Posted By: Megan Devine, LCPC
Category: Ask Parental Support Specialists, Child Behavior, Consequences, Problem-solving Skills
Comments: 19
Dear Parental Support Specialists,
We have two sons, ages 15 and 13. My 13-year-old is struggling in school. He is an athlete and I seem to always hold this consequence over him: “If you don’t get good grades, you are not going to play baseball.” But, now that I have read many of your articles, I don’t think that I am doing the right thing. Good grades and baseball don’t match according to the rule of “the punishment should fit the crime.”
Any suggestions?
Thanks, Lisa
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Posted By: Elisabeth Wilkins, EP Editor
Category: Child Behavior, Younger Children
Comments: 31
“I didn’t get any sleep last night,” said Bill, another parent at my son’s school, when I dropped off Alex this morning. And Bill did look horrible– scraggly beard, dark circles under his eyes and crazy bed head–almost like he’d gone on a bender. “Maya (6) got up 2 times last night. I ended up sleeping in bed with Cameron (3), and my wife was in bed with Maya. I never know where I’ll end up during the night,” he said as he shuffled off in search of coffee. If this game of musical beds sounds familiar, there’s a reason—co-sleeping, or sleeping in bed with your kids—is on the rise, and has been increasing every year for the last decade or so.
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Posted By: James Lehman, MSW
Category: Child Behavior, News, School
Comments: 17
In the news this week, there have been stories of misconduct by teachers, students and other school authority figures, from the teacher who duct taped his student to a desk, to the Pre-K teacher in Texas who was caught on tape saying “You all are stupid kids. If you’re mean to me, that means I get to be mean to you—got it?” And then there was the school bus driver in Phoenix who got into a shoving match with a 15- year-old student. (The student was suspended, the bus driver is now on paid leave pending further investigation.) In this post, James Lehman talks about what’s going on in our schools, and why teachers need training, too.
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Posted By: Carole Banks, LCSW
Category: Ask Parental Support Specialists, Child Behavior, Parenting Skills
Comments: 12
Parents frequently call me on the Parental Support Line to discuss respect. Some will say, “The ONLY thing I ask from my child is that they respect me.” They reason that if they are respected, their child will do everything they are asked to do, will not say anything impolite, and will be motivated by positive feelings toward their parent. These are terrific goals, but I’ve started to ask people not to even use the word “respect” when they talk to their children about their behavior, and I’ll explain why.
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