Category Archives for "School"

0 What to do when your friend alienates other friends

rachel asks: I have this friend. She is pretty nice, but she can get really mean and get into a lot of fights with other girls. She’s never mean to me though. And when she’s in fights with people she expects me to support her. I don’t want to get involved in it! Other people are starting to hate me because I hang out with her. Should I drop her as a friend? I don’t know what to do.

Hi rachael –

This is a really tough situation.  Your friend is a good friend to you, but is clearly expecting you to have a lot of loyalty to her, even when you think what she’s doing is wrong.  And now others are associating you with her bad side.  There is no right answer for what to do with that!

Or maybe there is.  You see, rachel, I think this all comes down to Continue reading

0 How to deal with not getting enough money from your caregivers

tinno 06 asks: My uncle and aunt pay for my school fees but they do not pay enough. I suffer at school, but I can’t tell them. This has made me less social – I can’t associate with my friends because in the middle of the term I run out of money, and I don’t eat on Saturday. What should I do? At school I have attitude because am not happy at home. I feel like am not loved. All the time I cry, and I live a fake sad life at school. I do not have clothes, so I have this bad habit of getting people’s things. I really need help please help me.

Hi tinno 06 –

tinno 06, this letter might be even sadder than the one about your father!  I am so sorry you’re going through this!

Money is one of the parts about humanity that I have lots of trouble understanding.  I mean, I like the idea of a token economy (no dog could have ever come up with that!), but the way that people have so many feelings about it, that just mystifies me.  Rich people are ashamed to admit how much money they have, poor people are ashamed to admit that they don’t have much, and someone like you who’s getting money from someone doesn’t feel they have the right to tell them that the amount isn’t Continue reading

0 Why are kids at school easier to understand than those in your family?

smart panther asks: As a teacher, why it is easy for me to understand my students, but hard to understand my own kids? Or is it that our own kids just don’t understand our instructions?

Hi smart panther –

I think the answer is pretty simple.  Think about dogs.  I’ll bet you think dogs are pretty easy to understand.  They have a few drives, some friendly, some aggressive.  They want food and play and love, and do what they can to get them.  Right?

But that’s because you don’t know them well.  Handsome has spent years studying me, because he finds me fascinating.  He is absolutely amazed and perplexed by the ways my mind works.  Now I’m not that different from other dogs; it’s just that he’s looking at me so closely.

When you go to your school to teach, every child there has a bunch of Continue reading

0 How to get into the top university or movie studio

Cremy B asks: I’m 15, and about to enter high school in Ghana. My dream is to go to Harvard, but I don’t know how to go about it since I’m still here. My dad, however, is adamant on deciding on my career because he says I’m too ‘defensive.’ He is therefore having second thoughts on it. I really need help if I want to make it there. I don’t even have a passport or a visa and over here it’s quite hectic getting them too. What should I do please? Are there any financial services available for me if he approves? And I also want to go to Disneyland one day, and possibly become a Disney star (I can sing very well and can dance too).

Hi Cremy B –

I love your dream!  In fact, I love both of your dreams, and I don’t want to do anything to get in the way of your dreaming!  But I want to change them in one tiny way: I want you to become a bit less focused on Continue reading

0 What are some acts of compassion from history

MASHOOD asks: Can you name a few major accounts of compassion from history?

Hi MASHOOD –

You bring up an interesting point: Most of the history that gets taught to children doesn’t include much about compassion.  It’s full of battles and wars and vengeance… mostly just the stuff we’re hoping to reduce in the world!

So I’ll throw in a few that I know of.  But it’d be awesome if you could collect a better list than I can!

1)    Saving the European Jews in World War II.  This story does get told, thank goodness.  When the Nazi government tried to kill off the Continue reading

0 Back-to-School Tips

prettyndsweet12 asks: Can you give me some tips for going back to school?

Hi prettyndsweet12 –

I don’t know your exact age or school year now, but here are some tips in general for anyone going back to school:

1)    Try to schedule your time as well as you can from the beginning.  If a teacher tells you on the first day that you’ll have a big Continue reading

0 Time Management for Teenagers

a query asks: I am 17 and have just joined a job, but now my college timings and my job timings are clashing, and I am not getting time to study or be with my friends. Should I leave the job?

Hi a query –

What you’re dealing with is maybe the toughest issue for a 17-year-old: Time Management.  Your brain is still forming its sense of time (it’s the last part to develop in a growing human), which is why, normally, humans arrange for people of your age to live in strictly-enforced schedules (whether that’s at a school, the military, or entry-level job).  Because you’re being so hard-working and responsible, though, you’re having to struggle in this.  And that’s really tough.

The only answer I can give you is to spend some Continue reading

0 What are some good fun-reading books for teenagers?

sazuna45 asks: I’m getting really bored in vacation so I want some good books to read. Any suggestions? (Except books I have already read like: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, The Hunger Games, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner, Emma, Rebecca, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, David Copperfield, Ella Enchanted, Tom Sawyer, Moon and Sun Tales, etc.) Please! Any help will be appreciated!

Wow sazuna45!  You’ve read all those books already?

My inclination, based on what you’ve sent me before, is that you might enjoy some good poetry, especially of a romantic nature.  Have you ever read any Emily Dickinson?  You might really love her stuff.  Also, one of Handsome’s favorite all-time writers was Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote beautiful sad love poems, as well as lots of the greatest scary stories ever penned.

I have a few ideas of novels, though, based on what you Continue reading

0 How to get teenagers in a therapy group to talk

neli1 asks: I am a student social worker. I have a therapeutic group with teenagers who have behavioral problems. We are currently having our third session and now getting to the purpose of the group. I’m stuck and I don’t know what to talk about!! Can you help?

Hi neli1 –

I don’t know the subject of your group, but from what I’ve heard about such things, the goal of most therapy groups is to get the members to talk freely among themselves, without prodding from the leader.

It makes sense that it’s too early now for that to have happened, but I think what you need to look for is ideas of ways to move closer to that.  Here are a few that might help.

1)    Create a Continue reading

0 What subjects does one need to study to join the police?

jayon asks: How many subjects do you need to join the police?

Hi jayon –

Of course, I don’t know where you live, but, assuming the requirements are somewhat similar around the world, here’s a website delineating the requirements in Continue reading