Teen Dating Violence: A Serious Problem

I never experienced any violence while dating as a teenager or otherwise and neither did either of my two sisters. We were lucky since statistically at least one of us should have experienced date violence of some form. According to the Bureau of Justice Report “Intimate Partner Violence:” About one in three high school students’ will be a victim of an abusive relationship. Thirty to fifty percent of teenage girls report having experienced teen dating violence. Young women from 14 to 17 years account for 38% of date rapes. Sixty percent of rapes occur with someone the victim knows at … Continue reading →

Preventing Unintentional Childhood Injuries

The numbers speak for themselves. 56,000 … Number of children injured EVERY DAY 20.6 Million…Number of children injured EACH YEAR 22,000… Number of young children who dies as a result of injury EACH YEAR 60,000… Number of young children who are permanently disabled EACH YEAR $347 BILLION… Cost of common child injury to U.S. healthcare system EACH YEAR 298,000… Number of hospitalizations of young children EACH YEAR due to injury 10,600,000… Number of visits to physician’s offices of young children EACH YEAR due to injury 90… Percentage of unintentional injuries suffered by young children in their homes. $10-15… Average cost … Continue reading →

How To Avoid Getting Sick When Your Kids Are Sick

Many years ago I worked in the engineering department of a major company that supplied vessels to companies involved in offshore drilling. When one of the vessels was damaged and not in service we used the term Down For Repair or “DFR”. One of the engineers started joking whenever one of the staff was out sick that “so and so is DFR”. Well, last week I was “DFR”! It started with a simple sneeze from Tyler and escalated into a full-fledged case of something resembling the flu. What’s strange is when Tyler’s sick, he’s “DFR” usually for all of about … Continue reading →

The Almost Accident

This spring I was at my son’s last t-ball game with my two young daughters. My husband was at a Cub Scout Pack Meeting so I was attending the game on my own. During the game I was constantly having to chase my girls, ages four and two, and bring them back to the field my son was playing on. As I got up for the umpteenth time I was reminded why I had vowed to never bring my girls to another t-ball game again. After the game I had to collect my girls who had walked around the dirt … Continue reading →

Teaching Teenagers About The Danger Of Internet Predators

It is summer and the average teenager is online 5.5 hours a day, with about 77 million on-line each day. Most are visiting one of the 40,000 chat rooms where according to a 2002 FBI report there is a 100% chance they will encounter a pedophile at some time. What is the danger with chat rooms? The Safe Surfin Foundation says that the danger is that “75% of children and teens report sharing personal information about them and their families to complete strangers in chat rooms.” Child predators use the tidbits of information that they glean from on-line chat rooms … Continue reading →

Stiff Back and a Bruised Elbow-Friday Parenting Funnies (Not So Much)

Have you ever slid on your children’s toys? No, I mean have you ever REALLY slid on your children’s toys? I did. When my son was two, I slid on a toy car in the kitchen. It felt like I was traveling in slow motion as I fell forward, propelling a crystal glass across the counter and shattering it into pieces, as I dramatically fell on my face. LOVELY. I thought my falling antics had passed until tonight. I was talking to my sister for a minute on the phone while trying to make dinner. I had veggies in the … Continue reading →

She Could Have Drowned

I’m talking pool safety here. I know, I know, everyone knows to watch your kids around water, right? Wrong. Each year hundreds of children die because parents turn their backs for “just a second.” It happens in my state. It happens in yours. Kids drown silently. You might know this figuratively, but until you’ve seen a child sink silently into the water, you may not realize how quietly. A few weeks back my husband and I took our children, ages five and two, to the pool at our apartment complex. It’s a large pool and we had a great time. … Continue reading →

A 12-Year-Old Boy Dies After Riding A Disney Roller Coaster

A 12-year-old child died today after riding one of Disney’s roller coasters, the Rock-N-Roller Coaster, located at the MGM park. And it’s not the first time either. In June of 2005 a four-year-old boy died from an irregular heartbeat after riding “Mission: Space” at Disney’s Epcot Center. The space ride spins its riders and subjects them to twice the normal amount of gravity. A 49 woman also died after riding this ride, from bleeding of the brain. Disney states that warnings are given on their rides that people with heart problems and back problems should not ride. The problem is, … Continue reading →

Protecting Your Child From Pornography

Since pornography is so prevalent on the web it is likely that your child will run into it some time. As a parent you need to establish some guidelines and rules for Internet use to help safeguard your child. Become Internet Savvy Become familiar with the Internet and how pornography can reach your child. Spend time with your kids as they surf on-line. Find out what web content, sites, and chat rooms they visit. Among other things, Nicole Allard, families.com safety writer suggests installing a spy-cam. Learn about programs that promote Internet safety and install filtering and monitoring software. Adam … Continue reading →

How Does Pornography Reach Our Children?

Pornography is a billion dollar business with about 62% of users on the Internet at any given time accessing pornographic sites, that’s about 70 million people a week. According to the Nielsen/Net Ratings in 2002 nearly 16 percent of visitors to adult pornographic websites are under age 18. Adam West, a families.com computer writer lists statistics about internet child predators in his blog. With so much pornographic material out there it is likely that your children will view some at some point. So how does pornography reach our kids? There are a number of ways that our children can be … Continue reading →