car will usually be brought and parked. Is the school parking safe? Are the places he goes safe enough, too or are there many reported cases of car thefts and damages? If at home, does he park his car in a covered garage or just outside the apartment? Of course, the more risky the situation, the higher the insurance cost.

Apply for multiple policies with your insurance company

If your teen’s insurance provider with other concerns, such as life or home insurance, also covers car insurance and you get a policy from them, you may be given a discount on your auto insurance for your devotion to their company. Alternately, you can also apply for the whole family’s car insurance policies in one insurance company and be granted of discounts for each of your plan. Do not hesitate to ask your insurer about these discounts to save bucks.

Other discounts you may avail of with your teen’s car insurance include loyalty discount, if you have been with your insurance company for a certain number of years, as well as multiple car discount, when you enroll more than one car for your teen.

source: bripblap.com