Trouble-shooting Strategies for Teenagers

Trouble-shooting Strategies for Teenagers

Understanding the Adolescent Brain

The Brainwave Trust Aotearoa has excellent presentations and articles to help caregivers understand and effectively parent teenagers.  

Youth Justice

Youth justice is for children and young people who have broken the law. Read more      

Dealing with a Teen that Self Harms

Self-harming is when people cause themselves physical pain in the hope that it will alter their mood state. Some people harm themselves because they feel disconnected and isolated from  everybody. Read more

Drugs and Alcohol

• Amped4Life
  Amped4Life's has extensive information on drugs and alcohol issues on their website.  Its founder Pat Buckley is an outstanding speaker on the realities of drug abuse and the risks they present to our youth.   He presents to schools nationwide with a presentation and style that resonates with young people.  If you get a chance to hear him speak it is a an unforgettable and enlightening experience.
• Community Alcohol and Drugs Services
  CADS is a service of Waitemata District Health Board in Auckland
• The Raising Children Network in Australia also has some excellent tips and advice on this issue.

Sexual Health

• New Zealand Family Planning
• Health Ed (NZ)
  The Health Education (HealthEd) website houses a searchable catalogue of resources about key public health topics. The Health Promotion Agency and the Ministry of Health provides the resources to promote a better understanding of public health. They have a range of education brochures on many topics including mental illness and sexual health, in pdf format for downloading or to order hard copies.  These are available free of charge.
• HealthPoint
  HealthPoint provides up-to-date information about healthcare providers in New Zealand, referral expectations, services offered and common treatments.

Safety Online

The internet has become an everyday part of life for us and its integration into the school teaching curriculum has seen an exponential rise in recent years in much the same way as children's access has via mobile phones, tablets, computers and now even smart TVs. 

But in this brave new online world there are many risks - just as in every day life.  The key to harnessing the power and many benefits of the internet is understanding the risks and how to stay safe. 

• Click on the following organisations for advice on staying safe online.
• Netsafe (NZ)
  Hectors World - part of Netsafe but designed for very young children from 0-2 years.
• Netsmartz (US)
  This is an American site but it has a lot of good information that is relevant to keeping safe online for children, tweens, teenagers and adults
• Cyberbullying 
  This is a Netsafe site dedicated to the issue of online/cyber bullying
• Facebook Safety Advice
  This is from the Facebook Safety Centre with lots of information about Facebook

Driver Education for Teens

Drivingtests.co.nz has free Rode Code learning resources and has the official questions from the NZTA for the driving licence theory test.

The website is recommended and/or used by the industry body for driving instructors (NZ Institute of Driver Educators), NZ police, the military, immigration advisers, ESOL and literacy providers, and a great many schools, universities and community education providers.

Free practice for the learner licence is available on this website to ensure your teen understands the road rules and has an improved chance of passing their test first time.