Archive for September, 2009
Alcohol and Teen Drinking
A child who reaches age 21 without
smoking, abusing alcohol or using drugs
is virtually certain never to do so.
- Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman and President,
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are not only adult problems — they also affect a significant number of adolescents and young adults between the ages of 12 and 20, even though drinking under the age of 21 is illegal.
ADD/ADHD and School
There are so many concerns surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of ADD/ADHD that parents must be knowledgeable and cautious. It is usually the school that approaches parents to have an assessment for ADD/ADHD and parents often feel pressured in having the traditional drug treatment to ‘correct’ their child’s behavior.
ADD/ADHD: Medication Concerns
Although no chemical imbalance has ever been proven, health professionals prescribe psychostimulant medication (such as Ritalin, Strattera, Adderall) as the primary treatment in correcting the ‘chemical imbalance’. In 2000, more than 19 million prescriptions for ADHD drugs were filled, a 72% increase since 1995.
However, with the known side effects of these drugs and without knowledge or evidence of long-term results on growth and development, is medication really the best option?
ADD & ADHD: Possible Causes
Although health professionals often state that ADD/ADHD is a brain-based biological disorder caused by a brain chemical imbalance, there is simply no reliable test to prove this — no physical or chemical abnormality validates ADHD as a medical disease.
Before accepting a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, parents should rule out other conditions that show similar behavior symptoms.
ADD & ADHD
Attention Deficit Disorder describes the characteristics
of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity
that may be present in some children and adults.
Although health professionals often state that ADD/ADHD is a brain-based biological disorder caused by a brain chemical imbalance, there is simply no reliable test to prove this — no physical or chemical abnormality validates ADHD as a medical disease.
Since there can be no diagnosis without a disease, what is there?
Youth Who Drop Out
Young people who don’t complete high school face many more problems in later life than do people who graduate. While national leaders have demanded that schools, communities, and families make a major effort to retain students, the dropout rate remains high. A report from the Educational Testing Service, One-Third of a Nation: Rising Dropout Rates and Declining Opportunities, warns little is being done to stem rising dropout rates and their economic costs. This report also found:
BULLYING
What Parents and Teachers Should Know
In a 2001 study by the Kaiser Foundation in conjunction with Nickelodeon TV network and Children Now, 86% of children ages 12-15 interviewed said they get teased or bullied at school — making bullying more prevalent than smoking, alcohol, drugs, or sex among the same age group.
What is bullying?
Bullying is abusive behavior by one or more students against a victim or victims. It can be a direct attack — teasing, taunting, threatening, stalking, name-calling, hitting, making threats, coercion, and stealing — or more subtle through malicious gossiping, spreading rumors, and intentional exclusion. Both result in victims becoming socially rejected and isolated.
Anger in Our Teens & in Ourselves
by Linda Lebelle
Karen is a 9th-grader and has been feeling that nothing is worth it anymore. As hard as she tries, she just doesn’t seem to fit in. The day before she had tried out for the school play, but when she got on stage, she froze up and just stopped in the middle of her audition. Now, everyone in the school must know about it and Karen is sure they’re laughing at her. She’ll never let them know how bad she feels. She knows what they’re thinking and they’re right — she isn’t good enough and she’ll never fit in. Karen hates them all.
Chris punched his fist into the bedroom wall. But it wasn’t enough. He picked up his soda can and threw it into the hall. The brown sugary liquid dripped down the walls and onto the carpeting. “You can’t make me!” he screamed. “I’m not going anywhere with you! I’ll do what I want!” Chris ran down the stairs and out the front door. His father ran after him, yelling at him to get back in the house, but he had already gotten into his car and sped away. Chris was so mad at his father. He had better things to do than go visit family. He and his friends had plans, and his father wasn’t going to run his life. He knew he’d feel better when he smoked some weed.
What do these young people have in common?
The major task of adolescence is to become ‘your own person’. Adolescents learn to make choices and commitments, follow through with them, and stand up independently in the world.
They need to be respected for taking on these tasks. After all, we respect adults who can do these things. They are complicated and courageous actions.
But teenagers swing back and forth between dependence and independence as they work on these tasks. It’s easy for parents to get frustrated. And it’s easy for a parent to assume that if the teenager would simply follow the plan that makes sense to a parent, things would be all right in the end.
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