Parent and Caregiver Resources - Middle & Highschool

Parenting Tips Helping your Teen with School Internet Safety Alcohol & Drugs Info Nutrition and Eating Habits First Aid and Safety Health and Wellness Teen Driving Money Management Just for Teens

Parenting Tips

• A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Teen Years
  Tips and suggestions for understanding and parenting teenagers. (en Espanol)
• Establishing House Rules for Teenagers
  Balancing the Need for Independence With Guidance.
• Setting Rules for Teen Dating
  As your children grow up, it’s normal for them to think about having a boyfriend or girlfriend. They’ve probably been hanging out with friends of both sexes and doing things as a group, but they may be thinking about one-on-one dating. It’s time to talk about the different types of relationships and love and to prepare to set rules for dating.
• Parent's Guide to Game Ratings
  The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings are designed to provide information about video and computer game content so parents can make informed purchasing decisions.

Helping your Teen with School

• Utah's Online Library
  Excellent online electronic resources for Utah students. Ask your child's teacher or school librarian for the home access login.
• Helping Your Teen With Homework
  Parents can play a crucial role in helping teens succeed in school.
• Booklist: Young Adults' Choices
  Who better to ask about which books are great than teenagers themselves! This booklist reflects the opinions of 4,500 teenagers and is a perfect place to start when encouraging teens to read for pleasure.
• Helping Your Teenager Write Better (pdf)
  Have fun with language. Write differently for each audience. These are a few of the tims suggested to support teenagers as they work to be better writers.
• A Family’s Guide: Fostering Your Child’s Success in School Mathematics (pdf)
  This guide summarizes what today's mathematics classroom is like, offers tips on how family members can help their children have a positive attitude and enjoy mathematics, and presents practical ways to discuss and do math at home together during everyday situations.
• Literary Glossary
  Stumped by your child's language arts homework? Flip through this glossary of literary terms for help.
• Building a Home Library Ages 12-14
  The ALA-Children’s Book Council (CBC) Joint Committee, with cooperation from the ALSC’s Quicklists Consulting Committee, has created this bibliography to provide guidance to parents, grandparents, and others interested in assembling a high-quality library for their children at home.

Internet Safety

• NetSafeUtah: Teens
  Internet Safety videos, tips and games for teens.
• NetSmartz
  NetSmartz is NCMEC's online safety education program.
• Online Safety
  The Internet is an amazing tool for research, entertainment, education, and much more. Here are tips for safe surfing.

Alcohol and Drugs Info

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  SAMHSA provides information on the dangers of underage drinking and offers tips on how to prevent this threat to adolescent development and health.
• Kids and Smoking
  The rates of young people smoking and the use of chewing tobacco continue to grow each year. It is important for parents to discuss the dangers of tobacco use with their child and learn to identify the warning signs
• Drugs: What Parents Need to Know
  Knowing what drugs are available, what they can do, and how they can affect someone is the first step in raising drug-free kids.
• Warning signs of Alcohol Use
  Here are some common signs to watch for in underage drinkers.
• Alcohol and You: Interactive Body
  Trace the flow of alcohol through your body and see how it affects your organs and systems.
• Make A Difference: Talk to Your Child About Alcohol
  This guide is geared to parents and guardians of young people ages 10 to 14. Keep in mind that the suggestions offered in the guide are just that—suggestions. Trust your instincts. Choose ideas you are comfortable with, and use your own style in carrying out the approaches you find useful. Your child looks to you for guidance and support in making life decisions—including the decision not to use alcohol.

Nutrition and Eating Habits

• Nutrition and Teens: A Guide for Parents
  Here are nutrition and wellness tips you can work on as a family.
• Food and Fitness: Information for Teens
  Get the lowdown on healthy eats, dieting, strength training, eating disorders, steroids, and more.
• Healthy Eating
  5 strategies to improve nutrition and encourage smart eating habits. (en Espanol)
• Binge Eating Disorder
  Learn the signs, symptoms, causes and treatments for binge eating disorder.

First Aid and Safety

• ATV Safety Tips
  Like other activities involving high speeds and heavy machinery, riding an All terrain vehicle (ATV) can be risky. Follow common sense safety tips.
• Teenworkers: Workplace Safety
  An information resource for parents on young worker issues.

Health and Wellness

• Body Mass Index (BMI) Charts
  Calculating your child's BMI can help you determine how appropriate a child's weight is for a certain height and age.
• Strength Training and Your Child
  Strength training can be a fun way for kids to build healthy muscles, joints, and bones.  Here are some safety tips and weight routine suggestions.
• Dealing with Bullying
  Every day thousands of teens wake up afraid to go to school. Bullying is a problem that affects millions of students of all races and classes.  (en Espanol)
• Know the Signs
  Suicide is a serious problem among young people. You may be surprised to learn that it is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 19- year-olds in the United States.
• Tips for Divorcing Parents
  Suggestions on how to make the divorce process less painful for kids.
• Helping Your Teen Deal With a Divorce
  Suggestions and ideas for helping your child through a divorce.

Teen Driving

• Practice Driving Lessons
  Based on years of research, the TeenDrivingPlan Practice Guide is an evidence-based interactive resource to help you effectively plan and structure supervised practice drives.
• Utah's Licensing Systems for Young Drivers
  Follow the Utah laws for teen driving restrictions.
• Teen Driving: Parents' Center
  Tips for parents of new teen drivers including setting limits for teen drivers, driver's contracts, insurance, warranties, new and used cars and other topics of interest to parents of teenagers.

Money Management

• Financial Literacy Resources for Parents
  Find websites, online tools and suggested books to help you strengthen your teen's financial literacy skills.
• Talking to Your Kids about Money
  With more money to spend and more opportunities to spend it, your teen can get him or herself and even you into financial trouble, but with your help, your teen can develop the self-confidence and skills he or she needs to successfully manage money in the real world.
• Financial Literacy Activities for Teens
  Online activities for teens that cover the main financial literacy topics: Decision Making and Goals, Income and Careers, and Money Management.
• Teens and Money
  The Family Education Network advises parents on teaching teens budgeting, saving, and credit card use, buying a car for a teen, and other financial topics.
• eBook: Financial Fitness for Life: Parent's Guide (pdf)
  Grades 6-12
  Invite your seventh grader to help choose the family's new car. Sit down with your college-bound seniors and budget meals, clothing, books and other expenses. Each subject area in this eBook provides material for family discussion and an assortment of recommended activities that parents can do together with their kids.

Just for Teens

• 7-12 Student Interactives
  Online activities for seventh -  twelfth graders that cover many subject areas.
• NCES Kids' Zone
  Information to help you learn about schools; decide on a college; find a public library; engage in several games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, graphing, and mathematicians; and to learn many interesting facts about education.
• Dare to Compare
  How do you compare with students nationally and from around the world?
• Financial Literacy Activities for Teens
  Online activities for teens that cover the main financial literacy topics: Decision Making and Goals, Income and Careers, and Money Management.