Teen Dating Poll: Should Parents Set the Age to Start?
Do you believe in a dating age?(the age where your teen would be allowed to start dating) I know I’ve always preferred to go with the maturity of the teen and the responsibility of the one my teen wants to date, rather than picking an age where my teen can automatically date whomever he/she wanted to. This ensured that I got to meet and get to know my teen’s dates. But, when I think about it, I did not allow her to do this at all until she got into high school, which was about the age of fourteen. Of course she had 'friends' she was basically dating. See my quiz: Are they friends or are they dating?
So what do you think: At what age should teens be allowed to start dating?
I liked this book and found much of the information very valuable to parents of teens that want to get a handle of how school fits into their teen’s life and what they can do to help their teen achieve. I had a hard time with some of the examples, as I didn’t see how these teens in crisis fit with the overall theme of the book, which spoke to me as a preventative rather than a fix-it type of book.
Gas prices: Eek! Lemon aide: Yum! Blog Round-up 5/13/08
When life hands you high gas prices, make lemon aide. Our blog round-up this week has us taking a look at our thoughts on gas prices, dental hygiene, graduation and then making lemon aid stands or playing with our kids. Of course it’s not all fun and games, gas prices are really awful and getting worse, but life needs to have fun in it. I hope you enjoy reading this week’s picks:
Killing two birds with one stone over at the Dental Care Blog, Buy a Toothbrush and Support Breast Cancer Research. I think I may have to go pick myself and my girls up some of these. Tammy also gives tips on the proper way to brush – so go here to brush up on brushing, heh. I’m writing this early and I haven’t finished my coffee, so lame jokes are going to ensue .
Sherri Osborn, has a seed bead pattern for graduation. These are really good for teens who want to make their high school friends a little something.
Lemonade Stand Printables
are free from Beverly, our Homeschooling Guide. This is an easy fundraiser for teens at local baseball games, so take advantage of the printables here.
An article I read this morning likened today’s' parental worry about the Net, texting, Myspace, etc. to our parents worry ‘that the Rolling Stones might corrupt’ us. Am I the only one that sees a huge difference in what we have to do and learn to keep up with our teens in order to take our responsibility seriously to what my parents had to do – close my door – to keep from listening to my music?
Is announcing an honor bragging? I don't think so.
A happy mom asks a question: "I have a 'problem' that is all good. My son is set to graduate as Valedictorian of his high school class this month and I am unsure of what the etiquette is for announcing this honor. Is there something extra that is supposed to be included with the grad. announcement? Do we simply tell people who would be interested? Is there a standard for this?"
Denise’s thoughts: An honor that is earned through such hard work should be given it's due attention. I would put a note with each announcement and party invitation. Perhaps something that starts out: "(names), the parents of (teen name) would like to share with you how proud we are of our(son/daughter) for obtaining the distinguished honor of Valedictorian of his high school class."
From our parenting community: How would you announce it? How much glee can a parent show without going overboard? Share your thoughts in the comments area or on the forum.
Teens with a Gambling Problem?
Perusing the Net today, I came upon this article: 1 in 50 Teens May Have Gambling Problem. It says, "results of the first national survey of its kind show problem gambling — described as gambling with three or more negative consequences (for example, gambling more than you intended or stealing money to gamble) in the past year — occurring at a rate of 2.1 percent among youth 14 to 21."
It goes on to state, "11 percent of the youth surveyed gambled twice per week or more, a rate that has traditionally been used to describe 'frequent' gambling." That is a lot of gambling, right? I’m amazed at these numbers and haven’t come across this problem personally. I plan on talking to my teen about it and seeing her perspective. How about you? Have you had some experience with this teen issue? What did you think of the article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments area.
Have you planned out your summer vacation? We are still in the process of rebuilding an old farm house, so I'm not sure how much of one we will be going on this year. But, I do want to get out and camp a bit too. My girls enjoy that, and I can see us squeezing it in. I just finished this article with quite a lot of tips for vacationing with (gasp!) your teen. Let me know what you think.
Absolutely worth reading at least once by every parent. Helps families by bringing the reader around to the reality of their need for their children to have a successful family in today’s world. Dr. Phil will help you take a good look at your own family and will put you on the path to a successful family with the all right tools. Sounds like hogwash, huh? The truth often does. But I’m telling you that if you employed one quarter of the advice in this book today, you and your kids will be much better off tomorrow – even if things today are okay.
Grand Theft Auto 4 Should 14-year-old Be Able to Play? I'm with Mom: "No!"
One mom seeks advice: At 2 PM at work, I received a call from the assistant principal that my middle school 8th grade son had "purchased" a copy (for $70.00) of a violent video game "Grand Theft Auto 4" ("GTA4" ) that was very recently released (it's April 30, 2008, as I type this) from a classmate whose mother purchased 4 copies for him to distribute to his paying friends at school. No, my son does not have his copy yet - the middleman boy was out sick today. Yes, I have called the mom of the distributor and told her to keep the copy and my son is out $70 bucks- his tough luck! My husband called the dad of the middleman and also told him our son was not to get his copy.
I am mortified because I do not approve of the content of any of the Grand Theft Auto videogames. My husband told me that I am a hypocrite because I permitted my son to have Call of Duty which is WWII soldiers at battle. However, I think there is a difference between a moral war, WWII, and thugs beating people and raping and murdering prostitutes in a senseless virtual world,
Questions: Is anyone letting their 14 yr old son or daughter have access to this game; My understanding is that, due to the mature "M" rating, a parent must accompany a teen (age 18 or less) and sign a release.
Denise's thoughts: I agree completely with what you did. That game is fine for those that are adults and want to play it. Personally, it's not allowed in my home - adults or kids.
I commend your son's school, what a great job they did keeping you informed!
High quality video games should try and have some high quality family values(here's why) - but I guess that is 'too hard to market'. It just frustrates me to see how fast these things sell and to hear that the other won't. It's simply not true. High School Musical is awesome and more teens were into that then this game. Look at American Idol contestant, Jason Castro. Dreads, sure, that's cool and teens like it. But this college student has high moral fiber. Says in a video interview, "I find the most joy in helping other people and serving. That's where I find value." The tide is turning for the better and values are becoming the 'in thing' for our kids. The people who make these games should take notice.
So, good for you! It's great to see parents standing up for what is morally right for their children and defending their own family values.
From our community of parents: What do you think of these violent video games being used by teens? Is your teen's school this good at communication with you? Share in the comments area.
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