It’s common to worry from time to time. Anxiety is a normal emotion that everyone experiences at some level. In certain situations, anxiety even helps us achieve goals. For example, you need a healthy measure of anxiety to motivate you to write a good report or study for a test (you don’t want to fail, right?). When we are getting ready for an important event, our anxiety kicks in to
You may have heard of Insta. It’s short for Instagram, a popular social media photo-sharing app that’s a favorite of teens and adolescents around the world. But Finsta? What is it? Finsta is a combination of two words: Fake and Instagram. It’s a secret account that can only be accessed if you know someone has one, and you know what their username is. Hence, it’s more private and exclusive. For
You’ve heard the saying before: Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. It’s attributed to the writer/philosopher Georges Santayana. Originally wrote went like this: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It’s survived the test of time because it’s wise. And true. But there’s something in the phrase that bugs us: what if part of the history you’re talking about was, to
If you’re a teen, it’s normal to have days when you’re feeling down. The everyday stresses of school, parents, friends, social media, exams, extracurricular activities, and more—they’re real. They loom large. And they can occasionally cause you to break down crying, make you want to lock yourself in your room and sleep the day away, or plug in earphones and ignore everyone and everything. But while it’s normal to be
You’ve read our article about the pros and cons of teenage jobs and made your decision: you’re getting a job this summer. You cleared it with your parents and you’re good to go. You’re stepping up your game, getting out into the world, and learning what it’s like to work to make money. Or at least that’s the plan. Now you just need to figure out what kind of job
The official calendar for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) says the last day of the 2018-19 public school year is June 7th. That’s less than a month away. The official LAUSD calendar says the first day of the 2019-20 school year is August 20th. That means you have 74 days to fill between the end of this school year and the beginning of school next year. If you’re
International Summer Programs for Teenagers International summer travel programs for teenagers have been around since the early 1960s. The first programs were organized by summer camps and private schools whose administrators realized that some of their students, particularly those between the ages of 14 and 17, were at a crossroads. They didn’t need a summer at camp, and they didn’t need a summer of classroom academics. They needed something completely
When the teenage years arrive, behavioral issues become far more difficult to manage than when your kids were younger. Things once black and white become confounding shades of gray. When a teenager experiences emotional distress, you can’t always fix it with a hug. When they display disturbing behavior, simple behavior management strategies – like taking away the cellphone, for instance – don’t always work. And when they begin to show
If you’re a teen who has struggled or is struggling with alcohol addiction, drug abuse, or other mental health issues, you’ve probably heard of the 12-Step approach to recovery. The 12 Steps were originally founded in 1935 to treat alcohol addiction—hence the start of Alcoholics Anonymous. Now, myriad groups and organizations have adopted their tried-and-true addiction recovery method. For example, there’s Narcotics Anonymous, Heroin Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous,
You have trouble sitting still in class. It’s hard for you to do homework, study, read, or pay attention for long periods of time. When you have a long conversation with someone, you zone out. So, do you have ADHD—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? First of all, it’s important to consider environmental or lifestyle issues. Before you suspect ADHD (or ADD, as it used to be known), make sure you rule
