Educating Others About Runaway Awareness

Do you have friends who are thinking about running away? Or do you want to inform fellow students about what to do if they are thinking about running…

What does respect mean to you?

Do you think respect varies among relationships? How important do you feel respect is?

How to be a better listener

Using active listening when you’re in a serious…

How do you deal with peer pressure?

Peer pressure doesn’t just affect school-aged children or…

My friend keeps talking about running away from home – what should I do?

Running away can be a difficult decision for…

Do Your Friends Have Your Back?

Friends are great to have but when can you tell if they…

Teen Violence

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “teen violence”? Is it school shootings? Is it robbery or theft? Is it teen on teen violence?

Teen…

Why The Hunger Games Is So Popular

The Hunger Games is breaking all kinds of records and making all…

The Odd One Out

Being the shortest, youngest and most different kid in class was a bit difficult for me in the first few years. As I grew older, I learned some things…

Fitting In

We live in a world where many people want to fit in. Some people try to be like the ones they see on TV or try to be full of popularity. Even so there…

Love in Friendships

Over the past week I have been thinking about what constitutes a beneficial friendship. I think that love is the foundation for this. Love to me is…

Family Moments

Today I went to see an old friend and we had dinner together. It was her mom, dad, cousin, girlfriend and child, as well as my husband and me. We were…

Everybody’s Got a Price

It’s important, I think, to note that yes, everyone does have a price. It’s saddening, it’s maddening, it’s empowering. A price can be whatever you…

Being Social

Being social is like being friendly. We need more social people in our world. The problem is that people don’t trust each other with the hatred and…

Fitting In

Remember back when you were in elementary and you used to pass out valentine cards to all the kids in the class? When you would all get candy from one…

True Friend

In my freshman year, it was the most difficult time of my life. I had discovered that we were getting eviction notices and I had now gotten myself in…

Friends

True friends are like family to me. When the chips are down, they will still support you, no matter what you do, or how you react to things. They love…

Rich In Friends

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”, -Mother Teresa. I completely agree with this, because no one wants to…

Friends

Friends are supposed to be there for you, right? A good friend would risk multiple things for you, but a true friend would risk their life for you,…

Treating Your Friends Right

Some of us may have a few or a lot of friends. It does not matter how many we have. Having a few close friends is as awesome as a lot of friends. What…

Get It Right

In dealing with friends sometimes, isn’t it so frustrating at times when you just can’t “get it right”? The words that need to be said won’t come to…

Getting Over It

Relationships are always fun while they last. Sometimes our friends get into relationships and we may be happy for them. They ask us for advice and…

Respecting Differences

All too often, I see people that have differences and would rather let them bring anger and negative conflict rather than handle them maturely. I…

Giving Pain A Voice

I have been attending a poetry group designed to give a voice and outlet to the homeless and other struggling individuals that they otherwise would…

A Chilled Pill

Fighting over some tiny, frivolous things can be fun, exhilarating even, when you know that you can look past it later, or for lack of a better term,…

May I Have a Bit of Change?

I know that it seems hard to accept change in situations around yourself, but I think it’s even more difficult, for the most part, to accept change…

Say My Name

As I stand around a group of friends, with compliments flying here and there, about every name is on the radar, slathered with tales of…

Staying In Touch

The number one way I stay in touch with my friends is a cell phone, most people do. Another way a lot of people stay in touch with each other is…

Growing Up or Growing Apart

It’s hard to distinguish between the two sometimes when you find yourself finding more than distance . I think it’s harder still trying to figure out…

The Art of Meeting New People

This past weekend I went to a huge convention with a few friends. Most of the people there were strangers and to be honest, I suck at talking to…

Farewells

I thought high school farewells were bad — but I forgot that there were going to be more farewells later in my life. Like in college. In college you…

Juggling Act

On one hand you have all the things that matter to you: a social life that keeps you satisfied, and excited, and stress free; the ever-missing free…

Impact of Rumors

Recently I was rewatching an old TV show and one episode was about rumors. We all know rumors are bad — even if some may increase the publicity of…

Rejection

Dealing with rejection can be one of the more difficult yet most common things in life. Let’s face it — no one likes being or feeling rejected yet…

Roommates

Going to college can be very exciting time in a person’s life. We either stay home and go to a community college or go away from home. Staying home…

“Facebook Friends” vs. Friends

As Facebook is getting increasingly popular, people have the tendency to add the people they meet on Facebook soon after their first meeting. However,…

You Don’t Know Me

When I think of closeness, I think of trading late night secrets in the early morning when you’re too tired to sleep, or just looking at someone and…

An Everlasting Stopper

At one point I truly believed that holding in your thoughts to protect others’ feelings was possibly the best thing that you can do to better…

Learning to Trust

I feel that trust is one of the most important bonds people form with one another. The foundation for all types of relationships revolves around…

The Right Pressure

Parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-pressure, are all types of pressure that we often experience as young adults. There are times when we are…

Be Who You Are

We all know it’s hard to avoid prejudice when we are in the center of it. So how do we avoid it and overcome the challenges it presents? Primarily…

Memento

Today, I am thinking of my late friend Liz Kato. She’s departed from this world. She was found in her room already dead. Her family either had no…

Why A Mentor Is Important

It is always great to have a friend. It is even better to have an older friend that can show you things that can help you. This friend can also…

A Friend In Need

The current magazine article is about friends that are there for you in bad times. No matter what we always need someone by our side to guide us…

Being Thankful After the Holiday

Thanksgiving was about a week ago. It is the day where we say what we are thankful for. We say thanks to be alive and have our family and friends.…

Reaching Out to People Around You

We all have been left out in one community or another. Running away, however, does not solve the problem. Sometimes, things might not be what you…

Bullying

It saddens me every time teen bullying makes newspapers’ headlines. It is not ok to bully. Whatever your religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation…

Be the Light in Someone’s Life

The other day when my friend was heading down south to visit me at my university, the train she was on was stopped because supposedly someone jumped…

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is one thing that all teens have in common.You can’t escape it; it is everywhere. Everyone wants to fit in. People are influenced by…

So Much Drama

What I have seen lately is a lot of drama; people complaining or fighting over things. I came to college hoping I would escape all the drama and leave…

Friend In Need

College is a time for having fun and making a couple mistakes but what if it’s your friend who makes the same mistake over and over, risking her…

The Importance Of Good Friends

Most people have a lot of friends. Some have just a few. You lose some and…

Hurting Others With Bullying

There are many different types of bullying. Physical, verbal, indirect, and cyberbullying, also, intimidation and social alienation. Bullies target…

Respect

Do you have respect for your friends, classmates, and teachers? Well, before you answer that, how do you show respect? Well I can name a lot of…

Friends and Bullies

Friends are probably the best thing in your life, next to family. I have a ton of friends, but I can tell the difference from a real friend and a…

Secrets

If I had a friend who had a secret or problem but couldn’t tell anyone, I would not tell them to suck it up and bear it, no, I would tell the friend,…

How to say NO

If you have ever ran into peer pressure, then you know what I’m talking about when I say ignore it, because usually it leads to drug addiction,…

Bullying

Probably one of the worst things that can happen in your life as a kid. Probably. But when your friend is being bullied, you probably don’t know what…

Peer Pressure

Honestly, I have never experienced this “peer pressure” before. If you don’t know what the word “peer” means, it means somebody your age or grade, or…

Peer Pressure

As we grow up, us teens deal with…

Who says? | How to Handle Peer Pressure

How to Handle Peer Pressure
A lot of…

Reminiscing About the Past

Yesterday a bunch of old classmates gathered for our friend’s birthday. Since there was also a underclassman from our school present, we talked about…

Fleeting Friendships

After the presentations during the last week of laboratory sessions for my Chemistry class, I headed to a store with a friend that I made in that…

Bad Borrowers

Letting people borrow something of yours can be a little nerve-racking. Doesn’t matter if the person is a friend, family member, or a Buddhist monk,…

Drama

Everyone has troubles they have to deal with in their life. They can be small or big but no matter what they suck. As teenagers we might think our…

Dog Days

Our family’s decision to get a dog has made major changes around the house. For one, the home aroma changes for good, to reflect a sort of…

Tough Decisions

In today’s world, teenagers are dealing with different and pressing issues, some of which are far more pervasive than in the past. Peer-pressure,…

Road Trip Fun!

This Saturday I went on a little road trip to a Japanese supermarket at Arlington Heights with fellow members of an organization at my school.…

Parents, stop turning a blind eye and a deaf ear

My brother used to play with the son of my parents’ friends. One day, I was with my parents and their friends, eating lunch when screaming erupted…

Suicide Prevention Week

This week we highlight the prevention of suicide. Completed suicides account for one of the leading causes of death for youth. There are many reasons…

Being Yourself

Summer is ending soon for many of us, and for some of us it’s a new transitional period. Some are going to middle school, high school, whatever.…

To present a present

With the many July birthdays, I’m sure some of you have been or are worrying about what to get for your friends. Personally I don’t get presents for…

Staying Connected

The current Switched-On article is about if people can really stay connected over the internet. The fact that it is different because online you…

Is there an art to making friends?

With college on the way, leaving old friends behind, the topic that seems to leave everyone a bit frazzled is making friends, surprisingly more so…

Har-Dee-Har-Har

So you had a bad day and are looking to turn it around. Well, all you have to do is laugh and think about how other people laugh. Let me explain, the…

Unreal

As mentioned in the previous entry, someone from our senior class went missing for a day (we attend the same school). For me personally, it felt…

Shaken

Early yesterday, a member of my high school’s senior class was reported missing. The class valedictorian, he is one of the kindest and most…

Keeping in touch with old friends and making new ones

Of my high school’s graduating class of 2009, I’m one of the only people going to my college of choice (probably the only one attending that college…

Isolation

At church the other day, the priest gave a sermon which resonated with me. It was about isolating yourself when you feel that the love your core of…

Twilight – The Next Big Craze

My friend recently informed me that I am lame and no longer worth her time because I am a “Twilight virgin”. I guess I probably shouldn’t tell her…

A Spoonful of Sugariness

An early lunch coupled with a lengthy discussion with one of my friends brought me to an interesting point: is it possible to be too nice about…

Keeping old friends while making new ones

It’s Eric here. Just a high school senior trying to wolf life down before it can do the same to me. “It thinks I’m winning…”, I whisper.   Summer…

Farewells

So with the end of senior year for me coming up soon, there will be many farewells that must be made. Some may be relatively permanent with those…

Friends Forever (Really!)

Hey guys! Lots of people think that if they haven’t seen or talked to a person in a long time, they aren’t friends anymore. This is very untrue,…

Pressure

Decisons. Whether they are choices you have to make, options to choose from, peer pressure, or internal pressure, it’s hard to make a decision. In…

Gossip Hurl

Gossip. Such a horrible thing in high school. It can hurt someone for a few days, a few weeks, or life. It is really that bad. It’s best to stay out…

Friends First?

You have all heard of the expressions: friends are forever, boys come and go, or bros before h**s. Yeah, we all heard them and supposedly we go by…

Stuck In The Middle

Boyfriends and friends bring up a lot of problems. If you ever had a boyfriend you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you will find out once…

Appreciation

So in a seminar I attended years ago, I remember reading some cheesy packet or brochure or whatever it was about finding “role models in your life”. I…

People to confide in

Some people have best friends in whom they can confide about their deepest secrets or gravest concerns. They’re there to talk to you about the things…

Asking for Help

In the latest Switched-On poll, we asked whether or not you talk to your friends when something upsets you. The votes were spread pretty evenly, but…