As summer fades and the back-to-school season approaches, both parents and kids often face a mix of excitement and anxiety. The start of a new school year brings the promise of fresh beginnings, but it can also present challenges that can feel overwhelming for both children and their families. From adjusting to new routines to managing social dynamics and academic pressures, the transition back to school is a significant period that requires careful navigation.

Here’s how you can help your child overcome these hurdles and ensure a successful start to the school year.

1. Establish a Routine Early

One of the biggest challenges kids face when returning to school is adjusting to a new schedule. Over the summer, bedtimes often get later, and mornings become more relaxed. However, as the school year begins, it’s important to reestablish a routine.

Tips:

• Start early: Begin transitioning your child back to a school schedule a couple of weeks before school starts. Gradually move...

Being a good digital citizen means that an online user has the knowledge and skills necessary to use digital tech for communication, participation in society, and the creation and consumption of digital content.

Before we allow children to use the internet, it is our responsibility to educate them to be savvy online users so that they don’t become part of the problem. We see a lot of cyberbullying, invasion of privacy, and a lot of oversharing of private information online that puts children and others in danger.

Here is a list of examples highlighting the traits and behaviors of a good digital citizen:

1. Respecting Others: Treat others online with kindness, empathy, and respect, just as you would in face-to-face interactions.
2. Practicing Responsible Posting: Be mindful of the content you share online, considering the potential impact on others and the reputation of yourself and others involved.
3. Protecting Privacy: Respecting the privacy of others by not sharing personal...

My eldest child was born the same year that the iPhone was released for the first time. It was such a hit! And while a lot of people thought it would turn out to be a dying fad, here we are with people addicted so much to their devices that they can’t stand in lines without looking at their phones or go to the restroom without swiping through Tik Toks or Instagram reels.

It’s crazy to think that most of our youth today don’t know a world without smart devices. 

A survey conducted in 2017 by Common Sense Media showed that by age 11, a majority (53%) of kids had their own smartphone, and by 12 more than two-thirds (69%) had one.

This means that kids are becoming exposed to a lot of information sooner than they’re ready for it to include pornography. 

As a matter of fact, the average child in the U.S. accidentally finds porn between the age of 7 and 8. 

1 in 10 parents knows the code to their child’s device and 50 percent of kids admit to...

How much do you know about cyberbullying?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “cyberbullying” was first used in 1998 and is defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person. In other words, cyberbullying is the act of bullying anywhere online. Our use of the web leaves digital footprints that can be tracked by people who know how to follow a footprint. 

That’s why you might have heard of some celebrities getting canceled for having posted terrible things during the early age of the internet.

With time and the advancement of technology, cyberbullying has increased, but the protection laws for cyberbullying (as well as other forms of bullying) have not caught up with it. 

Cyberbullying is bullying online. The acts are repeated and aimed at shaming, slurring, angering, humiliating, or causing any negative distress to another person. Like bullying, cyberbullying has not been federally defined in...

Your child might be exhibiting signs of bullying and you might miss them if you don't know what to look for.

I was speaking to a parent this past week who was feeling awful for not having listened to her child. 

You see, her child had been bullied for a while. She thought that her incidents were not that bad. Then, months later she found out that her child was experiencing extreme symptoms from her bullying experiences. 

Her child was having panic attacks, couldn’t sleep, and got physically sick often. Her child kept asking to stay home and then one day, her child just refused to go to school.  

After long talks and some therapy sessions, this mom found out that the bullying experiences had been very consistent over the course of a year. Furthermore, she found out that teachers had been part of the bullying as well. 

Sadly, this happens. That’s why it’s important for parents to ask as many questions as possible to find out what kids are...

Some parents do what they think will help stop it, not realizing their actions can make the situation worse. 

That’s what happened to a mother who decided to directly speak to her child’s bully. 

Perhaps she wasn’t aware that boarding a school bus was considered trespassing. That’s reason enough for her to be arrested or fined (depending on the state laws). 

But this mother went further. She began verbally assaulting the 11-year old child and she ended up fighting the child (physical assault). 

The whole thing was caught on video. But, let’s assume the child hit her first. As an adult, what are the chances that the justice system will side with the mother? 

You see, I have read many news articles about similar situations because, in my opinion, parents are not well aware of efficient ways to manage bullying situations involving their children and schools are not taking bullying complaints seriously enough. 

This is why...

Since many schools throughout the nation are returning to online learning, more kids will be tempted to navigate to their social media sites. 

And, let's be honest, they're already spending more time than any parent would want online, right? 

So, let’s talk about SOCIAL MEDIA ETIQUETTE.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve already read or heard me talk about delaying the use of smart devices for kids until you can no longer hold back. 

You’ve also read or heard me talk about things to consider agreeing on with your kids when YOU DO give them access to devices and the internet. 

Now, let’s review a few details about online etiquette:

1  Never share or repost information that you have not confirmed. You can avoid arguments with friends and family if you follow this suggestion.

2  NEVER share or post mean comments, images, or videos about someone (even if they are notorious for being a bully)

3 ...

I recently overheard a conversation going on right next to me between two people. They were discussing the outrageous amount of money that rich people throw away every day on the non-sense type of stuff.

One of them said that if they could only have a few million dollars, all of their problems would go away.

That comment really caught my attention. It made me wonder how many kids believe that money solves all problems or that money can create complete happiness.

I thought about that because that conversation reminded me that I was a kid who believed that money solved all problems. I believed it because that's what I would hear adults say.

But when I became a teenager I learned that those beliefs were merely myths. Overhearing that conversation and thinking back to what I used to believe about people with monetary wealth made me reflect on what “rich” people’s hardships might look like.

I thought a bit about what it must feel like to wake up each day knowing...

I walked into my daughter’s room and my irritability immediately shot up! After days of reminding her to clean her room, it appeared as if she hadn’t made any attempt whatsoever to improve the mess. 

Can you relate?

Surely, every parent has experienced this type of frustration and anger. As I stood there looking at everything in that room, I realized that a lot of it was my fault. 

It’s A Parent’s Responsibility

You see, my husband and I were the ones who allowed all the toys to come into the house. The high stack of stuffed animals didn’t just appear out of nowhere. And the overfilled hamper hadn’t been checked for two weeks. 

When you make cleaning playful for kids, it doesn’t seem like a burden to do chores.

Similarly, the closet hadn’t been inspected by my husband or me either. Why? Because we were exhausted and we decided to see what would happen if we didn’t stay on top of their chores. 

...

One of the most stressful parts of gift-giving holidays for me has always been shopping. I’m unsure if the reason behind my stress is because I think very practically about spending money or because I don’t like shopping. The act of shopping has always given me anxiety. 

Too many things and too many choices seem like a heavy burden for me. It truly kills the joy out of trying to gift someone something special. As I said, it might just be me, but I feel like the push for me to spend money is so prevalent and strong that I’m turned off to gifting. 

Can you relate? I’m sure I can’t be the only one to feel this way.

One of my main goals is for my children to not grow up to expect gifts for holidays or special days or to think that those events are all about gifts. 

It’s important for me that my children understand that the material things aren’t the main focus of any celebration and when I’ve tried to do a non-gift event,...