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Parents are continually doing actions designed to assist their kids, but if these acts of service are to be expressions of love, they must be done with a positive, caring attitude.

Today, with the explosion of technology and 24/7 media access, the question more than ever is, what’s the impact, especially on our kids?

Here are some great tips on dealing with the world we are.

• Explain consequences. What parent hasn’t heard “but there’s no blood” as an excuse for watching a movie or playing a video game? Explain the true consequences of violence, and point out how unrealistic it is for people to get away with violent behavior.
• Keep an eye on the clock. Don’t let kids spend too long with virtual violence. The more time they spend immersed in violent content, the greater its impact and influence.
• Teach conflict resolution. Most kids know that hitting someone on the head isn’t the way to solve a disagreement, but verbal cruelty also is violence. Teach kids how to use their words responsibly to stand up for themselves — and others — without throwing a punch.
• Know your kids’ media. Check out ratings, and, when there are none, find out about content. For example, content in a 1992 R-rated movie is now acceptable for a PG-13. Streaming online videos aren’t rated and can showcase very brutal stuff.
• Keep an eye on interactive media violence. There’s no way to accurately measure whether there’s more or less violence than in the past, but the pervasiveness of it in interactive forms, such as social media, online videos, and video games, is relatively new.

Dr. Carol Francis took time out to give me a few words of wisdom She says:

Raising a teenager is far different than raising the baby or elementary school aged child. So parents need to change their perspectives, their parenting roles, and their flexibility. Teenagers are in the awkward phase of being dependent and independent. They assert their powers and points-of-view while also really needing the approval, support and guidance of the parents. The hardest type of parent to be, and the least effective, is the militant and highly judgmental parenting style. The better parenting is offering choices that are all healthy for them. Realize though that some teenagers are not capable of choosing well or acting functionally. In those cases the parent has to lead, direct, and insist that the child – teenager be as functional and as engaged in real life activities as much as possible. There are so many variations of teenagers and parenting and the issues raising teenagers can be quite complicated so for more information go to drcarolfrancis.com. Parents to teens requires courage, clarity, self-awareness at the very least. Cheers, Dr. Carol Francis.

Watch her video below:

Dr. Carol Francis, Clinical Psychologist and Marriage, Family & Child Therapist, reaches out to those attending the Health and Lifestyle Expos at Marymount College Thursday, September 8, 2016 to teach Brain Entrainment as related to reducing stress and to enhancing learning and working with keen focused attention.