Author: Dori J. Mages, MSW, LCSW

Shutterstock Girl left out 15807379Halloween: Help Your Child Include Others

Halloween: A time for trick-or-treating, group costumes, pictures posted on social media. Inevitably, someone is left out. Below is advice on teaching your child to include others. We tell our kids all the time, and especially on Halloween- "Don't leave kids out.  It's not nice.  How would you feel if kids did this to you?"  It seems innate.  But, what about the kids who, let's just say, aren't very likeable?  The kid who eats glue, the kid who teases others, the kid who...I'm just going to say it..learned his bad behaviors from his mother!  Oh yeah, I said it!  I have heard this line from so many parents over the years, "Just stay away from him!"  Is this

If you are home on spring break with your teen, you have probably experienced her lack of interest in doing anything over break- asserting that she "just wants to chill." If your teen has no plans to go on a trip for break and YOUR idea of spring break isn't watching him focused on some variation of a screen (video games, social media, texting, tv, taking selfies, etc.) while on the couch eating snacks, then why not make the time off from school an opportunity for your family to chill out together?