Double Take

Parents should help son transfer to adulthood by setting guidelines
June 30, 2009
Dear Dr. Wes and Kelly: My 19-year-old son has decided that he is not going to go back to college. His father and I don’t know what to do in response. We set aside money for that purpose, not to keep him in an apartment just to work. We also don’t really know how to handle him moving home if we don’t support him in an apartment. We also don’t know how to respond to him not wanting to be in college anymore. It seems like he’s throwing his life away.
Double Take: Parental patience necessary for unemployed teens right now
June 23, 2009
Frequent readers know that I’m a big fan of teenagers making their way in the world and that any transfer of money in the home should be an economics lesson.
Double Take: Recent killings reason to teach children about tolerance
June 16, 2009
My 12-year-old daughter and I were visiting the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum exactly two weeks ago to the hour of the recent shooting.
Mother doubts teen daughter’s reasons to start taking birth control pills
June 9, 2009
My 15-year-old daughter has had problems with regular periods for some time.
Double Take: School boundaries will split high school student from friends
June 2, 2009
Our 15-year-old, ninth-grade daughter is preparing to not join her peers in high school due to us living in a different attendance zone than all her friends.
Double Take: Reader worried about friend who has turned to cutting
May 26, 2009
I have a friend that has recently started cutting herself. She did it last year for a couple of weeks and started again about a week ago. She isn’t suicidal, so right now I’m just trying to find reasons for her to stop. Unfortunately, the reasons I found were all about infections, but I was hoping to learn what the ill effects of cutting are and how to get her to stop.
Double Take: Set technology rules for kids as early as possible
May 19, 2009
A few weeks ago we discussed how to introduce cell phones to preteens.
New ‘Double Take’ columnist selected
May 12, 2009
Once again, the selection of the new “Double Take” co-author has been an extraordinary experience.
Teen son’s victim mentality sabotaging friendships
May 5, 2009
Our 13-year-old son is exhibiting an emotional pattern of rejecting friends at home and at school. He has a victim mentality about how people don’t like him, but my husband and I have been observing repeatedly how he sabotages friendship. Any thoughts?
Double Take: Columbine reminder of dangers to unchecked bullying
April 28, 2009
Ten years ago, the Columbine shootings brought the issue of bullying to the forefront of public awareness. As we reflect again on that tragedy, the issue has reappeared in the news, this time with some surprising findings that beg us to revisit yet another idea that we think we know a lot about — and then find out we don’t.
Double Take: New teen author sought for column
April 21, 2009
This week we begin the annual Double Take essay contest to find the sixth author for the column.
Double Take: Set guidelines, rules early for tech-savvy children
April 14, 2009
I saw a quote from Einstein the other day pondering the idea that our technology has surpassed our humanity. So it goes. As personal technologies have become commonplace in our daily lives, even the most tech-savvy of us have to step back and remember that 20 years ago, primitive desktop computers were just gaining a foothold in business and cell phones were big, expensive and owned by just 1 million subscribers in the United States.
Help graduating teens start down right path to independence
April 7, 2009
It’s an easy cliché to pick a point in a child’s life and say, “There’s no more important moment than this.” Yet among the top contenders for that title is the moment when a newly minted adult leaves home for college, trade school or the world of work. Facing the inevitable sense of grief and loss that accompanies this golden moment, it’s easy to forget our most important parenting goal is to try to keep them from moving home again.
Freshmen thrive on independence, even if they stay in town
March 31, 2009
It’s the time of the year when final decisions on college are made.
Double Take: Parent asks about abstinence education
March 24, 2009
Dear Dr. Wes & Kelly: With all the criticism of the pope’s comments about abstinence and HIV and the changes in our government, what do you think about abstinence education vs. teaching kids to using condoms or other birth control?

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