May, 2008
Help Your Teen
Get a Head Start This Summer
Avoid Excessive Screen Time This Summer With Fun Alternatives
Set Ground Rules to Prevent Teen Drinking & Driving This Summer
Encourage Teens
to Keep Reading All Summer
A Word From the Director
It’s never
too early for your teen to get a head start on his future. Talk to him
about what he plans to do after graduation—even if it seems far away.
Encourage him to use this summer to prepare for his future. If he
plans to:
Attend
college: Suggest that he research colleges he would like to
attend. If he has his heart set on a certain school, see if he meets
admission requirements. He could begin preparing for the SAT or ACT.
Could he take a college-level course at a local community college?
Attend
vocational school: Ask him if he is interested in a trade. Help
him research program requirements. Is there an entrance exam? What
schools offer the best programs?
Get a
job: Encourage him to get a part-time job or internship in that
field. The interviewing skills he will learn in the process are great
practice. Encourage your teen to “shadow” adults in different fields
to see which one most interests him.
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Your teen
may be planning to “veg out” this summer - spending every day
mindlessly watching television and sending emails to friends. Don’t
let your teen’s only exposure to light come from an electronic screen!
Offer lots of other suggestions for summer entertainment. Teens can:
Play
sports. Whether it’s
joining the swim team or plays football in the yard with friends, the
important thing is that teens get exercise.
Volunteer. Teens have
a lot of free time in the summer - they can definitely share some of
it. They can to talk to nursing homes, homeless shelters or hospitals
to find out how to donate time.
Pick up a
new hobby. Teens can
teach themselves to play guitar or learn to paint with watercolors.
Attend
outdoor events.
Suggest teens attend a baseball game with friends or go to an outdoor
concert with you. Many towns offer free outdoor events planned during
the summer.
Plan a trip.
Your teen’s friends may be just as bored as yours is – suggest they
plan a day trip to a nearby amusement park. Or, if they don’t want to
spend a lot of money, they can take a picnic to the zoo or visit a
museum.
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Summer is a time when
teens want to have fun with their friends. But too often, that leads
to drinking - and, even more dangerous, to drinking and driving.
You need to
be especially careful as your teen heads into summer party season.
Here are some facts:
 Teens do drink, and they often drink
to excess. A national survey found that 49 percent of those who
visited the emergency room with an alcohol-related problem were under
the age of 21.
Teen drivers are more likely to
engage in risky behavior—and less likely to see it as dangerous. In
one study, teen drivers did not think they were “driving too fast” if
they were driving less than 97 mph!
So what can
you do? Talk with your teen about this issue. Establish very serious
consequences for drinking and driving or for riding with a driver who
has been drinking.
If teens show poor judgment, parents can ask the state to suspend
their licenses until they are 18. It is harsh - but it will give your
teen an easy “out” when friends say, “Nothing will happen. Just get in
the car and drive!”
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For some teens, summer is a
great chance to catch up on all the reading they couldn’t get done
during the school year. These teens know what they like to read and
spend their summer hours with books they enjoy.
But many
teens see summer as a time to take a vacation from any reading. These
are the teens that may find themselves struggling when school begins
again.
To keep your
teen reading over the summer months:
§ Keep books and
magazines everywhere.
§ Visit the library
regularly. Make sure your teen has a way to get there.
§ Read the same
book as your teen. Talk about it. You may suggest a book you’ve
enjoyed. Or let your teen choose a book that sounds interesting.
§ Try audio books.
This is a great way for some teens to get into a book.
§ Look for a
“how-to” book. Try one of the ideas together.
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Greetings from PCN
It has been
a busy school year and I am already putting the baseball schedule for
my son’s summer games on my calendar. As your days get filled with
“must do” tasks, remember to take time for those you love. It seems
that we often get things done for everyone around us but do not take
time for our family or our own needs. I found this quote by Henry
Drummond, which puts things into perspective, “You will find as you
look back upon your life that the moments you have really lived are
the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”
These are words for all of us to live by.
The PCN office and website will be available to you all summer if you
have questions or need a resource. Please contact us by phone or here
on our website for information on any parenting issue. Remember to
check the
Safe South Dakota site for tips on talking with teens about
alcohol use and driving.
Enjoy the moments this
summer!
Darcy
Jensen and the PCN Board
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