Most recently I’ve been trying so hard to explain to the kids that a joke is NOT good if it’s at the expense of someone else. I have encouraged them to joke all they want if the person being offered up as humors sacrificial lamb is their own self.

Why is it that this particular lesson is nearly impossible to sink in?

I’ve also tried to explain to them that when people live in the same house – there’s bound to be goods that are kept on each person within that house and at the very least, everyone will know those extreme “Hot Buttons” to push when they are backed in a corner.

Well, we’ve learned a strong lesson in this whole issue this week.

It seems one of my boys tried to be funny – made fun of another for something cosmetic and that in turn escalated to each one bringing out the big guns – the deepest, darkest secret that you just don’t want people knowing.

Granted that dark secret is nothing more than a boy being a boy – but when you are 14 and 15, it seems like you are the only person on the planet to do something so embarrassing.

And here I thought having boys was going to be FAR less dramatic. Yeah Right!

Post from: Blisstree

Teen Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Once the videos and photos were in Stancl’s possession, he threatened to put the photos or videos on the Internet unless they engaged in sexual acts with him. At least seven of them have said they were coerced into sex acts, which Stancl allegedly documented with a cell phone camera.

Reports have said there were about 300 photos of underage males as young as young as 15, on Stancl’s computer, police in the teen’s hometown of New Berlin, Wisc., confirmed.

As a parent of three teenage boys, this is about as scary as it gets.

I don’t believe refusing to let your child have a MySpace or Facebook account is the answer – and certainly refusing to let them explore the internet isn’t realistic – but what is – is teaching your children that things like this happen – horrible people do exist and many people fall prey to the world of make-believe on the internet. Teach your children that you love them no matter what and if they ever find they’ve made a mistake and are being back into a corner with threats, that you love them regardless of what they could do or could have done.

Make coming to you easier for them. Communication is key in keeping your child safe on the internet.

Source: CNet News

Post from: Blisstree

Teen Used Facebook to Blackmail Classmates

With the twins looking at turning 16 in a little over a month, the topic of driver education, driver license and cars has taken it’s position front and center of 99% of our family discussions.

Having three teenage boys – one year apart, I’m frightened to even ask what insurance is going to run on three teens.

I’ve heard of parents buying a junkie old car to insure their kids with while I’ve listened to others talk about how much their insurance went up as the result of adding the teen to their existing policy.

I tend to be a person who does everything by the book because the moment I think I can get away with not, that’s when something happens to teach me I was wrong.

Questions:

Now, if I get an old beater car to insure the kids on, does that mean they can only drive that car or will they be able to drive mine too?

Living in Indiana and having to pay SO much for license plates on newer models, I’m guessing insurance works much the same way. I wonder just how old a car has to be before it’s considered a “beater” and will provide affordable insurance for a teen?

There’s got to be parent bloggers out there who have already been where I’m headed. I would love to learn from your lessons and mistakes. This whole thing scares me because I know if I screw up on any level, it’s going to be one giant and costly mistake.

Image credit: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

Teens, Driver Education and Insurance – Exploratory Blogging

Regionally, the northeast has the lowest while the south and southwest herald the highest rates. The new data shows the greatest increases in teen pregnancy rates in Alaska, Mississippi, Montana, Hawaii, and Nevada.

A number of factors are being cited as influencing the rise including a rise in highly publicized teen pregnancies, abstinence-only programs, and a disproportionate number of pregnancies among minority teenagers.

If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I think teens should be offered every possible education alternative when it comes to sex education. I think offering abstinence only programs is like offering a child vitamin C and not teaching them any other preventative measures like washing hands or covering their mouths to avoid the spread colds and flues.

Sometimes parents have to take that extra uncomfortable step and actually TALK to their kids in order for them to actually understand real risks and prevention.

Just sayin’

Post from: Blisstree

CDC Report Indicates Teen Pregnancy Rates Rising

This particular accident occurred awfully close to home:

Sarah L. Woodruff, 20, Anderson, died Sunday afternoon after her vehicle went into the interstate’s median and rolled as many as six times before it came to rest on its roof. Woodruff was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from her car.

Investigators said the victim’s cell phone showed she was receiving text messages within three minutes of the first report of the accident at 12:51 p.m.

How completely horrible for the parents of this girl and for the person who was texting her – to know that your texting that person was the loaded gun that killed her?

I’m afraid I’d have a hard time forgiving the person texting my daughter – even if they had no idea the person was driving.

Source: The Star Press

Post from: Blisstree

BSU student was texting moments before fatal crash

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which looked data gathered from nearly 1,000 teens.

It was found that teens who took the virginity pledge varied little from from teens who did not when it came to their actually waiting to have intercourse.

Religion, on the other hand provided a completely different story by revealing teens who were religious waited until the average age of 21 to have intercourse, compared to 17 for those who were not religious.

Having personally been brought up with a Southern Baptist grandmother, I can see why religion would pay such a key roll in a teens desire to wait. It wasn’t so much that I “wanted to wait” as it was my overwhelming fear of what would happen if I didn’t.

I’d be interested in knowing what churches the polled teens belong to.

Post from: Blisstree

Religious Teens Have Less Sex

On Straight Talk – a woman writes in with concerns over her boyfriend who wants to permit his son’s to throw an overnight party complete with alcohol. The boyfriend rationalizes his position in that he’d be providing a safe place to drink. To the contrary, the boyfriend believes if the kids don’t have a safe place they may end up driving while drunk, over-drink or participate in other harmful activities.

In this segment, teens are then allowed to sound off. Each one seems to heavily support the boyfriends position and confirm every parents worst nightmare in that teens will drink and party regardless of whether parents provide a safe place or not.

Fortunately this isn’t a concern for me just yet, but I know the time is quick approaching. With my twins turning sixteen in March, my fears are growing and my prayers that I’ve instilled good solid decision making into their thought processes.

What are your thoughts? Do you think parents should be providing a safe place for kids to drink where they can be monitored?

Image credit: stock.xchng

Post from: Blisstree

Parent Hosted Booze Parties for Teens

I love that the seat is always down – the tub is always clean and with the rules I have in place, the boys don’t want to go near it.

Am I being too demanding to ask that IF they wish to take a bath in my bathroom (they only have a shower) that they rinse the tub and wipe it out?

My logic here is that by doing this, it cuts WAY down on the cleanings I must do and well, in a house full of guys – you can imagine what that cleaning load is like to begin with.

I do have to admit I enjoyed a conversation that took place the other day. My husband wanted to know which of the kids left the toilet in a mess and he wasn’t real happy about it.

I informed him this wasn’t something that just started happening when we moved into THIS house – that it had been happening all along and reminded him that when I would bitch about it at the old house, I was just being too picky.

Isn’t it funny how drastically things change when the shoe is on the other foot?

Post from: Blisstree

Every mom deserves her own bathroom

I’ve done a great deal of thinking on this lately and I’m not sure we can call it psychic intuitiveness or if it’s just that mother’s seem to be SO darned in tune with their children’s behavior patterns that the slightest variation in their moods or actions send up a noticeable flag.

All I know is when my kids are up to no good, I know it!

When my kids are faking being sick or hurt, I know it!

And when my kids are down or when something seems to be bothering them deeply and they say they don’t want to talk about it – I can usually figure out what the root of the problem is.

What do you think? Do you believe in mother’s intuition? And if so, how powerful do you think it is?

Have a story you’d like to share where your intuition led you to a problem others might have overlooked?

Post from: Blisstree

Do you believe in mother’s intuition?