10 Tips to Prepare for the 2009 Holiday Season

I can't believe that the 2009 holiday season is upon our doorstep already. For so many people, 2009 has been a roller coaster experience. And some are ready to get off the ride! The economy has impacted everyone, some much more than others. And the impact hasn't just been financial. Attitudes, emotions, plans, and mindsets have all been affected. I have no doubt that this year's recession has resulted in a culture-wide increase in stress and anxiety.

For many of us, the holiday season is a time that is anticipated with both joy and anxiety. Sure, we love the celebrations, the family traditions, and we cherish the memories of holidays gone by; but along with them, we add the stresses of preparation, expectations and the fear of letdowns, or family squabbles that we have experienced in the past. And, this year, the stress and anxiety level is likely to be amplified. With this in mind, here are ten tips I believe can be helpful in getting ready for an enjoyable, meaningful holiday season in 2009.

-Jim Burns, HomeWord, Crosswalk.com

Teen Drug Use

Personally, I don’t think parents of kids today can hear enough about the dangers of drug abuse. It has never been more deadly, and that is not saying it was not deadly years ago, however the access seems to be easier and the peer pressure is growing. When I hear parents tell me their teen is “only smoking pot” it bewilders me that many don’t understand that is the gateway to many other substances for many kids. I won’t say all, but many will start with pot and graduate to meth, crack, and so many others on the streets now. One of the most dangerous, in my opinion, is heroin. Take a few minutes to read a recent article by Connect with Kids about this drug and some parenting tips. Read more.

-Sue Scheff (P.U.R.E.)

Teen Rebellion

The topic of teen rebellion usually triggers some kind of emotional response. It can ignite fear in the hearts of parents who have children on the brink of adolescence; it can prompt both defensiveness and despair in the hearts of parents struggling through the teen years; and it can inspire a sigh of relief for parents who now have adult children. Whether your teen is opposing your authority or God's, rebellion is never easy to deal with.

Read entire article.
-Pam Woody, FocusOnTheFamily.com

Helping Teens Make Wise Book Choices

When children are younger parents watch what they read. They may even read everything their child reads to make sure the material is appropriate.

As they grow adults may decide that their teen is old enough to make their own choices when it comes to reading. Perhaps parents of teens should reconsider.

...for many girls in similar positions, Twilight was not just light reading, it was a way of life. They obeyed this book as if it were their Bible. They viewed Edward Cullen as their perfect man, and put themselves in the place of Bella Swan, the leading lady.

I began to worry about girls I knew nothing about. I feared the reality of the world would be an unequivocal shock to them. Teen pregnancy statistics are alarmingly high. While I am not necessarily interested in discussing the pros and cons of abstinence, I cannot help but feel that books such as Meyer’s promote a dangerous naïveté. They prepare many girls for a world they will never know.

Novels such as Twilight explore issues such as teenage relationships and sexuality by not exploring them at all. This don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy provides many students with skewed and narrow views of their society.

How can they deal with hormones and deep emotions if such things are implied to be almost taboo? It is a dark world that we live in, and while I do not believe that teenagers should either be exposed to or protected completely from this, I believe that it is crucial to prepare them.

-How Far is Too Far? Navigating the World of Young Adult Fiction by Beth Greaves

Six Ways to Build Your Teen's Identity

In many ways, American teens have never had it tougher. Perhaps a surprising statement, given the United States' obvious affluence compared to the rest of the world.
If you're a parent today, you know what I mean. Social pressures are more pervasive and destructive than ever before in American history. Parents often feel helpless to equip their teens with the tools to navigate – and steer clear – of harmful relationships, attitudes and behaviors.

Ideally, the process of equipping our kids to live and thrive in an often Christian-hostile world begins as soon as they are born. In fact, parents are the single most important developmental influence in a child's life, apart from the Holy Spirit himself.

But even if time has slipped away, and your teenager seems out of reach, you can begin to lay building blocks to help your teen grow to maturity in Christ and make a positive impact on his or her world. Love, commitment, self-discipline, perseverance and a lot of prayer are required, but you can do it.

Assisting your teen in forging a strong, positive identity is one way to help her form convictions based on truth, and then stand firm in them regardless of what everyone else does.

Read entire article
by: Tiffany Stuart, FocusOnTheFamily.com

Wilderness Therapy Programs Overview

Wilderness therapy programs are often confused with wilderness experience programs. They are extremely different in that wilderness therapy programs treat kids with a variety of behavioral problems, drug and alcohol abuse issues, violent behaviors, truancy, theft, and many more reasons.

Statistics show that most of the teens in these programs are boys between 13 and 15 years of age. However, there are wilderness therapy programs that take in girls and those of all different ages. There are many programs though that are specifically teen boys.

Most wilderness therapy programs offer the same process for treatment. More often than not there is the first phase of getting all of the boys clean of drugs and alcohol physically. Most have staff that are trained to deal with withdrawals and other detoxification issues that may arise.

The second phase is a personal accountability as well as social accountability phase. Generally speaking there will be team building activities where the teens are forced to work together as a group to succeed. During this phase it is crucial to let natural consequences fall into place. If a teen decides not to do a necessary step they may have natural consequences to endure. For instance, if they are in charge of trash items after mealtime and neglect to do their job they may have to deal with wild animals coming into camp. Not only will this scare them but they will take a bit of heat from their peers. This is good in that it helps them realize that most things are not just about them but their choices affect those around them.

In the third phase the teens are taught how to implement what they learned at home and learn coping skills to keep from the temptation of drugs and alcohol use and other at risk behaviors. Some wilderness therapy programs are only three weeks and for those with ongoing or long term addiction problems or long term behavior problems this may not be long enough for them to really learn all that they need to learn for re-entering their home life and social circle at home. All wilderness therapy time frames are different.

These programs are becoming recognized as a great alternative to traditional mental health treatment facilities and they are also talked up because most are much more affordable. It is nice that there are options for family. It is hard to find hard data concerning wilderness therapy programs because they are still quite new and only a limited number of teens get the experience. At last official count there were less than 40 wilderness therapy programs in the United States.

-teenhelp.com

Teens Lack Social Skills

Cell phones can and are a benefit to those who use them responsibly. But more and more teens and adults are using them without the thought of others.

The teen who sends text messages at the dinner table or the adult who talks on the phone during a meeting send an unwritten message to those around him/her... "No one is as important as me."

Our society has become a "me society" and the very things that can keep us connected, are driving us apart. Families who sit around and text and play games but never talk are missing out on family time.

The teens who text instead of talk are missing out on learning how to socially interact face-to-face. When those same teens are in the workforce they will lack the skills necessary to succeed.

An article from wausaudailyherald.com sums it up best:

The reason we have social norms in the first place is simple: They govern how we interact with one another, and they put into place some of the widely accepted rules of consideration for our fellows. Those same considerations ought to apply in our digital world of constant connection. There are times when all of us, president or teenager, simply need to put away our phones.

Read entire article here.