Parenting Newsletter Aspen Education Group

In this issue:
ADHD and Internet Addiction

For Some Children, Chronic Pain Causes Significant Suffering

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Copper Canyon Academy offers a warm, nurturing environment for girls ages 13-17 that are in need of a structured therapeutic environment. The Copper Canyon program promotes emotional and academic growth for every student and gives families the reassurance that there is a wonderful future ahead for their daughter.

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Fall is a great time to enroll your teen in a wilderness program!

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SUWS of the Carolinas is a therapeutic wilderness program that uses the outdoors as an alternative to conventional treatment environments, while engaging students using traditional therapeutic methods.

Four Circles Recovery Center for older teens and young adults ages 18-28 is an innovative addictions, substance abuse and co-occuring mental health disorders treatment program that combines a traditional counseling setting with extensive wilderness experiences.

ADHD and Internet Addiction

One would think that a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) would be tough enough on a child – but research shows that kids with ADHD are also more prone to a host of other problems. Difficulty focusing can lead to academic problems, and impulse control issues can lead to behavioral problems, car accidents, substance abuse and other risky behaviors.

Internet Addiction and ADHD

Internet addiction has become another serious concern for teenagers and their parents, and teens with ADHD are at even greater risk for developing this compulsion. A 2009 study of more than 2,000 seventh graders, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that boys and girls with ADHD were more likely to be addicted to the Internet (particularly online gaming and chatting) than teens without the disorder.

In many ways, the Internet is naturally attractive to kids with ADHD. The Internet is fast-paced and offers a never-ending supply of information, games and social outlets. According to researchers, the Internet has unique appeal to teens with ADHD< for the following reasons:

Kids with ADHD are easily bored and thrive on instant gratification.
On the Internet, teens with ADHD can open multiple windows and engage in a variety of activities at one time, all with the click of a mouse.
Scientists believe teens with ADHD may have a dopamine deficiency, which may be counteracted by the dopamine produced while playing online games.
Because of abnormal brain activity, teens with ADHD lack self-control, making it difficult for them to control their Internet use and leaving them more susceptible to Internet addiction.

The Causes of Internet Addiction

Although the causes of Internet addiction differ depending on the teen in question, experts at Stone Mountain School, a private boarding school for boys in North Carolina, have observed common precursors to Internet addiction.

Continue reading about the causes and warning signs of Internet addiction >>

Safely Keeping Alcohol at Home

If you have a teenager at home, especially one who is dealing with a substance abuse problem, keeping alcohol in your house may be a risky proposition.

If your teenager is in treatment for substance abuse, the best thing you can do is keep alcohol out of your house completely to remove temptation. Even teenagers who are in recovery may find it hard to resist open bottles of alcohol in their own home.

Teenagers like to experiment with alcohol, especially when they know they can sneak a few drinks here and there from their parents’ liquor supply without anybody noticing. If you have teenagers, there are a few precautions you should take when keeping alcohol in your home:

Keep liquor hidden in the back of cabinets or in locked cupboards. This will decrease the chance of your teenagers finding and consuming any alcohol in your home.
Only buy alcohol as needed. If you typically just buy wine or beer for special occasions, don’t keep stockpiles in your house, which can easily be accessed by your teens.
If you like to enjoy a glass of wine after work each night, make sure you limit it to a glass each night. If you are frequently indulging in two or more glasses of wine every night, you may be modeling for your teenager that drinking in excess is okay.
Set consequences with your teenagers so that they know what kind of trouble they will get into if they do raid the liquor cabinet.
Monitor the alcohol in your home, and keep track of how much is there. If your teenagers know you never look at the bottles you have, they are more likely to take some.
Don’t serve alcohol to your teenagers or their friends, and don’t try to be their buddy by offering them a drink when you have one. Not only is serving alcohol to a minor illegal, but it can give the message that drinking is okay, whether you are with them or not.
Teach your teenager about responsible drinking. It is likely that, even if they don’t drink at your house, your teenagers will have access to alcohol at other homes. Teach them how alcohol affects their judgment, and explain the difference between safe consumption and alcohol abuse.

Teenagers Drink

Teenagers often begin experimenting with alcohol out of curiosity, because of peer pressure, or in response to increased stress, family problems or life transitions.

Read about the dangers of teen drinking >>

Much More than 'Just a Stomachache' - For Some Children, Chronic Pain Causes Significant Suffering

In their efforts to end the scourge of child abuse, several advocacy organizations have adopted the slogan, “It Shouldn’t Hurt to Be a Child.”

This is truly both a noble goal and an admirable sentiment, but the truth about childhood is far less encouraging. For a surprising number of young people, childhood is indeed a painful experience, even though they have been neither abused nor neglected.

According to the American Pain Society (APS), between 15 and 20 percent of children from infancy through adolescence suffer from chronic pain, a potentially debilitating experience that can inflict significant physical, emotional and financial distress upon young people and their families.

Two Types of Pain

Pain is an intensely personal and subjective experience. Because doctors cannot see pain on an X-ray or measure it with objective diagnostic tools, it is often difficult for them to fully grasp the degree of suffering that a patient is experiencing.

This may be especially true of pediatric patients, some of whom may be unable or unwilling to admit how much pain they are in, while others may be prompted by fear or confusion to overstate the degree to which they are suffering.

For general clinical purposes, though, regardless of whether the patient is an adult or a child, pain can be divided into two distinct categories: acute and chronic.

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