By Guest Blogger Madeline Levine
It’s September- Back To School is in full gear. If you’re the mom of a teen, you know how tough the school year can be. Intensive AP classes. Mountains of homework. Sports practices that take hours. This seems to be the new normal, and that’s true whether your teens are headed for the local community college or a powerhouse university.
No wonder today’s kids say school has displaced family or peer problems as the greatest stressor in their lives.
As a mother and as a clinician, I find this terribly sad. Adolescence brings with it many tough tasks already—adjusting to a foreign body, learning to talk to the pretty girl next to you, worrying about peer pressure to experiment with drugs and sex, finding out that your parents don’t know everything (or some days, anything!) Add the tremendous pressure kids feel to succeed academically, and just getting through the school year can be a truly daunting task.
