Your Family

By Alice Park

IT'S NOT WHOM YOU HANG OUT WITH Who has the most influence on kids--parents or peers? Last year's controversial theory held that only friends have sway over how a child thinks and acts. But a new survey suggests that when it comes to prejudicial attitudes and stereotypes about race or religion, among other characteristics, fellow teens have very little influence on their contemporaries. Reason: peers may have more impact on behavior than on attitudes.

DROP IN DRUG USE According to a government survey, fewer teens used illegal drugs in 1998 than in the previous year, a welcome dip after higher rates during most of the 1990s. Older teens showed the deepest declines, with 26.8% reporting having used an illegal substance in the month before the survey, in contrast to 30.7% last year. While the report probably underestimates actual drug use, officials view the drop, along with relatively steady rates of drug use over the past few years, as a sign that teens are beginning to heed antidrug messages.

THE ONLINE GENERATION Which city is home to the greatest number of wired kids? An AOL survey puts New York City at the top of the list. Nationwide, almost 5 million children under 12 log on daily; even kids ages 2 to 5 surf the Web, averaging three hours a week. Parents report that kids are more likely to fight over computer time than over use of the phone.

--By Alice Park