Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) for Teen Drivers
July 4, 2008
Drivers 16 years of age have little driving experience, putting them at high risk for traffic accidents. A series of five research papers published in a September 2002 supplement of Injury Prevention addresses reducing this risk. The papers introduce and make a case for graduated driver licensing (GDL), the system of laws and practices that gradually introduce young drivers into the driving population.
Graduated Driver License programs can be found in 31 states around the country. The GDL program permits young drivers to safely gain driving experience before obtaining full driving privileges and are generally targeted towards 14 ? 17 year old teen drivers.
Most states require an adult with a valid driver’s license be present when the teen is driving. Additionally, the teen driver is required to enroll in a certified Drivers Ed course and must hold a learner’s permit for at least 3 ? 6 months before taking an "operator’s driving license" test.
It is during these 3 ? 6 months when teen drivers with learner’s permits mostly drive the family vehicle with their parents. While GDL programs allow the teen driver to gain experience in a family vehicle with a parent, other drivers are not aware who is behind the wheel of this vehicle.
After the Driving School
July 3, 2008
If you visit search engines you can find several resources to assist you on this subject. Try searching on the phrase "parents with teen drivers". Alternatively we have tried to make this easy for you if you visit our news page on this very topic.
A few resources on the web for parents are:
Parent-Teen Contract
You might also consider using a driving safety contract between you and your teen. This is an agreement that your child signs, in which he agrees to be a safe driver by following all restrictions you have imposed or risk losing his driving privileges. An example of this can be found at: http://www.ipromiseprogram.com/
Talk It Out
Work with your teen driver to talk through their thought process while driving. Let’s not over-do this to the point that they cannot concentrate on driving. More specifics can be found in the book for parents at: http://www.safeyoungdrivers.com/
Helpful thoughts for parents in brief are:
* Drive by example
* Watch your emotional response while your teen is driving
* Work with your teen on various driving conditions, not just dry sunny days.
Best Investment
July 2, 2008
Every week I write something about the stock market - how to, when to and where to put your money and how to protect it from loss if you do. This week I want to say something very important to the young folks about success. And you parents take note if your kids are still young.
One of these days you are going to graduate from high school and, hopefully, college. Either one fits the bill here - even if you don’t graduate.
A very small percentage of your peers are going to become very successful. Success in the U.S. is mostly defined as someone who makes a lot of money; that is our usual yardstick. From your graduating class there will be 2 or 3 who make it big time and 6 or 8 who will do very well. Most of them will end up owning their own businesses. Upon graduation you will have no idea who will be the next Bill Gates, Jack Welch or Warren Buffett, but he is right there in your old class picture. Just when you need him you have lost contact for so many years that he probably won’t remember you or want to help you.
Joining a Gang: How to Help Kids Prevent it, How to Tell if Theyve Joined One, How to Help Them Out
July 1, 2008
While youth gangs are nothing new — they’ve been traced back to the early 19th century — the demographic of a youth gang is something that is constantly changing. Many people stereotype gang members as urban, inner city males from racial minorities, but in fact gangs are a problem in suburbs as well as cities, for all races and for girls as well as boys.
There are about 750,000 gang members in the United States, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Justice, and one-third of them are under the age of 18. And while it’s still true that men account for the majority of gang members-more than 90 percent are male-gang membership among women is becoming increasingly common.
What Exactly is a Gang?
Every gang has its own requirements and characteristics, but the U.S. Department of Justice says that all gangs have one thing in common: “A group must be involved in a pattern of criminal acts to be considered a youth gang.”
Similarly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a gang as, “A criminal enterprise having an organizational structure, acting as a continuing criminal conspiracy, which employs violence and any other criminal activity to sustain the enterprise.”
The Ten Most Common Poisons Among Kids
June 29, 2008
For parents, keeping our kids safe is a constant top priority. But even with the best intentions it’s possible to overlook some potentially harmful household poisons. According to the National Academy of Poison Control Centers, 92 percent of all poison exposures occur in the home, and 52 percent of poison exposures occur in children under the age of 6.
Following is a list of the most common poisons among children. Take note of them and make sure these items are securely out of your child’s reach.
1. Cosmetics and Personal Care Products
Cosmetics contain many chemicals, some of which are even toxic to adults, but because children are smaller, and their metabolic rates are faster, a small amount of chemical or toxin can cause a serious reaction.
Most poisonings occur when children are not being watched closely, such as when parents are busy making dinner or entertaining friends. Keep all cosmetics and personal care products in cabinets that children cannot reach or are locked with child-proof closures.
This includes everything from shampoo, shaving cream and toothpaste (the fluoride in a tube of toothpaste can be detrimental if swallowed by small children) to mascara, lipsticks and perfumes. Even if you don’t think it’s dangerous, play it safe and keep it securely stashed away.
The Importance of Fathers
June 28, 2008
There is no doubt that mothers play an all-important leading role in the lives of their children. They are the obvious heroes of child rearing. But what about a father’s role? Just how important are the dads of the world compared to the almighty image of mother? My belief is that fathers play just as important a role as mothers. Different, yes. Possibly not as nurturing, not as all-sacrificing but just as important in the developmental and emotional well being of a child.
Dads are the solid foundation of our lives. They are the shore we swim to when our arms and legs feel increasingly tired. They are the strength we rely on as we take our first tentative steps into the world. Dads can be tender, tough, fragile or powerful but they are probably the most uncomplicated love we will ever know.
For daughters, Daddy is the first man they adore … the first man whose eyes shine with overwhelming amazement when they look at us. He is the first man to fall in love with us.
For sons, Daddy is the idol they first aspire to emulate … their mirror image of what will be and possibly the only man they will ever feel comfortable loving.
You Want Whaaat???
June 28, 2008
Not too long ago my teenage daughter approached me with a very special request… one that not every father gets from his loving daughter. I was sitting in front of the TV after a hard day at work and while I was fidgeting with the defective cable company-provided remote (the one the kids only know how to operate) trying to find a movie I hadn’t yet seen ten times already on cable, she blurts out, “Dad, can I have a breast reduction?”
Now, if you’re a parent then you know there exists a certain ‘conditioning’ that occurs over the years when responding to questions from our children, especially if your attentions are focused elsewhere at the moment. They all have this tendency to ask questions at the most inappropriate times. For example, one time I was wrestling with a stubborn pipe while fixing a leak under the kitchen sink. To begin with, I was in a seemingly impossible body contortion trying to manipulate a wrench in a confined space so my frustration level was accelerating. At that moment a passing kid asked, “Dad, can I have ddgrfguff?”. I didn’t hear the last part of the question but I was safe in responding back, “Yeah, sure.” You see, it was a ‘can I have’ question which was usually food-related as opposed to ‘can I go’ which requires some passing thought to respond (later I caught holy-heck from my wife for letting my son eat something too close to dinner, but that’s a whole other story). But as the kids got older the ‘can I have’ questions became less about food and more about a request for money… lots of money.
Son, Can I Use The Car Tonight?
June 26, 2008
I recall somewhere in the recesses of my aging brain a time past when kids actually asked to borrow the family car for the evening. Heck, I even recall myself uttering that request to my folks many times. In fact, it was a science. If you had a hot date (in my case that was more a generic term for any reason to get away) you waited all day for the right time to pop the request.
Sometimes doing those little chores you normally avoided just to put the parental decision-maker (knowing which parent to ask was most important) in a good frame of mind. And then once you asked the question it was important that you grovel a bit and look sincere as the one granting your wish dangled the keys like a carrot on a stick while reciting the familiar drive-carefully-and-pay for the gas-you-use-and-I-want-you-back-by-eleven speech (sometimes with future ‘chore’ clauses you had to promise to accomplish). Without a doubt it was the artful application of psychology, persuasion, and negotiation, spawned by greed and selfishness, which in the end resulted in loving extortion. But it was the right of passage when you were a teenager.
Its a Sick World
June 23, 2008
It’s no joy to be sick. It’s even less joy when your child is sick. But the most unjoy is when you AND your child are sick together.
That happened to my poor wife a few weeks ago. She and Little Lady, going on three years old, both had a cold — with all the sneezing and wheezing, hacking and coughing, wailing and whining required for a certificate of authenticity.
Little Lady normally bubble-pops with zest and vigor. Actually “bursting at the seems, bouncing off the walls and ka-booming through the roof” would be a more accurate description. So it was quite eerie to see her mope around like the drooping leaves of a Siberian Peonies that’s been fed too much stale beer…not that I have a clue how the drooping leaves of a Siberian Peonies that’s been fed too much stale beer would look.
Every now and then, the moping would be punctuated with a sneeze. Little Lady has a most flamboyant sneezing style, adorning the walls in unique patterns. No corner of the room is safe when she sneezes. In fact, her projection has taught her baby sister in her playpen across the room the fine art of dodging.
A Chance for a Home
June 23, 2008
“He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.” - Johann von Goethe
Home. Family. Backyard cookouts. A table laden with more than we can eat on Thanksgiving day. These things ground us, offer us stability, and give us an environment where we can learn, explore, grow, and even self-actualize.
Yet for 210 million children, these basic human needs will never be met because most of these children will come of age in an institution, never knowing a family, never experiencing the warmth, joy and acceptance of a home environment.
These children are orphans. And for them, finding a family is like winning a lottery. It is a dream come true, when all the pieces fall together and home becomes a reality.
Those who never find a home face hurdles and burdens that no child should bare. They face years of loneliness and despair. Many fail to thrive in their institutions, most experience developmental/language delays and grow slowly. A general rule of thumb, children raised in orphanages lose approximately 1 month of linear growth for every 3 months in orphanage care.
