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Author: Emily Thompson
Just a neighborhood mom (and coincidentally a Cyber Safety Consultant) passionate about child and teen online safety. I’m a firm believer of building a loving and trusting relationship between parent and child through open dialogue, education, and monitoring measures (when and if necessary).

Today’s Generation and Their Unseen Strengths

Today's Generation and Their Unseen Strengths

Like other parents, I’ve been concerned about the future of today’s generation. As I specifically work with teens struggling with anxiety, ADHD, delinquency, depression, and other issues, it can be easy to become stressed about my children’s future.

Yet, as I have guided and watched my children grow into their self-identity, I’ve been consistently amazed by strengths which many news pundits discount when discussing today’s younger generations.

Younger Generations Embrace Technological Change

One of the hallmarks of younger generations is their enthusiastic embrace of changing technology. While Gen Xer’s around my age began to experiment with technology in our teen years, I still vividly remember the sound my dial-up modem made, the inability to make phone calls while online, and how intimidating creating an AOL account was for me. This is not the digital world my children have grown up experiencing.

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Posted on November 27, 2018 by Tyler Clark — No Comments ↓
Posted in Personal Growth Tagged with: , , , ,

Teaching Your Kids to Fight Against Bullying

Teaching Your Kids To Fight Against Bullying

October is Bullying Prevention Month and it is the perfect time to teach your children a lesson about dealing with bullies.

The Stop Bullying campaign has some alarming statistics about the problem. According to their survey, 48% of students 6 – 12 have dealt with bullying at some point in their lives. Another 30% admit to being the ones who were doing it to others. Those figures only account for the children who fess up to either; the actual numbers could be much higher.

The Dangers Of Bullying
It isn’t just a matter of someone getting their feelings hurt, or having trouble in social situations. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people and there have been cases of children as young as ten taking their lives.

Experts have found that there is a potential connection between long-term bullying and suicide. That shows us just how serious this issue is.

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Posted on October 4, 2018 by Tyler Clark — No Comments ↓
Posted in Personal Growth Tagged with: , , , , , ,

7 Parenting Tips on How to Raise a Smart Child

Smart child - boy with glasses in thoughtful pose

We all want our kids to grow up happy and healthy, and of course, that is the number one priority. However, number two for many parents is that they will be smart, get lots of qualifications, and be successful. In this article, we will outline 7 parenting tips on how to raise a smart child.

1. Give them experiences, not possessions

Many of use worry that we are raising kids that are too materialistic. There is a growing trend of minimalism, and appreciating the value of owning less and doing more. Likewise, studies have shown that there is a direct link between the number of possessions that somebody has and their levels of anxiety. Thus, if you want to foster personal growth in your child, how them the value of experiences (watching the sunset, visiting a museum, eating a dish from another country) rather than material possessions.

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Posted on August 24, 2018 by Holly Clark — No Comments ↓
Posted in Learning Tagged with: , ,

The Importance of Creativity in the Learning Process

Water color pallete and hand with brush

There are certain things that help children to develop quicker; the right environment, a healthy diet and plenty of resources, to name just a few. In a space of learning, getting the right balance of everything your child needs to flourish is crucial to a good education.

One such crucial need is creativity. Even in subjects like math and science, which seem to be the furthest thing from anything like art and self-expression, bringing in a creative aspect can really help push your child forward in their development.

Creativity can be merged with education in a number of ways. From using play toys for little children to encourage their development to creating songs that help your child to remember key facts – there’s a wide array of options when it comes to creative learning.

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Posted on June 28, 2018 by Francesca Sassii — No Comments ↓
Posted in Learning Tagged with: , , , ,

Art Therapy Activities to De-stress

Pencil writing the word Stress

We all get stressed sometimes. Whether you’re in the middle of exams, having relationship troubles or going through a tricky period financially it’s easy to feel a bit anxious. The trick is to find healthy ways to deal with your anxiety and distress effectively.

Art has long been used as a calming and happy alternative to more destructive forms of self-help, and these days art therapy is very common. Go into any hospital, prison, school or nursing home and you’re likely to find an art therapist supporting people there. Luckily it’s also easy to do art therapy yourself at home.

Why not try some simple, creative activities to help you deal with life’s stresses and strains? Here are three easy activities to get you going.

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Posted on May 28, 2018 by Francesca Sassii — 1 Comment ↓
Posted in Personal Growth Tagged with: , , , ,

6 Hacks to Learn Anything Faster

Student on a balcony with books and notes

In life, there are people who can learn anything faster in the blink of an eye and others might need a bit longer to learn a simple concept or theory. In this article, however, I will highlight and showcase the 5 hacks anyone can use to learn anything (yes, anything) much faster than usual.

1. Review your errors

It’s a life truth that you learn better from your mistakes. Any mistakes you have made in the past act as a pinpoint reference for you to better yourself. Reviewing them even for the shortest amount of time will help understand where your problem-solving skills let you down.

This hack is fantastic as you gain a pure understanding of how you approached the problem before, where you went took the wrong turn and you become stronger at the problem.

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Posted on May 22, 2018 by Annabelle Fee — No Comments ↓
Posted in Learning Tagged with: , , ,

Mindfulness Has Improved My Life in Just 18 Days

Woman exercising in nature

2018 is the year of getting better, of being better, both physically and mentally. I’m a mom of 3 children, and I’m very determined to stick to my new year’s resolution of being and doing better.

I want to be the mom that does as she says she will, and I don’t want my kids to see me do any different. Children pick up on everything, even those moods you think you’re hiding so well, and it affects them.

We all want our kids to grow up to be happy and healthy and, though this took me a few years to realize, a lot of that is looking after yourself. It’s strange way to think at first. It’s almost selfish. I’m a mom, I’m so used being the caretaker to others that being the caretaker for myself made me feel like I was taking away from my children.

Instead, I’m helping them by helping myself be the healthiest I can be. Mindfulness has improved all aspects of my life, including my work life and my home life.

Here are the 4 simple things that have changed my life 18 days into the new year.

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Posted on April 17, 2018 by Emily Thompson — No Comments ↓
Posted in Living & Lifestyle Tagged with: , , ,

How Higher Purposes Can Motivate Students in Studying

Most students have a reason for wanting to study, but it depends on what that reason is that is going to determine how motivated they remain. In the beginning of a new semester, students are usually highly motivated to do better. As time goes on, many students loose this drive and motivation, because they do not have a cemented purpose.

If you want to achieve your highest goals, you need to perhaps re-evaluate you reasons. Let’s say you are busy with a psychology and criminology personal statement and half way through you lose your motivation. If you had a higher purpose to keep your motivation intact, you would not stop until it is done. A lot of this is a mind-set change with a combination of an attainable goal. Here is how a higher purpose affect your studies.

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Posted on February 16, 2018 by Nina Gaprioty — No Comments ↓
Posted in Learning, Personal Growth Tagged with: , , , ,

Decoding Texting Slang Your Teen Uses Regularly

Decoding Texting Slang Your Teen Uses Regularly

I remember a few years ago I was watching a news program and it offered a list to teach parents about decoding texting slang they claimed teens were using. Among some of the more colorful gems were:

– LHS – Let’s have sex

– IGTD – I got the drugs

– PIRDTAS – Parents in rooms don’t talk about stuff

– SMH – Satan makes me happy

These were so ludicrous that I have never forgotten them. Have you ever seen those used anywhere? Can you imagine your teen doing it? Of course not, it was so out of touch that I was sure it must have been a joke (spoiler: it wasn’t).

Slang is a normal part of communication, especially for young people as they assert their independence. Each generation has their own and in the digital era it is a little different than the “boss” and “sick”’s of our own decades.

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Posted on December 14, 2017 by Tyler Clark — No Comments ↓
Posted in Living & Lifestyle Tagged with: , , , ,

The Most Narcissistic Generation: Which One Is It?

The Most Narcissistic Generation Which One Is It

Not too long ago, I saw a Facebook comment on a George Takei post. A man from the Baby Boomer generation was going on a rant about the Narcissistic Generation & Millennials and how they were useless, lazy, didn’t know what they were doing, didn’t have real jobs, didn’t buy houses and more. It was quite a list of sins.

One particular thing which stuck out to me was his vehement claim of narcissism. This online stranger claims that millennials are selfish, self-absorbed narcissists.

Narcissistic Generation or a Value-Shift?

I don’t normally engage with random people on the web; however, his passionate rant rubbed me the wrong way.

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Posted on November 28, 2017 by Tyler Clark — No Comments ↓
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