NELMS Resource Center

Adolescents and Families

A Parent’s Guide To Surviving Adolescence
A wonderful web page that links to a variety of areas such as: positive parenting, first aid, nutrition and health issues. There are also many links that address questions such as “What is puberty?” or “What about kids, parents and conflict?”

What Can You Do to Improve Your Child’s Education?
An article that gives parents several suggestions on a variety of ways to help support their child’s education. Lookingat such topics as: television viewing, reading together, establishing daily routines, and keeping in touch with the school. A one-page summary of ideas for parents to connect with your teen and help them through this difficult time of life.

Parent Involvement at the Middle School Level
A short article that defines middle school and the middleschooler. It continues to go on to describe the benefits of parent involvement in the middle schooler’s education. Short article reveals why it’s important to become involved in your child’s school during the middle years. Also explainswhat you can do within the school. Good for all, details information for involvement of parents of a second language.

About.com’s Parenting of Adolescents
This page has many links to articles that cover everything from ADD to school violence to family time. Some articles are good, but others are weak. Lots of advertising.

Parent Soup
This site provides parents of teens opportunities to search for tips on talking to teens, talk to other parents. It also offers links to other topics, including preteens, behavior issues,and more.

Adolescent Attitudes
This site offers parents a resource to raising self-confident girls and communicative boys, focusing particularaly on their attitudes.

Surviving Adolescence
This is a site geared towards parents and others who love theadolescents in their lives, but don’t know what to make of them. It contains informative and comforting information about what adolescents are going through and why they act the way they do. It also underlines “normal” and “not so normal” problems adolescents are going through and offers suggestions about when and where to ask for help; includes some good links.

Youth Starts With You
A particularly good site for practical advice on how to communicate with, engage, motivate, manage behavior on and relate to students is this web page. This site gives quick tips on the above topics as well as an online link to a bulletin board where you can ask experts for specific information. This site is also loaded with good links.

WholeFamily.com
This site is a comprehensive site for parents and teens. It gives information and suggestions about how to handle different situations faced by families and teens.

Fourteen Activities to Promote Parent Involvement!
Suggested activities geared toward promotion of parent involvement in student learning and achievement with links from Scholastic Instructor to related sites, articles, and journals.

Parent Involvement Resource Kit
Article discusses reasons for decline in and aspects of parent involvement with middle and high school students today, suggestions on how to reverse the trend to bring balance “being there” and “letting go” to support student achievement. Link to 1997 National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs. Encourages establishment of Parent-Student-Teacher Association at middle level to share wealth of information from each group and keep lines of communication open.

Acing the Adjustments of Middle School
Peer pressure and parental involvement at the middle school level and helping the middle level student “ace” the adjustment. Many good links with information and support for parents of teens.

Parents’ Guide to the Internet
Today, the Internet offers us a seemingly eldless source of information on countless topics. Unfortunately it also can be a dangerous place for innocent young addolecent who steers his or her way to the wrong link or an unfamiliar chat room. The Parents Guide to the Internet is intended tohelp parents--regardless of their level of technological know-how--make use of the on-line world as an important educational tool. The guide gives parents an introduction to the Internet and suggests how parents can allowtheir children to tap into the wonders of the Internet while safeguarding them from its potential hazards.

Peer Relations

Peer Relations at School and the Health of Adolescents
This site suggests that constantly being bullied at school in early adolescence can have enduring
negative health consequences. This article reviews relevant evidence from overseas and Australia.

Young Adolescents and Bullying
I found this by searching for "adolescents and bullying." The page is short, but offers sage advice and ideas. One piece is: ~ Bullies gain little satisfaction from bullying and would prefer to be doing other things.

What Should Parents and Teachers Know About Bullying?
This sight just defines what bullying is, what students do and what to look for. It just simply defines the aspects of bullying.

Kia-Kaha – No Bully
This site describes in great detail a school based program where bullying cannot flourish. Includes separate sections for kids and parents & teachers.

Bullies: Are You Afraid or Have You Got No Friends?
A place that helps you decide if you are being bullied with suggestions on what you can do about it. Bullies may not be as scary as you think. Very easy to read and understand.

Health and Wellness Issues

Gym resources, class time vary widely across Massachusetts
Massachusetts schools vary widely in terms of their physical-education resources: Some newer schools feature regular sessions in new facilities with rock-climbing walls and pricey fitness machines, while older schools might have to make do with outdated, cramped gyms.
The Boston Globe (1/10)

Sleep Needs
A short article that discusses the recent studies done regarding the sleep needs of the adolescent.

The Basics: Adolescent Development
This is a site that deals with basic issues of adolescents. It has short bulleted statements kids can scan and read. It also directs readers to other sites that deal with specific development issues.

Teens Health: Hey Kids!
A well organized, brightly illustrated site with a table of contents that includes Body Basics, Mind Matters, Sexual Health, Food & Fitness, Staying Safe and Health Problems. Under each chapter are dozens of questions and statements linked to well written, comprehensive articles. Sponsored by Nemours, one of the nation's largest pediatric subspecialty group practices with sites in Delaware and Florida.

For Kids and Teens
Illustrated as if for younger children, this site still has helpful information on a variety of mental health issues from being nervous and depressed to having AD/HD and phobias. Concerned about a parent who may feel down or have AD/HD? That is in here also.

Conduct Disorder in Children and Adolescents - Behavioral Neurotherapy Clinic.
This site describes symptoms, explains causes, and assesses available treatments.

Fact Sheet: Conduct Disorder
This site includes an introduction to the condition, with definition, symptoms, and tips to manage problems.

Wired Awake
This site addresses the issue of overscheduled, overstimulated, sleep-deprived students. It offers steps parents can take to ensure their children get enough sleep.