Let’s talk about middle school.
In these weeks leading up to the 2014 Boston Marathon, we are collectively hearing about a range of reactions to the many reminders of the event’s significance. Some are feeling distressed, perhaps from listening to the widespread media coverage discussed in our previous post.
Teenagers are convinced they are ready to take the reins, no longer wanting to be held back by overly-cautious adults who don’t really ‘get it,’ who don’t understand the urgency of whatever situation is brewing at that moment.
Ask any parent of a teen whether his or her child is responsible, and a wry smile will appear.
If you could see the internal images and memories behind that smile, they would look like this: wet towels on the floor, a car left without gas on a workday morning, a forgotten homework assignment, a broken curfew.
There’s been a lot in the news about the “developing brain.”
It might seem silly that we get all excited about the fact that the brain develops. Of course it develops, you might argue. Kids grow up. They learn things. They get more coordinated, more sly, more…well…grown.
It’s awfully hard to figure out if your teenager is grown up. That’s largely because it’s awfully hard for your teen to decide.
We’ve begun many of these posts with stories. We’re not going to do that with this post. When a child takes his or her life, we don’t need to make the post personal. The loss of a child to suicide is necessarily tragic, and deeply disturbing.