The Steubenville Rape Video, Alcohol and Teenagers

Michael Nodianos really messed up. He is the teenager in the video recently released by the hacktavist group Anonymous shown joking about an incident of rape allegedly perpetrated by his fellow high school football teammates in Steubenville, Ohio. The language and attitude in the video is highly disturbing and offensive.

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How to Talk to your Teen About Going to Counseling

For dedicated parents it is important that they feel that they are doing everything they can to help their teenager through life’s troubles. When parents feel at a loss when confronted with their teenager’s problems they often search for professional help. However, when they speak to their teenager about it he or she is insulted and dead-set against it. Teenagers may simply refuse to go or become enraged with the possibility of going to counseling. This unfortunate reaction puts a frustrating obstacle in the way of parents trying to help their teenagers, especially in the case of older teenagers that you cannot physically force to go.

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Teenagers and the Holidays

The holidays should be a time when you and your teenager grow a little closer together. It’s not a time for battles or fighting or trying to get them to do exactly what you want. This holiday season be flexible with your teenagers. Talk to them about what they want to do and negotiate generous terms where you also get some of what you want. Make them a part of the process and let them have some limited control over their participation in family events. Teenagers often push against disciplinary walls that parents put up. Loosen the ramparts a little extra but still insist that your teenager be safe.

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Teenagers and Violent Video Games: Questions Following the Newtown Shooting

In the aftermath of the nation’s most tragic school shooting, many people across the nation are asking questions to try to understand how this could have happened and how events like this can be prevented in the future. The issues coming to light are age old debates such as gun control and school security, and the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior among teenagers and young people. Adam Lanza, the killer behind the horrific Newtown massacre, was an avid video gamer who played violent video games such as Call of Duty for hours. Do playing violent video games translate to real life violence? Research into this issue shows evidence supporting both sides of the argument.

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Newtown, Connecticut Shooting: Coping with traumatic events

Today’s news of the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newton, Connecticut has shocked the entire nation as once again a mass shooting has robbed youth of their lives for no apparent reason. What I know about this country is when tragedy strikes, the entire nation unites in support of families and victims of horrific events like these. Words cannot describe what the families of victims are going through and surely they will be in everyone’s prayers. School shootings are traumatic events for all involved. Survivors frequently struggle with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. An article written by Susan Donaldson James in 2009 for abcnews.com spoke with survivors, both students and teachers, of the Columbine shooting. 10 years later some survivors report that coping remains a struggle and certain triggers can unleash grief. The survivor interviewed in the article credits counseling with helping him grieve and learning to cope with what happened.

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