Teens will face driving test, extra restrictions in September

A new state law that goes into effect Sept. 1 will require all new drivers younger than age of 21 to pass the state driving exam, reinstating a policy the state ended in 1995.

If teens are issued their learner’s permit by Aug. 31, they don’t have to take the driving test.

The law, H.B. 339, also requires students enrolled in a driver’s ed course to have 20 more hours of behind-the-wheel practice before being issued a license. This means 34 hours of driving practice instead of 14 to pass the course.

In addition, the law will extend the restrictions on provisional licenses, which are issued to teens who have held a learner’s permit for six months, from six months to one year. Restrictions include banning teens from driving with more than one passenger younger than age 21 or from driving between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for work, school-related activities or emergency situations.

Edith Galan, 16, of Waco High School, does not have her license yet. She said she had not decided whether she would take driver’s ed or simply take the driving test.

“I don’t know what to think of that, if it’s a good or bad thing (to have to take the driving test),” Edith said.

State officials think the changes will improve teens’ safety on the road. The number of fatal car crashes in which teenagers were the drivers decreased by 32.9 percent from 2002 to 2007, according to a new study released by the Texas Transportation Institute, part of the Texas A&M University System.

-By Regina Dennis Tribune-Herald staff writer

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A Teacher's View of Cell Phones at School

I originally posted this as a comment in a parenting diary, but with back-to-school just around the corner, I thought it might contain a few useful considerations for a broader audience.

First off, I’m not only a teacher, but also a Mom with a 13 yo son. He "has" a cell phone, albeit it is an AT&T Go Phone without email, txt msging, or camera, and it lives in the kitchen cupboard, and it only gets handed out on an as-needed basis (e.g. He’s away from home in FL, on a band trip).

Why have we as parents decided to be so restrictive with this modern-day, wonderful piece of technology?

If you are going back and forth about whether to give or not to give a cell phone to your child as part of their back-to-school accouterments, I’ve provided a list of some things to consider or at least be aware of.

-by: BKAMR, www.dailykos.com

Anorexic Teen's Tragic Death

Jessica MacMillan seemed to have everything to live for but she hid a dark secret.

Beautiful, with a bright future, the 19-year-old psychology student from West Pennant Hills had many friends and had just begun dating her first boyfriend.

But for seven years, she had been battling anorexia nervosa.

After she took her own life on June 13, Jessica's family decided they did not want her death to be in vain.

They have organized a walkathon on Saturday to raise money and awareness for an eating disorder charity, the Butterfly Foundation.

Jessica was diagnosed with the illness when she was 12, after having problems adjusting to the transition from primary to high school, her mother Jo said.

"Jessica's always been tiny - people used to say to her, `You're so lucky', because she could eat two Quarter Pounders and never put on any weight," Mrs Macmillan said.

"She felt the only way she was going to be accepted was by keeping thin."

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Stories like Jessica's happen more often than we'd like to think. Teens struggle with all kinds of self-esteem issues that can eventually take over and even end their lives. Recognizing signs early and knowing treatment options can be of help if your teen happens to struggle with an eating disorder.

The Problems Teenagers Face

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is one of the most difficult periods in a teenager’s life.

The problems teenagers face today are daunting indeed. While peer pressure and cliques have been negative influences for decades, there are some new elements which are frightening, both for teens and parents.

When you put it all together, it is hard to know how to manage and help overcome these challenging problems teenagers face in the modern world.

Here we take a look, point by point, at six major elements and how to help teens get through this stressful, dangerous period.

-www.moreinformationon.com

Keep Your Teen from Getting Bored this Summer by Organizing Their Time

Teens are always on the go in the fast paced setting the school year. Taking a break over the summer to many teens means slacking off and sleeping in.

When a teen goes from this go, go, go pace to nothing, it’s okay for a day or two, but then they get bored and parents pay the consequences. A bored teen is an annoying teen or worse, one who finds trouble.

The easiest way to stop your teen from getting bored is to schedule out his/her summer days so that he/she knows what is going to happen and can pick and choose what he/she wants to do by learning to make choices.

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-written by: Denise Witmer, About.com

Letting Go of Your Teen

The most common mistake made by parents of older teenagers (16 to 19 years of age) is refusing to grant them the independence and maturity they require.

Our inclination as loving guardians is to hold our kids too tightly, despite their attempts to squirm free. We try to make all their decisions, keep them snugly beneath our wings, and prevent even the possibility of failure.

And in so doing, we force our young adults into one of two destructive patterns: Either they passively accept our overprotection and remain dependent "children" into adult life or they rise up in great wrath to reject our bondage and interference.

They lose on both counts. On the one hand they become emotional cripples who are incapable of independent thought, and on the other they grow into angry, guilt-ridden adults who have severed ties with the family they need.

Indeed, parents who refuse to grant appropriate independence to their older adolescents are courting disaster not only for their children but also for themselves.

-Excerpted from The New Strong-Willed Child (copyright © 1978, 2004 by Tyndale House Publishers) by James Dobson, PhD, FocusOnTheFamily.com

How Your Teen is Wired

Is your teen on the track to a meaningful future? Are you finding out what a joy it can be to help make the most of how God has wired him or her?

Many of us want to help our teens dream big, fulfilling, God-honoring dreams. But how do we do that?

The first step is to understand the great experiment known as your teen. In all of human history, there's never been another person with your teen's exact mix of God-given personality, talents, interests and spiritual gifts.

As the two of you get to know that unique wiring through self-tests like the ones in the book Wired by God, you'll start to see which kinds of dreams might make a good fit.

Read More: Your Teen's Basic Bent

-by Joe White, Larry Weeden, FocusonTheFamily.com