■L
3
Strategies To
Start The School
Year O ff Right.
D o c s y o u r c h i l d
n e e d
to
p a y m o r e
a tte n tio n in s c h o o l? U s e th e f o llo w in g
t ip s
to
h e lp
k e e p y o u r lit t le o n e s o n
t h e ir to e s in c la s s :
1. M o r e W h o le G r a in + F ib e r =
L e s s D is t r a c t io n
T o h elp k eep y o u r ch ild re n fo cu sed
o n th e ir sch o o h vo rk an d not th eir
g ru m b lin g b ellies, in c o rp o ra te m o re
w h ole g rain an d fib e r in to th eir diets.
B o th h ave b e e n show n to slow dow n
th e d ig e stio n p ro c e ss a n d m ay
con tribu te to a feelin g o f b ein g full.
2 . S t a r t th e D a y w ith B r e a k f a s t
K ids n e e d an e n e rg y boost al ter a lo n g
n ig h t's sleep . A recen t clin ical study
show ed that a w hole grain an d fiber-filled
breakfast o f F ro sted M in i-W heats® cereal
h elp s im p ro ve c h ild re n 's atten tiven ess
by n early 2 0 % .*
3 . M a k e S le e p a P r io r it y
L ack ol sleep m ay im pact a ch ild ’s
p erfo rm an ce both in school an d at hom e.
T o h elp yo u r kids d o th eir best every day,
be su re they get at least eig h t h o u rs o f
sle e p each n igh t.
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jfeepS 'eyn ’Pocutf/.
3aso0 upon indcocnoent clinical research, kos who ate Kellogg
's'
Frosted M
ini Wheats’
cereal for breakfast had up to 18%
oetter
attentiveness three hours after breakfast than kids who ate no
breakfast. For more information, visit
wvrw
.frostedm
iniwheats.com
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Kellogg NA
Co.
W i t h all t h e t o o l s a v a il a b l e
t o k e e p t a b s o n k id s , h o w
c a n p a r e n t s d r a w t h e lin e
b e t w e e n m o n i t o r i n g —
a n d s p y i n g ?
BY
JULIE EVANS
Tracking
Your Teen
family matters
1
PARENTING
O
n any given day, Barb
Schmitz, a mother of
two from Avon, Ohio,
may scroll through
her 14-year-old son’s
text messages, check her
1 2
-year-old
daughter’s homework online, and
check Web sites they’ve visited.
“ 1
have friends who think it’s awful
what I do. But let’s face it: Teens
make bad decisions,” says Barb. “Our
role as parents is to make sure that
bad decisions don’t lead to tragedy.”
Thanks to an avalanche of tracking
tools in the marketplace, parents can
monitor what kids buy for lunch at
school, how they present themselves
on personal Web pages, even where
they drive and how fast they go.
But many parents and parenting
experts say these tools blur the line
between being watchful and being
downright intrusive. “You can use
the technology, but you have to
establish trust between parent and
child, and that begins early on,” says
Jan Faull, M.Ed., a child develop-
ment specialist in Seattle. “Safety is
important, but don’t overuse
technology.”
BUILDING TRUST
It’s vital to draw a distinction
between monitoring your kids and
spying on them. Spying, in which you
track their movements without
letting them know, sets the stage for
an adversarial relationship, says
Larry D. Rosen, professor of
psychology at California State
University and author of Me,
MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net
Generation.
“Don’t peek at kids’
computer files when they’re not
home. It’s their electronic diary.
When you read it without permis-
sion, you’re violating trust,” he says.
There are exceptions to the rules,
of course. If your teen is exhibiting
behavior that frankly makes you fear
for his safety, and you feel there’s no
other way to find answers, then it
may be time to dig for them. “If you
can use technology to support your
child on the road to independence,
then use it, but use it wisely,” adds
Faull. Some first steps:
Hold a family meeting.
Once or twice a month,
gather the clan to talk things
out face-to-face. Start off by compli-
menting your children on something
they’re doing well. It could be as
simple as, “I like the way you do your
homework.” Then talk about
upcoming decisions that need to be
made and let the kids have some say.
2 6 0
OCTOBER 2008 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
PHOTC: VEER
