Tag: family

Where to Look for Help with an Unplanned Teen Pregnancy

If you’re facing an unplanned teen pregnancy, you are not alone. Women between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth to 229,715 babies in the U.S. in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the teen pregnancy rate has been decreasing in recent years, many teens still face an unplanned pregnancy every year, and it can be a terrifying, lonely experience. But for these teens, help is available.

Counseling Services

Many teens aren’t sure what they want to do when they first learn they are pregnant. Many church-affiliated organizations may offer counseling at little to no cost. Ask for information about all your options, including the pros and cons of each.

Teen Parenting

Support centers exist for mothers want to keep their babies, including support groups, parenting classes, and things like baby clothes, diapers, and infant car seats. Some hospitals offer support groups, childbirth classes and parenting classes specifically for teens, too. Finally, many high schools now offer special services for teen parents. Ask your guidance counselor.

Adoption Services

If you are considering placing your child for adoption, you can contact your state’s adoption services for more information, or go through private companies that help you navigate the process. Every state has an agency with a name like the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Social Services that has a department that handles adoptions.

Pregnancy is intimidating, especially if you’re facing it alone. But help is available, and you should feel confident that you can still have an abundant, rewarding life. Pregnancy is the start of a new life, not the end of yours. There is help and there is hope. Never forget that!

Six Summer Jobs You Won’t Find at the Mall

For teenagers, getting a job for extra cash during the summer is considered part of growing up. A summer job is a great opportunity to earn extra cash and gain valuable skills that are applicable to the real world and hopefully future careers. In fact, many businesses are looking for seasonal workers to lend a hand in stocking shelves, bagging groceries, or providing customer support. If you want to branch out from the regular teen work, here are a few summer job options to consider this year.

Becoming a Neighborhood House Sitter

If parents are out for the night, they will need someone to watch over the kids or any pets the family has. Teenagers often take advantage or babysitting gigs, house-sitting, and similar work. You’ll have to know how to prepare a few meals, take care of regular cleaning and home maintenance. You may be asked to watch the pets or take them out for a walk occasionally. Advertise your services at local community or neighborhood bulletins or social media sites.

Working as a Summer Camp Counselor

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both host summer camps for kids, full of fun activities such as roasting marshmallows or learning different first aid and survival skills. As a camp counselor you can help teach basic survival skills or creative arts and crafts to children, so they have a memorable summer, even when their parents are not around. Make sure to invest in a good camping blanket to stay cozy and warm.

Working Part-Time as a Barista

Many cafes are looking for part-time servers to mix drinks during the peak summer season at local restaurants or resorts. Teenagers can learn to provide customer service by taking orders and maintaining a positive attitude while they serve food or drinks. Here you can also learn valuable retail skills like working a cash register or organizing backroom supplies.

Landscaping or Mowing Lawns

If a neighbor doesn’t have the time to mow the lawn, they often pay teenagers to do it for them. Teens might also water the garden, plant seeds, paint the fence, or pour fertilizer onto wilting plants. Learning outdoor and yard skills are great not just for everyday life, but for future jobs as well. If you don’t want to do the dirty work, you can also find lots of summer sales jobs, getting people pest control, sprinkler work, and other outdoor work.

Administrative Assistant Job

Office jobs are a dime a dozen. Most companies and hospitals require someone to be at the front desk to greet customers or help them book an appointment with a busy specialist. Their responsibilities include answering phone calls, filing legal paperwork, or inputting data using Excel spreadsheets. If you know how to do a few basics on the computer and are already organized, these kinds of part-time reception work could be perfect for spring boarding into office work after school.

Teenagers have to think outside the box if they want to find a summer job. They can design T-shirts, build a website, or even work at the local gas station. There are many part-time jobs available for inexperienced high schoolers, but the ones mentioned before are definitely a great start.

How to Talk to Modern Teens About Drug Safety

Drug use is an important topic, and all teenagers need to know about dangerous substances and how to avoid them. Drugs have just been named the number one killer of people under 50 in the US. It is a horrible situation, and not helped by images of rappers constantly blowing marijuana smoke or Coachella-bound hippie girls popping Molly on Instagram.

Any teenager can give in to peer pressure and even well-behaved teens may encounter drugs when they are around their peers. Parents know that drugs have several harmful side effects. But before starting the conversation, parents need to know how to talk to their teens about drugs. Here are some modern things you may need to know before monologuing about drugs alone.

Discuss the Negative Side Effects

Teenagers see drugs at parties, but they may not be aware of the negative consequences that come with taking them. Teens need to know that even legal  drugs are dangerous. Some of the health side effects may be irreversible, let alone the mental effects. At school, your teen might only hear good things about drugs from their peers. Show your teenager pictures of people who have been addicted for some time and talk about the ways in which lives can be uprooted by addiction. Your teenager also needs to know that drugs will impair their ability to make good decisions.

Do Not Underestimate Peer Pressure

Parents should not underestimate peer pressure. Strong-willed teenagers can be easily influenced by their friends. Most teenagers have a desire to fit in with their peers. Instead of giving into peer pressure, your teen should make new friends. Point out your teen’s accomplishments. Let him know that they have a bright future. Don’t drive them away from friends, but instead point out alternative options that could be a better use of their time.

If possible, monitor your child’s phone messages to discover negative influences.

Give Your Child Solutions

Despite your best efforts, your child might give into peer pressure. They need to know how to get home safely if under the influence of drugs. Let your kids know that they can call you in an emergency. They should not drive when they are mentally impaired and your teen should understand that their safety is paramount in a bad situation. Be open about having them call, no matter what bad decisions might have been made.

Have More Than One Conversation

The initial conversation about drugs should not be the only one you have on the topic. According to Recovery In Tune, a Florida Treatment Program, addicts usually aren’t well-educated, and if they were, weren’t aware of all the potential dangers before becoming addicted. You should encourage your kids to talk to you about their day. You can ask questions about your child’s friends and activities while you are eating dinner. Your kids are likely to open up to you when they know you are available to them.

In addition to talking with your teens about drugs, you can spend more quality time with them. Family outings are a great way to keep your teen safe. If your teen wants to have a wild party, you should consider hosting the party. When you are the host, you can make sure your teenager is safe while he is having a good time with their friends.

How Teen Drivers Affect Your Insurance Rates

You want to be a good parent and do everything right by your child, and while all parents strive to do just that, it can sometimes feel impossible. One thing a lot of parents want to do for their children is add them to their car insurance policy once they become a driver. Nothing wrong with that except that this can cause those premiums to nearly double in a lot of cases. But how do you know if your rates will really be affected? Here is what to keep in mind when making changes to your policy.

Why Teens?

Teen drivers are among the most dangerous on the road. They are inexperienced and are still learning how to grow up in general. It is hard for insurance companies to justify covering them at all if they do not charge very high rates. This is why even parents with excellent driving records can see a big increase in their premiums by adding a teenager to their policy.

What is it Based On?

The rates you can expect to see your premiums increase by vary based on the part of the country you live in, but according to NBC News the average across the states is about 80%.

The younger the driver that one adds to their policy, the more they can expect to have to pay on their premiums. Sixteen-year-old drivers add around 90% on average to premiums paid. Nineteen-year-olds by contrast add about 60% to the policy premiums. That is still a big increase, but below the average for all teen drivers. The insurance companies see the data and understand that the older the driver is, the less likely they are to have an accident on the road.

Other Increases

In the event that something terrible does happen out on the road involving a teen driver, you might want to get an attorney right away. Insurance rates will be the last thing you are worried about if your teenager is involved in an auto accident but they can help with the damage that might be done to your policy afterward in some cases.

It is difficult to express how important it is to have all drivers on the road insured. It is against the law to not be insured when you are driving, so you should consider this when looking at those such higher premiums. If you are able to convince your teenager to hold off for a while on driving then you will come out better money-wise.