We have all seen or heard, or even witnessed teenagers with self inflicted cuts and bruises on the body. Most of us find it too difficult to comprehend. In fact it’s not just us, the regular parents, who don’t understand. Physiologists have determined the need for cutting and the effect of it, but how someone gets the idea is way beyond anyone’s grasp. That is not the issue, the issue is that our kids have a need to perform self-injury or self-harming in some situations; the first thing in that situation is not to question why and how, but to help your child. In some cases in order to help your child you need to know the why and how, but first focus on the signs and try to notice them until it becomes too late.

The fact is that any person around us could self-harm himself; there isn’t a single profile that can be made of people who self-harm. Which means there is no stereotype of what kind of people go to such distance, also there is no way that we can determine if someone is at risk of self-harming just by knowing the person, we have to watch out for the signs. There is one thing that is in common for all self-harmers, they will try to keep it a secret as much as they can. They will go to great lengths to make sure no one finds out. So if anything seems suspicious you should watch out for the self-harm warning signs.

Before telling you’re the warning signs you need to look for there is one important thing you need to understand. Most people think that self-harming stops at cutting, or scratching, but unfortunately that is not the case. People who self-harm themselves can go to burning their skin, putting out cigarettes on their skin and hot lighters; even poisoning and intentional overdose is an option for them. Basically self harming doesn’t have a boundary, if you can think of it someone will do it, so you need to pay attention to the following symptoms:

- Hidden and unexplained cuts and hurt marks on the body
- Too much secrecy, constant sneaking and hiding of certain things
- Wearing inappropriate wardrobe, like long sleeves during the hot days of summer
- Sudden mood swings
- Change of sleeping and eating patterns
- Change in friends or even lack of any
- Low school performance
- General loss of interest in the things such as hobbies, sports, music, or any other preferred activity by that teenager

There are certain risk factors that influence the possibility of teen being prone to self harming, but they are too general and they can apply to any passive aggressive teen behavior or mood changes. If you notice any of these signs and manage to find out that your child is inflicting self-harming wounds, then you should go straight to a medical professional and seek help. There is really not much to think about here, this is a very serious matter and in most cases the child is at risk of either harming himself badly or of developing sever mental disorders, so the best and the only thing you can do is take your child to a professional and do whatever is in your power to help your child go through this crisis.
 

Every teen child is at the greatest risk of being a victim of violence, at risk of engaging in a juvenile crime, engaging in sex activities and use of alcohol and drugs right after school ends, between 2pm and 6pm. One of the causes for this fact is the lack and constant decline of after-school activities for teens. So it seems that it is the parent’s obligation to find after-school activities for his child, not only to keep him safe, but also to achieve better motivation and insure that the child is healthy, as one of the greatest risks that is threatening teens across the US is teen obesity.

You have several options when it comes to teens after-school activity, the most common in the US is an after-school job. This type of activity has several benefits for the child. The teens that have a job after school will not only earn some extra cash, but they will learn responsibility, discipline, a sense of self worth and overall, they will be less likely to cause any trouble. As a parent you have the responsibility to make sure that your child is not overworked and has a time for his studies and of course some free time for himself. Your child will be in more trouble if he is working more hours than he can handle, that can lead to low concentration, less sleep and overall negative effect on your child’s mental and physical condition.

But the most important thing to worry about is your child’s health, if he doesn’t participate in athletic activities now there are slight chances that he or she ever will, which may lead to some serious health issues. You should encourage your child to participate in some athletic activity, which can be anything from school sport to playing ball with his friends after school. Aside from the obvious health benefits there are a few more benefits that come with sport, you child will learn teamwork, it will enhance his communication skills and it will help your child build a positive image of himself.

And of course you always have the home activities and home chores. That can go from cleaning around the house up to mowing the lawn. To make your child busy, not to busy, you should create a weekly or monthly schedule of chores. Make this fun and optional, write a list of chores and let your child pick a certain number by himself, be sure to make this worth his while by offering something in return.

Keeping your child safe after school is important, but what is more important is to motivate your teen in every way possible in order to ensure that he is on the right track of becoming a responsible adult. Some of these teen activities may help your teen in the long run, he will stay safe, healthy and he will learn about responsibility, camaraderie, discipline and he will create appositive image of himself and his future.

Internet addiction is finally accepted as a reality, and not just as a myth thrown away by most of the parents and teens. It is now two decades that we have been online, and internet has turned into a whole new world where people can do almost anything they want. There are no rules, no police; it’s hard to keep track of such a wide network and what every single individual does online. So now internet is starting to influence people, well, it’s not the internet itself, but it’s attractiveness to people with lower motivation and low center of self awareness. According to a new study it was proven that internet addicts are almost 3 times more likely to develop depression than normal teens.

In 2005 a professor of psychiatry Sang Kyu Lee did a study, the study showed that depressed kids are more likely to use internet compulsively and spend too much time online. The same study warned us about the opposite effects, that too much internet can lead to depression and other unwanted effects. As it turned out, 5 years later, he was right and we failed to listen.

A new study by Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine showed that 1 out of 10 teenagers has a problem with internet use, and 6.4% of all teens are actually addicted to internet. The major concern is that the children that are addicted to internet are more than 3 time likely to develop depression. And this is just one of the concerns surrounding internet addiction with teenagers.

There are plenty of problems surrounding compulsive internet use; if we fail to address them with our teen children we might be letting them go deeper into an unknown whole where anything can get a hold of them. Internet addiction is not yet clearly defined, and we are still not aware of all the consequences and the effects of internet addiction, as far as we know this can be the plague of the 21st century, so this is not something we should leave up to chance.

Every parent is advised to monitor his child’s use of internet, what he looks for online, where he hangs out, what types of games he plays and most importantly, how much time does your child spend online and if his internet use is affecting his normal life. Be sure that your child doesn’t use internet excessively, that can have grave consequences on his development, like everything else, internet should be used with caution and with moderation. So make sure that your child doesn’t fall into yet another disease of the 21st century.
 

Each and every one of us feels anxiety in certain situations, that is how we are, and that is normal it is part of our lives. But in some cases anxiety can go to the next level and get out of control. In most cases anxiety jumps out from the shadows when our mind feels threatened, but teenagers in some cases can take that anxiety to a whole new level. Well, not just teens, but adults as well, but anxiety disorder is more common with teenagers. The only advantage of teen anxiety disorder to anxiety disorder with grown up people is that it can be dealt with much easier and the teenager may return to normal.

To best describe the anxiety disorder it is a mental state, a state of mind where one person feels fear, worry, panic and of course anxiety in a much larger amount than the average person and over a longer period of time. In some cases the feeling teens with anxiety disorder get are so strong that they cannot feel anything else and are completely driven by that feeling. In some cases people feel like they are having a heart attack when experiencing an anxiety attack. There are different types of teen anxiety disorders; the one thing all of them have in common is that they happen too often, something like panic attacks in regular intervals.

There are plenty of symptoms to look out for, in most cases the teenager will not find them any different than his normal behavior, but the surrounding will notice. So the parents are the front line in fighting the anxiety disorder as they can notice the symptoms before the disorder gets out of hand. The types of anxiety disorders are:

-    Regular anxiety
-    OCD or Obsessive compulsive disorder
-    Phobias
-    Intense fears
-    Panic attacks
-    Social anxiety
-    PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Each one of these types of anxiety disorder is treatable, so don’t give up if your teen seems out of reach. As soon as you notice any signs of anxiety disorder you should take your teen to a professional therapist. In most cases it will be a therapy plan that involves the parents and the family, in rare cases the therapy will be done strictly by the therapist. The first form is a bit slower but it shows better results as teens tend to open up much faster before familiar faces.

Treating a teenager with anxiety disorder can take some time. Try not to focus only on the direct problems that you see, but focus on the child’s physical activities, make sure he or she is getting enough sleep, that he eats regularly and all of the basic things. These can all help the person relieve the stress and anxiety and it will help your child in the long run to deal with his anxiety disorder and overcome it.
 

Attachment disorder is a very serious issue that can leave many problems for the family and for the child with the disorder, the worst case scenario; it can ruin a person’s future. The name explains most of it, but to put it in words attachment disorder is a person’s problem to connect with others and to manage his emotions alone. Such children always feel unsafe and alone, they feel fear and paranoia, all of that leads to low self esteem and low self-worth and in most cases it leads to trust issues.

The common question is how attachment disorder manifests itself and how one develops such a disorder. It comes from the family itself, it comes from the interaction between parents with their children. In most cases everything a parent does seem normal, and in most cases is normal, but every child is different, there lies the catch. In most of these cases the attachment disorder is a direct result of a bad experience that happened in the early stage of the parent child relationship.

In the most common storyline the kids is left alone too often, in some cases even abandoned or even isolated from others. In that situation it is normal for a kid to feel powerless which almost always leads to one conclusion on the child’s side, they can’t rely on other people, not now, not ever. They start feeling that the world is a dangerous place where they have to watch their every step, and there comes the fear of getting to know others and letting them close.

Attachment disorder manifests when there are troubling issues between a parent and a child over a longer period of time. We are not talking about fighting with a child or something like that; we are talking about the basics of parenting a small child or a baby. When a baby cries for too long without anyone responding that can lead to consequences that are closely related to attachment disorder. All the other things that come to mind may have the same effect, a hungry baby left alone for too long, a wet baby, if the baby feels abandoned, which can happen if you don’t talk to your baby or smile at her she will remember that and that never leads to good things.

Very soon after that your baby will try to get your attention in any way possible, and I do mean every way possible. A child may get confused and start having bad feelings even if that happens only a few times, never leave your baby alone or let her feel alone. The worst cases come from families where the parent is always there, always present, but his mind is absent. A parent that is there physically but on a totally different plane emotionally will leave his child in a total mess.

In some cases things like this can’t be avoided, but the child doesn’t know that. A child will never ask you why you weren’t there for him, he won’t remember that, but he will feel unsafe, he will feel fear much stronger than others, he will feel like he doesn’t belong and he will lose trust in the people and in the world around him. Attachment disorder comes to most people as a surprise, most parents are puzzled because they think they did everything right, but these things happen, so in order to prevent them from happening the only thing you have to do is prepare for the new baby and do everything right, not leaving things to chance.
 

Have you ever heard about dyslexia, do you know what it is. Most of the people have heard about dyslexia, but most of those people have a wrong idea what dyslexia is. They think that it is a mental disorder and that the children with dyslexia have a learning disorder and other mental problems, while in fact dyslexia is just a problem where kids have a hard time spelling and reading, even the most intelligent kids can have dyslexia. This is a problem that simply doesn’t choose, here is what kids with dyslexia usually struggle with:

-    Understanding the way and the process in which speech sounds make up the words we speak

-   Low focus on printed and written letters and words

-   Connecting speech sounds to the written letters

-   Pronouncing words in a smooth fashion

-   Difficulty controlling their eye movement when reading

-   Comparing new ideas with something they already know

-   Storing those ideas into their memory

When you consider it this way we do run a few complicated processes at the same time, so kids can get confused, and most kids with dyslexia are dealing with the first few listed problems. For some of them it is a long process getting to the last item on the list.

This is not about intelligence, the fact that these kids and grownups even have such problems is because of their brain, it doesn’t have the capacity to connect letters and sounds the way most of us do. Most of the kids with dyslexia have a hard time separating speech sounds; trying to make a kid with dyslexia spell out a word is like torture for that kid. With that in mind you can imagine how hard it is for those kids to form a long word and pronounce it.

In most cases kids with dyslexia cannot separate words from each other and a simple sentence like “I took a dog for a walk” may sound like “I to oka dog fo rawalk. Or something similar to that.

A child with dyslexia needs to have a special form of education. If you provide him with normal education that child will never learn how to read or speak properly. But there are methods for teaching kids with dyslexia to rise above that problem.

Before you decide on the special education method for dyslexia for your child you first need to get him evaluated in order to determine the level of the speech impediment. In most cases there are already special education methods that will work, but most schools can come up with a new plan designed for your child and his needs.

You have to understand that dyslexia is not a disease, and as such there is no cure, but with proper methods kids can learn to overcome their speech impediment. This is a long and hard process, so the support of the family is absolutely needed at all times.
 

Most parents go into the teen years unprepared and they feel overwhelmed when their teenagers start changing. Other parents prepare for the teen years but still don’t know what hit them. Changes are inevitable, parents know that so they deal with it on some level, but our teen children have no idea what is happening, which makes the situation much harder.

The facts are very obvious, our children are under a lot of stress, too much stress for a kid, I mean they are forced to do well in school, they fear of mistakes, they wish to be liked, and they are dealing with their own changes. Eventually teens get a foothold and deal with the situation; after all that is what being a teenager is all about. But, some teenagers have a harder time dealing with it, and in those cases things may become complicated, so if you notice certain changes in your teenager you should tread cautiously, seeing signs of hopelessness, worthlessness and insecurity as well as feeling of not belonging might be signs of mental health problems.

If any of these symptoms occur you should keep an eye on your teen child and makes sure if there are other signs. Remember that mental health issues can have serious consequences, so if you want to make sure look for the signs of mental health problems:

-    Feels guilt all the time
-    Feels worthless
-    Feels angry all the time
-    Overreacts too much and cries often
-    Feels anxious most of the time
-    Unexplained fears and paranoia
-    Too many issues with his or hers appearance
-    And the one we all fear, your child thinks that he is being controlled and that his mind is not safe

These are behavior patterns, but you should keep a close eye on your teen child if certain things happen as they are known causes of mental instability and later mental health problems:

-    Separation from friends and family
-    Sudden changes in eating and sleeping habits
-    Thinks that life is hard and openly speaks about committing suicide
-    Unable to get things done
-    Daydreams too much
-    Hears unexplained voices
-    Has low concentration or none at all
-    Repeating nightmares
-    Fear that someone is going to harm him or her
-    Drug and alcohol abuse
-    Sudden aggressive behavior
-    Any other non typical behavior for your child that came as a sudden change

Now these signs may appear in a normal teenager that is just going through a slight phase. But if these signs appear out of nowhere and stay for a longer period of time then you have a problem. In this situation you should consult a professional therapist immediately. Keep in mind that it might be something that will pass in a week or two, but be on your guard, as this may become a serious problem if not attended.
 

You probably noticed that your kid isn’t getting enough sleep, in most cases that is normal, your kid is just overloaded or likes to stay up at night. In some cases that may be because of a sleep disorder. Although it may sound normal or worrying, it is in fact a bad thing for teens, especially if it happens over a longer period of time. If the sleepless nights continue your child may develop a sleep deficit, that is when you want to sleep but can't, the body has set its own schedule because of it is used not to sleep. But that can have harmful effects, like depression, lack of concentration and many other things.

In most cases this happens because when kids get to the teen years the melatonin hormone is produced late at night, unlike with kids and adults, and that makes it harder for teens to fall asleep at night. In some cases it is insomnia, trouble falling asleep at all. Many things lead to teen insomnia, in most cases stress is the cause, but everything from emotional issues, uncomfortable space, headache or any other physical discomfort may be the reason behind insomnia.

Having insomnia for a few days or a week is nothing to be concerned about, it happens to everything from one or more reasons stated above. But, if insomnia consists over a few weeks or more that is considered as chronic insomnia and must be treated.

Another thing that stops and prevents teens and everyone else from sleeping are nightmares. Yes, nightmares over a longer period of time are considered dangerous. In most cases nightmares are caused by stress, alcohol, medication, even sleep deprivation, so having nightmares on a regular basis means you are doing something wrong and need to revise that.

And we also have the famous narcolepsy, sometimes narcolepsy is caused simply by the fact that teens are not sleeping at night. Over exhausting themselves can lead to narcolepsy, but like with insomnia that lasts for a few days or a week until the body rests. But there are cases when people suffer from chronic narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is very dangerous as it can’t be controlled, so things like driving are out of the question, as a person may fall asleep without any warning.

If your child is having any of the symptoms that point to a sleep disorder over a longer period of time you should immediately take him to the doctor. Sleep deprivation can have many of unwanted side effects on the brain, growth, healing, attention, and learning, even weigh gain and weight loss and severe medical conditions such as diabetes. So getting your child to a doctor before it comes to some of these consequences is a must, sleep deprivation and sleep disorders can be very serious and are not to be underestimated.
 

Over the years our looks have been emphasized and pushed to the limits, it is not enough that we have to deal with teen and child obesity, but we also have to worry if all that pressure coming from the media will make our children the total opposite. We have the right to be worried, after all that is exactly what is happening. From one side we have experts telling us that our children are obese and they are explaining consequences of obesity from both health and social perspective. On the other side we have tabloids, news magazines, health magazines, TV shows and about everything else showing us pictures of extremely well built men. So when you think about it, it is not unnatural for our teenage boys to want to look like a poster guy with mighty abs and great muscles, which is the part where we talk about the Adonis Complex.

Adonis Complex is basically an eating disorder for boys, which is the same as anorexia is for girls. Although they are too different types and Adonis Complex covers much more problems than anorexia, they both appear because of the same reasons; teenagers wanting to look good, teenager not satisfied with how they look at the moment and want to look better. As for girls the standard is to lose weight and look like models, for boys it’s a bit different, the current golden standard is have muscles like a gladiator, and you can see more and more teenager built like they came out of a Terminator movie. When you look at teen starts like Taylor Lautner it is no wonder that other teen boys want to look like him. But the fact is that not all of us can achieve that with exercise, so most teens that are obsessing with their looks end up using steroids.

Adonis Complex is not only associated with steroids, in fact it describes the whole unhealthy process of teen boys wanting to be like some of their unrealistic role models. That simply can’t be achieved with workout, so they go on unhealthy diets; they use excessive exercise methods and end up feeling depressed because they realize it will not happen for them. That is when they start taking steroids and start destroying their health completely. In recent studies was shown that teen boys actively practicing any sport are less likely to use steroids than an average teen boy who isn’t much in contact with sport. That is simply because athlete teenagers have been told countless of times the consequences of using steroids, so it’s all about early education.

Which leads to helping your child if you notice that he has some of the symptoms mentioned above, like overly exercising, unhealthy eating, preoccupation with his appearance and of course using dietary supplements and steroids? There are two steps, first is to educate your child about the negative effects of such behavior and steroids, which is something you need to start early. The second is to try and get your boys confidence up, his self worth is all that ties him to the normal life. Once teenagers start having low self worth they will go to these desperate measures for people to like them and recognize them as men.
 

The summer is here, and all the kids are looking forward to a break from school, a vacation or plenty of other activities warm weather and free time have to offer. While this is the dream time of every teenager this is the nightmare time for most of the parents. There is no school, curfews are shorter, freedom for their teen children is knocking at the door. I have to say that parents have the right to be worried. During the summer the rate of accidents where teens are involved is higher for 40%, alcohol drinking and substance abuse rises by over 70%, not to mention the higher number of car accidents.

Scary intro, well this is just to let both parents and teenagers know that summer is not all fun and games and that parent have a reason to be frightened a bit. But we will not talk about these scary subjects mentioned; we will get some useful summer safety tips. Although they are not as popular troubled subjects, they do have effects that no child or a parent wants, like sunburn, drowning or even getting lost on a trip.

So depending on where you’re spending your summer you are at risk of getting a sunburn, so sunblock and sunscreen lotions are always recommended. Also insect repellants are necessary. Here is a little fact for sunscreens, a myth busted, there is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen. You still have to reapply sunscreen every two hours. Second myth is that UV 30 sunscreen is twice stronger than UV 15, no. UV 15 provides 93% protection while UV 30 provides 97% protection. Myth three, your skin color and pigment have nothing to do with burning, you can be as dark as the night and still burn, use sunscreen everyone.

Swimming can be a real hazard, not only that your child can drown but he can get plenty of infections and diseases such as hepatitis, diarrhea and pink eye. So, never let a child in the water with an open wound. You should never share towels with somebody and you should always take a shower before and after swimming.

OK, so maybe you are not going to a lake or to the ocean, let’s say you went on a mountain trip or somewhere in nature. You still have to be careful of insect and poison plants. You should always use an insect repellent; many of the insects like mosquitoes may transmit you a disease or an infection, so you should be extra careful. About the plants, well there is a saying, the best safety is being prepared, in this case it means to educate yourself. Learn to recognize poison plants like poison ivy, and never eat something you are no 100% sure it’s safe.

These are a few simple tips, but one out of two teenagers will have one of these problems during the summer, so better read this and prepare yourself on all accounts. Have a nice summer.