Opening a social media account is a big milestone for many teens. If you are wondering how to keep your kid safe online, here’s what you need to know about online peer pressure and social media safety to protect your budding influencer. Social media gives teens a place to find people with similar interests and […]
Blogs
College Binge Drinking: Dangers, Prevention, How to Find Help
Underage drinking on college campuses is described as a “significant public health problem” by experts at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), particularly for students who participate in binge drinking. Binge drinking, as defined by NIAAA, is a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent or […]
Adolescent Substance Abuse: Symptoms, Signs, and Trends
Parents of tweens need to start early and be aware of the signs of adolescent substance abuse to help them make responsible choices as they age. Raising tweens and teens is fraught with challenges. Gone are the days when you could fix a problem by offering a snack or kissing a bruise. Young adults face […]
Alcohol Facts for Kids: The Truth About Teenage Drinking
Start the conversation about the perils of underage drinking with your kids by giving them all the facts and up-to-date research. You need to start teaching your children about the dangers of teenage drinking when they are young, which is probably before you are ready. Underage drinking starts earlier than most parents consider, with sometimes […]
Is My Teen Experimenting With Alcohol?
For many teens, as they get closer to adulthood, they’re in a hurry to experience grown-up things, like alcohol. For parents, as your teen pushes boundaries, it’s common for you to be concerned about underage drinking. Experimenting with alcohol should not be considered a rite of passage or just something that teens are going to […]
Conversation Starters for Teens and Parents: How to Talk About the Hard Stuff
Perhaps the hardest thing about being a parent of a teenager is having difficult conversations that can be awkward or tense for one or both of you. The key to making these conversations more comfortable and productive is developing a strong parent-child relationship, and that starts with open communication at an early age. Even if […]
How to Address Risky Behavior From Your Teen
As a parent, you want to protect your child from everything. In the teenage years, the scrapes and bruises from horseplay at the playground make way for other dangers like underage drinking and drug misuse. Parents protect teenagers by helping them avoid making bad decisions — and by teaching them that risky behavior has consequences. […]
Underage Drinking at Parties: Consequences for Teens
As your teen starts attending parties with their peers, starting the conversation to prevent them from succumbing to the peer pressure to drink alcohol should be a top priority for parents. Alcohol is the most widely abused substance by youth, and every year, underage drinking results in the death of 3,500 children under the age […]
10 Healthy Choices Your Teen Needs to See You Making
Parents are perhaps the most influential role models for their children. What you say and do, the healthy habits you practice, and the activities and relationships you prioritize will have a significant impact on your kid’s life and a major influence on children’s decision-making process. Consider a parent who chooses chips and soda over water […]
How Child-Rearing Shifts During the Teen Years
It seems like children change overnight from innocent, playful kids into tweens and teenagers experiencing hormonal shifts and questioning the complex world we live in. Parents are often nervous about navigating the parent-child relationship during those teen years when their children begin testing their independence and challenging or questioning authority. They’re maturing, and parents may […]