Mikki's blog

Every parent has heard the importance of detecting learning difficulties as soon as possible to ensure your child’s academic success. Could this same concept apply to childhood bullying and depression? Bonnie J. Leadbeater, professor of psychology at the University of Victoria, believes it does.

by James Lehman, MSW

In Part II of Motivating Underachievers, James explains what you can do to get your child on track before school starts—and how you can motivate them to do their school work during the year.

"I believe that when kids are so-called lazy, that's really an attitudinal issue about 'Why bother, my life's not going to get any better anyway.'"

For a teen-ager, there are many ways to say “screw you” to your parents. And for underachieving kids, being motivated to do nothing is one of those ways.

by James Lehman, MSW

Are you facing the new school year with dread because you have an unmotivated or underachieving teen or pre-teen? Is your child’s answer to everything, “I don’t care” or “It doesn’t matter?” In Part I of this two-part series, James Lehman, MSW explains why your child does have motivation—and how you can coach them to better behavior.

When our children reach school age many parents eagerly and lovingly send their little ones off to kindergarten at the local school, be it public or private. We openly trust our children to receive a quality education and learn to function in society. What many parents don’t consider prior to enrollment is the potential impact on whether or not their child may become physically or socially aggressive.

Most families rely heavily on TV ratings when it comes to appropriate programs for their children to watch. They trust that “kids” channels will broadcast limited to no violent content and rarely feel a need to monitor those programs. According to a study published in March of 2009 TV ratings don’t accurately reflect aggressive content leaving your child viewing interactions you may otherwise disprove of.

In our hurried society most families are living by rigid schedules forcing them to be very detailed and punctual. Parents can often be found preparing children as young as two for this lifestyle by “directing” their child’s scheduled play times accordingly. Have you ever stopped and wondered if this parent directed playtime was truly beneficial for the child?

Teen dating abuse is at epidemic proportions ranging from verbal abuse right up to even death. This tragic reality among our teens has disrupted many households as moms and dads strive to protect their own teens. I have witnessed the impact from both afar and within my own home.

Researchers Kevin Kieffer, assistant professor of psychology at Saint Leo University in San Antonio FL and Jessica Nicoll, also of Saint Leo University conducted the first large scale review of multiple studies on video game violence and aggression in children. They found that violent games with protagonists that hunt, maim and kill are linked to at least short-term aggression behaviors in children.

Children displaying ADHD symptoms in the classroom often leave teachers exhausted and frustrated as they attempt to properly educate every student in their classroom. Teachers that genuinely feel a student may be displaying ADHD symptoms will refer those students out for further evaluation in an effort to best assist that student and maintain coherence in the classroom.

Every parent faces the dreaded decision of which discipline method will best teach their children appropriate behavior. When asked most parents will tell you that instilling discipline needs to occur in the toddler years, but few can describe how. According to a recent survey from the Scottish Government more parents are choosing to simply ignore their toddlers bad behavior, stating that few parents actually viewed spanking as a useful tool.