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Wondering How to Safely Dispose of Old Prescription Medicines?
Read More: Wondering How to Safely Dispose of Old Prescription Medicines?April 22 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Not sure what to do with all the medicine cluttering up your medicine cabinet? Old painkillers. Expired antibiotics. Piles of prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines you never finished for one reason or another. You know you have to keep them out of the hands of other people,…
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Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet for National Prescription Drug Takeback Day
Read More: Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet for National Prescription Drug Takeback DayApril 30 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Not sure what to do with all the medicine cluttering up your medicine cabinet? Old painkillers. Expired antibiotics. Piles of prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines you never finished for one reason or another. You know you have to keep them out of the hands of other people,…
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Eczema and Children: What Parents Can Do to Keep Their Kids Healthy
Read More: Eczema and Children: What Parents Can Do to Keep Their Kids HealthyWhen Laura Fellows’ daughter was just 2 months old, the first-time mom noticed some rough, red, dry patches of skin on her cheeks and behind her knees. The skin looked inflamed and her baby couldn’t stop itching. Luckily, she had a newborn monthly appointment already scheduled. At that visit, her daughter was diagnosed with atopic…
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Is Your Teen Anemic?
Read More: Is Your Teen Anemic?Medically reviewed by Dr. Sharon D. Allison-Ottey
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My Son Didn’t Commit a Crime When He Took His Own Life
Read More: My Son Didn’t Commit a Crime When He Took His Own LifeAs told to Nicole Audrey Spector On the day he died in 2016, my 20-year-old son, Austin, sounded like he was on top of the world. Talking with me over FaceTime, he gushed about his upcoming weekend plans, which included watching the Notre Dame game with his college buddies. “I love you, Mom,” he said,…
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Mourning After Mass Shootings Isn’t Enough – a Sociologist Argues That Society’s Messages About Masculinity Need to Change
Read More: Mourning After Mass Shootings Isn’t Enough – a Sociologist Argues That Society’s Messages About Masculinity Need to ChangeBy Darcie Vandegrift, Drake University Today, Dec. 14, marks the anniversary of the tragic loss of children and teachers at Sandy Hook. After any mass shooting, Americans hear politicians make the ritualistic call for “thoughts and prayers.” Yet years after the killing of these 20 elementary students and six staff, school shootings continue to frequently…
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Most school shooters get their guns from home – and during the pandemic, the number of firearms in households with teenagers went up
Read More: Most school shooters get their guns from home – and during the pandemic, the number of firearms in households with teenagers went upBy Patrick Carter, University of Michigan; Marc A Zimmerman, University of Michigan, and Rebeccah Sokol, Wayne State University Four days before a 15-year-old sophomore killed four students and wounded others at a high school shooting in Michigan, his father purchased the firearm used in the attack. That the teenager used a weapon from home during…
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Social Media Gives Support to LGBTQ Youth When In-Person Communities Are Lacking
Read More: Social Media Gives Support to LGBTQ Youth When In-Person Communities Are LackingBy Linda Charmaraman, Wellesley College Teens today have grown up on the internet, and social media has served as a space where LGBTQ youth in particular can develop their identities. Scholarship about the online experiences of LGBTQ youth has traditionally focused on cyberbullying. But understanding both the risks and the benefits of online support is…
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Should Teens Taking ADHD, Anxiety and Depression Drugs Consume Energy Drinks and Coffee?
Read More: Should Teens Taking ADHD, Anxiety and Depression Drugs Consume Energy Drinks and Coffee?By Lina Begdache, Binghamton University, State University of New York Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Should teens taking ADHD, anxiety or depression drugs consume energy drinks or coffee? – Angela S. About 6.1 million children…
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7 Tips for LGBTQ Parents to Help Schools Fight Stigma and Ignorance
Read More: 7 Tips for LGBTQ Parents to Help Schools Fight Stigma and IgnoranceBy Abbie E. Goldberg, Clark University Many parents want to ensure that their kids are in classrooms where they and their families are respected and embraced. However, as a psychologist and researcher who has studied LGBTQ parents’ relationships with schools for over a decade, I have found that LGBTQ parents often have specific concerns when…
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Students Are Returning to School With Anxiety, Grief and Gaps in Social Skills – Will There Be Enough School Mental Health Resources?
Read More: Students Are Returning to School With Anxiety, Grief and Gaps in Social Skills – Will There Be Enough School Mental Health Resources?By Sandra M. Chafouleas, University of Connecticut and Amy Briesch, Northeastern University Even before COVID-19, as many as 1 in 6 young children had a diagnosed mental, behavioral or developmental disorder. New findings suggest a doubling of rates of disorders such as anxiety and depression among children and adolescents during the pandemic. One reason is…
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5 Tips From a Play Therapist to Help Kids Express Themselves and Unwind
Read More: 5 Tips From a Play Therapist to Help Kids Express Themselves and UnwindBy Jessie D. Guest, University of South Carolina As many children go back to school after 18 months of global pandemic, social isolation and on-and-off remote learning, they too are feeling the additional stress and uncertainty of these times. Children need play to decompress and communicate in ways that are meaningful to them. Play is…
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No Vacancy: How a Shortage of Mental Health Beds Keeps Kids Trapped Inside ERs
Read More: No Vacancy: How a Shortage of Mental Health Beds Keeps Kids Trapped Inside ERsMartha Bebinger, WBUR, Kaiser Health News One evening in late March, a mom called 911. Her daughter, she said, was threatening to kill herself. EMTs arrived at the home north of Boston, helped calm the 13-year-old, and took her to an emergency room. Melinda, like a growing number of children during the covid-19 pandemic, had…
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Transgender Medicine – What Care Looks Like, Who Seeks It out and What’s Still Unknown: 3 Essential Reads
Read More: Transgender Medicine – What Care Looks Like, Who Seeks It out and What’s Still Unknown: 3 Essential ReadsBy Daniel Merino, The Conversation Transgender people continue to be the focus of political culture wars in the U.S. In the spring of 2021, lawmakers in many states sought to limit or ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care. The laws proposed – and in some cases passed – were written to have a direct…
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Conversion Therapy Is Discredited and Increases Risk of Suicide – yet Fewer Than Half of US States Have Bans in Place
Read More: Conversion Therapy Is Discredited and Increases Risk of Suicide – yet Fewer Than Half of US States Have Bans in PlaceJune is Pride Month. By Donna Sheperis, Palo Alto University and Carl Sheperis, Texas A&M-San Antonio Pride Month is being marked by some lawmakers in Kentucky with a renewed push to ban “conversion therapy – the discredited practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. If successful, the bill, which aims to…
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Flawed Data Led to Findings of a Connection Between Time Spent on Devices and Mental Health Problems – New Research
Read More: Flawed Data Led to Findings of a Connection Between Time Spent on Devices and Mental Health Problems – New ResearchBy Social media has a lot to answer for, but in terms of time spent on them, the mental health of young people might not belong on the list. David Stewart/Flickr, CC BY In my own research as a doctoral student in social work, I found that the link between digital technology use and mental…
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What’s Behind the Rising Profile of Transgender Kids? 3 Essential Reads
Read More: What’s Behind the Rising Profile of Transgender Kids? 3 Essential ReadsBy Nick Lehr, The Conversation Why are trans youth more visible these days? Is it due to more widespread acceptance, or more media coverage? Just how many trans kids are there? There seem to be few clear-cut answers. But after talking with a number of scholars who study transgender youth – and editing articles written…
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Bringing Joy Back to the Classroom and Supporting Stressed Kids – What Summer School Looks Like in 2021
Read More: Bringing Joy Back to the Classroom and Supporting Stressed Kids – What Summer School Looks Like in 2021By Raphael Travis Jr., Texas State University; Kathleen Lynch, University of Connecticut; Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Naomi Polinsky, Northwestern University, and Roberta Golinkoff, University of Delaware Already 62% of parents believe their children are behind in learning, according to a survey conducted by the National PTA and Learning Heroes. The transition from in-person to remote…
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Alcohol Companies Make $17.5 Billion a Year off of Underage Drinking, While Prevention Efforts Are Starved for Cash
Read More: Alcohol Companies Make $17.5 Billion a Year off of Underage Drinking, While Prevention Efforts Are Starved for CashBy David H. Jernigan, Boston University Alcohol is still the most commonly used drug among high school students. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year approximately 3,500 people under 21 die because of alcohol use. I have studied the relationship between alcohol marketing and youth drinking behavior for the past 20…
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Can Schools Require COVID-19 Vaccines for Students Now That Pfizer’s Shot Is Authorized for Kids 12 and Up?
Read More: Can Schools Require COVID-19 Vaccines for Students Now That Pfizer’s Shot Is Authorized for Kids 12 and Up?By Kristine Bowman, Michigan State University With the first COVID-19 vaccine now authorized for adolescents, ages 12 and up, a big question looms: Will students be required to get the vaccine before returning to their classrooms in the fall? As a professor of education policy and law and a former attorney for school districts, I…
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Responsible Medicine Cabinet Cleanup
Read More: Responsible Medicine Cabinet CleanupNot sure what to do with all the medicine cluttering up your medicine cabinet? Old painkillers. Expired Antibiotics. Piles of prescriptions or over the counter medicines you never finished for one reason or another. You know you have to keep them out of the hands of other people, especially if you have children or teenagers…
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Here’s How to Help Your Kids Break out of Their Pandemic Bubble and Transition Back to Being With Others
Read More: Here’s How to Help Your Kids Break out of Their Pandemic Bubble and Transition Back to Being With OthersBy Dominique A. Phillips, University of Miami and Jill Ehrenreich-May, University of Miami Pilar’s parents took all the recommended precautions to shield her from the dangers of COVID-19. They stayed at home, away from family, friends and group activities. Pilar had remained in virtual schooling throughout the pandemic as a first and then second grader.…
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When Can Kids Get the Covid-19 Vaccine? A Pediatrician Answers 5 Questions Parents Are Asking
Read More: When Can Kids Get the Covid-19 Vaccine? A Pediatrician Answers 5 Questions Parents Are AskingBy James B. Wood, Indiana University School of Medicine A big question among parents and teachers right now is whether their kids will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in time for the fall school semester. Some have wondered whether the vaccine is even necessary for children. Dr. James Wood, a pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatric…
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Colleges and the Thanksgiving COVID-19 Risk: Fauci’s right – Holiday Plans May Have to Change
Read More: Colleges and the Thanksgiving COVID-19 Risk: Fauci’s right – Holiday Plans May Have to ChangeBy Walter Thomas Casey II, Texas A&M University-Texarkana; Marcia G. Ory, Texas A&M University, and Rebecca S.B. Fischer, Texas A&M University Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warned this week that families may need to change their Thanksgiving plans to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. The head of the Centers for…
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Helicopter Parenting Is Hurting Our Kids
Read More: Helicopter Parenting Is Hurting Our KidsLast summer, Alex Silverman’s 16-year-old son Julian went off with a couple of camp friends to travel around Europe — without his parents. “Julian could be the most prepared 16-year-old I know,” said Alex, a native New Yorker. I’ll have to agree with Alex. Julian sounds incredibly independent for a young person, especially in these…
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Your Child’s Vaccines: What You Need to Know About Catching Up During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Read More: Your Child’s Vaccines: What You Need to Know About Catching Up During the COVID-19 PandemicBy Irène Mathieu, University of Virginia This spring, after stay-at-home orders were announced and schools shut down across the nation, many families stopped going to their pediatrician. As a result, kids have fallen behind on important childhood vaccinations. Vaccination rates declined starkly after mid-March, with up to 60% reductions in some areas of the country.…
