Coping with High School Bullies by Connect with Kids

A Violent Age

Have your children ever been the victims of high school bullies? In spite of anti-violence messages and bullying videos, do you suspect your own kids may have hurt or threatened someone else? In either case, they wouldn’t be alone.

Youth violence is on the rise, touching nearly every teenager in America:

80 percent of teens say they have faced high school bullies
One in three has been in a physical fight during the last year
Among teens, murder is the second-leading cause of death
Bullying Videos Can Help Stop the Violence

Experts say talking with your kids and helping them understand their feelings of anger, hurt or fear goes a long way to helping both the victims and the perpetrators of teen violence. Watching bullying videos like A Violent Age together will get that conversation started and help you both know what to say and how to listen.

Your kids will relate to the teens in this program who talk about how high school bullies affected their lives. You’ll also hear from the Hessler family, whose daughter hung out with a rough crowd and was killed during a robbery.

Bullying videos alone won’t solve the problem, but A Violent Age is a great way to take the first step. Order your copy today and get advice from experts on how to keep kids safe from high school bullies and how to get help for children who struggle from the anger, pain, fear and humiliation that goes with teen violence.

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Connect with Kids is a wealth of information for parents. I refer parents to them daily and I am always impressed with their valuable new weekly parenting articles and DVD’s. In today’s world of teenagers - parents need to be a step ahead!

Do you have a struggling teen? At risk teens? Defiant Teen? Teen Depression? Problem Teen? Difficult Teen? Teen Rage? Teen Anger? Teen Drug Use? Teen Gangs? Teen Runaways? Bipolar? ADD/ADHD? Disrespectful Teen? Out of Control Teen? Peer Pressure?

Find about more about Boarding Schools, Military Schools, Christian Boarding Schools, Residential Treatment Centers, and Therapeutic Boarding Schools.

Helping Teens Avoid Bad Decisions and Risky Situations

Good Kids, Bad Choices

All kids make mistakes … but some bad choices can lead to terrible outcomes. As parents, we need to do everything in our power to help our children learn to make smart decisions. How do you help your kids learn about the consequences of a split-second decision? How do you help them avoid dangerous and risky situations?

Learn what leads kids to make bad decisions… and how parents can help with Good Kids, Bad Choices.

What is your greatest fear for your child? Car accident? Drug or alcohol addiction? Sexually transmitted disease? Unplanned pregnancy? Physical disability? Death? When it comes to learning how to avoid bad decisions, children need the guidance and insights that only parents can provide.

So how do parents learn what situations kids get themselves into? Why they make bad choices?
Order Good Kids, Bad Choices and find out.

You’ll see real teenagers talk about the split-second decisions they made … the terrible outcomes … and what they wish they had done instead. You’ll learn tips from experts and parenting advice about the steps you can take to help your child learn to make better decisions. And you’ll hear the inspiration from families who can help your family – before it’s too late.

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As a parent advocate (Sue Scheff) keeping parents informed about today’s teens and the issues they face today is imperative for parents, teachers and others to continue to learn about.

Connect with Kids, like Parents’ Universal Resource Experts, brings awareness to parents and other raising with and working with today’s kids.

Do you have a struggling teen? At risk teens? Defiant Teen? Teen Depression? Problem Teen? Difficult Teen? Teen Rage? Teen Anger? Teen Drug Use? Teen Gangs? Teen Runaways? Bipolar? ADD/ADHD? Disrespectful Teen? Out of Control Teen? Peer Pressure?

Find about more about Boarding Schools, Military Schools, Christian Boarding Schools, Residential Treatment Centers, and Therapeutic Boarding Schools.

Girls Drink More Than Boys by Connect with Kids

“I think because of this pressure, the girls find that alcohol lessons their inhibitions. It also represses their emotions, anxieties and fears about it.”

– Annie Prescott, Ph.D., psychologist

In recent decades, girls have been catching up to boys -- and even surpassing them -- in a whole host of categories: test scores, academic achievement, college enrollment, graduate degrees. But in one area, girls outdoing boys is not good news.

Who drinks more alcohol, girls or guys?

“I think girls drink more,” says Diane, 13.

“I think girls drink more,” says Matt, 16.

“I think teenage girls drink more,” says Chris, 15.

In fact, a growing number of studies, including a recent survey from Columbia University, show that girls are now drinking more than boys. But why?

“Girls drink more because they try to fit in more. They’re so worried about fitting in and everything,” says Ally, 13.

Experts say there is more pressure on girls than ever before to be good athletes, to get good grades, and, at the same time, to be popular, beautiful and sexy.

“I think because of this pressure, the girls find that alcohol lessons their inhibitions. It also represses their emotions, anxieties and fears about it,” says Annie Prescott, Ph.D., psychologist.

“They want the guys’ attention; they want to show them they are cool and stuff,” says Diane.

Experts say teen girls need to be busy with activities that reinforce their worth and help them create an identity separate from alcohol, sex and boys.

“Sports and church activities, music, art, dance … activities where there are some social groups that don’t promote this type of acting out,” says Prescott.

All the while, she says, parents need to watch closely.

“I’m talking about being a detective -- that you are following up with them. Are they actually where they say they’re going to be? So they know that they have to be accountable,” says Prescott.

Tips for Parents

• According to J. Edward Hill, president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA), “The difference in female physiology means that teen girls feel greater impairment from alcohol and encounter alcohol-related problems faster, including brain damage, cancer, cardiac complications, and other medical disorders."
  
  
• Drinking alcohol puts girls' health at risk in other ways, too. Many girls lose their virginity while drunk; in one study of unplanned pregnancies in 14 -21 year olds, one third of the girls who had gotten pregnant had been drinking when they had sex – 91 percent of them reported that the sex was unplanned. (Parents: The Anti-Drug; Flanigan et al., 1990)
  
  
• Nearly one quarter of sexually active teens and young adults say they have had unprotected sex because they were using alcohol or drugs at the time. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2002) One in four drove a car after drinking or rode with a driver who had been drinking.
  
  
• Moreover, alcohol's ability to reduce inhibitions can be a shortcut to girls who "feel enormous pressure to have sex." The push to be sexy often goes hand in hand with the pressure to drink. (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• People who begin drinking early in life run the risk of developing serious alcohol problems, including alcoholism, later in life. They also are at greater risk for a variety of adverse consequences, including risky sexual activity and poor performance in school. (National Institutes of Health, NIH)
  
  
• Drinking alcohol is bad for your brain and your health, but kids who drink can decide to be successful at stopping. Caring adults can teach kids how to give and receive respect, take better care of themselves, and make better choices. Nemours Foundation

References

• Parents: The Anti-Drug
  
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation
  
  
• Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
  
  
• The Christian Science Monitor
  
  
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  
  
• Nemours Foundation

Smoking, Alcohol and Drug Addictions Among Teens

Addicted Kids

Alcohol. Drugs. Cigarettes. Many kids will experiment with at least one of them, but what happens when experimentation becomes an addiction? And how can you reach your kids before it’s too late? ? “It’s not like parents are bad or they’re missing something,” says Dr. Vincent Ho, psychiatrist. “Kids are just really good at tricking people.”

Drinking, smoking and using drugs are not “just part of growing up.” Studies show that parents can influence the prevention of risky behaviors in their children. Learn what pressures your kids face at school, on the weekends and at parties. Teach them how to say no in a “cool” way – and stick to it. Understand from experts the warning signs of drug and alcohol abuse.

Watch Addicted Kids with your children to hear stories from real teens who have used drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.

Learn from experts and parents “who have been there” as they offer solutions that really work.

Sue Scheff: Teenagers Cutting Themselves by Connect with Kids

The Enemy Inside

It's hard to understand teenagers cutting themselves, but kids do deliberately burn, scratch and cut themselves until they bleed. Even the kids involved with teenage cutting can’t tell you why it makes them feel better... at least for the moment.

They can tell you that it’s addictive and scary.“Cutting” is the most popular form of self-injury today, and it is on the rise among adolescents. Teenagers cutting themselves is a sign of emotional pain but it can also lead to major physical injury... and even death in some cases.

The addictive nature of this condition allows it to spin quickly out of control.How can you help prevent teenage cutting?The first step is communication, but talking about teenage cutting isn’t easy.The Enemy Inside can help.

Compelling true stories from kids who struggle with self-injury will help explain why kids do it, why they want to stop – and so often why they can’t. You’ll also hear expert advice for parents, teachers and counselors, on how to help prevent this kind of self-harm cutting and how to suggest healthier alternatives.

Order your copy of The Enemy Inside to learn what you need to know about teenagers cutting themselves and to see why Connect with Kids programs have been shown to improve youth behavior and increase communication between parents and children.

Do you have a struggling teen? At risk teens? Defiant Teen? Teen Depression? Problem Teen? Difficult Teen? Teen Rage? Teen Anger? Teen Drug Use? Teen Gangs? Teen Runaways?

Bipolar? ADD/ADHD? Disrespectful Teen? Out of Control Teen? Peer Pressure?
Find about more about Boarding Schools, Military Schools, Christian Boarding Schools, Residential Treatment Centers, and Therapeutic Boarding Schools.

Colleges and Networking Sites by Connect with Kids

“If you put it out there, people are going to see it and they’re going to react to it. What are you going to do when they react? How is that going to make you feel? If you’re okay with that, great; but if you’re not, don’t put it out there.”
– Dr. Ken Haller, M.D., pediatrician

According to the PEW Internet and American Life Project, half of all teens say they are posting personalphotos and information on the Internet. Many of these intimate details are being seen by the wrong people.

Katie and her sister each have a blog. It is, in effect, a personal diary.

“I really post anything that I’m thinking about. If I don’t have anything better to say, I’ll probably tell them what I did that day,” says Katie, 17.

“It’s really cool, like, if you write a poem or something, people critique it,” says Janie, 15.

When kids write a personal poem, or put up an embarrassing photo, the critique may come from a college admissions officer.

“I don’t think that they [understand]that they are on the World Wide Web. And I think they just feel like, ‘Oh, only my friends will look at this,’” says Donna Parker, mother.

In fact, according to the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts, 20 percent of colleges now visit Facebook and MySpace and other networking sites as part of the admissions process.

Experts say kids may not understand that what they put on the web can last forever. Even if, years later, they change their mind.

“So, even if the kid decides to take it down, it could end up someplace else, and that can be a real problem for them later when they’re applying to schools, applying for jobs, things like that,” says Dr. Ken Haller, M.D., pediatrician.

His advice to parents? Have your kids visit their social networking website and then ask them to be objective: would you admit this person? Would you offer them a scholarship?

“If you put it out there, people are going to see it and they’re going to react to it. What are you going to do when they react? How is that going to make you feel? If you’re okay with that, great; but if you’re not, don’t put it out there,” says Haller.

“I usually keep from putting my last name on stuff,” says Katie.

“I don’t think that anything I write will be dangerous to my future,” says Janie.

Internet safety advocates say sexual predators are looking at online profiles, too. Experts also advise that parents should not allow children under age 14 to have a blog.

Tips for Parents

Although the Internet can be a dangerous place, parents should not become overly fearful and ban kids from using the computer. Realize your child’s future success depends on being savvy with technology. (Kathleen Fitzgerald, Director, CyberCamps)
Parents need to become involved in their children’s Internet use. Go online with your child. Teach them to make smart decisions online. (Kathleen Fitzgerald, Director, CyberCamps)

Some of the dangers people (particularly children) can run into if they're not careful when blogging:(Focus on the Family)
Publishing private information. Children are especially vulnerable and unsuspecting and can post information about themselves and their families. This information can easily be made available to the public, including undesirable people who are lurking online.

Profiles. Again, children can unwittingly enter private information (e.g. contact information, photos or private details) in the profiles of their user accounts. They may not be aware this information may be made available to the public.

Inappropriate content. Children may be able to search through other people's blogs and find inappropriate content or discussions on topics that are not suitable.
Online bullying. Children can use blogs as a way to bully or intimidate other children.
Defamation and race hate. Children can use blogs as a form of publishing to defame other innocent people or to publish racial hatred information. Columbine killer Eric Harris published an online tirade filled with profanities, hate and racial slurs.
Publishing unreliable information. Unfettered, unreliable information can be and often is published by anybody creating a blog.
References

Kathleen Fitzgerald (director, CyberCamps)
Focus on the Family

Loving your kids is easy: Parenting teenagers is hard.

Parents today face very real and sometimes frightening concerns about their children’s lives. As they get older, your kids have their own interests, problems, even their own language. So what's the key to parenting?

You could buy a book…but your child probably won’t read it. You could search the Internet for advice, and ask other parents. Those are good options, but there's one that's even better for parenting teenagers: reality-based DVDs for kids and parents to watch and learn together. Parents don’t typically think of buying a DVD to help them with the issues their children or a problem teenager faces, but this is powerful positive television programming produced by the Emmy® award-winning Connect With Kids team.

Build Your Own Library

We have a complete library of half-hour programs devoted to parenting teenagers and kids, all related to social, emotional and physical health. These aren’t lectures or scare tactics strictly about how to deal with a problem teenager; they’re true stories of real kids facing issues like drugs, drinking, STDs, obesity, racism, peer pressure, body image, bullying, and more.

These powerful stories are unscripted, unrehearsed and told in kids’ own words, so your children will easily relate to them without feeling defensive, embarrassed, pressured or talked down to. The kids' stories are supported with interviews and advice from leading child specialists, health experts, educators and counselors.

Watching together is a great way to start talking with your kids. Each 30-minute video is only $19.95, and comes with a Viewing Guide with facts, suggested conversation starters and professional advice. To order, visit our products page.

As a Parent Advocate, Connect with Kids offers a great number of informational articles, DVD's, video's and more to help parents understand today's kids.