This is an interesting teen trend and a little scary.  I don’t think this is a ‘new’ trend, but it has recently become popular again.  Basically, teens are injecting fruits (strawberries, bananas, and oranges are especially popular) and then taking them to school, clubs, concerts, or in lunches and eating the fruit and feeling like they are so smart for sneaking alcohol into a place it is not allowed.

I believe this has become popular because:
1) Teens who do not like the taste of alcohol can put it in fruit and get drunk without tasting the alcohol.
2) It is ‘creative’ and makes the user feel like they are being sneaky.
3) It is easy to sneak alcohol into clubs, parties, or the lunchroom inside an orange.
4) “It is more fun” according to a teen friend who reminded me of this trend when I asked her how she was able to get drunk at a recent concert. 

I am not telling parents to check every banana their kid is carrying around, but I would be aware that some kids snuck ‘fruit’ right into prom this year and were able to Tropicana their way to being trashed…oy.

• 	Posted by: Vanessa Van Petten | 3 Comment(s)
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I begin this blog with a math problem: In your teenager’s school cafeteria, there are 20 tables. Each table seats 12 kids. In the cafeteria there is 1 “popular boys” table and 1 “popular girls” table (unless your child is in high school, in which case, there are 2 “popular co-ed” tables). Based on these numbers, what percentage of the kids in your teenager’s school cafeteria are popular? (Answer: 10%)    

One thing that all parents seem to have in common is the belief that their teens are cool. But, despite the fact that your child has one hundred-twenty-seven Facebook friends and the uncanny ability to speak totes in abbrevs, this simply isn’t true. Based on my calculations (which I suppose aren’t statistically accurate but promise are based on real-life experience), there is a ninety-percent chance that your teen isn’t popular, even if every clue you’re seeing indicates that he or she is the messiah of the entire teeny-bopping kingdom. No matter how many texts your daughter sent last month or how many times your son’s tried to go to school in Abercrombie’s “Smile! I can see your panties!” tee, here’s the reality: your kids just aren’t that cool. 

Which I’m guessing, to you, is a relief, because cool kids drink and try pot and have unsupervised boy-girl slumber parties while un-cool kids hang with their friends and only fantasize about what it must be like to get drunk or get kissed. But you also may be confused about everything I’ve just said. Whenever you try to bring up drugs or alcohol or sex with your teen, he gets all embarrassed and defensive and just “doesn’t wanna talk about it, GOD.” This has led you to believe that he is actually involved in all that risky business, and is probably one of the major reasons you mistakenly thought you had a cool child in the first place. 

It’s counter-intuitive, but look, your teenager spends seven hours a day in an environment where his entire self-image is determined by what “base” he’s gotten to. It’s no wonder his thinking’s a little skewed. His middle-through-high school experience consists of him constantly being judged for ridiculous reasons by other un-cool kids who are just as insecure as he is. So it’s hard for him to remember that in your eyes, he’ll always be your household’s super-hip teen, whether or not he has muscles or a date for the prom. 

There are two “popular kids” tables in the lunch room, and chances are, your teen doesn’t sit at one of them. Every time you mention sex or beer or cigarettes or parties, you probably remind her of that. By all means, bring up the topics—they’re important. But maybe you can do so with a little more sympathy for the unpopular, and a little less fear of what you’ll find.                  

• 	Posted by: Jessica Hoffman | 1 Comment(s)
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This clever little word play is more than a headline - it is the title of the most recent book I had published.  I can say it’s clever because I didn’t come up with it.  It was given to me along with the chance to write a book about Prom and all the inherent ups and downs, laughter and heartbreak that goes along with it.  Unfortunately the last prom I had much information about took place in Jacksonville Beach, Florida in 1984.  (I wore a baby blue bow tie and cummerbund, they were very eighties.) 

Since I was out of date, I had to do some research.  I arranged for a group of current high school seniors to walk me through their most recent prom.  I also talked to the prom sponsor at my local high school and some other assorted people in the know.  With all of them, I promised total discretion.  I wasn’t looking to tell secrets or get anyone in trouble.  I just wanted to know what really happened.  They were frank and open. 

The writer in me was thrilled - there was a trove of information and potential plotlines. 

The parent in me, however, was horrified.

The storylines that most interested me involved love, heartbreak and coming to terms with personal identity.  (These tend to be major themes in my writing.)  But, so much of what I was being told centered on serious alcohol abuse.  Apparently, there is an understanding among many teenagers that prom is the night of nights.  This is the night when teenagers become adults and with that comes alcohol and sexual activity.  (Often, these go hand in hand for really poor decision making.)

The schools seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping alcohol (and drugs) away from the prom.  At our local high school, students have to walk a cordon of administrators who are checking everything from breath to coordination to any other group of signals that something is wrong.  Many schools also have after prom events that are completely alcohol free. 

But, teenager after teenager told me about hard core drinking - mostly happening at after prom events and much of it with tacit if not explicit approval of some parents.  It was this last part that really shook me.  When my child goes to another teenager’s house, my expectation is that the parents won’t be supplying drinks.  Luckily my son is still a few years from prom.  During those years I’ll try to figure out how to make sure his Prama is limited to broken hearts and bad fashion decisions.  If you have any suggestions as to how to do this, I’m all ears.

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 1 Comment(s)
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This prom season, some Minnesota high school students will be puking their guts out.  Fortunately, not because they’re drunk.  Check it out:

Litchfield H.S. Rents Mall of America Theme Park for Prom 
School hopes to combat after-prom drinking with exclusive rental 

LITCHFIELD, Minn. — Litchfield High School is holding its prom at the Mall of America this Saturday.

200 students will arrive by bus dressed for prom, which will be held at the MOA Great Room.

To combat after-prom drinking, Litchfield prom-goers will have exclusive access to the Mall of America’s Nickelodeon Park rides from 11:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

Saturday’s event is the first time a high school has rented out the entire theme park to celebrate prom.

******* 

I think this is a great idea.  When I went to my prom, schools didn’t organize after-parties or events.  We were on our own.  My friends and I, and our dates, slept over at one friend’s house in her pool house - with her parents checking on us.  To be honest, we were pretty tame anyway.  But, it’s a dangerous night and kids are way more advanced than I was (actually, more than I am today).

Still, even though I think it’s great that schools are trying to make sure kids are safe on prom night - and I do - I wonder if it’s the school’s job.  At the very least, parents need to check in on their kids and their friends.  Some things shouldn’t change.

• 	Posted by: Sarit Catz | 1 Comment(s)
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I have found that being a father and being a writer have a lot in common. Both have the capacity to fill me with incredible joy and staggering self-doubt. Just when I think I have one really figured out, I usually fail on an epic scale. And, it is when I think I’m licked that I most often stumble upon a stroke of creative genius. (Unfortunately, I never seem to remember how I got there.)

But the biggest thing that they have in common is that they offer few definitive answers. Writing and parenting are so subjective that beauty and success often exist only in the eye of the beholder.

For me, writing and parenting have also travelled along intersecting courses. I have been writing for kids at the same time my wife and I have been raising two of our own. It’s not surprising that having children has helped my writing. My sons offer inspiration and insight and often influence my work in both direct and indirect ways. What has surprised me is how much working in the industry of entertaining kids has helped me better understand the world they face. (More…)

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 0 Comment(s)
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