If your child is returning home from overnight camp, expect that your laundry room will be filled with the dirtiest, grimiest piles of clothing you’ve ever seen since—well, never. Is it a surprise that you’re contemplating just chucking the whole lot and starting over for the coming school year? After all, do you really want to put the items with stained evidence of sleep-outs, mud slides, s’mores and who-knows-what else into your nice, shiny, clean washing machine? Though it

Ethical clarity? Clueless The year is newly born, yet through the lens of ethics things feel quite stale. The clarity that should come easily when as a country, we are faced with ethical challenges, eludes us and sadly, our teenagers. This evening, the news reported that yes, in fact, the White House made a mistake by not sending a noted and visible government official to the protests in France. This admission by our leadership, came a full day after everyone was shaking thei

Where’s the good news? When it comes to teens, it seems that “Headlines” are usually “Dead Lines”….yes….news about deaths, teenage thugs, bullying, and more. I’m tired of reading all this bad news about teens. You might ask: “So, just look for the good news, what are you complaining about?” It’s not that easy. I get news alerts from Google and Yahoo sent to my Inbox, and generally what comes up, almost on a daily basis, is what you see below. News Tired teenagers may need a n

Party time (for some) We know that many Bar/Bat Mitzvah Celebrations have gotten way out of hand. Thousands have seen Rabbi Wolpe’s Washington Post article “Have we forgotten what Bar Mitzvahs are about?” although fewer may have read the Rabbi’s apology for what some have said was an angry tone. Beyond the materialistic approach that some of these affairs take and the message it sends, there is another consequence of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah years, regardless of how ‘over the top’

Just when you think you can keep pace with the bizarre events of the everyday, you find yourself having a discussion with Jewish teens that blows the dust off your brain just a bit. This is necessary. It keeps the distance between the generations and confirms for teens why they’re glad they’re not as old as you are. Last week I sat with a group of teens taking a Current Events class. After chatting about the Israeli Knesset and the elections, the conversation veered way weird

Some labels might be useful. Others, not so much. I wasn’t prepared for such a troubling question by this earnest 8th grader in my class. He had been so patient; holding his hand up until the discussion we were having about interfaith families opened for questions. The topic was Interfaith Families and the teens were very talkative during our workshop on sensitizing Jewish high school students to the many issues these families might face. They had personal experiences about t

The WordPress.com team sends me a summary e-mail at the end of the year (complete with fireworks!) that help me learn about what you find interesting to read about Jewish teens. There is a list of the most viewed blogs–can you think of a better motivator?  Even in my very, very small niche world, this list gets compared (ready?) to the number of climbers of Mount Everest! See below. Here’s an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest last year. This blog got about 8,

What’s the new normal anyway? I recently read a great post called Approaching Normal.  It got me thinking about how teens today think about being ‘normal’. Even as adults, we all wonder about it, and the post describes just how much politicians, advertising gurus, and marketing mavens depend on our desire to be in that state of normalcy. So, we all think about being normal and fitting in, into some group,  but take yourself back to your teen years.  You might want to add in s

Mention “Current Events” to a group of teens and just watch what happens.  Their eyes seem to glaze over. As if talking about something that isn’t in a textbook is a violation of protocol. I don’t want to be an alarmist, but to some students, reading a newspaper might seem like reading information in a foreign language. I’m not sure how much today’s teens are grappling with the issues of the day. How can this be? Easy. It’s not in the curriculum. Sure, when something really b

Image via Wikipedia Getting a bad grade, especially when you expected something else entirely, pretty much stinks. It’s hard enough being in high school when so much of your life seems to be defined by grades. When the grades don’t match up with your expectations or your output, it must feel lousy. Though I have issues with the idea of being defined by grades, we’re not going there now. So, you can either sulk or use this life event to get some feedback. Think of this as an o

Imagine that you’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean in a thunderous storm. Waves are coming fast and furiously.  Water is splashing inside and out, and luckily you’re still afloat. There is no fast escape. How do you survive? What is the best strategy? Just hold on–and be as steadfast as you can. creative commons license You’re experiencing what it’s like to be a parent of an adolescent. I can relate to your worries, concerns, problems, and fears. You just need to hold o

Image via Wikipedia Did this headline grab you? You’re not unique. It’s what seems to work for newspapers and television. This is what I read in the New York Times this morning: “Raising a Teenager? What’s Not to Hate?” Not exactly what I like to read with my morning coffee, and I found the wording pretty distasteful. What I wondered is how many click-throughs that headline got. But it got worse. The article turned out to be a review of a tv show debuting tonight and actually

We need to define Judaism more broadly. The Jewish teens I work with in a Jewish community high school are looking for more ways to connect with Judaism other than the synagogue/religious experience. The most lush and plush indoor spaces don’t help them feel more connected.  Many don’t get ‘prayer’ or the focus on a ‘higher being’.  It’s as if  belief in God is ‘so yesterday’ and they feel way past that intellectually. At least these teens are in a Jewish academic and social

Image by Alex E. Proimos via Flickr I met with several teens yesterday, and when I asked them to tell me about their Jewish identity, their answers surprised me.  At one point or another, more than half of them responded in the negative with: “I’m not that Jewish” or “I’m not really so Jewish” and sometimes they completed  those statements with: “because I don’t go to synagogue”, “because I don’t really practice”, “because I’m not that religious”, or because I don’t really be

photo courtesy of ePublicist Almost every day I experience a huge disconnect between my reality and the world of foundations and philanthropy. I would like someone to take note that the Jewish community consists of more stakeholders than students at  Jewish day schools and summer camps. I am not always in the mood to respond, but I have to, because I believe that I’m speaking for those who are not speaking for themselves: Jewish teens who are not attending day schools. Really

The world in mosaic tiles, courtesy of Genista. I recently visited a blog on manufacturing (not my usual topic for browsing) because it featured information on a study of 7000 teens worldwide conducted by the McCann Worldgroup, a leading global marketing communications company. I was immediately intrigued.  Wow, this organization (even if for marketing and branding purposes) decided to put a whole lot of effort into surveying teens and the importance they place on values. Thi