Signs Your Teen Is Bullied

Here are some signs that your kid might be the victim of a bully but unable to tell you about it!

· Some of your teen’s belongings, such as a ipod or a bike, are suddenly missing.
· You notice minor injuries such as a bruise on the arm but your kid just shrugs it off
· Your child starts skipping school or saying he or she is sick
· You kid is getting lower marks
· You notice your child is crying all the time
· Your child doesn’t eat, isn’t talking and generally withdraws
· Your child lacks friends or appears to have friends you’ve never met
· Your child takes out anger on younger children in your family

If you spot any of these warning signs there is a number of things that you can do. You can ask your teenager if there is a problem. Usually you will get a denial but if you keep pressing you will probably get answers.

Explain to your teenager that saying nothing is the worst approach, because intimidation and violence typically escalate, beginning as verbal threats and building to physical abuse. If a teen doesn’t ask for help, the situation will only get worse.

Assure your daughter that you won’t get angry if she tells you what’s happening to her and tell her you’re concerned for her safety. Make sure to keep your promise as often parents hear things they find quite objectionable.

Here are some steps in handling the problem.

· Ask your daughter who she would be most comfortable seeking help from at school. It’s usually best to start with a teacher she knows; that teacher will probably involve a vice-principal or the principal.
· Make sure the school staff support your kid and aren't actually siding with the bully somehow
· Find out from other parents if their kids are having trouble with the same bully. If so, you can go as a group to the school administration.
· Ask the principal what steps he will take and check back later to make sure he has followed through.
· In extreme cases where you kid has been battered or even stolen from, you may want to work with the school to bring in the police and lay charges.

Kids are particularly in danger of becoming the targets of bullies if they’re unhappy and have low self-esteem. Spending time with your teens and encouraging them to get involved in activities they’re good at and helps boost their self-confidence so they are not targets.

Parenting Tips
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Exergaming Your Kids

Have you got a big old kid that is acting like the most spoiled couch potato in the world?  If so then you might want to try the exercising device that is now all the rage for both kids and adults called the Gamercizer.

How does this gadget get your kid up off the couch? In essence the entire gadget looks like something that belongs in an episode of the Flintstones. It is an exercise bike or treadmill that is attached to a video screen. The only way to keep the virtual style video game running is to put your kid on it and tell him to cycle and run. 

 Of course, as most kids also love to play video games they will also play the video game at the same time. Well it seems that in order for this to run efficiently that your kid has to keep up a certain pacing of exercise or the screen on which the video game is playing will go completely black.  I think this is a great idea as kids nowadays definitely seem to be more interested in the computer screen then playing hopscotch or baseball.  Even weirder they prefer the simulated outdoors to the real one, especially if the simulated outdoors takes place inside the weird mind of some animator. 

It appears that the exercise gadget the Gamercizer made to PC Magazine's Top Ten List of Fitness Gadgets for 2007.  Your treadmill, cross trainer, cycle or stair climber, can power Nintendo and other games.  Of course the Gamercizer only really suits people who are good multi-tasking as it involves exercising and playing video games at the same time. 

If you have a couch potato for a child it is obvious how this could help motivate him or her get off of the couch and start exercising.  First of all it allows the child to develop incredible powers of concentration and stamina. It is actually quite difficult to run on a treadmill and play a video game at the same time. Of course us moms might want to try more passive versions of software on this type of device. There are non-combative and non-competitive versions of this type of bike that allow you to look at pleasant scenery as you cycle on the bike. The minute you stop cycling your adventure disappears.  

You can also get versions of these types of Exergaming programs that take you into a fantasyland where you get to cycle in all kinds of different exotic locations.  You can program the number of hills you have to climb, the kind of weather you are running in and also what you are wearing. Perhaps footage of George Clooney running just out of my reach and very fast might give me the motivation to work more weight off than usual.  There is nothing like the thrill of the chase to get a person's heart pumping.

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