Dr. Wes: This week we celebrate the tenth annual essay contest to find the 12th teen co-author of Double Take. If you’re keeping score, we’ve now had had six authors from Free State, four from LHS, and one from Bishop Seabury, nine girls and two guys.

This year’s winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship from Family Psychological Services (www.dr-wes.com), a valuable line on his or her college resume, and the opportunity to do TV, radio and live appearances with me. Even runners-up have been featured in past broadcasts, so if you’re interested in journalism, you might want to give this a shot.

Dr. Wes Crenshaw and Kyra Haas

The application deadline is 8 p.m. Friday, April 24. Interviews will be held the weekend of May 9-10. We’re only interviewing the top six essayists, so make your writing count. Here’s what it takes to write for Double Take:

• A 2016 senior or exceptional junior at an area high school.
• One-year commitment from August 2015 through August 2016.
• Skilled writer for class projects, or preferably, yearbook or school paper.
• Sufficient maturity and sensibility to be credible when writing about sex, substance abuse, school, technology, mental health, teen culture, etc. and able to withstand public critique.
• Eager to share open-minded opinions about the problems of adolescence, work as a team over Google Drive, and churn out one 350-word column fifty weeks a year.
• Comfortable making radio and TV appearances.

Send the following materials to ask@dr-wes.com:

• A 350-word essay offering advice on the challenge question. Essays will be blind reviewed (sans identification) by a panel of experts. Submission implies release for the Journal-World to publish.
• A list of ten topics you’d like to tackle in Double Take.
• A brief email outlining your strengths and weaknesses as a columnist written by a teacher or other adult (not a parent).
• If you will be under age 18 in August 2014, BOTH parents must submit an email stating fully informed consent for your participation.

We’ll announce the winner on May 12 and publish the top essay in the paper and the others online.

Kyra: My sophomore year, our journalism advisor sent out a link to a podcast of Wes and 2012-13 co-author Katie Guyot discussing eating disorders on KCUR. That was my first exposure to Double Take and the media appearances that come with it. I remember being in awe of Katie–talking about real teen issues and actually providing teen perspective and advice in a real newspaper every week and sometimes on TV or the radio.

The next year, I was ready to submit my application, though I went a little overboard in preparation. I followed Wes on Twitter; I read every Double Take column I could find; I begged Katie for advice; I watched Wes and the other co-author’s TV appearances on YouTube.

Fear not, prospective applicants, I promise you that level of stalking isn’t necessary–but if you insist, you can follow me on Twitter: @kc_haas and Wes @wescrenshawphd.

Double Take is unlike any other experience you’re likely to have at this point in high school. Some weeks, 350 words flow from my fingertips in 45 minutes. Others, I chew on my ideas for days and barely regurgitate them by the Thursday deadline. I’ve written about topics I’d never thought I’d have an opinion on, from smoking weed to buying cars to playing violent video games. I’ve discussed sexting and naked selfies on public radio. Once, an online commenter labeled me an irresponsible liberal when I admitted to staying up late to work on an endless stream of homework. Throughout the process, Wes has pushed me hard, ripped my work apart and helped me piece it together again. Ultimately, Double Take has made me a better writer.

If any of this appeals to you, apply, but realize that if you get the chance to write a weekly column for a year, you’ll be forced down a road of self-discovery, learning who you are, what you believe, and why. Best of all, you’ll be helping others on their own similar journey, whether you fall asleep at a conservative 8 p.m. or not.

The Challenge Question: I just saw my 13-year-old son’s web browser history, and it was appalling, filled with pornographic material. I didn’t mean to snoop, but I felt he’d been spending too much time in in his room and I was afraid he was getting into things that he should not be. I didn’t realize how right I was. He’s even been on sexually explicit chat sites. I don’t know what to do.

Wes Crenshaw, Ph.D., ABPP, is author of “I Always Want to Be Where I’m Not: Successful Living with ADD & ADHD.” Learn about his writing and practice at dr-wes.com. Kyra Haas is a Free State High School senior who blogs at justfreakinghaasome.wordpress.com. Send your confidential 200-word question to ask@dr-wes.com. Double Take opinions and advice are not a substitute for psychological services.