Eight Top Teen Health Hazards

Tattoos. Piercings. Hair dye. In her new book "How to Raise Your Parents: A Teen Girl's Survival Guide" (Chronicle), author Sarah O'Leary Burningham gives advice on how to handle these tricky issues. To get the scoop, she surveyed more than 2,000 teens and hundreds of parents—and talked with many of them, too. And as a 28-year-old and eldest of four siblings, including a brother in high school and sister in college, she's got some recent firsthand experience with modern adolescents. "Teenagers get such a bad rap," she says. "They care so much what their parents think—so much more than parents normally guess." Here are her tips on talking to teens about staying healthy.

1. To Tattoo or Not to Tattoo. Teens often think they want tattoos—but later on are "really glad they didn't get them," says Burningham. "You change so much, and your personality changes." She suggests taking advantage of "temporary options," such as wash-off tattoos or henna tattoos that last a few weeks. "There's an option to express a little bit of style and be creative, but you're not going to be living with it three or four years later," she says. "You want to make sure it's something that when you're 25 or 30 you really want."

2. Perils of Piercing. Remind teens not to do it themselves. In her book, Burningham includes a cautionary tale of a teen girl who pierced her own belly button by using ice from her home freezer and her mom's old sewing needles. The result: an infection that left a "gnarly" scar. Check with groups like the Association of Professional Piercers and its safepiercing.org Web site. The Mayo Clinic site, also gives good advice. "You just don't want to get it done anywhere," she says. "You're putting a hole in your body, so you want to be very safe." Too many unusual piercings may cause problems not just with health but with potential employers. "There is a concern of first impression," she says. "You need to think about what you look like because some people can be very judgmental."

3. Color Fast. Fortunately, hair dye is usually less risky than tattoos and piercings. And of course it will grow out. Parents are more comfortable with hair dye than with other personal-style statements. Moms often say they want to be at the salon the first time a child gets her hair dyed. To teens, Burningham says, "it's just keeping your parents involved in the process." Consider trying temporary, spray-on hair dyes that can be washed out. Burningham herself tried Jerome Russell's colored stuff and says "it came right out in the shower." The bleach in hair dye can burn eyes and scalps. So get a professional to apply it.

4. The Talk. "Parents need to sit down and talk with their teenagers straight up. Teenagers are not stupid," says Burningham. She knows it's hard for parents to be really open about sex and sexually transmitted diseases, but she says "an honest conversation" is vital. There are no hard rules on how to talk about birth control. "How you handle those situations is family to family," she says. The important thing is to keep the lines of communication open.

5. Safety Net. Everyone hears the horror stories about teens meeting up with dangerous strangers on the Internet. Parents need to explain why posting photos online is so risky. They also need to tell kids what kind of information is never OK to give out (last names, address, etc.). "There is a naivete that comes from teenagers," says Burningham. "[But] they're going to think twice when they're posting a photo if they had a conversation with their parents about what's appropriate. A teenager who's never talked about that might not have that moment of clarity."