Parent Empowerment Blog Selected as Top 20 Blogs and Websites for Parents and Teens

For over a decade I have been helping parents with struggling teens after my own challenges with my teenager.  Back in the time when the Internet was in its' infancy, there wasn't a lot of information to be out here yet.  Now it seems there are literally thousands, if not millions of sites and bloggers with every click of a mouse.

With this, I am so flattered and honored to be selected in the list of of top 20 blogs and websites, not only once, but for two of my sites.  This one and www.suescheffblog.com which I created only several years ago.

I want to personally thank the team at Wilderness Ventures for believing in my work and understanding my passion for what I do.

Here is there recent press release as well as the other top sites and blogs that are all tremendous!!!

Wilderness Ventures, the oldest and most experienced adventure travel program offering teen summer camps, is announcing their choices for the “Top 20 Blogs and Websites for Parents with Teens” for 2013. The blogs and websites selected by Wilderness Ventures are being honored for their innovative and creative content as well as their ability to offer parents and teens a personal connection and invaluable virtual resources.

Team members at Wilderness Ventures scoured the web to find bloggers that demonstrated practicality, creativity, personal engagement and fun in their blog while offering unique perspectives on being a parent of young children or teenagers. Criteria such as design, helpful tips and pointers, level of engagement, number of followers, and more, were factored into the final selection process.

Wilderness Ventures, who has offered teen adventure camps for more than 40 years, believes that active personal engagement and communication between parents and their teenage children are important factors for parents whose job is to teach the next generation of young adults. For this reason, Wilderness Ventures is choosing to recognize blogs and websites that they feel promote interpersonal connection between teens and their parents as well as shared resources between parents.  

The list of top 20 blogs and websites for parents with teens included here, in no particular order:

http://parentingteens.about.com/

http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://parentempowerment.blogspot.com/

http://www.radicalparenting.com/

http://raisingteensblog.com/

http://blog.anniefox.com/

http://www.talkingteenage.com/blog/

http://sarahnewton.com/c/blog/

http://serendipitymommy.com/

http://pluggedinparents.blogspot.com/

http://goodenoughmothering.com/

http://www.parenthood.com/index.php

http://www.teentraveltalk.com/

http://parentingteensresourcenetwork.org/

http://www.suescheffblog.com/

http://www.theonlinemom.com/main_cmt.asp

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

http://www.tweenparent.com/

About Wilderness Ventures:

With more than 21,000 student alumni, Wilderness Ventures has pioneered outdoor adventures for young adults and has paved the way for youth travel around the world.  Their 40 years of experience, unwavering values of community, inter-personal growth, wholesome environments, safety, wilderness education, discovery, conservation, and exploration have led to their unmatched and trusted reputation. Wilderness Ventures currently holds special permits to operate their teen adventure camps in 20 National Parks and 17 designated wilderness areas with special permits.

Watch their video here.

Sue Scheff: Parenting Resources and Valuable Parent Websites

Back to school usually means back to a more structured environment in your home. It is also time for parents to become familiar with the vast amount of online resources (websites) that offer parenting advice, tips, forums and more.

From toddlers to teens, these resourceful websites offer a wealth of information that you may find yourself needing at some point. Raising kids (teens) today can be challenging. I believe an educated parent is a prepared parent.

Education.com – This comprehensive website is full of educational tools for all ages, as well as “expert” answers to your parenting and academic questions.

Love Our Children USA - Helping educate and protect children against violence, bullying, neglect and more. Love Our Children USA is commited to "Stomp Out Bullying."

Connect with Kids – Offers a wide variety of parenting articles, DVD’s, parent forum and more about all stages of raising your children through the challenges of teen puberty.

ReputationDefender – An online reputation and privacy service that helps you monitor your online profile, your children’s safety in cyberspace, as well as help prevent Identity Theft.

ConnectSafely.org – Whether you are looking for Internet Safety tips or Cell Phone Safety tips, you will find quick and sound advice on technology and your kids today.

iKeepSafe.org – A non-profit organization targeted at keeping kids safe online. They offer resources for Educators as well as parents.

MommyPerks – Looking for great bargains? MommyPerks offers all sorts of up to date promotions on “all things for kids” as well as a Parenting Blog with many great parenting ideas.

Remarkable Parents – Using information and technology to improve lives, this website focuses on improving your family relations even through technology!

PE4Life.org – An amazing website that encourages physical education with your kids. It is time to get offline and get motivated.

ADDitude Magazine Online – Are you parenting an ADD/ADHD child? Or are you ADD/ADHD? What a wealth of information this is!

More 4 Kids Today – From pregnancy to parenting teens, you will find it here. Don’t miss this one!

Parents’ Universal Resource Experts – If you are struggling with your teenager and considering Boarding Schools, learn all about the teen help industry here.

There are many great websites out there. As school opens, be sure to open your mind as a parent too. Learning is for all ages.

Sue Scheff: Empowering Parents with Mommy Perks!

Mommy Perks website offers so many great parenting giveaways, ideas, resources and much more!

Their Monthly Giveways are always very timely. This month the free book giveaway is - Your Big Sister's Guide to Surviving College - do you have a daughter going off to college? This may be a perfect gift!

Take the time to learn more about Mommy Perks and all they have to offer. Whether you are searching for gift ideas or surfing for up-to-date parenting ideas - Mommy Perks can boost your knowledge!

Sue Scheff: Adopted teenagers face their own unique set of troubles

As any parent can tell you, raising a teenager is no simple task. The teenage years are a rollercoaster of complicated emotions, as teens struggle to transition through new, confusing stages of their lives. These years are characterized by uncontrollable floods of emotion that teens are often unable to handle, which can lead to many psychological problems. Parent advocates like Sue Scheff™, the founder of Parent Universal Resource Experts™, have been working to raise awareness on important parent-teenager relationship issues that have previously stood silent.

Sue Scheff™ is working to help spread information and knowledge to help parents with some of the most difficult issues for children to deal with; adoption. Adopted teens face an entirely new set of problems in addition regular list of teen angst and despair.

Parents of adopted teens must not only help their teens transition safely and comfortably to their next stage of life, while keeping them away from all the dangers of our modern world, such as drugs, gangs, and internet dangers, but they must help them live without their birth parents, which can cause a variety of detachment, anger, and depression problems to fester if they are not dealt with by the new parents.

There is no simple solution that explains how to properly raise an adopted teen and the cold analysis of experts in the academic world often falls short of actual real world application. However, Sue Scheff™ offers real parenting advice, proven through hands on parent experience. Sue Scheff’s advice can help a resourceful parent guide their adopted teenager on the path to adulthood.

Sue Scheff™ offers a variety of helpful resources to those seeking help with their adopted teen troubles. Teenagers should be treated with the respect parents want for themselves, and this site will help facilitate the mutual understanding an adopted teenager and parent relationship needs to succeed.

Learn more click here.

Sue Scheff: Helping Your Teen Become a Involved in Community Service

As American citizens, we find ourselves in a privileged and unique position as members of the most powerful Democratic state in the entire world. But the luxuries we enjoy in this country come with a powerful responsibility—the responsibility of positive citizenship. We must all embrace our unique ability to be good citizens, and we must maintain our civic duty by helping the community around us through positive civic involvement. This site is dedicated to helping show people how they can be a positive part of their community and truly embrace the ideal of a good citizen.

My name is Sue Scheff™, and I’ve been working to help promote proper parenting techniques and information through Parent’s Universal Resource Experts, an organization I created in 2001 that helps compile information and share parenting knowledge among an ever expanding network of concerned families. I want to use this web site to share some of the things I’ve learned through my involvement with parenting advocacy, and extend this knowledge to the idea of promoting good citizenship, because if we are going to become good parents in this troubled world, we must set proper examples for our children, and what better example to set then being a good citizen?

If we want to be responsible parents, why restrict our influence and caring to just our children when we can teach them how to be better citizens while helping enforce positive ideals in our own communities? This is no longer the time for us to hide in our homes as our neighborhoods face difficulties, the community is where our children grow and live, so we must do our best to make it a better place while helping show our kids healthy life skills.

The lack of community involvement and citizenship is one of the biggest detriments to American society. Many of our once close knit communities are becoming disjointed, as technology and crime widens the gap between neighbors and community organizations. Healthy communities should be connected and constantly working together and good citizens should strive to promote this community connection.

This is the modern day philanthropy, the new way to help build a strong community heart and soul. I hope that the knowledge I have gained through my parent advocacy experiences has helped me learn some basic guidelines for productive citizenry in our modern society. Feel free to read, analyze and take away what you would, and explore some of the avenues with which we can not only improve our lives, but the livelihood of our children and our community.

Sue Scheff: Annie Fox Parenting Blog

By Annie Fox

Thoughts about teens, tweens, parenting and this adventure of living on Earth in the 21st century.

When we say “That’s not my problem” what we usually mean is some variation of:

a) “Tough luck, buddy.”

b) “Couldn’t care less.”

c) ”Better you than me!”

d) “Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?”

Pretty heartless stuff. And because callousness isn’t part of the standard definition of “good parent” many of us believe that when it comes to our children… su problemo es mi problemo. Isn’t that our biological imperative? To solve all of their problems so that their lives hum along without a hiccup? To guarantee through our tireless efforts that our offspring live a joyful existence 24/7 and are constantly bathed in the sunlight of public acceptance and approval?

Put it that way and it sounds like a twisted crock, doesn’t it? Our obsession with perfecting our kids’ imperfections and rushing in whenever we hear the faintest sigh of frustration is no measure of parental love or responsibility. The more we indulge in making their struggles our own the more we blur the line between love and control. That’s the best way I know to prevent them from developing self-confidence and self-sufficiency. (AKA the primary parenting objective)

I’ve got a massive marshmallow for a heart. So I know from almost 30 years of personal experience that no parent enjoys seeing their kid (of any age) struggling academically, physically, socially, emotionally, psychologically, financially. But the truth is, allowing kids, tweens and teens to deal with age-appropriate “problems” provides them the satisfaction of working things out for themselves this time. Better still it gives them the real confidence of knowing that in the future when something like this comes up again (and it will) they’ve got what it takes to deal with it. Parents who provide their kids with those kinds of learning experiences aren’t good parents… they’re great parents.

So, repeat after me: Her crooked tooth is not my problem. His complexion is not my problem. Nor is her shyness. Nor is his height. Nor is their level of popularity amongst their classmates or the way their so-called friends treat them. The fact that he doesn’t have the money to go with his friends to the new Harry Potter movie on opening day (because he spent it all on a new game last week) is not my problem. The fact that he’s annoyed because I won’t give him more money this month is not my problem. The fact that his friends are teasing him because is not my problem. The fact that he’s not talking to me and is barricaded is not my problem.

See… when you get into this, it becomes so much easier to see what isn’t your problem without losing one bit of love, affection or respect for your kids.

We all have so much on our plates these days. Wouldn’t it feel great to lighten our loads? You can start by giving yourself a break from trying to make your child and his/her life experience perfect. Of course, if you’d rather not, that’s cool. It’s not my problem.

Sue Scheff: Should Students and Teachers Be Online "Friends"?

What a great article from Education.com and I am sure many parents have asked this question at one time or another.

Source: Education.com

By Cheri Lucas

In the virtual world, the definition of a student-teacher relationship is hazy, particularly on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, where adults and teens share the same forums to connect and keep in touch with friends, classmates, relatives, and co-workers. Chances are, your teen has already found her teachers on Facebook and sent friend requests to join their networks.

But is it appropriate for your child to “friend” a teacher on a social network? Terrence Jegaraj, a senior at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, primarily adds former teachers or instructors from summer programs in which he has participated. “I am friends on Facebook with a current teacher of mine, but there are teachers who tell us specifically not to add them until we graduate,” says Jegaraj.

Many of the teachers we asked, in fact, were reluctant to add students on Facebook. While a teacher can use some networking sites, such as Twitter, to extend a classroom discussion or offer quick homework assistance in 140 characters or less, networks like Facebook and MySpace easily blur the student-teacher relationship because of the personal information made available on profiles.

“I think that students and teachers have different personas in the classroom than outside of it, and the two should not necessarily be mixed,” says Heather Steed, a recent graduate of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla. As a student herself, Steed never added instructors on a social network until she completed their class.

“There needs to be a certain distance between teachers and students in order to maintain respect,” adds Rabbi Avi Schwartz, an educator at Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, N.Y. “A teacher needs to be a role model, mentor, and advice giver – not a ‘friend.’” When a high school student gains access into a teacher’s network of friends and acquaintances and is able to view their family photos, for instance, the student-teacher dynamic is altered. “Friending students provides more information than you are willing to provide in an educational setting,” says Patrick Sweeney, an adjunct professor of history and government in Houston, Texas.

But student-teacher relationships can be transparent and visible to others online, which may have its pros and cons. Carlton Brown, a former community college instructor in Pittsburg, Pa, says interaction on a social network may be viewed and evaluated by classmates and others on the website, which, in turn, may deter inappropriate behavior. “Parents also have the opportunity to review and make judgments,” says Brown. If you have your own account on Facebook, you may opt to join your child’s teacher’s classroom group as a parent “chaperone,” for example, to supervise the discussion. (Based on current research, though, teens flock to Facebook because it’s mainly a parent-free space, so this type of supervision may not work for all families.)

Alternatives exist, however, for teachers and students who wish to enhance learning outside of the classroom via the Internet. Schwartz has helped many students with homework or studying via instant messaging, and even keeps in contact with parents this way. Other tools – such as online classrooms on sites such as Blackboard and forums within a school district’s website or teacher’s own webpage – make student-teacher interaction possible on the Web. Of course, don’t rule out more traditional methods to foster close student-teacher connections. “Appropriate relationships between teachers and students can be built by attending office hours or emailing for class-related advice,” says Steed.

While students may be eager to find and friend their teachers on Facebook, many of them understand the implied rules and boundaries of this virtual environment. “I do understand why my teachers do not want me to add them until I graduate,” says Jegaraj. “I think being friends with a teacher on Facebook while being their student may close the gap between the teacher-student relationship, and some teachers may not want this to happen while they are still teaching their students.”

Ultimately, sites like Facebook are social environments. Teachers guide students in a professional capacity, and being social doesn’t seem like part of the job description.

Cheri Lucas has her Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction. She was a writing aid at Corte Madera Middle School for six years. She is currently working as a freelance writer in San Francisco.

Sue Scheff: The 9 Best Ways to Respond to Kids’ Mistakes So They’ll Be More Likely to Try Again and Again and Again

By Michele Borba

My child hates to make a mistake, and if he does he’s just devastated. I’ve probably not done the best job of responding. How should I help my son bounce back?

Dania M from Bolder Colorado

Of course we want our kids to succeed. And how we hate it when they fail. But the truth is life isn’t a bed of roses. Our kids will fail and suffer disappointments. An important parenting secret is helping our children learn how to bounce back from defeat and disappointments, and how we respond when they do does make a difference in how they learn to cope. Unfortunately all too many kids cut short their opportunities for success because they give up at the first sign of difficulty. If they see errors as indications that they are failures, eventually they are likely to stop trying. So one of the most common questions parents ask is: “What’s the best way to respond when my child makes a mistake?”

Here are nine, noncritical ways to respond to your child’s error from my upcoming book, The Big Book of Parenting Solutions. (The most important parenting solution is the one listed ninth.)

1. Offer support only when needed – “I’m here for you if you need help” — but avoid the temptation to do the task for your child. Your child needs to build confidence that he can figure out the problem for himself.

2. Help your child see that mistakes are chances to learn. Ask, “What did you learn so that you won’t make the same mistake again?”

3. Stay nonjudgmental and help your child focus on what she’s trying to achieve. Don’t criticize, but do calmly ask, “How did you want this to turn out?”

4. Help your child recognize that you believe he can succeed in his efforts. Say, “I know you can do it. Hang in there.”

5. Fight the temptation to say, “I knew that would happen” or “I told you so.” Instead try saying, “That’s interesting” or “That wasn’t what you had in mind, was it?”

6. Let your child watch you do the task again and again. Some children need to learn “by seeing” how to do the task correctly instead of hearing you tell them how to do it right.

7. Don’t yell, shame, criticize, judge, blame, or ridicule. Nobody (especially children!) likes to make mistakes, and everybody hates to be reminded of making them.

8. Teach your child an affirmation to bounce back. Select one phrase such as–“It doesn’t have to be perfect.” or “It’s OK to make a mistake.” or “Everybody makes mistakes.”–and then help your child practice saying it out loud several times for a few days. The more often she sees and hears it, the greater the chance she will remember to use it to encourage her to bounce back when she errors.

9. Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm! I know that sounds easier than it is, but the truth is our kids are watching our responses. How we act when our kids fail is often more important than what we say. So take a deep breath, Mom. See that failure as a learning opportunity.

Sue Scheff: Tips for Dealing with Friendship Challenges

Recently I was introduced to Annie Fox (via digital of course) and was so impressed at her knowledge, educational resources, books and Blogs for parents today.


Here is one of her articles on Tips for Dealing with Friendship Challenges with your teens:


Just as we did when they were toddlers, we need to continue teaching our middle and high school kids what it means to be a good friend (on both sides of the equation). We also need to encourage them to stand up for themselves when they’re not being treated with respect. These tips can help you help your son/daughter navigate through a friendship challenge.

1.Show that you get it. Acknowledge that it hurts when someone betrays you—especially when a trusted friend turns against you. Reflect back what you hear, “You sound really hurt, angry, and confused.” Share a “hurt by a friend” story from your own teen years. Hopefully you can also share what you learned from that situation and how you used it to become a stronger, more thoughtful person. This models empathy and also reassures your child that (s)he will survive.

2.Calm down. Before moving toward the conflict resolution steps (3 and 4) your child needs to de-stress and you may need to also. No matter what awful thing someone has done to your kid, calming down first makes it easier to get through the upset.

3.What can/can’t you control? Point out the reality: You can’t control a friend’s behavior or feelings, but you can get a handle on your own. When talking about the choices other people make, one very wise 12-year at one of my events said, “My grandma says that stuff is just out of your hands.” Exactly right. And if you try to control things that you can’t control, it’s only going to stress you out more. Don’t let your kid go there!

4.Your child has options! Even after a fight, (s)he’s far from powerless. If, for example, a friend has turned into an enemy, your child’s options for dealing with the situation might include:

A.Talk to another trusted friend about the situation and get her opinion/advice
B.Talk directly to the wayward friend and tell her how what she did makes you feel
C.Don’t ever talk to that friend again
D.Get back at her by getting other people to turn against her
E.Forget about the hurt and act like it didn’t bother you
F.Find some new friends

Brainstorming at this point should be open-ended. Even though you might hear an option that immediately smacks as a “terrible” idea, don’t say anything.

5.Evaluate the choices. Only after your child lists several options is it time for him/her (not you) to evaluate them.

You: Take option D, for example. What’s likely to happen as a result of choosing that one?
Teen (thinking aloud): The whole grade will probably take sides. Then things will turn into this huge mess.

You: Will that help heal the friendship? Will it create more or less stress for you and others?
Teen: Uh… not really, and more.

You: I agree. Now, what about Option E? What might happen if you go with that one?
Teen: My friend might think that because I didn’t say anything that I didn’t mind. Which is so not true!

You: Will that build more trust in the friendship? Help you get more respect?
Teen: Obviously not.

Thinking about potential consequences is incredibly valuable to adolescents because they often react without first reflecting. Even discussing the worst, retaliatory knee-jerk options offer great (and totally safe) learning opportunities.

With your support in considering options (and without worrying that you’ll rush in and try to “fix” her problem) her thinking process will be accelerated. Hopefully, she’ll also move closer to the time when she no longer tolerates disrespectful behavior from any friend or so-called friend.