"I'm always the third or fifth wheel." Her spirits got so low that I eventually called one of the moms in our elementary group to ask her if her daughter could remember to include Linda. Although I had the best intentions, I actually made everything worse because Tweens don't want to feign being nice to anyone.

The college bribery scandal struck a collective nerve, swirling up anxieties of parents and teens already overwhelmed by the daunting application process.   

Among the most frightening, and dangerous mental health issues teens struggle with are eating disorders. In this blog I hope to to share the basic facts, statistics, causes, and strategies for coping with this wide-spread problem. 

One of the most difficult responses my parents get stumped on is when their child makes a statement “I’m feel fat” or “Do I look fat?” 

As a health care provider working in reproductive health for 23 years, I am surprised at how difficult it is for me to discuss sexual health and sexuality with my boys. Even with access to current research, professional mentors, clinical practice and Google, I find myself floundering to adopt the right approach.

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, there is a new major problem targeting teenagers: VAPING.  The Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) has declared youth vaping an epidemic, and is trying to ratchet up the control of these devices and substances to teenagers.  Vaping has become the most popular tobacco product among teenagers…

As the parent of your own Teenage Events you probably know that I spend way more time fixing than I do clicking- it's part of the job. Looking back on my four years as a high school parent, even the best planning couldn't have prepared me for the following fixers: 

Over the past year, Dr. Gelbart's advice and insight has resonated for so many in the Families Connected Parent Chat, and the strategies he outlines in this blog are tried and true, both in terms of helping us guide our child in a healthy direction, as well as in reducing stress and anxiety within our homes.

“…Leah ran into the bathroom crying.  She stuck her head in the toilet and began throwing up. I didn’t know it then, but she was having her first panic attack. I followed her and sat on the bathroom floor holding her for twenty minutes, trying to calm her down, but her body trembled as she kept crying.”

As a parent trying to teach my children about responsible, balanced use of social media, I have conducted serious soul searching about my own scrolling habits.   Am I modeling appropriate behavior? If I am being honest with myself, am I preaching against the very patterns that I myself am guilty of?

Youth today are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis with levels of depression and suicide that are unlike anything we have previously encountered.

Kids are back in school. Maybe your child, or their classmates, have a brand new phone. At the beginning of every school year, there tends to be a lot of bullying and other problematic behavior happening online. For this reason, at the beginning of every school year, I suggest parents do a cyber safety tune-up of their child's digital safety. Whether you have already done some of the suggestions below, or you are new to your child's digital world, cyber safety is an on-going conversation and these issues deserve our attention. As parents, we need to stay engaged in our children's lives and the digital world is a big part of it.

How can parents and schools combat this trend? For one thing, we can connect our students with the real facts about the chemicals and nicotine that are in most e-cigarettes and in JUULs, a popular stealth vape device. Edutopia reported that a recent survey by the Truth Initiative found that 63 percent of 15- to 24-year-old previous 30-day users surveyed did not know that vapor pods, which come in hundreds of kid-friendly flavors like gummy worms, cotton candy, and unicorn puke, contain highly addictive nicotine—a single pod containing 200 puffs can have just as much as a pack of Marlboros or Camels. 

Growing up is getting harder and harder these days, and it’s happening a lot sooner than it once did. Parents want and need to talk to their kids about life topics like self-esteem and confidence, friendship, safety, peer pressure, sex, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and healthy relationships. We need to be sure to have meaningful conversations like these often and spend quality time together. As parents know, this is easier said than done. Below are some specific evidence-based reasons to try to establish a positive connection and meaningful communication with your teen, and strategies that will help you succeed. 

We are sharing this helpful article originally published in Forbes and Psychology Today with our SBFC audience. Amy Morin is a psychotherapist and the author of, Thirteen Things Mentally Strong People Don’t do.

“Let’s stop judging. Please don’t say ‘not my kid.’ Please listen,” said Howorth to over 60 attendees at a panel titled “Our Kids and Opioids: It’s Time to Talk.” Joining Mayor Howorth were Cynthia Strand, a Manhattan Beach mom who lost her son to opioid addiction and Dr. Moe Gelbart, executive director of the Torrance Memorial Thelma McMillen Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment.