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One of the single biggest realities for today's parents, is the tendency of teens to isolate themselves. Between MySpace, the Nintendo Wii, and their iPod's, it's grown extremely easy for a teen to shut off the outside world.

Don't get me wrong; we all need our space from the stresses of life. But the isolation many teens sink into feeds everything from depression, to obesity, to relational difficulties. Their brains, hearts, and souls seem to atrophy in their solitude.

Hence, the need for involvement in extra-curricular activities is more essential than ever for a teen's overall health. Needless to say, it's also necessary for a parent's sanity.

Here are some crucial benefits to keep in mind as your teen is rolling their eyes at your suggestions:

TEENS NEED EXERCISE

Aside from the obvious obesity crisis among American youth, exercise is crucial for brain function. A chemical called dopamine is released through exercise, and this can help counteract everything from depression to ADD / ADHD.

Your teen will feel healthier and function better if they are involved in any type of individual or team sport. If none are available in your area, make a point of getting the whole family out together.

TEENS NEED SOCIALIZATION

Despite what most teens think, their lack of friends has more to do with their availability than how many zits they have, or whether or not they have the right kind of jeans. Socialization helps build social skills, establish self-confidence, and even gives kids a healthy chance to deal with rejection and disappointment.

While kids might find it easier to hide behind the headphones or the computer screen, they're unintentionally handicapping themselves when it comes to adult life. With this in mind, many parents find it helpful to tie things like computer time to extra-curricular time. For every hour their teen gets out of the house, they get 30 minutes on the computer.

One important note; sports do not provide all the needed socialization for teens. While they provide some, it's an environment that is built around performance as much as friendship. Great places for pure socialization are church groups, service organizations, and part-time jobs.

TEENS NEED NEW EXPERIENCES

One of the key concepts in child and teen development is "individuation and differentiation". That's basically a fancy phrase for the process of teens seeing different things in the world, and deciding what is, and is not for them. That's a crucial process in developing a healthy overall sense

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