“My 12-year-old REALLY wanted to go school shopping last night, new shoes, sweatpants and school supplies. I REALLY did not want to go shopping after a long day at work, finally coming home, etc. So we were sitting on the couch and he showed me on the laptop the shoes he was interested in … then he called a shoe store and they didn’t carry those, even though their online store did. So it turned out that we ordered his shoes online, searched and found a 20% off coupon which more than covered the shipping. Then we went to staples.com and bought his school supplies. I missed touching all the paper products, for sure, but it was so simple and sane. We could compare prices, we didn’t impulse buy because we weren’t tempted like we are in a store — we got just what we planned on getting and had a nice time together doing it.

• We saved money. I taught him how to look for coupons and price compare.
• We didn’t run around, stress out.
• We still kept it a “sharing” thing — I didn’t just do it, he was checking things off his list, choosing colors.
• We didn’t buy things we didn’t need.

Another colleague added a further “sanity saver.”  Along this line is a website called shopittome.com and the technology from RSSCheck. You tell them the things you are looking for, i.e. deals,  and that is what pops up.”

These moms know how to use technology to teach their kids “smart shopping” as well as save their sanity in these busy days.

-Dr. Dave

National Institute on Media and the Family

Lighting up a cigarette is a ticket to an avalanche of health problems – death being the most permanent. But for a teen, especially a teen who watches movies where characters smoke, the cool factor is often too hard to resist. If you’re like me you might flinch when you see a film actor light one up, but according to a study published in the latest issue of Pediatrics: “Adolescent Smoking: Who Matters More, Good Guys or Bad Guys?” , teens who see movie characters smoke – whether they are “good guys or bad guys” – are more likely to start smoking themselves.

Kids learn by imitating from the day they are born and the power of media to influence behavior is well known.  Don’t ever think that we’ve won the battle against smoking no matter how many resturants are smoke free, as long as the movie media lets their characters light up and puff away.  Teens are watching.

Here are four ways parents can intervene:

1.  If you are watching a movie and a character lights up – say something.

2. Talk to your kids when they are young about smoking and what it does to people’s lungs and bodies.  Get them to think about it.

3.  Avoid older movies where smoking is even more prevalent.

4. Teens don’t like preaching about smoking – but let teens know that they will face a choice whether to light up or not.  Help them think about that choice before they are faced with it.

Do you have any more tips on how to prevent teen smoking?

-Dr. Dave