The Best of Next Generation: From Hand-Me-Downs to Teen Pregnancy

Let's take a look back at seven weeks of thoughtful parenting advice from columnist Joe Smith.

While Joe Smith nurses a crashed computer back to health, let's take a look back at his columns over the last few weeks. Joe's thoughtful advice to parents will still ring true—even years from now. -Ed. The Kid Whose Parents Didn't Care Billy looked different, dressed different, and acted different than everyone else, but really he was just like all of us. Except for one thing. Into the Middle School Jungle with Hand-Me-Down Air Jordans These shoes held the power to change his life. Middle School Parents: Preparing for a Leap Forward in Your Child's Sexuality When those "chemical reactions" start to explode, a middle-schooler's parents need to be ready for everything—including pregnancy and STDs. A Valuable Middle-School Lesson: Sometimes …

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Teens and STD's: Old Enough to Choose Protection

If you believe that your child isn’t having some sort of sex then almost half of you are wrong.

Your teenager walks in the room looking like someone just walked over their grave. You ask your son/daughter what’s going on.  They ask you to come in the living room and sit down.  They grab a huge breath and with that begin a conversation that starts with these words… “Mom/Dad I think I have an STD.” Your first reaction is to ask “How do you know that?” but your son/daughter looks at you and starts to explain how they figured it out.  Certain symptoms began to happen and they looked up what they were in health class or WebMD, or any number of other sources. You sit there with disappointment but soon your concern for their health becomes priority one.  So what do you do?  Where do you go from here?  Let’s start with before this scenario …

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The Next Generation

Middle School Parents: Preparing for a Leap Forward in Your Child's Sexuality

When those "chemical reactions" start to explode, a middle-schooler's parents need to be ready for everything—including pregnancy and STDs.

I stood looking at her beautiful eyes. My heart was trying to claw its way out of my chest! I found it difficult to catch my breath. I pulled her closer with eyes closed and the moment our lips touched electricity overwhelmed my brain and all kinds of chemical reactions exploded any rational thought. My first kiss. Her name was Tina. I was in the 8th grade and she the 7th. Tina was friends with some girls who lived next door and also went to my middle school. So when we first noticed each other in the hallways she found out from those neighbor girls that they lived next door. Tina started to spend a lot of time with those girls. I sweetly remember that Friday after school when she came home with those neighbor girls. A knock on my door, …

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