Driving Teens

When our children getting close to their 16th birthday, they cannot stop talking about having a car.

They search online and pick model, and color of their future car. They are so excited about that they come up with plans that are not always bringing a positive ending in their story. Teens have poor understanding of responsibilities, and unfortunately don't take parent's suggestions seriously. Driving could be not only needed for everyday life, it also can be a danger for the teenagers and for the other drivers. Teens use to say, "It won't happen to me" and don't adopt the fact that it could happen if they don't take a full responsibility of their life and others.

First Time Car Buying Tips For Teens & Safe Teen Driving

Insuring Your Teen Driver

Benefits of Waiting to Let Teens Drive

Talented Teens

Talented teens: they are making their mark at an early age

LOOK out world! Here comes the newest generation of trailblazers, who just happen to be teenagers. And what they lack in years, they make up with an impressive show of determination and drive. Each of these outstanding teenagers shares a common thread--a willingness to succeed in their chosen professions beyond the expectations of society.
With determination, patience, and the support of family, they are all going places--and fast.

 

 

PARENT'S AND TEENS: Teens and Credit Cards

PARENT'S AND TEENS: Teens and Credit Cards

What teens do when parents aren't home

We can't control everything when we are not home. Most parents spend their day at work. But what our children are doing? Have you ever ask yourself about? Kids may not tell us, but we can find it from YouTube. Whatch this!

Teens and Credit Carts

What Teens Need to Know About Credit Cards

When you give financial freedom to your teens, don't forget one fact- teens can be out of control and use credit card for fun. Teens don't take it serious and may spend hundreds dollars a day. To avoid this situation, try to explain all advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards. Don't give credit card that has higher credit limit. Protect yourself from bankruptcy by limiting your child's spending.

http://financialplan.about.com/od/studentsandmoney/a/TeenCreditCards.htm

http://cashmoneylife.com/2010/03/16/credit-card-tipsfor-teens/

6 Things Teens Need to Know Before Leaving Home

Secrets for making a smooth transition from adolescence to adulthood.

As a young person with ADD, you have some additional responsibilities and concerns to shoulder. Here are six points to consider as you enter the next phase of your life.
1. Take responsibility for managing ADD in your life. As life becomes more complicated and responsibilities increase (college, relationships, work), the need to manage ADD effectively (including your treatment) becomes more important, not less.
2. Don't feel that you must go to college—at least not right away. If your enthusiasm about this next stage is only lukewarm, consider deferring your enrollment, or taking classes at a community college.
3. Develop life skills before you leave home. As you acquire survival skills, you won't need to depend on your parents as much, and they will certainly send you in the right direction.
4. Follow your heart to the right job or career. The right career is the one that you are passionate about. If you need help identifying your areas of interest, vocational testing and career counseling can be very helpful.
5. Take care of your brain by taking care of your body. A healthy lifestyle (exercise, sleep, and proper nutrition) makes a significant difference in attention, concentration, memory, irritability, and mood control — all of which are directly affected by ADD.
6. On the river of life, be a boat—not a log. Having a vision for the future and an understanding that your life's course is the result of your own actions is critical. As a log, all you can do is float where the current takes you. As a boat, you can drift if you want to, but you have the ability to direct your course when you know where you want to go.

College planning

Probably another important step in our teen-life is planning for higher education. This task is not easy for both sides- parents and teens. Select the right program, college, and location of the college is hard. We think about the best future for our children, but our children think differently. It is not a secret that parents pay for their children's' education and select a college that we can afford, closer to home and very often dictate what program our children should take. Teens think differently; they want to get out of the house with friends as far as possible, so parents can't control them. To avoid this situation, sit down and talk, get advice from education counselor, search online for more specific information, do it together. College Planning for Teens has a lot of helpful information. Build closer relationships with your child, be their friend and parent.

Teens and Work

When our children grow, they need more attention, understanding, However there is a time when our teens have to learn how become an  independent from their parents. At this age, teens crazy about cars, clothes, entertainment, etc. When parents refuse to give a money to their teens, teens start looking for other sources. There are many sources and not all sources may be legal. We teach our children to find a job when it's a time and many of them start seeking for the employment opportunity. We as a parents have to encourage our teens to work and make them ready for it. Follow this link to find and an article about Tips for Teens Who Toil and sponsored links where teens can apply for a job.

Bad acne linked to suicidal thinking in teens

Teens with bad acne are at a greater risk of having suicidal thoughts than their peers.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Kids with severe acne are twice as likely to have mental health problems
• One-fifth of teenagers develop moderate to severe acne
• Researchers do not know if acne treatments, such as isotretinoin, played a role

 Compared to their clear-skinned peers, teens who have bad acne are more than twice as likely to have mental health problems and are at greater risk of having suicidal thoughts, according to a new study of Norwegian youth.
Nearly all teenagers have some pimples, and up to one in five will develop a moderate to severe case of acne.
A bad complexion can be psychologically devastating at "a critical point in human development where self-image and confidence [are] being established," says Dr. Jerry Tan, M.D., a dermatologist at the University of Western Ontario, in Canada.
Health.com: 8 steps to healthy skin at every age
"There are hidden consequences to acne -- particularly severe acne," says Tan, who was not involved in the study.
However, the researchers can't say for sure if acne is to blame or whether isotretinoin and other acne treatments may have played a role; they don't know how many teens in the study (or which ones) were being treated.
Isotretinoin, the active ingredient in brand-name drugs such as Accutane and Claravis, has been linked to depression, suicide, and suicidal thinking in the past.
Health.com: 10 things to say (and not say) to someone with depression
"There has been a lot of controversy about this, especially in the U.S.," says the lead author of the study, Dr. Jon A. Halvorsen, M.D., of the University of Oslo, in Norway. "But depression and suicidal [thoughts] in acne reflects the burden of acne, rather than being a side effect of isotretinoin."
In the study, which was funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the researchers surveyed nearly 4,000 teens ages 18 or 19. Fourteen percent of the teens reported having "a lot" or "very much" acne.
Nearly 25 percent of the teens with "very much" acne said they'd had thoughts of suicide, compared with 11 percent of the study participants overall.
Health.com: How to spot the warning signs of suicide
In addition, the teens with bad acne were 52 percent more likely to have low attachment to friends. They were also more likely to do poorly in school, and were less likely to have had a boyfriend or girlfriend.
The psychological impact of acne appears to be greater in boys than in girls. The researchers aren't sure why this is, although they say it could be because girls tend to treat their acne more aggressively than boys.
The findings "are not surprising and agree with what I see in clinical practice," Tan says. "Those with more severe acne have greater psychological problems and social impairment."
The study couldn't prove that acne directly causes suicidal thinking and other mental health problems. As the researchers note, the link could run in the other direction: Psychological stress may make acne worse.
Health.com: 10 no-cost strategies to fight depression
Nor does the study close the book on the purported link between isotretinoin and depression, Tan says, although he adds that the evidence for the link was not particularly compelling to begin with.
"While these results do not exonerate isotretinoin in causing depression, it does suggest that severe acne in and of itself is associated with suicidal [thoughts]," he says.

Suicidal thoughts sometimes lead to suicide attempts. Suicide currently ranks second (behind injuries) as the leading cause of death among adolescents in the industrialized world, according to background information in the study.

11 Mistakes Parents Make With Teen Discipline

Raging hormones, misunderstandings, raised voices, restrictions and curfews come to mind for many when they hear the phrase “teen discipline.” But wouldn’t you rather think of respect, transitioning into adulthood, rational discussions and reasonable behavior?

The recipe for raising children requires a delicate balance of authority and love. And, with teens, that balance becomes even more precarious. How can you discipline your teen without destroying your relationship?

I surveyed teens in Charleston, S.C., to find out what they thought were the biggest mistakes parents make when disciplining their teenagers. Here were the top two:

1. Lack of consistency – While all children need consistent discipline, it’s even more important for teens. They get frustrated when a behavior is acceptable one day and not acceptable the next. The established rules need specific consequences. Realistic and consistent consequences demonstrate a “real world” view for teens. Creating house rules with consequences, then responding appropriately, provides all children with security and direction.

2. Not listening – Parents want to be respected but don’t always return that respect by listening to their teenager. Not listening to your teen expresses that you don’t feel he has anything valuable to say. Even when disagreeing, teens should be given time to express their feelings and thoughts. This shouldn’t give a teen the right to be ugly or behave inappropriately, of course. Modeling and developing guidelines for how argumentative ideas should be expressed is essential. If you want to be heard, learn to listen.

What other mistakes do parents make, according to teens, when disciplining their children?

. Punishing in anger – Angel, 16, says she “just shuts down” when her father gets angry and starts yelling. Sometimes parents only punish once they have reached the end of their patience. In reality, this allows teens to misbehave for a period of time before suffering any consequences. Not only is this confusing, it can also lead to abuse. Dealing with a teenager emotionally often produces dramatic immediate effects, but ultimately it creates a communication wall in the relationship. Consistent parenting, as described above, prevents punishing in anger. Stepping away from the situation to recover emotionally also proves helpful.

4. Irrelevant punishment – Whenever possible, the punishment should be reflective of wrongdoing. For example, if a teen returns home after curfew, limiting his nights out temporarily would be appropriate. A teen that doesn’t complete school work might be required to miss a social event to complete the work. If the teen misses the social event as a punishment, but doesn’t actually do school work, the consequences don’t make sense and just seem spiteful.

5. Accepting any behavior because of age – While it is a scientific fact that teens undergo traumatic emotional and physical changes, that fact should not be an excuse to be allowed to behave inappropriately. Often, teens who are allowed to behave badly do not grow out of that behavior as adults. Character is character at any age. Behavioral expectations should be related to what is right, not the age of the child.

6. Using guilt rather than reason – Guilt may create an immediate response, but this style of discipline actually promotes internal emotional issues for teens that may not be dealt with until adulthood, if ever. Reasoning with a teenager, providing a basis for your expectations and consequences, does not always evoke an immediate response, but the long-term results are typically more positive.

7. Being a friend rather than a parent – Teens usually have more than enough social outlets. They need boundaries and safe, secure situations in which to grow. You are the provider of both, and when you act like a friend, your teen will lose security. Teens who view their parents as authority figures and providers are more likely to be close to them in adulthood. Despite what appearances might suggest, teens do not respect parents who behave like teens. Relating to your teen, based on your own experiences, can be a successful method of working through challenging situations, but at no time should you lose your parent status.

8. Attack the person rather than the behavior – It’s essential to make sure your teen knows that you love him despite anything he does. Even greater, you love him enough to not let him develop behaviors that may be harmful to him or anyone else. Direct your criticisms and comments at the behavior, not the teen

9. You become the enemy – At times, you may feel like the enemy, and your teenager might actually refer to you as such. No matter how hurt you may feel, it’s important to remain the one person who consistently stands by your teenager. Friends and teachers will come and go. You will always be the parent. By establishing rules and consequences, you’re the one person in your teen’s life that holds him accountable no matter what. Even if we don’t like authority figures in our lives, they typically establish order and security.

10. Lose your sense of humor – It’s not funny when your teenager messes up, particularly when you’re left to clean up the mess. Losing your sense of humor won’t help.

It may not seem funny at the time, but most challenging situations can eventually be viewed in a comical way.  If your teen feels comfortable laughing and joking with you regularly, he’ll also be more likely to listen when you get serious. John Paul, 14, said, “I use humor to deal with a lot of situations. It’s better to laugh than to get angry.”

11. Stopping your teen from failing at all costs – Some of life’s greatest lessons result from failing. Parents who micromanage their teens because they are afraid of their teen failing prevent their child from developing important life skills. As much as you don’t want to have to discipline your teen, letting him fail and living with the consequences can teach him more than your chosen punishment.

Teens habits

What are the teenagers bad habits?

Most teenagers do the things that will annoy their parents most, e.g. staying up late, playing loud music, driving fast, making messes and not cleaning things up, not showing respect for their parents rules, getting drunk etc.
The thing is, most teenagers do not have to go through the 'teenage' stage everyone think they do. Mostly they do it because of peer pressure and because it's partly expected of them. It's also experimenting with becoming a young adult, and determining what kind of adult they would like to be.

Early puberty
Understanding early puberty - causes, diagnosis, & treatment
www.CPPInformation.com