Teaming up with other parents can help ensure a fun and healthy break
By Oregon Partnership
Many area kids are counting the days until Spring Break. Excitement reigns. For parents, however, the reaction can be mixed.
Maybe Spring break means a reprieve from the typical busy week of homework and shuttling between school and activities, but for parents who will clock in at work during Spring Break, kids’ time off can present challenges. How can you ensure a fun and safe Spring Break for your kids amid your busy workweek?
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By Emily Moser
How would you react if your child started hanging out with a youngster who wouldn’t be your first choice in a friend for him? What if your teen, after years of banking on a four-year university in her future, told you she wanted to attend a technical school or earn a two-year degree instead?
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On Nov. 2, take the time to show your kids how you rock the vote
By Sally Murdoch
When the California Voter Foundation asked infrequent voters in our most populous state a few years ago why they don’t turn out at the polls, the overwhelming response was simple; we’re just too busy. Parents today know the feeling. Our schedules are jam-packed with sports, school, shopping, friends and (hopefully) fun. Voting can easily fall off our to-do lists, especially without the crescendo of excitement we had during the 2008 Presidential election, when 86% of Oregonians cast their votes.
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By Emily Puro
Dr. Joshua Ramseyer, director of the Legacy Sleep Disorders Center, sees many teens who have tried medication to promote sleep without success. That’s because they don’t suffer from insomnia, he says, they have Delayed Sleep Phase.
“If you give a kid (with Delayed Sleep Phase) sleep medication at 10 o’clock at night,” he says, “of course it’s not going to work. It’s like taking sleep medication in the middle of the afternoon for one of us. You have to take it proximal to a realistic sleep time.” Instead, we need to help them advance their phase to a more reasonable schedule with a consistent wake time, bright morning light, low evening light, and assistance in managing their schedules and their stress levels.
By Emily Puro
Naps can be helpful for sleep deprived teens as long as they don’t sleep long enough to delay bedtime. Instead, encourage power naps. “Research shows a 20 or 30 minute nap can be very restorative,” says Dr. Kyle Johnson, co-director of the OHSU Sleep Disorders Program at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Make sure they set their alarm for 30 minutes and get up when the alarm sounds. If they can’t do it, naps should be avoided.
Submitted by Aetna
It’s back to school time! Time for parents to ensure college students are prepared academically and financially for campus life. From selecting courses to buying textbooks, there are a number of decisions to be made; however, one important decision – health insurance – is often overlooked. As part of the college preparation process, Aetna encourages parents to also consider their student’s health insurance options before heading off to school.
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Take time to educate your kids about the dangers of asking adults to buy alcohol for them
Submitted by Oregon Partnership and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
A guy in his mid-20s pulls into a convenience store parking lot and is approached by two teenage girls, who nervously ask him to buy alcoholic lemonade for them. The man obliges, emerging from the store a few minutes later with a couple of six-packs he hands to the kids.
Unfortunately, the scene is all too real, because most kids who consume alcohol – about 30 percent of 8th-graders and nearly half of 11th-graders say they have in the past month, according to a survey of Oregon schoolchildren – get it from adults, who either knowingly or unknowingly supply it.
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Book Recommendations for Kids – From Tots to Teens
Summer reading is a great way for kids to keep their skills sharp. With that goal in mind, we offer the following selection of top children’s books published within the last 12 months. They’re recommended by The Horn Book (www.hbook.com), which has reviewed children’s and young adult literature for more than 80 years.
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Category: Past Articles, Summer, Teens // Posted on May 31, 2009 // Leave a Comment
Summer Volunteer Opportunities for Teens
By Emily Puro
Service learning is becoming an integral part of the curriculum at many middle and high schools, with teens eager to gain real world experience while contributing to the greater good. Summer is a great time for these youngsters to take their volunteering efforts to the next level. And with jobs few and far between, donating time to a good cause may be especially attractive to teens this summer.
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Rules to Live By
By Barry Finnemore, Oregon Partnership
A few years ago, a high schooler who had struggled with substance abuse revealed that her parents never asked where she was going when she left the house. The teenager, speaking to adults and peers at a community meeting to prevent youth drinking, told the audience how much she wished her parents had cared enough to ask.
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