When Traditional Schools Just Don’t Work

Our local StandUp Parenting support group has a long history of children of all ages attending alternative schools. They come in all shapes and forms – and we are thankful!

Currently, we have children in two charter schools and an alternative school.

One charter school serves elementary children, focuses on basics and lots of group repetition.

Another charter school is also elementary school, but is adding a grade each year. It successfully serves children with Sensory Integration Disorder, creating a specialized environment where they can succeed.

The third school is a high school alternative school which allows for variety of student needs – one area where they are particularly helpful is giving students who have a hard time functioning before noon the ability to start school later and make use a number of different methods to accomplish the course load.

It is not uncommon for the children of our parents to take five years to get a four year high school diploma. Of course, those are the kids who manage to stick it out.

Personally, I had one child who needed the help of a public industrial arts alternative school to secure a diploma by the age of twenty one. A second kid got a GED by the age of twenty seven, because of the help of a very specialized program.

One of our StandUp group parents, in an effort to get their young adult kid to follow through on a GED course, went back to school in their 50’s to get their own GED certificate. That’s what they call, ‘Putting your money where your mouth is!’

Don’t give up on your child’s education. It may take longer and look different than your neighbor’s or your sister’s kid’s experience – but with patience on your part and perseverance on your kid’s – it can happen!

via Blogger http://standupparent.blogspot.com/2013/04/when-traditional-schools-just-dont-work.html

5 Mistakes

We all make mistakes. But both parents and children become paralyzed with fear that they will make the same mistake twice. They pile themselves with guilt over their inability to get the simplest of things right.

This can happen with parenting issues and just everyday living for kids. We are all negotiating new skills and projects, new challenges and crisis. The fear of getting it wrong makes it worse.

A local college sent a group of young people and their professor to Rwanda to assist area pastors in reaching out to the poor and needy in their community. Faced with language and cultural barriers they experienced real trepidation. They decided right away to implement a version of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’.

Since they were going to make mistakes anyway, they decided to plan on at least five mistakes a day. That took the stress off the group and they were able to jump into challenging situations with the knowledge that they had a ‘quota’ of mistakes to fill!

This concept of allowing for five mistakes has been freeing for me. And I’m working to apply it to my parenting. Encouraging my adult children to make room for mistakes curbs my own expectations for them as well as their expectations for themselves. We feel a greater freedom to jump in and try things, rather than slowly trying to get everything ‘just right’.

Will you try to allow for making mistakes in your parenting? Join in with a StandUp Parenting parent group, face-to-face or online, to get the support you need to make these freeing changes in your life!

via Blogger http://standupparent.blogspot.com/2013/03/5-mistakes.html

A New Drug in Town, Part 2 Or Zombies, Zombies Everywhere

We blogged about Bath Salts two years ago in April of 2010 – then the new kid in town, drug-wise. Now it’s resurging in an alarming way. No, it’s not turning people into zombies (contrary to initial reports), maybe just cannibals.

To begin with, the drug marketed as Bath Salts has hung around in spite of a September 2011 Drug Enforcement Administration emergency order to ban or restrict these stimulants already off limits in at least 37 states. An internet search on bath salts will turn up increasing incidents of out-of-control people high on these drugs.

The famous ‘heads up’ came at the end of May 2012, when a naked Miami man chewed off the face of another man, continuing his attack even after being shot by police. Described as a ‘zombie attacker’, he was thought to be under the influence of bath salts – a synthetic marijuana. Later it was found that he had ‘just’ used regular marijuana.

In early July at the Atlanta Golf Center, a man wearing only underwear, came out of the woods and began to scream about ‘religion, Tupac Shakur and cannibalism’. It took four Taser hits to stop and arrest him. Bath salts were the culprit in this case. Police around the country have observed that bath salts can kill pain for several hours and make a person delusional.

Soon after this incident President Barack Obama signed a bill that banned the sale, production and possession of some chemicals used for making many types of synthetic drugs, and the DEA has temporarily banned some chemicals found in synthetic marijuana.

Then on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Operation Log Jam, a joint effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration and federal and local agencies, was conducted in more than 90 cities spanning 30 states. Seized were $36 million in cash and more than 4.8 million packets of synthetic cannabinoids along with synthetic amphetamines that mimic the affects of marijuana and meth.
As parents we can be thankful for this crackdown. According to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart these drugs have been deceptively marketed to young people as bath salts, K-2 and Vanilla Sky. In spite of disclaimers on the packaging stating ‘not for human consumption’ most young people knows what these products are used for. The results of use are varied, but include hallucinations, aggressiveness, attempted suicides and murder as well as a twenty-fold increase in calls to poison control.

Let’s keep aware of what’s ‘out there’ so that we can advocate for our kids. Are you worried that your teen or young adult is abusing these or other drugs? Come to a StandUp Parenting group near you for ideas and support.

Sources: Internet news, especially Louis Casiano, NBC News