Never Give Up!

Underage Drinking allowed by Parents'

Consequences for giving alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 are a $4,000 fine, 1 year in jail and possibly getting your driver's license suspended for 6 months. Adults and parents' who provide alcohol for teens are possibly trying to gain approval from their own child or gain a popularity status for their child. I remember in High School they were know as the "cool" parents, and also the home to hang out at. However, parents' do not realize that when that child leaves their home intoxicated the consequences that might follow will be held on them since they are the one's that provided the alcohol. I also often hear parents' say that if my teen is gonna drink, I'd rather them drink at home. Well, statistics show that if a teen is going to drink at home, he or she is also more likely to drink when they are out. Allowing underage drinking also sets up a teen for being an alcoholic. Encourage your children to wait until the age of 21, they are less likely to develop an addiction and will not use alcohol as a way of coping with stress in their life.

Healthy Brain




Longstanding Alcohol Abuse

Building Self-Esteem In Children

Picture this, when you are born your self-esteem is at it's highest because we haven't had the time or the skills to damage it yet. The analogy that I like to use is that your self-esteem is like a bucket full of water; however each and every negative thing that we tell ourselves is like drilling holes in the bucket and before you know it, our self-esteem is low. Now, how can we build it back up? As a parent, our job is to build up our child's self-esteem because self-esteem develops before the age of 9. If a child has a good self-concept about himself he or she is more likely to achieve the goals he sets for himself. It is a known fact that kids who are told that they are stupid or won't amount to anything have a lower IQ. Also, if a child has a good self-esteem he or she is less likely to give in to peer pressure and less likely to ever start using drugs and alcohol. Why? because they don't need to alter their mood to feel good about themselves. Back to the question, how can we build up a child's self-esteem?

Here are 10 Ways to lmprove Children's Self'Worth
1. Put children in situations where they can succeed at doing what you want them to do. For instance, if a child is unsure of himself, give the child an opportunity to develop self-confidence by experiencing success, such as helping pick out fruits and vegetables, or pushing the shopping cart.
2. Expect the child to succeed in a small, specific situation. lf you expect children to succeed all the time in all situations, you will be very disappointed. lt is not a realist goal.
3. lf your child does not succeed in a specific situation, problem solve and determine what is undermining the child's attempts at success.
4.Every time you see your child behaving in the desired way, praise,him - and write it down.Try to remember other times in the past when you have seen the desired behavior and then you can have a list or a "story' of successes, You can either read this to the child when the child is feeling down, or use it as a bedtime power story so the child can go to sleep with this new and successful picture in his mind.
5.Praise him every time they are behaving. Tell someone else how the child is behaving, and make certain the child can hear you.
6. Act in a way you want your child to act, and then praise yourself for acting that way.
7.Visualize your child as already being the new positive label, and then relate to the child with the new label as part of the child.
8. Show respect for the child's feelings and opinions even though you might not agree with them. Honor your child's opinions and feelings by saying, "l can understand how you might feel this way." The child's feelings and opinions are a part of the child as much as your feelings and opinions are a part of you.
9. Be careful to give children comments on their strengths as well as on their weaknesses. Often we are so intent on helping children get rid of all their "bad" qualities that we neglect to comment on all the good ones we see. Keep track for a few days of the balance of your comments by dividing a sheet of paper into two columns; one labeled Strengths and the other labeled Weaknesses. Then put each comment in the appropriate side and see how you do. Try to have five to ten times the number of comments that focus on the Strengths.
10. Be patient. Change is an evolutionary process - not a revolutionary one. It takes time to change. Stay focused and above all, consistent.

Parenting and Discipline

When most people think of disciplining their children, they often think of some form of punishment such as spanking, grounding a child, or a loss of a privilege. We often forget as parents that we need to also pay attention to the "good" things that children and teens do in order to keep getting these results. This is known as "Praise". Think about it, would we continue to get up everyday and go to work if at the end of the week we don't receive a pay check. I highly doubt it! What if our boss only pointed out the negative things we did, how would we feel? Remember, what you pay attention to is what you get more of. If you pay more attention to the good things children do, then you will then get more of the good things. However, on the flip side if you only pay attention to the bad things and this is a way for a child to get attention, then they will continue to behave this way because it is still allowing them to get attention. After all, bad attention is better than no attention at all.