How Happy Are Your Kids?

Tweens and teens are overstretched and stressed. We polled nearly 2,500 tweens, teens, and moms about their coping methods.

Kids and Stress

Kids today are being bombarded with high-stakes school testing, after-school activities and jobs, parental demands for high grades and higher cooperation. And they're hyperstimulated by over-the-top technology and media access. It's a wonder they have time to breathe.
And parents? "Everyone is more stressed," says Edward M. Hallowell, MD, author of CrazyBusy (Ballantine Books). "Everything -- from world events to feeling on-call 24-7 -- eats away at our time, freedom, and energy."

There's not a lot you can do about world events. Or even the technology revolution. But you do have power over what goes on in your home. To help you keep your family strong and safe, Family Circle asked Harris Interactive to survey tweens (9 to 12), teens (13 to 17), and moms with kids those ages. We asked about everything from overall happiness to Internet use to what, exactly, they worry about. Here's what we found, along with smart advice so you can put the facts to use right now.