Beach Blanket Bingo

Spring Break is here and many colleges have started spring break. Now, there are three sets of teens usually: 1) those in college 2) those working and 3) those in college and working. Studies prove those in college drink more. So what is a parent to do? You want your child to succeed, get a good job and have fun.

Tips for success:
1) don't equate drinking to having fun and the only way to have fun
2) know who your children hang around with
3) talk to them early about the dangers of drinking underage
4) limit exposure to some media that might romanticize spring break extravagance, including drinking games and sex-filled images.
5) talk to them early about dangers of underage drinking.

Checkout the movie Beach Blanket Bingo, if all else fails and remind teens Frankie and Annette never drank or had sex and there was a lot of dancing, singing and fun!

The Early Years

I was visiting with a mother of one of the student's in my oldest's Kindergarten class when she shared "watch out for third grade." I asked what she meant and she said the girls start getting mean and clicks start emerging. She advised to get to know all the parents and start talking to one another because as she put it "I want to know if my daughter is ever the mean girl." "You'd tell me right?" I told her yes. I thought to myself, third grade? What in the world. She went on to explain, as well as one of the teachers, that hormones start and kids start getting more and more a sense of self and the comparisons start and peer pressure, I suppose. Knowing their friends and knowing what is on their minds, even in elementary school, sets up a great conversation line for future situations. I want my oldest to hold her own and have her own confidence, not look to clique groups to give that sense of identity to her.

Check out these offerings for schools trying to reach elementary students about peer pressure and their brain. Let's protect them and help them protect themselves.

Not a lot of family support

If you do not have a lot of family support raising your children, it may be a bit more difficult. This article about the new Ron Howard show Parenthood shines a light on how TV portrays tight-knit, close in proximity families helping each other out, arguing and generally always around. This is not reality for most people. Relatives live all over the country and that family bonding and help with children is from afar and electronic. Do kids who have a lot of family support around them, do better? Do families that have a lot of family (or friend) support do better? All of the tough situations in life may just be a bit easier to confront, tackle and recover with a strong family and friendship support system.

This Weekend

How many parties did your teen have a chance to go to this weekend where alcohol was served? Did you talk to them ahead of time and ask them to not go? Did they go and get drunk or tell their friends they don't like to drink? How does your teen deal with peer pressure? How do you deal with your teen's peer pressure problems? Running the other way won't help. Here's how to answer some of their tough questions.