• "Net Cetera': Chatting with Kids about Being Online”— On Guard Online ( http://www.OnGuardOnline.gov) recently released Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online, a guide for parents, teachers and other mentors with practical tips to help kids navigate the online world safely. Net Cetera covers a variety of topics – from cyber bullying to file-sharing – as well as where to go for more information and issues to raise with kids about living their lives online. Read it at www.onguardonline.gov/netcetera and in Spanish at www.alertaenlinea.gov/netcetera .
• Talk early. Talk often. Get others involved – An Underage drinking prevention campaign - Sponsored by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, the campaign’s main focus is to help parents have open and ongoing conversations with their preteen and teen children about the dangers of underage alcohol use. The campaign includes public service announcements and a web site with additional materials. Access the Web site at www.underagedrinking.samhsa.gov.
• Teen Suicide Prevention Campaign - This prevention campaign, sponsored by the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, hopes to raise awareness in teens that are contemplating suicide that there are resources they can turn to and other teens that have contemplated suicide and made it through. We Can Help Us encourages young people to visit the website connected with the campaign, Reachout.com that highlights success stories and teen coping strategies. Each page on reachout.com includes the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for teens that need immediate support. To view the Web site, go to http://us.reachout.com.
• See IT and Stop It: Teen Action Campaign – A Massachusetts teens' project - Created by teens in Massachusetts to help prevent relationship violence, this web site offers information on recognizing and stopping abuse. The campaign is different from other teen dating violence prevention projects: it focuses on bystanders. View the Web site at www.seeitandstopit.org/pages/index.html.
• National Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month - Attorney General Abbott observes National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with a special message on the social and legal dangers of sexting - http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?id=3210.
• CollegeWeekLive - CollegeWeekLive (www.CollegeWeekLive.com) is the world’s largest college fair, with hundreds of colleges and universities from around the world and tens of thousands of students participating. CollegeWeekLive revolutionizes college admissions, making the process easier and more cost-effective by bringing together students, parents, counselors and colleges online to interact, transcending time and distance. CollegeWeekLive is free to attendees. Watch admissions experts speak on topics such as how to prepare for the SAT, how to write a winning application essay or how to pay for college. Have questions answered via live chat. Video chat with college students to learn what campus life is really like. Scholarships and special promotions are available only to those who register, login and attend live events.
• College planning checklist at www.actstudent.org - To make college planning easier, ACT provides college planning checklists for high school students. You can find these checklists at http://www.actstudent.org/college/checklist.html
Students, start your college planning early so you won't be surprised by the rapid pace of the choices you have to make during your senior year.
• Take a spin on ACT’s World-of-Work Map - One way to explore careers is to use ACT's interactive World-of-Work Map at actstudent.org/wwm/world.html. The circular career map spins as you choose career groups to investigate within broad categories, such as working with data, working with ideas and things, and working with people and ideas. Within each group are several specific career areas, such as education, computer/information specialties, and manufacturing/processing. Each career area includes a number of specific occupations, with detailed information on work tasks, salary, size of the field, expected growth and how to prepare for the occupation.
ACT can help steer you in a suggested direction. If you have taken EXPLORE®, PLAN® or the ACT®, you'll have results from your Interest Inventory, a questionnaire regarding your interests. You can also get these results from using DISCOVER, ACT's career planning computer program. These results will point you to career groups on the ACT World-of-Work Map.
You can explore ACT's World-of-Work Map to investigate career areas of interest. Register for a free student account at www.actstudent.org to use the World-of-Work Map.
• ACT Parent - Parents, would you like to become more involved in your student's academic success? Subscribe to the monthly ACT Parent at act.org/path/parent/news/. It's fast, it's full of information, and it's free. You will receive a monthly newsletter designed to help your children succeed. ACT also offers a newsletter for Spanish-speaking parents. It’s called Padres ACTivos and you will find it at act.org/path/spanish/news.
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has launched a program called "The Power of Parents, It’s Your Influence" to help parents of high school students prevent underage drinking in their homes and communities.
• Military OneSource (www.MilitaryOneSource.com), a Department of Defense program, provides free help and information, 24/7, to service members and their families on issues that affect them, including parenting and child care, the concerns of families of children with special needs, budgeting and finances, consumer purchases, education, relationships, the cycle of deployment, and overall health and well-being.
• Underage Drinking Prevention and Awareness - The Too Smart To Start (TSTS) web site, keeps individuals and organizations informed with the latest news on underage drinking. The website is sponsored by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). The Too Smart To Start Web site helps youth, families, educators, and communities prevent underage alcohol use and its related problems. It provides useful programs and strategies, downloadable materials, interactive games and exercises, and other resources to support The Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking.
• The Dangers of Prescription Drugs - As communities around the country renew their focus on the dangers of prescription drugs, parents are not alone and there are many free resources available. Learn why teens are abusing prescription drugs, the signs and symptoms of abuse, and which drugs are more frequently abused here.
• CDC Releases Tips for Parents and Educators on Electronic Media and Youth Violence
• Websites with Grant Information: The following websites contain information on grants, scholarships, and other types of financial support:
1. eSchool News online: This online version of a monthly magazine contains a grants section with regularly updated grant, scholarship, professional development, and other funding opportunities for both educators and students.
2. FastWEB: The largest online scholarship search available, with 400,000 scholarships representing over one billion in scholarship dollars. Provides students with accurate, regularly updated information on scholarships, grants, and fellowships suited to their goals and qualifications at no cost.
• In the digital world, kids can be anywhere. While the Internet is an incredible tool for education and entertainment, it can also expose youth to inappropriate content and contact. At www.ikeepsafe.org and www.knowwheretheygo.org parents will find a vast number of resources to help families have a safe and secure online experience. PARENTS: check out the MISD Internet Safety information page for more.
• 5 Drugs Kids Steal Most Often From Parents (CBS Early Show 5/7/09)
• ChooseRespect.org - How much do you know about dating abuse?
• bNetS@vvy - Tools for Adults to Help Kids Connect Safely a trusted one-stop shop for information,
tools and links to high-quality resources that can help young teens
stay safe online.
• TOPCAT - Texas Online Preparation for College Admissions Tests - Students can prepare for the SAT and ACT, 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, FREE of charge.
• College Prep Timeline |
