Saving the World One Teen at a Time
| Saving the World One Teen at a Time is a weekly column about navigating the tween-teen years in an increasingly thorny, competitive and tech-dominated world, written by two women with super-hero insights. Kristy Campbell is a mom of 5 (1 teen, tween twins, 1 pre-tween, 1 toddler) and works as an actress and social media consultant. She is currently writing her guide on how to survive the modern mom’s midlife crisis. Abby Margolis Newman is a mom of two teenage sons, and one prematurely teenage 11-year-old son. She has written feature stories for the New York Times, and articles for Parenting, Working Mother, and Scholastic, among many other publications. |
The SAT Cheating Scandal - What the %$@#?
More than 20 kids have been arrested in Long Island for allegedly paying off fellow students to take the SAT exam for them. Have we placed such an unreasonable importance on this one test that children are cheating to deal with the stress? more
Sex Scandals and Our Sports
As the Penn State sex scandal rocking the nation, parents are faced with another challenge - how to explain the situation to their kids. more
The Loss Of A Grandfather
Until last week, my three children had no experience with death. And strangely enough, although I’ve lived almost five decades, neither had I. more
My Child Hates Reading!
Is it possible to instill a love of reading in a child who hates to read? Or is it, as Cletus from “The Simpsons” might say, “an exercise in futility”? more
Overinvolved Sports Parents: A Plea for Sanity
Did you hear the story about the crazed “Little League Mom” who stalked, threatened and harassed a Little League official after her son failed to make the summer travel baseball team- and who then arranged to have the official killed? more
How Young is Too Young for Facebook?
How young is too young for Facebook? I’ve been thinking about this question because my youngest son, Henry (age 12) asked about getting a Facebook page. Henry has two older brothers (ages 16 and 17) who are both on Facebook, but I am not inclined to let Henry participate until high school. more
East Coast College Extravaganza, Part 2.
In my last piece, I wrote about my five-day college tour with my oldest son, Jonah, specifically about our impressions of Brown and about the admissions process in general. What I didn't really touch upon - and which, in the scheme of things, was more important - was the whole strange and wonderful phenomenon of spending five days alone with my oldest child. For a mother of three, this was a rarity indeed. more
East Coast College Extravaganza, Part 1.
Yesterday I flew 3,000 miles from our home in the Bay Area to Boston with my oldest son, for what I’m calling our East Coast College Extravaganza. We're looking at five colleges in five days. If you’ll indulge a bit of sentimentality (though I realize this is neither original nor a revelation): how the hell did this happen? Wasn’t he just a pumpkin-headed 2-year-old who used an upside-down plastic bucket as a hat? more
Tucson: a Family Tragedy, an American Tragedy.
My kids are no strangers to political rallies. They have met John Kerry and John Edwards, and have accompanied me to protests against the Iraq War. I have a picture of my middle son, Aaron, from a local newspaper in 2004: he is sitting on my husband's shoulders, holding a handmade "Down with Bush! Go Kerry!" sign. more
Fretting Out Loud: On the Disintegration of Civility.
Is it just me, or does it feel as if, over the past several years, civility and polite discourse in our society have utterly deteriorated? more
