The CDC has some startling statistics on teen vaping use. Last year, more than 3 million high school students in America – that’s almost 20 percent of high school students overall – reported vaping. In middle schools, that number was 5 percent. While lower, it’s still a shockingly high statistic for children 11-13 years old. Among those 3 million high school students, more than 22 percent of them reported vaping
By any reasonable standard, the past year has been a doozy. We used that special technical term because we’re all tired of writing and reading the word unprecedented. Let’s leave the pandemic out of it for a moment – as a simple thought exercise – and look back at the events we typically think of when we say natural disaster. While the pandemic and politics wrestled for headline space, the
The shelter-in-place guidelines that have been in effect for millions of people in the U.S. since March take their toll. Evidence shows an increase in the symptoms of mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, as well as an increase in binge-drinking, consumption of recreational drugs, and opioid-related overdose deaths. Over the past year, we’ve published dozens of articles on the effects of lockdown on teenagers with mental health and/or
In years past, adults limited the types of sports girls played. In many cases, adults – both male and female – discouraged girls from participating in sports at all. They’d say things such as: “It’s not ladylike.” “Sports are for boys.” “Girls should learn…” We won’t even finish that last sentence, because simply typing these reasons makes us shudder. In the year 2021, we know that sports are for all
Most of us have heard the term codependency and carry a working definition of what it means in our heads. Most of us also believe it’s an official clinical diagnosis, like those found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Behavioral Disorders (DSM-5), the go-to reference manual mental health professionals use every day to diagnose mental health disorders. However, although the phenomenon of codependency is real, its symptoms and characteristics
Every year during the month of January, people in the U.S. celebrate National Hobby Month. Enthusiasts around the country share information about their hobbies with friends, try new hobbies that interest them, and dive deeper into the hobbies and activities they love. It seems like hobbies have been around forever. They’re a natural way to have fun during our free time. For some people, hobbies give them the personal time
Now that we’re well into 2022, we won’t mention why we want it to be an amazing year, or why we – at the very least – want it to be better than 2020 and 2021. Suffice it to say we can all agree on looking forward to the new year. One thing we can all focus on this year is our mental wellness. Mental wellness – which includes emotional
In the 21st century, divorce is common. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), about 40 to 50 percent of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. At the same time, statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that millions of teens around the world have been diagnosed with an emotional, mental, or behavioral health condition. In 2017 alone, in the United States, an estimated 3.2 million adolescents –
By now we should all be experts at virtual school. We had a practice run last spring, time to recalibrate over the summer, and then a second shot at virtual school this fall. This article is for families that haven’t quite got the hang of virtual school yet. We understand. Virtual school is not for everyone. For some kids, though, virtual school works great. All they really miss is their
Last year at this time we published an article about New Year’s Resolutions. What we talked about was unconventional, as far as New Year’s resolutions go. We didn’t advise making typical resolutions like learning a new skill, exercising more, being more responsible with money, or losing weight – although we think those are all great resolutions, and if those are the kinds of things you resolved to do last, year,
