#Parenting

Jewish Parents: How to choose your teen’s summer activities

Sep 6, 2012
2 min

Jewish Parents: How to choose your teen’s summer activities

what is the ideal summer experience for your teenager? Jewish summer camp. Arts classes. Internships. Specialty Sports Camps. College Prep Programs. Travel programs. SAT summer prep classes. Employment. Volunteer work. The list of options for what teens can do in the summer can go on and on. As the list gets longer, the frustration grows proportionately. How is a family to choose? In addition, there are a multitude of factors that also need to weigh in: the family’s work/lif

Jewish Parents: Choose your teen’s activities wisely

Sep 6, 2012
2 min

Jewish Parents: Choose your teen’s activities wisely

Make sure the activity gives back! Soccer teams. Dance classes. School activities. SAT prep classes. After-school jobs. Volunteer work. AP classes. The list can go on and on. The school year starts with an overwhelming rush of activities. How do you help your teen choose what to do? What takes priority? Should your teenager do volunteer work? Take a leadership role in a school club? Begin working so he/she learns responsibility and the value of a dollar? Continue with a sport

One minute, three reasons why Jewish education helps teens focus on what’s important

Aug 21, 2012
1 min

One minute, three reasons why Jewish education helps teens focus on what’s important

One minute. Three reasons. Why just three reasons? Simple. Your time is valuable. Plus everyone’s way too busy getting ready for the school year to spend so much time reading blogs. And, most importantly, if I keep the reasons limited to three, it will take you less than 1 minute to read. We’ve all got at least 1 minute. Here goes— Jewish Education: Helps your teen get away from the mundane interactions with peers to focus on meatier things: ethical choices, responsible deci

Learn these four leadership skills at a Hebrew High

Aug 12, 2012
2 min

Learn these four leadership skills at a Hebrew High

Ronald A. Heifetz: “Leadership in times of crisis” How can you make this connection for #Jteens? A blog I read in the Harvard Business Review mentioned all the bad habits that accrue from being part of a hierarchical and bureaucratic school system. Coleman writes: “Our entire education system, from elementary school to graduate school, is poorly constructed to teach young people leadership. Schools do many things well, but they often cultivate habits that can be detriment

Let’s hope Jewish parents are smarter than this

Jun 26, 2012
2 min

Let’s hope Jewish parents are smarter than this

Are we just being stupid or stubborn? There are some obvious signs that parents might not be as smart as we’d like them to be. Do you want to hear some of the comments I’ve heard from parents who choose not to continue their teens’ Jewish education past the age of bar/bat mitzvah? Or Confirmation? Keep reading. First, you need to know that really, I understand that today’s teens are busy, committed to many activities, are often holding down a part-time job, and dealing with

A Short List of What the Jewish Community Should Do for Teens

Jun 20, 2012
3 min

A Short List of What the Jewish Community Should Do for Teens

Check out the really short list In what seems a long time ago, I wrote a post about the Jewish community’s ‘in-the-box-thinking.’ As a novice to the blogging world, I feared the worst because it was the first time I shared my dissatisfaction about how my local Jewish community was functioning. Well, sometimes the blogosphere can be eerily silent. I didn’t receive a single comment or e-mail about it (though who did I think was possibly reading my blog anyway???) Helping teen

For Teens: Worrying About Being Normal? Don’t.

Jun 18, 2012
2 min

For Teens: Worrying About Being Normal? Don’t.

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

What is the real job we’re doing for Jewish Teens?

May 18, 2012
2 min

What is the real job we’re doing for Jewish Teens?

Milkshakes taste good. Jewish education is good. But what job are we really doing for Jewish Teens? I read an article about marketing today that focused on milkshakes. (Please keep reading, the fact that Jewish teens tend to like a good milkshake or two is not where I’m going). The author discovered that while milkshake sellers were trying to ‘market’ according to the usual: breakdowns by demographics, flavor choices, etc….the real question to be answered was: What job does t

Current Events: did your teenager’s eyes just glaze over?

Mar 31, 2012
2 min

Current Events: did your teenager’s eyes just glaze over?

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

Talking Tech With Jewish Teens

Mar 8, 2012
2 min

Talking Tech With Jewish Teens

By now, I think most educators have figured out that technology is not something that can be isolated from educational endeavors, but should be integral to them. HAS IT? How would our teens answer? You’d think. But the reality is that we’re not all there yet, and some educational settings are debating whether or not to offer WiFi. The tech toys and glorious gadgets are here to stay whether we figure out ways to incorporate them or not. So, it’s not so much that we can inco

Teens: Got a bad grade? Work it!

Mar 5, 2012
1 min

Teens: Got a bad grade? Work it!

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

Chanukah Ornaments? How some Jewish teens voted

Feb 26, 2012
1 min

Chanukah Ornaments? How some Jewish teens voted

A friend of mine who works for a collectibles company sent me an e-mail last week with a curious query. The company is considering developing a a new line: Chanukah ornaments. These could be placed either on a “Chanukah Bush”, Christmas tree, or a small miniature metal ornament tree (next to the menorah, probably). Would I (or anyone on this list serve) be offended? I wondered how a group of Jewish teens would react. I thought they’d have a lengthy discussion about values, l

Five Things Jewish Parents Should Know

Jan 23, 2012
2 min

Five Things Jewish Parents Should Know

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

Why Do We Hate Teenagers?

Nov 30, 2011
1 min

Why Do We Hate Teenagers?

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

What today’s Jewish teens are ‘okay’ with

Nov 7, 2011
2 min

What today’s Jewish teens are ‘okay’ with

My weekly experience working with a class of 8th graders serves as a counterpoint to the doom and gloom I’ve read about lately in studies that report on the current state of Religion in America (specifically those concerning Jewish youth). The students are upfront, forthright, and spiritually aware and are not afraid to talk about what they do and don’t believe. They have already formed some really strong opinions about Jewish belief and practices, though it was evident from

The 500 word college essay

Oct 30, 2011
2 min

The 500 word college essay

My blog posts rarely ever make the ideal 250 word count mark. I read somewhere that the perfect blog contains just that amount for readability and the average attention span. I try, really I do, but my posts seem to hover around 320 words no matter how I shave and trim. When editing, I habitually wince before checking out the word count total at the end of the page. I slowly drag the scroller thing and catch a glimpse at just how off the mark I am. Oops, failed again. So,

When Parents Say: “Jewish Education On The Side, Please”

Sep 14, 2011
2 min

When Parents Say: “Jewish Education On The Side, Please”

Image via Wikipedia Some parents are guilty of treating Jewish education like a side dish, something that will never star as the main course and won’t be terribly missed if not around either. So often choices surrounding Jewish education seem like an afterthought, a rush job, something that’s done while in the middle of doing something else that’s way more important. Basically, it is chosen as an option only if things work out. Otherwise, well, it’s not really a priority. Pre

Ethical Issue: When Teens Cheat

Aug 30, 2011
2 min

Ethical Issue: When Teens Cheat

What are the obligations of a Jewish supplementary high school in raising the ethical level of its students? How do we hold our students to a higher standard while trying to explain all the cheating going on by education professionals? How do we prepare the next generation to succeed in college and beyond? With these questions in mind, what happens when a teacher notices that a student may have plagiarized material, or copied from a friend? The first time a teacher came to me

When Teens Say “I’m not that Jewish”

Aug 12, 2011
2 min

When Teens Say “I’m not that Jewish”

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

Non-Day School Jewish Teens: Orphans in the Field?

Jul 12, 2011
3 min

Non-Day School Jewish Teens: Orphans in the Field?

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