Gary Margolis Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Counseling and Human Relations and Associate Professor of English and American Literatures at Middlebury College. His clinical work on the developmental issues of college students has appeared in many journals and national magazines. He is the recipient of the Saint Michaels college clinical psychology award for mental health practice in Vermont. His most recent book, “Fire in the Orchard” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.
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Click the image of me on FOX News to take you to my appearance.
The above image and questions below are part of our ParentReach postcard series. If you would like to purchase these oversized postcards to mail to parents of prom-going students, email us now so we can place your order. Each card is oversized and includes a plain white mailing envelope - $1.75 ea.
Question that parents should ask their teen:
How is your teen feeling about the prom?
What is your teen most excited about?
What are they most nervous about?
Who is your child’s date and/or group whom they’ll be attending prom with?
Does your teen know them well? Do you?
What are the conversations you need to have with your teen based on age, values and beliefs of your teen and the date and/or group that is going?
Have you discussed your expectations regarding alcohol use, drinking and driving, and other unsafe behaviors?
Have you met/do you know the parents of your child’s date or prom group?
Know your teens pre-prom and post-prom plans. Make sure you and your teen are clear about expectations and details. If you decide to extend curfew, know where they are, who they are with, who is supervising, and when they will be home. Be up when they come home. Let them know that you will be up. Do not rent hotel rooms for your prom going teen without proper supervision.
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Randy Woods is the Director of Health and Wellness at St. Paul’s School in Baltimore. He teaches 6th grade health science, serves as the 6th grade dean, and coaches JV basketball. Randy has been associated with St. Paul’s since 1984. During his time here he has served as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Director of the Summer Programs, Assistant Middle School Principal, and has coached numerous sports at the Upper and Middle School levels.
Randy talks about St. Paul’s K-12 health and wellness program.
Inside Independent School Podcast is sponsored by:
Author Po Bronson recently wrote an article for New York Magazine called “How Not to Talk to Your Kids”. Mr. Bronson addresses the issue of how do we praise children. He refers to the work of Carol Dweck and her team at Columbia (she is now at Stanford). Ms. Dweck describes her work in the video below. Follow the link above to read Mr. Bronson’s article. I think you’ll find the article interesting and it may change everything you thought you knew about self-esteem and praise.
Dr. Porter-Honnet is the Director of the Stanley H. King Counseling Institute. The Counseling Institute was founded over 40 years ago to enhance the work of independent schools, which have long been building conscious communities of adults and students. To this day the Institute provides teachers and schools insight, support, and guidance on how to best help students grow.
Dr. Porter-Honnet will be presenting a workshop at this year’s NAIS Annual Conference (Thursday, February 28,12:30 – 1:30) called “Creating Inclusion: Addressing Student Need for Belonging with Empathic Advising.”
Inside Independent School Health Podcast is sponsored by Centerpoint Advisors.
Ten years ago, stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall were the drugs of choice to treat behavioral issues in children. Today, children as young as four years old are being prescribed more powerful anti-psychotic medications that are much less understood. The drugs can cause serious side effects and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact.
The increase in the use of anti-psychotics is directly tied to the rising incidence of one particular diagnosis — bipolar disorder. Experts estimate that the number of kids with the diagnosis is now over a million and rising.
As the debate over medicating children continues to grow, FRONTLINE producer Marcela Gaviria confronts psychiatrists, researchers, and big pharma about the risks and benefits of prescription drugs for troubled children in “The Medicated Child.”
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric is featuring a 3-part series on prescription drug abuse. The first segment aired on Monday, November 26th. The Partnership’s President and CEO Steve Pasierb talked with Katie to offer our perspective on the issue.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama started the debate when he admitted to a high school audience in New Hampshire that he had experimented with drugs while he was in high school. “There were times when I got into drinking, experimenting with drugs. There was a stretch of time where I did not really apply myself,” Obama said.
I’m sure this is going to stir up a few conversations at home and in school regarding appropriate disclosure of adults regarding their own history with alcohol and other drugs. Continue reading if you are a parent and want to learn more about what to tell your own kids about your use of alcohol and other drugs. For faculty, follow this link to an earlier blog entry on appropriate faculty disclosure. Also recommended - Susan Porter’s article in our resources section Being an Adult in a Teenage World
I was at an airport years ago waiting for a delayed flight – I do that a lot – and I started a conversation with a woman sitting next to me. After finding out what I do, she asked, “What do I tell my own kids about my history with drinking or drug use?”. I gave my answer that I usually give, she nodded with polite interest. I asked, “What do you think?”. “I disagree” she said. “I think you should be totally honest”. “Why do you feel that way?” “I grew in house full of lies. I promised myself I would be honest with my kids so they would never suffer the pain of not knowing what is real.”
Every parent knows kids need a good night’s sleep to be at their best. And still, young Americans from elementary school age through high school, are sleeping significantly less today than they did thirty years ago. Follow this link to Tom Ashbrook’s Show “On Point” where he talks about sleep deprived kids. Don’t miss my appearance on Fox News (see below) where I talk about teens and energy drinks - a big contributor to kid’s lack of sleep.
31% of 12-17 year olds report regular consumption of energy drinks.
The amount of caffeine consumed by children has doubled in the last 25 years.
Negative Effects of Caffeine
Increased anxiety
Irregular heart beat
Increased blood pressure
Insomnia – loss of sleep
What adults need to know:
Caffeine is a powerful mood-altering stimulant. Ask any adult whose morning routine includes a cup of coffee to give it up for a month and see what I mean!
Energy drinks tout their herbal addictives like Taurine and Ginseng - but they’re essentially large doses of sugar and caffeine.
Risks
There is very little research on the effects of caffeine in adolescent brain development. Only now are researchers beginning to look at the effects of caffeine on children and neurodevelopment.
The drinks should not be consumed during exercise because the caffeine and high sugar concentration slows the body’s ability to absorb water.
Any stimulant is a (Caffeine) diuretic, teens don’t drink enough water as is, now with a diuretic like caffeine they are even more dehydrated. This supports the cycle of fatigure that increases the use of more energy drinks.
You have a right to know that a college is serious in its efforts to address alcohol- and other drug-related problems. Here are questions you should expect college officials to answer, with hard evidence to support their claims.
1. What steps has the college president taken to provide visible, consistent leadership on this issue?
2. Does the college have a clearly defined alcohol and other drug policy? What is it? What are the consequences for infractions?
3. Will the administration inform parents if a student is disciplined or arrested for alcohol- or other drug-related infractions, or hospitalized for drug or alcohol use?
YouthFacts reviews and fact-checks the most popular, influential books and media on youth today. Let’s put it bluntly: these authors (despite prominently featured academic or professional credentials) can’t get anything right. Their “facts” rely heavily on breathless news reports, gross generalizations from rare anecdotes, grossly butchered statistics, and panics so bizarre and baseless as to raise questions about basic sanity. Most authors don’t seem to understand that fictional teens on TV shows aren’t real teens, that youth in therapy and sensational news reports don’t represent all teens, that glorifying their own hazily-recalled, idyllic past childhoods in comparison to some newsmagazine horror-report on teens today is just plain idiotic.
Link here to Youthfacts.org to review a list of popular youth books before you buy!
