Adolescence represents one of the most difficult stages in human development. The teenager needs desperately to leave his childhood behind and enter fully into the world of adults — but often feels the pull of childish impulses and desires, and the security of his old life keeping him from making the big move toward psychological […]
Got questions? We’ve got answers!
SUPPORT & ADVICE
Find the right advice for each age
Search for the support you need by filtering, or go directly to the category you need:
If your adolescent has had learning difficulties or other school problems, then these usually have been recorded in some way in your teen’s school files. These school files follow your child from school to school, and may even accompany them when they enter the work force. Parents need to be careful about monitoring these files,
Is your teenager bored with school? If so, you may need to do something at home to help bring a little life into his various school subjects. Here are a few suggestions: • For boring textbook material, try acting out the work, creating a little skit or play to illustrate the concepts or facts covered.
With high school dropout rates and teenage apathy running rampant through our schools, it may benefit many parents to consider other choices for educating their adolescents. One important option to look at is apprenticeships. Apprenticeships go back thousands of years and actually were the original schools of ancient times. • In an apprenticeship, your teenager
Recent books, such as Allen Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind and E.D. Hirsch’s Cultural Literacy have focused new attention on the issue of how little our kids really know about their own culture. Studies suggest that high school students don’t even know when the Civil War took place and can’t identify Stalin or
Tests, unfortunately, are becoming more and more widely used in our school, creating test anxiety and learning blocks in our teens that get in the way of school success. However, you can help your adolescent cope with the negative effects of testing by providing him with the necessary skills for coping with these stresses. Here
Textbooks represent one of the primary tools used by teachers to help high school students learn about a new subject. Yet research suggests that textbooks may be among the least effective approaches in helping your teen to learn. • First, textbooks generally lack a distinct point of view, since they are often written by committees
Has your teenager been given one of the following labels at school? • Learning disabled • Emotionally disturbed • Mentally retarded • Educationally handicapped These are a few of the many terms used to label students in schools across the country. Schools label kids because it’s an efficient way of handling students who don’t fit
Your teenager may have been labeled “learning disabled” but he may not actually be a disabled learner. Many, if not most, of the two million students who are labeled “LD” learn perfectly well, if they’re given instructional approaches tailored to their own unique ways of learning. If your son or daughter has been tested and
Most outrageous behavior during adolescence is normal. It’s temporary; it causes no harm to self or others. It doesn’t interfere with normal school or family functioning. Most adolescents muddle through this difficult search for independence and identity, but sometimes the passage of time isn’t enough. If your adolescent has any of the following behaviors, he’s
Most outrageous behavior during adolescence is normal. It’s temporary; it causes no harm to self or others. It doesn’t interfere with normal school or family functioning. Most adolescents muddle through this difficult search for independence and identity, but sometimes the passage of time isn’t enough. If your adolescent has any of the following behaviors, he’s
Underachievers perform below their potential at school. They don’t finish their school work and homework. If you help them with homework, they lose it or don’t it in. The main cause is your child’s reaction to pressure and interference around school work. Poor grades become a way of proving his independence. The harder you try,
In the United States, at least six health conditions have been linked to diet. • First, iron deficiency anemia usually occurs during infancy, but one serving of red meat, fish, or poultry per day prevents it. • Second, obesity is one of our most common nutritional problems. Keep in mind that fat contains twice as
A sinus infection is the second most common complication of a cold. Sinus congestion occurs when one of the sinus openings become blocked. If bacteria multiply within the sinuses, pain and pressure occur, usually around the eye or cheek bone. Other symptoms include a yellow nasal discharge, a postnasal drip, bad breath, and, occasionally, a
Fever blisters are painful blisters that occur on one side of the lip. They’re also called cold sores. Fever blisters are a nuisance, because it takes ten days to go through the process of rupturing, scabbing over, and drying up. Fever blisters are caused by the Herpes Simplex virus. Flare-ups occur following sun burn, fever,
Pierced ears have become very popular in our country. The most common complication is a bacterial infection of the channel through the ear lobe. These can usually be cleared up if the earring is removed, and the area is cleaned with rubbing alcohol three times a day. Also apply an antibiotic ointment to the post
Menstrual cramps, or dysmenorrhea, are experienced by more than 50% of teenage and adult women. These women usually have cramps with each period. Cramps are caused by strong but normal contractions of the uterus. Ibuprofen is a special drug for menstrual cramps. It’s available without a prescription under such brand names as Advil, Nuprin, and
Almost everyone has had muscle cramps when a calf muscle goes into spasm and forms a hard painful lump. The other common muscle cramp involves the foot being pulled downward into spasm. These usually happen during sleep. They can also occur during swimming or other sports. The cause is overuse of that muscle. There is
Fatigue is a common symptom in teenagers. These youngsters also complain of being tired, exhausted, or sleepy all the time. Fatigue caused by disease usually gets worse as the day wears on. Fatigue from stress is not relieved by sleep and, in fact, is often described as worse in the morning. Although fatigue rarely has
Dandruff is the normal shedding of the scalp. Skin is constantly regenerating. On most of the body’s surface, the flakes of dead skin fall to the ground without fanfare, but in the hair, they may accumulate. Some children shed faster than others, and that makes it more noticeable. • The key to fighting dandruff is
