Recently, more than one chilling report surfaced in the news telling the stories of teenage boys raping their schoolmates. To make matters even worse, after these violent acts, they published photos of the incident and led bullying campaigns against the already victimized girls.
Imagine a scene where you ask your teen to pick up his clothes and he smiles and does it immediately. Does that sound too far-fetched. Maybe not, read on…. Every teen misbehaves at some point or another. From talking back and slamming doors to ditching class and using profanity. It’s normal for teens to want to feel independent, but it’s not acceptable for them to act out in a negative manner. Don’t go to the extreme, however — sending them off to boarding school isn’t the answer.
Adults love to give kids warnings when a rule is broken and would love to believe warnings are a highly compassionate method of parenting, a reflection of our loving and kind humanity. But guess what? Warnings may be the farthest thing from true compassion. Though almost always well-intentioned, warnings will routinely backfire. Here are the main reasons why:
When I was a child, it seemed like every adult in my zip code had an uncanny skill for making a “mountain out of a molehill.” In other words, of taking the smallest shred of negativity and amplifying all the tyranny and rottenness that shred of negativity may have implied. Before I go any further, let me give credit where credit is due. Exaggeration—the ability to weave a grand story out of next to nothing—is a very creative endeavor. It takes a keen eye, creative determination, and a lofty ability to wax poetic on all that is wrong.
Failed time-outs can be a huge source of frustration for parents and teachers, making them question their skills and abilities, and leading to the belief that they need to escalate severity to get consequences to work. This can easily result in stronger and stronger reprimands, lectures, and even yelling, along with more and more drastic and punitive consequences. This is typically a recipe for disaster. There is a much better way. Really understanding why time-outs don’t work is the place to begin.
So many kind and thoughtful parents are trying so hard to simply have a lovingly positive impact on their child, only to see the child slip further and further into the realm of being “challenging.” This is so prevalent, even among the best and brightest parents. Difficult child behavior comprises a quiet epidemic – the kind that brings so many to their knees.
There is a quiet despair among so many loving, smart, and deeply caring parents. They so desire to see their children manifest their greatness, to use their intensity well instead of having it go awry, and too often they see their best efforts to inspire respectful and responsible choices slip away to further levels of frustration.
Lately there have been a lot of questions in regard to how best to manage ADHD within the family. ADHD is not isolated to the individual (or individuals) in the family that have it. It affects the entire family on a daily basis in significant ways. When a family member presents with what we would consider many common ADD symptoms, and has been properly diagnosed, the next step is;
Spanking is one of those hot button parenting topics and most people have a strong belief on one side or the other. When considering discipline methods, I always talk to parents about 1) what are you teaching your child 2) are you modeling the behavior you want your child to emulate and 3) what is the long term impact/consequence of the discipline method you are employing.
![5 Tips To Help Parents Worry Less [EXPERT]](http://images.tangomag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-full/image_blog/worry_0.jpg "5 Tips To Help Parents Worry Less [EXPERT]")
As a parent, you want what is best for your children. You want them to be smarter, better looking and more well-rounded than you are. You want them to be liked by their peers and to succeed in school. As such, you worry. And, with worrying comes anxiety which can turn into depression. Here are five ways to help you stop worrying so much:
A lab tech at Georgia Health Sciences University may have engaged in too much monkey business.
