Are you looking forward to a summer that is productive and fun for your teen, or are you dreading a summer filled with too much free time and mis-adventures? With some forethought and planning, you can ensure the former, which will set YOU up for more relaxation and pleasure.

Here’s a list of suggestions to get you thinking and exploring opportunities for your teen in your community. Have your teen…

• take a class to learn a new skill - drawing,
  sculpting, music, a
  new craft or new computer application.
• check out enrichment classes offered in summer
  school, community ed or even local colleges.
• look into available summer classes and programs
  offered at area museums or cultural centers.
• volunteer to work with kids, elders, or to usher
  events at cultural centers.
• visit the SPCA to learn about their volunteer
  opportunities.
• introduce himself to the senior centers in town.
  They may love an extra pair of hands -
  especially youthful ones.
• Look into the offerings from your community park
  and rec programs. Depending on the age of your
  teen, there may be opportunities both to participate
  and to be
  leaders or counselors.
• find out about the Bible studies or other religious
  study groups offered by your church or temple.
• sign up for camp. Sports camps, drama camps,
  arts camps… many kinds are available to help kids
  learn new skills and enhance talents.
• babysit in your neighborhood.
• use all those dance lessons by starting a
  neighborhood dance camp for little ones.
• take drivers ed during the summer so you don’t
  have to fit it in during the school year.
• tutor reading or math for younger children.
• take lifeguard training.
• commit to spending a day a week with a
  grandparent, helping with household
  chores.
• develop a childcare/babysitting or art
  program at
  a local pool club.
• get a job! Summer is a great time to get a job
  that will develop responsibility, make money, and
  learn new skills. It’s not too late to apply - but don’t
  wait!

That list just a start. I hope it gets your creative juices going so you can plan ahead and find the right balance of productive busy-ness and relaxing down-time for both you and your teenager.

Have any other good ideas? Post them here and we’ll expand our list for other parents and teenagers.

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There has been a lot of discussion lately about the various weblogs which are targeted to teenagers. MySpace is the largest of them, with about 42 million users. Kids post pictures there - some more tasteful than others - and answer surveys - not always truthfully - outlining their interests, loves, etc.

What’s mystifying to an adult, is that kids think that these areas are private - for their eyes only. Ask a teenager if you can view his or her area on MySpace and they are likely to tell you that you “need permission.” Hello? I need “permission” to view something on the web that is there for mankind to see?? Who’s off base here?

Parents are scolded by some teens for viewing their weblog, creating unnecssary tension between parents and their teens. Parents walk on eggs while trying to keep their kids safe and smart in the way they portray themselves, and kids scold parents for snooping.

Let us remember that a few years ago these areas didn’t even exist… that would be why they have proliferated beneath the radar screen of parental awareness. But we’re on top of it now, and as the world changes, parents need to update their rule books.

Smart parents will have a look at these sites, and a good honest discussion about the potential dangers with their teenagers. Remember the smart rules for internet safety:

• Keep the computer in an open family space, NOT in a child’s bedroom.
• Limit online time.
• Be aware of how your child is spending her online time.
• Educate your teens about internet realities – these areas are not private, and it is possible to trace users if they reveal even limited personal information.
• Never talk in open chatrooms.
• Never share your password or ask for the password from a friend.
• Never pose as someone you are not.
• When talking online, only say things that you would say if you were face-to face.

I have a longer article on this important issue along with some excellent resources here:http://www.pleasestoptherollercoaster.com/articles/MySpace.html

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I’m working on a very interesting project and I’m asking for your help. I am trying to reach 1000 people in about four weeks to get their feedback about parenting teenagers - what works, what doesn’t. I am seeking information from three groups:

• parents who have already raised a teenager or two,
• young adults who were recently teenagers,
• parents who are still in the midst of raising their teens.

If you are in one of these categories, please take a few minutes to click on the link below and complete a simple parenting survey with only three questions. It should take no more than five minutes and you’ll be helping many others who need your advice and ideas. I’ll be happy to send you an Executive Report about the survey results as soon as it’s available.

Here’s the link: http://www.pleasestoptherollercoaster.com/surveys/index.html

In addition, please help me to reach more people by passing this along to your network of friends and relatives. If each of you send this to 5 people who respond to the survey, just think of all the parents and teenagers we can help! Remember - we need to reach college students and other in their twenties, as well as older parents and grandparents, both of whom aren’t in my normal network and don’t usually read my blog or website. Please help pass the word and watch this space for what we learn.

Many thanks,

Sue Blaney

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Our teens sometimes have trouble managing their money - and parents aren’t always equipped to help them in a positive and productive manner. Here’s a good article about the topic: click here to read
Click Here to Read Full Parenting Article

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Have you heard of the Beacon Street Girls? Five contemporary 7th grade girls in Brookline, MA are featured in this hip but realistic series of books written for young teenage girls. Multi-cultural, with real - not perfect - familes, bodies, friends and challenges face life together and make reading about them fun. Girls love them, and they are gaining popularity fast.

Parents like that their young daughters are reading about likeable characters involved in realistic - and healthy- activites, bypassing the popular teen-trash-literature that makes parents cringe. Even librarians like them and are putting them on the “recommended” list.

Sounds like a win-win to me. Bravo to the Beacon Street Girls! :>

more information at www.BeaconStreetGirls.com

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