With the 2010 Budget still ringing in our ears, it seems like  a good moment to link to this fantastically helpful Teen Cash Guide from moneysavingexpert.  It’s not new (from 2007), but is still massively relevant and is a fantastic grounding in how to get the most out of your money.  Worth reading even if you’re not a teen.

Teen Cash Guide pdf

Simple, clear and accessible. If you follow Martin Lewis’ advice there’s almost no chance of ending up in mountains of debt surrounded by stuff you don’t want.  So that’s good.

Muchos thanks to Barry McGee for the tip off

Watch the panorama episode on BBC iPlayer

I’ve been really impressed by the latest Panorama – Are the net police coming for you?. The program covers a lot of sides of the great file-sharing debate, and the impending ‘Digital Britain’ laws aiming to tackle them (or at least one side of them);

A proposed new law is threatening to disconnect the millions of internet users who unlawfully download free music, films and TV. Jo Whiley looks at how your broadband use at home may never be the same, and could even be cut off.

We spotted the beginning of this road to censorship a couple of years ago when Virgin sent out 800 letters to heavily file-sharing customers to appease the music-industry gods.

Only 7 days to watch this, so don’t miss out!

It has begun! From here:

“I’m a Scientist is a science dialogue event where school students talk to real scientists online for two weeks. It’s in the form of an X Factor style competition between scientists, who compete for a prize of £500.

For two weeks students read about the scientists’ work, ask them questions, and engage in live text chats with them. The students vote for the scientist they want to get the money. The scientists with the fewest votes are evicted until only one is left to be crowned the winner. The event is supported by carefully developed and tested resources which develop students’ skills and deepen their understanding.”

I’ll definitely be checking back throughout the two weeks if for nothing else than to read the great questions and answers that are already filling the site.

It’s run by the team that also put on I’m a Councillor (disclosure: I worked as a moderator on that project a number of years ago and it was amazing), so they’ve got loads of experience engaging young people with a topic (politics) that historically hasn’t been massively interesting to them.  And now it’s the turn of science.

For more, read their webby or their tweets.

Thousands of students participate in the BBC’s school report ‘09;

Update See highlights from the day.

Dan’s just pointed out this Daily Mail.co.uk article (possibly not work-safe due to pixelated breasts): Teenage boys watching hours of internet pornography every week are treating their girlfriends like sex objects.

Despite being very anecdotal and including some slightly inane pull quotes (one-tenths of a second, Google?!), it does raise some interesting points about what impact the prevalance of technology that can access hardcore pornography is having on the teens and young people who are growing up knowing nothing else, particularly on their relationships with each other.

Another interesting article (from last year) covered similar ground:

“It is easier than ever to watch, create and share pornographic images and text, and as the first generation of web-savvy teenagers who have always had the instant gratification of DSL, who get cell phones as soon as they’re old enough to talk and who’ve never used air quotes with the word “blog,” porn has always been right at their fingertips. Which leads to the question, can this be bad for them? If cigarettes stunt your growth, does porn stunt your soul?

Somewhere between innovation and titillation, technology is moving faster than adults can keep tabs on it, and the debate over how much access is really good for teenagers is raising parents’ blood pressure.

“By and large, the answer is, if a person is high on multiple-risk factors, heavy consumption of pornography does add fuel to the fire,” he says. “People who are not at a particular risk of committing sexually aggressive acts, whether or not they are heavy pornography users doesn’t make much of a difference.””

A Swiss company (Lamprecht AG) are making condoms for 12-14 year old boys, according to The Mail.  Despite some unfortunate wording in the article (”research found that not enough 12 to 14-year-old boys were having protected sex” – err, what?), it’s pretty clear that the rationale is to make sure there’s contraception available for that (tiny minority) of sexually active 12-14 olds, rather than as an encouragement.  I couldn’t begin to speculate about how this would work logistically and what, if any, positive impact this could have.

They’re also apparently keen to market them in the UK, due to our very high rate of underage pregnancy, so eyes peeled.  Then again, I can’t find anything on their website about it, so maybe it’s LIES?

In similarly weird news, rumours of JLS starting their own brand of condoms continue, with their management apparently in talks with Durex to launch a range called, of course, Just Love Safe.

“The boys… also want to colour-coordinate the range.

They were each assigned a shade when they first got together – with Aston being blue, Marvin, 24, green, Oritse, 23, red and JB, 23, yellow.

The band – who won the Bizarre column’s Shagger of The Year award in 2009 – are famed for being ladies’ men.

But they are keen to use their huge influence on young fans to improve attitudes to contraception.

Later this year they will announce their exact intentions.”

It’s so silly it’s almost inevitable.  At this point I’d be shocked if it didn’t happen. And, if it does, what impact will it really have on their young (teen, mostly female) fans?

Focus on photos, with blogging as a sidenote.

Are you a Boother? Do you and your friends use DailyBooth?

If you’re adult; chances are slim. You might use something similar such as EX1 or EX2 – facebook apps that allow you to post daily photos of yourself.

Now take that and cross it with a micro-blog community like Twitter or Tumblr, let it organically grow in social groups of students (*Cough*), and you have DailyBooth.

Attending Tomorrows Web last summer, a few young technorati mentioned the site, and I’ve heard sporadic mentions over the year, but a recent tweet finally dropped the penny!

Still need proof? There are no stats to backup this assumption up, but just watch their live updates page for a 1 minute or so.

Den ganzen Beitrag lesen…

The UK’s no. 1 video blogger Charlie McDonnell (charlieissocoollike), asks the question. …the fans reply, big time!

(A wide range of @replies already, within 24 hours.)

Check out the toolkit article and videos on the DCSF site.

Three short films have been produced to illustrate the stages of video creation. These videos are designed to enthuse and motivate both you and young people to create video content.

The toolkit includes a comprehensive guide to social media that will allow you to start a conversation with young people and get them actively involved in creating and maintaining a social media group, page or account.

Summary taken from WiredGov article, found via @nesta_uk.

Habbo, banging on No. 10's virtual door

Dawn Butler, Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement, has partnered up with everyone’s favourite teen virtual world Habbo to give young people a chance to be vocal about the things that matter to them in a space where they’re used to expressing themselves.

They’ve got a public room (’March on Government Lounge’) where they’re encouraging habbos throughout this month to..

“…think about what matters, start a debate, get involved in the solution, take action and pass it on.

From climate to careers, from volunteering to youth clubs, you can make a real difference in your area.

We’d like you to be vocal about the issues that matter most to you. Meet with other Habbos about how you can fix the issue, then convince others to join in and take up the cause.”

The powers that be at Habbo will take a look at this explosion in political engagement, then pick the most vocal, the most passionate and the most informed teens and give them a chance to attend two virtual events, putting their views to politicians and celebrities.

March On Government: Event 1

Date and Time:
Wednesday 10th March, 4:30pm

Attendees:
Dawn Butler Minister for Youth Citizens and Youth Engagement
Annie Tagoe England Athletics U17 Women’s 100m champion.
50 VIP Habbos our competition winners as chosen by Dawn Butler.

and

March On Government: Event 2

Date and Time:
Monday 15th March, 4:30pm

Attendees:
Dawn Butler Minister for Youth Citizens and Youth Engagement.
Chipmunk Celebrity Visitor.
1 VIP Habbo our overall winner, logging in from London Habbo Office.
50 VIP Habbos more winners.

But don’t worry, it’s not JUST for the winners – unlimited numbers of habbos can spectate on the live chats online as well.

Going to spaces where teens are, making it a competition with celebs and online-status as prizes, and the involvement of a senior member of government all combine to make this, in my opinion, a flippin’ brilliant idea.

I really hope that Dawn Butler can follow this up with some meaningful action in some area that she can directly relate back to the work that the Habbo community will have done.  Either way, at the very least, it will make a lot more teens think about and articulate their viewpoints on a range of issues, which can only be a good thing.

Bravo Habbo, and bravo Dawn.  Can’t wait to see how it goes.

Habbo-ised Dawn Butler

See also:

• More information: Habbo’s March on Government page
• More e-democracy on Pocket Money: The Conservatives, Spotify and engaging youth in politics