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.

Over the past few weeks my 16yr old daughter has been aiming to get her spiritual life back on track after several months of mixing in with the wrong boy. During that time her freedoms were shortened and I often questioned her actions and requests.

That was a long haul for both of us. Truly. But one morning not too many weeks ago she realized, with the help of a dream, that I wasn't too far off the mark after all. She set a goal and steps to achieve it. One thing she really needed was to surround herself with positive peers.

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.

As September rolls in we are heavy in preparation for school. Most of the kids around us went back to school two weeks ago but as a home-schooler I have the luxury to start later in the year, allowing us to completely enjoy the warmth of summer til the end.

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.

Fr. John Hardon, S.J.
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Excerpted from a speech originally given by Fr. John Hardon, S. J. at a home school seminar in Oct. 1991, St. Paul, MN. Reprinted with permission. Fr. John Hardon, S.J., a noted theologian and home school advocate, is also the author of numerous books. He resides at the University of Detroit-Mercy in Detroit, MI.

Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) versus Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Parents severely struggling with their young child’s attitude often turn to their family practitioners for a diagnosis that can be treatable with a lifetime subscription to mood altering medications. This is due, in part, to the similarities of ADD (or even ADHD) and ODD.

Nowadays, children behave differently than they did many years ago. This is why new ways of rearing a child are constantly being discovered. Child rearing method for every child is different. As a parent, this is something you should acknowledge. You have to be able to guide your child in every aspect of his life so that he may become a good person someday. In order to raise your child well, you need to know how to do it the modern way.

Drug abuse and alcohol consumption has always been discouraged among youth, including teens. While depression, low self-esteem and breakups in relationships are the primary reasons of teens falling to drugs, beginning alcohol consumption begins more out of peer pressure or for having fun.