Teen Health 411

Book Review: Tempted, 6th in the House of Night Series

2009-11-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

If you have not finished this book, do not read this book review - it will spoil it for you! Tempted is book six in the House of Night series and begins after Zoey and her friends have banished Kalona and Neferet, Zoey and Stark are both recovering, the nuns and vampires are friends, and it is clear that Stevie Rae is keeping some really bad secrets about her red vampires and a bigger secret - a...

Resources for Sexual Minority Youth

2009-11-05T07:15:00.000-08:00

Sexual orientation is not something teens choose, and for teens who are struggling in families without support or even tolerance, there is always someone to help. Teens can reach out to an adult who will help - a teacher, a relative, a doctor, a clergy member, or a counselor. There are also national hotlines: The Trevor Helpline is a nationwide 24-hour helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual,...

Book Review: What to Expect When Your Child Leaves for College

2009-11-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

According to M. Spohn (2008), most parents experience some sort of separation anxiety when their child leaves for college. What to Expect When Your Child Leaves for College: A Complete Guide for Parents Only will give you some valuable information to help make the upcoming transition easier, including information about encouraging independence, offering support, handling the drop-off, dealing...

Thank You - Grand Rounds 6.6

2009-11-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you Dr. Joe Kim at Non-Clinical Jobs for hosting Grand Rounds 6.6 this week and including a post from Teen Health 411 about emergency preparedness. This week was such an easy read - organized and interesting! Photo credit: Ed Bierman

Is "Average" Really OK?

2009-11-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

My heart is going out to teens these days, especially in my high-achieving community. It seems school districts and parents alike have lost the sense that "average" is really OK, and in some cases, much healthier than "above average." An emotional goal of adolescence is to answer the question "who am I" acquiring self-certainty as opposed to self-consciousness and self-doubt. Most teens...

Set Your Clocks and Check Your Stocks!

2009-10-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! I know the Autumn weather has been here for at least a month and we have all been waiting to set our clocks back, but it is finally time to do just that. Tonight before you go to bed remember to set your clocks back an hour (Fall back, Spring forward) and tomorrow would be a great day to check your stocks in your family's emergency preparedness kit (or start one) - including...

Book Review: Prepared Parent's Operational Manual: Sending Your Child to College

2009-10-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

Normal 0 0 1 220 1255 Palo Alto Medical Foundation 10 2 1541 11.1282 0 0 0 OMG! Your kid is applying to college. Are you ready? Now you may be struggling to help them apply or maybe struggling to stay out of the whole process, but come April, when all the letters (good or bad) are in, the decision will be made, the check written, and then it...

Alley Dog Honors Teen Health 411

2009-10-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

Teen Health is honored to have been selected by AlleyDog.com as one of the best psychology-related blogs, for which I am deeply grateful. AlleyDog is a popular psychology-specific website launched more than 10 years ago, and well worth a stroll through.

Book Review: Choices: A Novel

2009-10-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Choices: A Novel is a must read for teachers, parents and teenagers, everywhere. A combination of coming-of-age textbook, conversation starter, bite-your-nails, and gotta finish book, it took me by surprise. Laughter, tears, and some great conversations have filled our home this week as we read Choices. In a nutshell, the main character, 15 year-old Kara, lives in a very sheltered world, attends...

Teen Talk Sexuality & Education

2009-10-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there are wonderful resources right under my nose and I do not find them for a while. This is the case with Teen Talk Sexuality - a wonderful group of people doing amazing sexuality education work with schools and communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their mission: To provide science-based comprehensive educational programs to youth and adults to help teens make the healthy...

My Kid is Going To College!

2009-10-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

OMG! WTF? Are you kidding? I am not ready! Those 17 years sure blew by fast - I still remember singing to her while rubbing my pregnant belly! How the heck will we all manage? I take it all back - encouraging independence, providing a great education, fostering decision-making and organization skills - nah - it is over rated! Or how about this - sheer bliss, satisfaction, a happy glow, peace,...

Teen Read Week 2009

2009-10-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has announced the Teens Top Ten Books of the Year. More than 11,000 teen voters chose Paper Towns as their favorite book during the online poll that took place from Aug. 24 through Sept. 18th. The winners were announced during Teen Read Week (Oct. 18-24th), and here they are: Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)Breaking Dawn by Stephenie...

Thank You - Grand Rounds 6.5

2009-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you Alvaro Fernandez at Sharp Brains for hosting Grand Rounds 6.5 this week and including my book review of your wonderful book, The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness, from Teen Health 411. This week was so very interesting - I loved the brain and cognition theme. It was so interesting in fact, I have not yet opened my email or checked phone messages, but I have had a lovely read and...

Love Your Body Day!

2009-10-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Loving our bodies and accepting our size may be the hardest things most women ever have to do! I found an old news article from Deb Burgard about the "war on obesity" and decided that I needed to help promote October 18th, which is still Love Your Body Day. The article talks about the size acceptance movement, which we can see everywhere, including the Dove campaign for real beauty and the...

Book Review: The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness

2009-10-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be asked to review the new book, The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp, by Alvaro Fernandez and Elkhonon Goldberg (2009), and am happy to report that I really enjoyed the book. One of the big differences in our house between the teens and the grownups is definitely brain...

It Is Not Too Late: Get Your Flu Shots!

2009-10-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

People, people, people, this is going to be a nasty flu season - so please, make sure your entire family has had their seasonal and H1N1 flu shots! A recent study by the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that providing flu shots in October rather than in November, would save lives and money. Putting it simply, vaccinating as many people as early as possible is the best way to avoid...

Generations Defined

2009-10-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

I do not know if I am the only one, but after "baby boomers," of which I am one, I have trouble defining the generations, so I wandered over to Wikipedia to get some clarity. Here are some definitions to help others struggling with "who is who!" Greatest Generation (aka GI Generation) are the people who lived through the great depression, fought in World World II, and are the parents of the...

Four Generations Overcoming Addiction

2009-10-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

A recent survey commissioned by Hazeldon, a substance abuse treatment center, has inspired a campaign to start family conversations about alcohol. They call the campaign "Four Generations Overcoming Addiction," and it encourages parents to talk with their children about their own alcohol use when they were teenagers. The survey results from Ipsos Public Affairs are based on interviews done...

Supporting Distressed Teens

2009-10-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

The amount of stress experienced by teens is increasing. Whether it is the pressure they feel about school, living up to family expectations, traumatic events, or our troubled world, teens are distressed! One manifestation of teen stress is depression, characterized by intense sadness, hopelessness, or despair that results from the inability to cope with stress. If you live with a teen,...

New Sexuality Resource From SIECUS

2009-10-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

I thought many of you might be interested in a fairly new website aimed at youth from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). The web site, Talk About Sex, is pretty interesting, has a self-test, and a "choose your own adventure" activity which focuses on communication and negotiation skills. There is simple and interesting information about bodies, HIV,...

Confessions of a Closet Waldorf Parent

2009-10-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Waldorf education really comes down to the difference between teaching a curriculum and teaching children. Children learn best when a caring, connected adult incorporates the rhythm of life, music, art, and movement into the classroom. Waldorf Education was developed by Rudolph Steiner in the early 1900's in Germany, for the children of factory workers. The basic principles, which are mostly...

Talk To Me!

2009-10-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

I wish every teenager in America would wear a t-shirt that says "Talk to Me." In fact, I wish the t-shirts would say "talk to me, touch me, connect with me, help me change our world!" After three recent teens suicides, two teens at a local high school have started selling t-shirts that say "talk to me," and I am just thrilled because these teens found a way to tell the adults around them that...

Parenting On Demand

2009-10-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

As the late blog posts may suggest, for the last week my schedule has been completely wonky and it took me a few days to figure out why! My oldest daughter is applying to college, competing for scholarships, taking several Advanced Placement (AP) classes, working, as well as trying to have a social life and support her friends, who are working just as hard as she is! How this messes with my...

Calling For a Crackdown on Pro-Anorexia Web Sites

2009-10-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

This may surprise some of you, but there are actually "pro-anorexia" (pro-ana) and "pro-bulimia" (pro-mia) web sites on the Internet attracting a significant number of teenage girls, especially those vulnerable to peer pressure and at risk for eating disorders. These sites all share the perspective that anorexia and bulimia are "lifestyle choices" rather than mental and physical health problems,...

When "I Love You" Means "Do What I Say"

2009-09-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

Conditional love is finally getting the press it deserves - and it is all bad! Sorry Dr. Phil and Supernanny, many of us do not believe that what children need or want (specifically approval or love) should be offered contingently or doled out as rewards or withheld until they behave according to our wishes. Praising children for doing something right or punishing if they do something wrong - are...