Sue Scheff: Summer Camps and Programs

Can you even believe that summer is just about here?  May 1st is only days away – so are you still looking for  a summer camp or program for your teen or tween? 

Summer camps can be a great self esteem building opportunity for many kids.  If you are still considering summer programs for your child – here are some idea for your consideration.

 

Camp Finders® is a free service which matches children ages 6-18 with appropriate overnight summer camps and teen programs.

Since 1994, Camp Finders®   has personally visited approximately 175 sleepaway camps and various teen programs. During this time period, Camp Finders™ has been placing children in overnight camps and in the following teen programs: teen tours; wilderness camps & outdoor adventure; college enrichment; community service; sailing, SCUBA, & marine biology programs; foreign language programs and more… Visit www.campfinders.com.

http://www.sanbornwesterncamps.com/

http://sanbornwesterncamps.blogspot.com

Since 1948, Sanborn Western Camps have been creating outdoor experiences of exceptional quality and depth. Our fun, relaxed atmosphere and caring staff provide a supportive environment for individual growth in self-confidence, independence, and awareness of others. Each child’s contributions are valued in a community based on mutual respect and shared adventures.  

Call Parent’s Universal Resource Experts or email at www.helpyourteens.com – for more information.  A Leadership Summer program has been a wonderful experience for many kids!

Sue Scheff: Teen Summer Jobs

Is your teen thinking of getting a summer job? It is a great way to teach our kids responsibility and accountability. With today’s economy, it is difficult for adults to find jobs – so teens will need a plan. Here is some great advice and tips from TeensHealth.

Source: TeensHealth

Thinking about a summer job? This year, as more people compete for fewer openings, you’ll need to start looking early, do your research, and apply to more positions. So it’s more important than ever to have a job search plan.

What’s the Right Job for Me?

To find a job that’s right for you, make a list of your interests and strengths, as well as your dislikes and the things you need some improvement in, and keep them in mind as you look for a job. For example, if you love books or writing, a job in a bookstore or library might be perfect for you. But if little kids drive you crazy, a babysitting job may not be ideal.

A job or internship should be about learning as well as making money. Try to find something that can help guide you toward your long-term goals. For example, if you want to study veterinary science in college, finding a job in a vet’s office or animal shelter, or even a pet store, may be better choices for you than working in a restaurant.
As jobs become harder to find, you may have to take whatever’s available — and that’s OK. Learning to readjust goals and priorities is another important life skill. Just try to find some aspect of the work that you love and can learn from.

Read entire article here: http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/jobs/summer_job.html

Sue Scheff: Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition

Today is April 22, 2009 which is Suicide Prevention Day at the Capitol is a statewide event in which the Statewide Office of Suicide Prevention and the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition are joined by advocates, survivors, grassroots organizations, youth and other state agencies to bring suicide to the forefront as a public issue. This year, the actual day is Wednesday, April 22 but we are holding several activities throughout the week of April 20th – 24th. Below, you will find the tentative schedule of events, but I encourage you to continue checking our website for the most current updates as they become available.

(http://www.helppromotehope.com/events/index.php). Please see the attached flyer and Governor’s proclamation.

If you or someone you love is thinking about suicide, please reach out for hope by calling:1-800-273-TALK (800-273-8255)24 hours a day; 7 days a week

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

April 22, 2009 at 9:00 AM, Capitol Building Plaza Rotunda
Educational Display Booths and Legislative Advocacy

April 22, 2009 at 2:00 PM, Capitol Building Cabinet Room
Suicide Prevention Day Press Conference featuring:
Director Bill Janes, Florida Office of Drug Control
Secretary George Sheldon, Florida Department of Children & Families
Senator Evelyn Lynn, Florida District 7

April 23 – 24, 2009; from 8:00 PM – 5:00 PM; Location TBA
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) (tentative)
Don’t forget to also visit our portable billboard that will be in front of the Historic Capitol all week!

Please take a moment to post these events on your agency websites and forward on to your colleagues. We hope to see everyone there!

Sue Scheff: Teens Donating to Locks of Love

Summer is coming – if your child is considering cutting their hair – make it worth something. There is not a better feeling than giving to those in need, especially with an organization such as Locks of Love. See if your child is a good candidate to help out other kids that need their generosity of love.

WHAT IS LOCKS OF LOVE?

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

Sue Scheff: Parenting, Divorce and Teens

I know there are many parents that can relate to this.  Personally, I grew up in a time when the divorce was almost unheard of, however once my siblings and I were all over 18, our parents divorced.  What a relief!  In many ways -  it is my opinion, if you you know the marriage it over, and you have exhausted every avenue to keep it alive – and it is obvious that the union is over, in many ways divorce can be a better route for the kids – rather than living with the feuding and constant tension and confliction within the family unit.  This is only my experience, take time to review these great tips from Connect with Kids.  I am in no way promoting divorce, I am only saying as mature adults we need to do what is best for all involved.  Of course, each family and their dynamics are different – requiring different solutions and results.

Source: Connect with Kids

“It’s very hard, and it takes a lot for me to trust somebody. I don’t trust people very openly, very freely.”

– Katherine Yarberry, 14 years old

Katherine Yarberry’s parents got along well until she was about 4 years old.

“We all had a lot of fun together, that’s all I can remember,” says Katherine, who is now 14.

But those good times with her mom and dad didn’t last long.  Soon, the arguing began, creating moments in time she will never forget.

“I was in the other room, and I heard something break, and my dad had thrown a plate against the wall,” she says.  “They were having a fight.”

When children grow up in households where their parents often fight and the prevailing emotion is anger, it’s easy to imagine why they would be unhappy.  And that unhappiness can last a lifetime.

“It’s very hard, and it takes a lot for me to trust somebody.  I don’t trust people very openly, very freely,” Katherine says.

The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that kids who witness constant fighting are at greater risk for depression, drug dependence and low self-esteem.

What’s more, their future relationships with their spouse or their children are also at risk.

“I think parents don’t understand, and they get involved in their own issues [so] they don’t get the perspective that they need to that they are role modeling for their children and children are probably going to copy them in some way or another,” says Dr. John Lochridge, a psychiatrist.

Experts say parents need to remember that every time they fight, they are influencing their children’s behavior patterns.

The good news, Lochridge says, is that if angry parents teach their kids anger, then they can also teach them conflict resolution.  And it’s never too late to begin.

“I think you can change your relationship to make it much more appropriate for the kids,” Lochridge says. “In fact, you can even role model conflict resolution.”

Tips for Parents

Several studies suggest that children of divorced parents are at an “increased risk” for later problems – namely divorce – in their own marriages.  One study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family,followed 2,000 married people and 335 of their children over a 17-year period. 

“Children who grow up with divorced parents tend to reach adulthood with a relatively weak commitment to the norm of lifelong marriage,” says study author Dr. Paul R. Amato of Pennsylvania State University.  “When their own marriages become troubled, they tend to leave the relationship rather than stick it out or work on it.”

He says adult children of divorce have a tendency to jettison relationships that may be salvageable. Among the findings in Dr. Amato’s study:

• Children of divorce are twice as likely to see their own marriages end in divorce.
• Children of “maritally distressed parents” who remain continuously married did not have an elevated risk of divorce.
• The risk of divorce was more likely among children whose parents reported a low, rather than high, level of discord prior to divorce.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) says that during the difficult period of divorce, parents may be preoccupied with their own problems but continue to be the most important people in their children’s lives.  Children will cope best if they know their mother and father will still be their parents and remain involved with them even though the marriage is ending and their parents won’t live together.  The AACAP says research shows that it is best for children of divorce when their parents can cooperate on behalf of their children.
The authors of Making Divorce Easier on Your Child:  50 Effective Ways to Help Children Adjust give the following advice to parents to help minimize the negative effects of divorce on their children:

• Subject children to as few changes as possible as a result of the divorce.  For example, try to have the children attend the same schools, continue to live in the same home, etc.
• Don’t argue or fight with your ex-spouse in your children’s presence.  The amount of parental conflict that your children witness following divorce is directly related to their level of adjustment.
• Consistent discipline is very important.  Both parents should use similar, age-appropriate discipline techniques with their children.
• Don’t use children as messengers in parental communications.  Children should never be asked to relay messages, such as “Tell your dad that he is late with the child support payment.” 
• Don’t use children as spies.
• Don’t use children as allies in parental battles.
• Don’t demean the other parent in front of children.  Remember that your ex-spouse is still your children’s parent.
• Don’t burden children with personal fears and concerns.
• It is usually in your children’s best interest to have a consistent pattern of frequent visits with the non-custodial parent.
• If major problems develop for children and/or parents, seek professional assistance.

References

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Journal of Marriage and Family
• Making Divorce Easier on Your Child:  50 Effective Ways to Help Children Adjust, by Nicholas Long and Rex Forehand
• Pennsylvania State University
• Simmons College

Sue Scheff: Google Bomb Book Now Available for Pre-Order

Pre-Order Google Bomb on Amazon.com today!

Our society has reached an all-time low. Simple keystrokes can now literally ruin lives, reputations, and cause years of suffering, and require exorbitant amounts of time, money, and sanity to rebuild a life and/or career that has been shattered by cyberbullying, Internet defamation, identity theft, privacy invasion, and so much more. There is even a term that has emerged into our lexicon that describes the practice of manipulating the ranking of web pages: Google Bomb.

Sue Scheff  knows first hand about the devastating effects of Google bombing and Internet defamation. Her reputation was destroyed and she almost lost her business because of false and libelous statements about her and her business that went viral. Falling into a deep depression accompanied by agoraphobia, Sue could not escape the abusive attacks from strangers and the paranoia that accompanies such abuse. However, she fought back, and sued the figure head who launched the attack campaign and was awarded a jury verdict of $11.3 million–a case that has set the precedent for a massive debate on Internet regulation vs. free speech and Internet etiquette and safety policies.

Because there is so much to navigate and know about the unknown and mostly unchartered legal territories of Internet usage, Sue has rounded up some of the world’s most preeminent experts on the newly emerging business of Internet law, including attorney John W. Dozier. In Google™ Bomb, Dozier and Scheff offer a hybrid of memoir and prescriptive self-help, as well as a timely call to action that will arm readers with what they can do to avoid falling victim to cyber abuse, rebuild their own ruined reputations, or avoid unknowingly committing a crime against strangers on the Internet.

Written with two markets in mind: those hundreds of thousands of people who are victims of Internet harassment and cannot afford legal council to help clean up their reputations, and those who have built a career, business, and personal reputation and want to be armed with protection and prevention techniques that will help them avoid falling victim to cyber bullies, hackers, e-vengers, and Phreaks.

The true-life story of Sue Scheff’s landmark lawsuit and the lessons she learned coupled with invaluable expert advice from a top Internet legal and reputation defense expert, Google™ Bomb is a heavy-hitting, one-of-a-kind book that will likely spark debate, controversy, and save lives at the same time.

Michael Fertik, CEO and Founder of ReputationDefender which is one of the pioneers of Online Reputation Management Services, writes a compelling, informative and engaging foreword.  This book is a book that will touch almost everyone that uses the Internet today.

Sue Scheff: Reputation Defender Services Are Becoming Priceless in Today’s Business CyberWorld

As my next book is coming out in September 2009, it will highlight the way the Internet has changed many ways people do business today. It seems PR Firms are being replaced by Online Reputation Management Firms.

Source: SF Gate – San Francisco Chronicle

Defending reputations may be good business

Defending innocent victims who have been slimed on the Internet is not only a righteous cause, it might be good business. At least that’s what VCs who are pumping money into ReputationDefender appear to believe. The 3-year-old Redwood City company, which assists people in removing libelous, egregiously offensive or privacy-invading material from Web sites, is well on its way to raising $5.3 million from investors. “We’ve had 10 quarters of growth,” said CEO Michael Fertik.”We’re getting more customers, and they’re spending more.” The current economic climate may have something to do with it.

One of ReputationDefender’s services, enabling customer-written resumes to show up prominently on search engines, has proven to be a particular money spinner. “As people are looking more and more for jobs, they are more concerned with what may be being said about them on the Internet,” Fertik said.ReputationDefender’s investors so far include Maple Investments in Menlo Park and European Founders Fund from Germany.

Read entire article here: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/08/BUMC16U3BS.DTL

Sue Scheff: Identity Theft Made Easy with Twitter?

O-kay, I don’t get the Twitter craze, however it is obvious I am the one missing out as I hear about it from many media sources etc.  Learn more about how to keep safe on this “Twitter” – as with many social networks, approach with caution – but you can still have fun.

Source: ReputationDefender Blog

In case you didn’t already know, Twitter is the latest “it” fad in the world of social media. From Demi Moore’s suicide prevention tweeting to the news of a potential Google-Twitter merger, it seems that not one week goes by without a major news story about the popular microblogging service.

Unfortunately, it isn’t all wine and roses at Twitter. Since the service emerged in 2006, one of the consistent complaints against it has been the ease with which individuals can set up phony accounts in someone else’s name. With such a large volume of users, it is impossible for Twitter to monitor each individual sign-up for validity. This means that someone could send out hundreds of tweets under your name, before you caught on. That’s what happened to Televangelist Robert H. Schuller, whose Twitter problem was discussed in a recent article at MSNBC.com.

From the article:

Televangelist Robert H. Schuller has reached millions worldwide with his weekly “Hour of Power” TV broadcasts, but when it comes to the Internet, he had a high-tech headache: an online impostor.

When Schuller, the founder of the Crystal Cathedral megachurch, recently tried to set up an account on the micro-blogging Web site Twitter.com, he discovered another user masquerading as himself.

 [SNIP]

Schuller’s impersonator — who remains unidentified — seemed to know a lot about that history and the preacher’s life, said Nason, the spokesman. The impostor said in his early tweets that he was Schuller’s assistant, but then went on to say he was Schuller himself and even talked about the preacher’s wife, Nason said.

“The content seemed fairly normal for someone like Dr. Schuller to say,” Fayer said. “But in the future you don’t know how they’re going to use that. What if they start asking people to send money and say, ‘Send money to X,Y,Z’?”

The rest of the article details several other prominent phony Twitter accounts including a fake Stephen Colbert and a fake Tina Fey.

While it may not seem like a big deal to some, it is important to note that Reverend Schuller is a very prominent individual with a PR staff dedicated to catching issues like this. For the average person, it could be months before a Twitter fraud is exposed. That is why it is more important than ever for individuals to take full control of their image online and be proactive in Online Reputation Management.

Sue Scheff: The Choking Game – What Parents Need to Know

The Choking Game - a teen thing?  What is the Choking Game?  It is definitely not a game any parent want to learn about the hard way.  Learn more now about this horrific game through G.A.S.P. (Games Adolescents Shouldn’t Play).

I received an email from a mother that almost lost her son to this game.  She is now part of an advocacy group to help inform and educate others about this choking game.  She understands she almost lost her son, as a matter of fact, she thought she had.  Miraculously, her son survived after several days in a coma following this incident.  As a parent advocate, I always encourage others to share their stories, mistakes, experiences etc in an effort to help others.  This is one of the many parents that is hoping you will learn from her firsthand experiences.

Source: G.A.S.P.

It’s not a game at all—just an act of suffocating on purpose.

Adolescents cut off the flow of blood to the brain, in exchange for a few seconds of feeling lightheaded. Some strangle themselves with a belt, a rope or their bare hands; others push on their chest or hyperventilate.

When they release the pressure, blood that was blocked up floods the brain all at once. This sets off a warm and fuzzy feeling, which is just the brain dying, thousands of cells at a time.

From this parent:

Holding my son, as he took his first breath of life, for the second time took my breath away.  He got a second chance to make a better choice.  What I witnessed defies logic and reason.  I made a choice to quit trying to understand, and instead pour my passionate gratitude for his life into advocacy work -  to be a ripple in the wave of some much needed change. Stopping this behavior only starts with awareness.  Ed4Ed is a program of education for educators.  I consider all who possess knowledge, all upon acquiring it who connect with youth,  care for and/or guide them, are then in turn ambassadors of that truth – incumbent educators. 
 
When I am personally presenting from the materials of the program, I conclude by passing that torch to those with whom I speak.  This deadly activity, masquerading as a “game” is an international problem, with a simple solution, educate!  Give our kids the facts and they’ll make a better choice.  Once he became aware of what had happened, Levi just shook his head and said “I didn’t know, Mom.  People pass out all the time.  I didn’t know.”  Not one boy in the 500 that attended his boarding school knew the facts.  They studied physics, science, biology and anatomy.  None thought of it as anything more than a parlor trick, something new to try, not drugs, not alcohol – just a game.  When we know better, we do better.  When they know better, they will too.

 

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