Century Council Blog
Dr. Wolf: "My teenager caught his dad smoking"
Dear Dr. Wolf,
My 14-year-old son “caught” my husband smoking outside. My husband quit smoking four years ago but has apparently started again without telling any of us. My son is very angry and has lost significant respect for his dad. I have tried to explain to my husband the loss of trust, but he feels our son should be able to move on. I honestly don’t know if I need more help dealing with my husband or my son. I just need to find something to help our son deal with the mistrust he is experiencing now.
Caught in Between
Dear Caught in Between,
Parents of teenagers automatically have a terrible problem: They are human beings. Which means they, like all other human beings, have flaws.
2010 Snowboarding Grand Prix - Awesome!
The Century Council has returned from the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix full of smiles. Over the weekend, we promoted our newly revamped Ask, Listen, Learn Program and watched Olympic athletes, and Century Council SuperStars, Louie Vito and Gretchen Bleiler compete on the Half Pipe for spots on the US Snowboarding Team. We are happy to report the great interest in our program and success of our SuperStars.
We had hundreds of parents sign their children up as Ask, Listen, Learn Team members. In response to our program and initiative, we were told by both parents and kids that the program was “awesome.” Kids were excited to hear about our SuperStars and parents were equally thrilled with our partnerships and the message to “say ‘YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking.”
The Century Council will next take their Ask, Listen, Learn program to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Games. We’ll have a presence at the Sypder/U.S. Ski Team House near the Whistler Medals Plaza. Kids will be encouraged to play our new interactive activity and parents will be able to gather information on how to start the conversation about the dangers of underage drinking with their kids. We hope to see you in Vancouver!
U.S Snowboarding Grand Prix!
The Century Council is currently at the U.S. Snowboarding Sprint Grand Prix in Park City, Utah (press release). This is the final chance for Olympic hopefuls to qualify to attend the 2010 Olympic games. The 2010 Olympic Half Pipe Team will be announced tomorrow.
At the Grand Prix, we are highlighting our newly redesigned Ask, Listen, Learn program which encourages kids to “say ‘YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking.” Our Ask, Listen, Learn initiative encourages parents to have an ongoing dialog about the dangers of alcohol with their kids and provides effective resources to start the conversation. At www.asklistenlearn.com kids are able to sign up to become members of the Ask, Listen, Learn Team where they can play with interactive games and read about positive role models that encourage kids to “say 'YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking.” Such role models are SuperStars Apolo Anton Ohno, Julie Foudy, Gretchen Bleiler, and Louie Vito among others.
At the Grand Prix, we are displaying our interactive activities, have giveaways at our booth, and are signing up Ask, Listen, Learn Team members. We would love to see you at the half pipe and encourage kids and parents to visit www.asklistenlearn.com to discuss the dangers of underage drinking.
A great weekend for Ask Listen Learn!
This weekend, The Century Council brought its newly re-designed ‘Ask. Listen. Learn.’ experience to the NBC4 Health and Wellness Expo.
The event could hardly have gone better. With an estimated 85,000 Washingtonians attending the two day exposition, we had a large and varied audience who learned more about our program. A steady stream of kids (and a few adults) came to play our XaviX-built ‘Ask, Listen, Learn’ interactive activity, learning about health and the dangers of underage drinking while dancing, running and playing on the control mat.
Hundreds of kids signed up to become members of the Ask, Listen, Learn Team, pledging to say “YES” to a healthy lifestyle and “NO” to underage drinking. We’re pumped at the interest kids have shown, and we can’t wait to see them fill out their profiles and rack up some medals.
Thanks to everyone for stopping by! And a special thank you to DC United's Devon McTavish and Washington Freedom's Sarah Huffman for giving our game a shot!
New Jersey Legislature passes Ricci's Law
This week, the New Jersey Legislature overwhelmingly passed “Ricci’s Law” toughening the penalties for DUI. The bill is named after Ricci Branca, a teen who was killed in a DUI hit and run while biking with friends in 2006. If enacted, this legislation would require New Jersey courts to order interlocks for offenders who refuse a BAC test, drive with a high BAC of .15 or higher, or have been previously convicted of DUI. The Century Council supports the usage of ignition interlocks for these hardcore offenders, and urges Gov. Corzine to sign this important, life-saving legislation.
Dr. Wolf: Parenting teens: A New Year's countdown of helpful advice
As we approach the end of both the year and the decade, here's a countdown of what I think are the most helpful pieces of advice for parents of teenagers. You may be disappointed that certain favourites did not make the list, such as "Give them lots of money so they have nothing to complain about," "Forbid them from having any contact whatsoever with other teenagers," and "Threaten to come to their school at lunchtime and do a five-minute dance outside the cafeteria window unless they behave better." I have a feeling these will serve you better.
10. Do not invest too much energy into making sure that your teen is totally honest with you.
Teenagers lie. Some don't, but most do. Better to understand that there are some things that you cannot trust your teen about and act accordingly.