Very Scary Middle School

And then prepare him for the moral challenges he will face. For many children, this will be their first exposure to the pressures of drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex. Do they know what you believe? You cannot assume they do. I once tutored a junior high school girl who had suddenly spiraled from straight A's to straight F's. I was a college student, and it was felt she might talk to me, and talk she did. A friend was pressuring her to use drugs, and she didn't know if it was okay. Her friend said it was; her parents had never discussed the subject. She heard about drugs at school, of course, but she didn't care what her teachers thought. She cared what her parents thought. She simply didn't know how to ask.

Tell your children firmly where you stand on the subjects that concern you. Tell them what you expect them to do when they are offered opportunities to make choices for good or evil. Try role-playing so they can test various responses to decide which ones fit the best.

Encourage your child to start keeping a private journal. I still have my junior high school journal and it is very enlightening. I reread it when my first child reached that age, and was much better prepared to help her. The years were much more challenging than I remembered and I was glad for the reminder.

Finally, listen when your child talks about his new life. Help him to find the positive, and to select for himself (when possible) solutions to the challenges. Pay attention. He's growing up.

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