parenting - Life on the Road Less Traveled

April 10, 2008

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“Just Yell Fire!” Stay-Safe Video for Teens

Yesterday’s USA Today (9D) ran a story about this year’s recipients of the National Caring Awards. According to the article, founder and director Val Halamandaris founded the Caring Institute and created the awards in 1989 after meeting Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who asked him to do something about the “poverty of spirit in America.” This year’s award winners — including both adult and young adult categories — are listed here. The recipient that caught my attention was sixteen-year-old Dallas Jessup who as a sophomore at St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, Oregon, raised $500,000 from donations to produce a movie entitled Just Yell Fire, which […]

March 14, 2008

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Can Your Teenager Protect Herself?

WARNING: SENSITIVE INFO AHEAD. GET YOUR COFFEE AND TAKE THE OLD LAPTOP TO YOUR ROOM. THANKS. Yesterday USA Today ran a news excerpt about a study from the Centers for Disease Control about the prevalence of STDs in teenagers (ages 14-19). Brace yourself… A 2003-04 government survey of 838 girls, conducted by CDC analyst SaraForhan, finds that one in four of all teenagers (fully half of all African-American teens) have or have had an STD. The most common is the HPV (human papilloma), along with incidences of chlamydia, genital herpes, and trichomoniasis. One in four. Kind of makes you want to send them to a […]

February 21, 2008

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parenting

Remedial Class Moms … Untie!

My children attend a charter school that divides each grade into three classes, “Basic” (for those needing a little extra coaching), “Standard” (for the middle of the pack) and “Proficient” (for those who would benefit from some enrichment activities). So far Christopher has managed to keep his head above water in the “Standard” class (though if his reading scores don’t soon improve, that may change). I, on the other hand, have decided that I belong solidly in the “Basic” camp. It all started in preschool. The first school we tried — an expensive Montessori program — was a disaster. We were asked to leave after […]

February 1, 2008

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Fighting to Win … a Lenten Pledge

Tonight on “Celebrity Apprentice,” Donald Trump didn’t get to utter his signature “You’re fired!” Instead, Vincent Pastore (pictured, of “Sopranos” fame … a show I never did see) stunned everyone by resigning. Long story short, Piers Morgan (what a twit) was such a toxic individual that Mr. Pastore decided he would rather go home than continue to deal with the man’s nonsense. So first Pastore tried a double-agent maneuver with the girls’ team, which ended badly, then he simply resigned. (Trump seemed disappointed; I think he was itching to ditch the snarky Brit, as was everyone else on his team except the boxer, who must […]