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    Blog Posts by Jerry Weichman

    • Maintaining a Healthy Relationship with Your Teen

      By Jerry Weichman | Parenting – Tue, Aug 28, 2012 5:41 PM EDT

      It's not easy to be the parent of a teen…forgiving them for a mistake can be harder than it seems.

      Just when you think you've seen it all, your kid goes and screws up in a way you never even imagined possible. Even though you expected the teenage years to be difficult, you just never imagined…this.

      While it is completely normal for a teen to make a mistake or two (or many) along the way, I experience more and more parents who are struggling to let go of their teen's slip-ups, whether big or small. As a result, the parent-teen relationship develops into an unhealthy cycle of pain, distrust, and resentment from both sides.

      Hanging on to old mistakes, rehashing past issues over and over again with your teen, and taking your teen's behavior as a personal affront can make for a bitter few years to say the least.

      Are you finding it difficult to forgive your teen for their mistakes? Here are five tips to help you navigate your path back to a harmonious and healthy

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    • Coping with Bullies Who Text when SMSing Becomes “Textual Harassment”

      By Jerry Weichman | Parenting – Tue, Jun 5, 2012 5:49 PM EDT

      By now we know that online bullying can leave a trail of destruction in its wake. It occurs fast and can have long-lasting repercussions. But what about a bully who doesn't just try to tear you down by posting on your Facebook wall or anonymously on Formspring but who also attacks you directly via your cell phone?

      When friends have a falling out, former besties can turn into bullies. Many times those who feel the most comfortable with their victim, such as ex-friends or boyfriends and girlfriends, turn to text bullying to hurt, embarrass, and intimidate their target. This sort of "textual harassment" is more common than most adults realize and happens on a regular basis.

      Most often text bullying is in the form of name calling or threats. However, textual harassment can also be defined as the repeat sending mean, embarrassing, untrue, or hurtful message to or about someone and also includes sexting, or sending sexually suggestive texts.

      By hanging onto a text message that

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    • Be the Anti-Bully: There’s No Such Thing as an Innocent Bystander

      By Jerry Weichman | Parenting – Wed, Dec 14, 2011 6:48 PM EST

      In case you haven't heard, bullying is a hot topic this school year. It is likely you have already sat through a bullying awareness assembly at school, seen your favorite celeb blog about standing up to bullies, or have read about another tragic teen suicide triggered in part by bullying. And if you haven't been a victim of a bully, I'd be willing to bet you have witnessed some of this drama firsthand.

      "So what?" you're probably saying. "It's not like anyone is actually pro-bully."

      The thing is that it's not enough just to know the signs of bullying or how to report to your parents or school administrators that you're being bullied. As

      To be a person of character, to make a difference, to save a life…you have to learn how to be an anti-bully.

      When it comes to addressing and ending bullying, it is not just about dealing with the bully and his/her victim. There is a third person involved who makes the biggest difference of all. The bystander.

      The bystander sees it

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