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Teens

My 13-year-old is obsessed with the card game ‘Magic the Gathering’, what should I do?
 My 13-year-old is obsessed with the card game ‘Magic the Gathering’, what should I do? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 13-year-old son is obsessed with the card game Magic the Gathering (MTG) and occasional video games. Computer time is limited to 45 minutes/weekend day and he rarely plays MTG. However, when he does his homework, he often drifts over to MTG websites and other sites unrelated to homework. He is constantly plotting his…

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Should a 12-year-old have a personal YouTube account?
 Should a 12-year-old have a personal YouTube account? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 12-year-old son wants a YouTube account so that he can post videos of himself talking about how to play certain games. He says he can earn money this way, as some of his friends do. He says he can be totally anonymous, so there are no risks. I told him I am willing…

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Should I read my 14-year-old’s text messages?
 Should I read my 14-year-old’s text messages? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: Should I read my 14 year old daughter’s text messages?  I want to make sure she is safe and that she isn’t using her phone late at night.  She feels that I check her texts because I don’t trust her, but I feel that as a parent (who also pays for the phone), it…

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Is it okay for a 10th grade English class to read a book that portrays sexual violence?
 Is it okay for a 10th grade English class to read a book that portrays sexual violence? 150 150 Mediatrics

  Q: A very good English teacher at my children’s high school is having her 10th grade students read a book that’s causing quite a stir: “The House of the Spirits,” by Isabel Allende. The book contains some very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and sexual abuse. The teacher is using the book as a way…

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Never learning violence.
 Never learning violence. 150 150 Mediatrics

Dear Readers, Last week, the New York Times featured an article entitled “Unlearning Gun Violence”, which discussed the work of an epidemiologist who, after a decade of fighting TB, HIV, and cholera in Africa, returned to a life-threatening epidemic in his hometown of Chicago—violence.  He uses the same techniques that worked in Africa, teaching perpetrators and…

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A teen patient texted her friends about suicidal thoughts, and her stepmother found out. How should I counsel them?
 A teen patient texted her friends about suicidal thoughts, and her stepmother found out. How should I counsel them? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: A teen female patient of mine texted several of her friends disclosing that she felt suicidal. She did not disclose a plan, nor was there a suicide pact for her group of friends. Her stepmother found out about this text message several days later, and felt obligated to call the parents of all the friends…

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My 15-year-old opened secret social networking accounts, what should I do?
 My 15-year-old opened secret social networking accounts, what should I do? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 15-year-old son has taken it upon himself to secretly open up social media accounts, one of which is Snapchat. We found out about these sites because we do go through his ipod and computer from time to time. He knows that we have the passwords to all his online accounts for which we have…

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What are the best Facebook privacy settings for my child?
 What are the best Facebook privacy settings for my child? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: I was on Facebook the other day and noticed that my friend’s teens had Facebook profiles. I could see the entire profile of one (pictures, information, posts, etc.), while I only had limited access to the other (basically just her name and one picture). This made me wonder, what are the privacy options on…

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What can I do to stop students from texting in class?
 What can I do to stop students from texting in class? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: I read an article you were cited in about college students texting during class and the negative impact it can have on their learning and overall academic performance. I am a high school teacher, and texting during class is one of the biggest challenges that I am facing. Unfortunately, I feel that I have…

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My 16-year-old son is addicted to Internet role-playing games–how can I help him?
 My 16-year-old son is addicted to Internet role-playing games–how can I help him? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: Over the past year, my 16-year-old son has become more and more addicted to Internet role playing sites. My son has ADHD and has always had a hyper focusing problem, but not on anything that would prevent him from his school work. He started out playing the games casually, but over time they have become…

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