It can be very tough to be “Avoiding Power Struggles with Your Teenager(s).”  We understand that, today, the teenage years is a very difficult time transitioning into adulthood.  It’s a compact process, filled with a magnitude of emotions, choices and tons of influencers.    Teen minds are still learning to grasp and assess, all the while parents begin to “let go.”  It’s a period where teens begin to seek out other supportive guidance.   How do we get them to do so (with assurance) and without rebellion, without animosity against parental concern….

What other ripple effect can happen during a time when option overload sets in, and “leave me alone; I got it” is on the tongues of teens?   How do parents and educators avoid quick reactions and stop personalizing this time?
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Parenting Press Tip —The more involved and present you are in your child’s daily schedule, the safer he or she will be.

Last week we discussed certain behaviors that are common to perpetrators of child sexual abuse. This week I’d like to go over a few more points about molesters that will help you be alert to red flag behaviors and keep your children safer.
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Parenting Press Tip—A person’s behaviors are important to observe, not his or her appearance.

As parents and caregivers of children, we have the primary responsibility to protect them from anyone who would do them harm. Child sexual abuse is an unfortunate reality in our society. One of the ways we keep our kids safe is by being alert to anyone who has an inappropriate interest in children and denying them access.
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At Common Sense Media, Common Sense Educators have put together a toolkit to help stand up against cyberbullying.

Every day, you see how cyberbullying hurts students, disrupts classrooms, and impacts your school’s culture. So how should you handle it? What are the right things to do and say? What can you do today that will help your students avoid this pitfall of our digital world?
Common Sense Media created this free toolkit to help take on those questions and take an effective stand against cyberbullying.
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by Jeanne Faulkner

Last week, Anderson Cooper headed a team formed with CNN, Facebook, Cartoon Network and Time Magazine and created a town hall discussion about bullying.  The weeklong series, which aired on AC 360˚, looked at bullying from a wide variety of perspectives.  Part of the series was filmed at Rutgers University in New Jersey to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi.  Clementi committed suicide after being subjected to intense cyber-bullying by his college roommate.

Clementi’s death occurred amidst a long stream of other suicides of young kids who were beaten down by this new brand of bullying.   Bullying has always been part of society, but technology, the Internet and cell phones have created, easy, instant and almost anonymous new ways for people to harm each other. Never before in history has it been easier to gather a crowd on a playground to pound a less popular kid.

The bully, the crowd and the playground are all online now and instantly accessible with a few swift clicks of the keyboard.  You don’t even have to bloody your knuckles anymore. But, while the weapons and arena have changed, the bully, crowd and victims have not. They’re all still kids: flesh and blood, heart and soul and as aggressive, manipulative, impressionable and vulnerable as ever.
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