Parenting Teens and Tweens
Ranked #7,464 in Parenting & Kids, #257,996 overall
Are you parenting a teen or tween? Not sure what to do? I'm not going to tell you how to parent your kid. They vary even more drastically from each other than toddlers do. But I can tell you how I'm parenting mine. And it definitely does NOT involve hiding my head in the sand.
When your kids hit the teens, the issues are more complicated than they once were. Trusting their judgment, giving them safe boundaries, letting them make mistakes, coping with their choice of friends, preventing drug abuse and eating disorders...the list goes on and on.
Parents today have many more questions than answers. Busy families end up reacting to their children in the same way that they were reacted to as children. But is this good? Probably not. This is a different generation of kids.
Sound advice abounds in magazines for parents of young children, but once we're busy with a complete family, we don't read, and the industry responds--they don't publish much for parenting the older child.
As if we somehow have it figured out by then! More than ever, when our kids are nearing or in the teen years, we could use a little help. We can share with each other what's worked for us and what hasn't.
That's what writers and authors do. They simply share what they know and have learned from experience.
I'm a freelance writer myself, as well as a licensed teacher, trained crisis counselor, and most important, mom to two teens and two tweens, I've been published in magazines for parents, including Parenting magazine, and have written some original material for the web.
But what matters most for my kids is that I'm a highly motivated mom. I've done some reading, and continue to do so. I talk to my kids. I investigate and snoop.
Below you'll find some helpful books, articles, and web sites. This time in our children's lives is too important to skate over. They need us to be in the details. One way to do so, in addition to talking to our kids, is to read.
Sign up for the free Yahoo! Teens and Tweens message board
.Books on Amazon.com
Articles and web sites about kids and computers
Trusted experts say that diaries are private (except in emergencies), but computers are public domain and should be inspected regularly. Reading chats and viewing which web sites our kids have visited are good ways to tap into what they're thinking and doing. This habit could prove life-saving down the road!
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- Contract for kids
- Print one contract for each of your kids. Discuss and ask them to sign it. Explain the seriousness of signing a contract.
- Contract for parents
- Print this contract, and sign it in the presence of your kids!
- Find web sites your child has visited
- Find out how to use browser history to find out exactly what sites your child has visited.
- Install filtering software
- I'm not as big on filtering as I am on snooping. But it depends on the kids, and there is a place for some filtering. Learn about some filtering software for your child's computer. But don't buy or download anything until you've checked out Google Desktop (see below).
- Install monitoring software
- How to select software that will monitor your child's computer activities. However, if you're looking for a way to monitor your child's chats, or find out where he's been, see below for the easiest, cheapest, and most powerful way.
- Keep your kids safe when using myspace.com
- About.com's guide Marcy Zitz wrote a page about the popular website myspace.com. Similar web sites go by the names bebo.com,
facebook.com, and friendster.com - Netsmartz Workshop
- Communication is an effective tool for parents and guardians when helping their children avoid the dangers that exist on the Internet. NetSmartz provides on- and offline learning activities for parents to facilitate discussions with their children and teens about Internet safety. Visit "Parents FAQ" to learn more about how and why parents should use NetSmartz.
- Snoop on your kid's computer
- About.com guide Marcy Zitz explains why and how to snoop on your kids' computer.
- WiredSafety--Teens and Tweens
- WiredSafety is the world's largest online safety and help group. All-inclusive, free resource focusing on Internet safety, help and education for Internet users of all ages; providing information and solutions to online safety issues such as identity theft, scams, fraud, child pornography, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, hacking, phishing, spyware and viruses.
- WiredSafety--Parents
- Information for parents from WiredSafety.
Other articles and web sites about teens
- MESSAGE BOARD Parenting Teens and Tweens
- The Teens and Tweens message board. This is a free Yahoo! group. Discuss and brainstorm with other parents in a safe environment.
---------------------------------------------- - Active listening
- A way to approach your conversations with your teen so they keep talking to you
- Adolescent Substance Abuse Knowledge Base
- Adolescent substance abuse help and information for parents of teens with drug or alcohol problems, addiction, and alcoholism.
- Afraid of the Stranger
- Op-ed by Yvona Fast. Do we overdo "fear of strangers"? We need to teach our kids to think instead.
- Brain studies
- A summary of what we can learn about adolescents from recent brain research
- Dear Mom and Dad
- Letter from a teen that will help you get a perspective on grades
- Get involved in their lives
- Excerpt from Dr. Ruth Peters' book, "Laying Down the Law." How involved parenting is different from strict parenting, authoritative parenting, and autocratic parenting.
- Newsweek Anorexia in nine-year-olds
- New evidence of increasingly younger anorexics and why parents are not at fault.
- Peer pressure isn't what you think
- Andy Yeager is a SAC counselor in Park Ridge, New Jersey. New Jersey offers a unique kind of "guidance counselor" whose focus is on teen troubles, not preparation for college. These SAC counselors are a wealth of information.
Andy Yeager believes that peer pressure isn't taught about properly in schools. Find out what this expert has to say about peer pressure. - Teens' personal soap operas
- Why teens' lives seem so dramatic
- The Primal Teen
- This link will take you to the Readers Guide of the book, "The Primal Teen." Then you'll also see links to Chapters 1 and 2 in their entirety. Publishers and authors sometimes publish parts of their book as a means of advertising.
- Help with High School
- This retired teacher has a site with helpful advice about helping your teen through high school. Also here is her blog Linda Hinkle's blog
- Middle School Tools and Resources
- Starting as tweens and leaving as teens, middle schoolers and their parents face a world of continued change as they leave elementary school and embark on the journey towards high school. Making a successful transition into middle school requires ongoing communication between parents, teachers, coac
- Stop Cyberbullying
- Lawyer Parry Aftab's very accessible site about cyberbullying and netiquette.
Parry Aftab was the creator of Teen Angels, an organization of teens educating teens about safe use of the internet.
This site has good content for kids and parents.
by stayathomegeek
Linda Moran is a mom of two tweens and two teens. Moran believes that successful parenting is in the details, and in learning the delicate dance of... more »
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