When my kids were younger, I remember one of my biggest fears was they would get hit by a car. I can’t quite recall how old they were before I let them cross the street alone, but they will probably tell you it was much later than it should have been. So now that they are teens, this shouldn’t be such a huge concern…right? Wrong. A surprising new study released this week by Safe Kids says that teens have the greatest risk of suffering pedestrian injuries. This is quite a change from a couple of decades ago when children between … Continue reading →

If school hasn’t already started for your child, it is just around the corner for others. Did your child spend any time brushing up on their math skills this summer? How about their grammar? Well if your tween is a regular texter, their grammar skills might be lacking. A new study recently came out that found tweens who use shorthand (also known as tech speak) when texting, are more likely to use improper English, compared to those who don’t text. Let me give you an example of a message that might be sent… R u goin 2 b round ltr … Continue reading →

One of the concerns raised by many when it comes to teens and social media is that it replaces personal interaction. I have heard many people say that teenagers don’t know how to talk anymore because texting and other forms of technology have taken over. Well that may not necessarily be true, according to research done by “Commonsense Media.” In fact, you might be surprised to learn that some teens would rather do without. The study involved the first generation of 13 and 17 year olds to go through a vast array of media and technological devices. In other words, … Continue reading →

Once-a-month I get together with three good friends. We spend a lot of our time talking about our teens, bragging about the good things and sharing the struggles. There have been times where tears have been shed, prayers have been offered and laughter has filled the room. It is a time that I greatly look forward to each month. This past month we were talking about the unique challenges we face today as parents. It struck us so funny that we laughed for the longest time, when I brought up the biggest concern for us was that someone would be … Continue reading →

During a particularly difficult time for my daughter, she sent me a text one day from school. She needed to tell me something. I responded, she responded, I responded…it turned into a 20 minute “texting” conversation. All of this was while she was in a class. I felt a twinge of guilt. Should I really be texting my daughter while she is in school? I’m sure most parents would say no. But the circumstances wouldn’t allow me to say, “We’ll talk about it later.” The reality is that she may not have been ready to discuss what she was. Now … Continue reading →

Whenever I think about teens and cutting, my heart really aches. Sadly, my 13-year-old daughter has experience with two good friends of hers cutting themselves. I’m so thankful that she shared this with me because it gave us a good opportunity to really talk about why her friends were doing it and what the repercussions could be. According to a study put out by “Pediatrics,” there is an alarming new trend happening…teens and young adults are putting out “YouTube” videos that actually demonstrate how to harm themselves through cutting, burning and other forms of self-harm. This is just sickening to … Continue reading →

Just yesterday, December 1, 2010, Wisconsin became the 30th state to enforce a new law that prohibits texting while driving. I was very happy to report that to my son who has his learner’s permit. Of course it opened up a whole discussion about what constitutes texting while driving. For instance, is it considered texting while driving if you just look at a message? I was glad to answer those questions. While there can definitely be a fine line between what falls under texting while driving, I simply referred to what the Milwaukee County Sheriff said in a newscast I … Continue reading →