Ask Dr. Mike

At what point does getting a job make sense for you and your teen? In Virginia, teens as young as 14 years of age can work, albeit in a limited capacity, but it’s not uncommon for teens between the ages of 16 and 19 to have a part-time job – both during the summer and the school year. The benefits to working for teens are numerous, and I’ve listed the main ones here: Having a job as a teen pays off academically. Research in this area of study has repeatedly shown that teens who work actually do better in school. [...]

Dr. Mike, My husband and I recently dropped off our last child (our son) at college.  Initially, I shed a few tears but was more focused on my happiness for him.  Well, fast forward two weeks, and I’m miserable. Sad, anxious, empty, and even angry at times. I’m also feeling very guilty about being a working mom, and now regret that I didn’t spend more time with all of our children when they were growing up.  My husband keeps telling me that I’m a “great mom” but I don’t want to hear it, and I’m even fighting about the smallest things [...]

Dr. Mike, Our son left for college this fall, and while he’s doing great academically, my husband and I are concerned about some of the things we’ve seen on his social media.  There are lots of references to pot and alcohol.  We’ve raised our children to know better, and we are very upset to see the choices he is making at school.  As Christians, we are also concerned about a couple of his pro atheism postings, and his involvement with the Secular Student Alliance on campus.  We’ve tried to talk to him about our concerns, but he has gotten angry, [...]

Dr. Mike, We recently had a meeting with our son’s preschool teacher who told my husband and I that she thinks our son is autistic.  She said that our son has social problems and anxiety, and that he becomes “out of control” when excited.  She said that he has idiosyncrasies like walking on his toes and going over his favorite movie lines with other kids in class, and that these behaviors are typical behaviors of autistic children.  She recommended that our son participate in a neuropsychological evaluation.  While my husband and I see some of the things our son’s teacher [...]

The ongoing contentious debate over kneeling for the National Anthem escalated this past week in response to President Trump’s position that the act is disrespectful to our flag, our military and our nation as a whole.  Those in opposition to Trump’s position have argued that kneeling during the national anthem is their constitutional right and a symbolic statement of solidarity to call attention to serious social injustices in the US today – incidents involving police brutality, racism, inequality, etc. There’s no denying that the argument over kneeling for the National Anthem isn’t going away anytime soon, but regardless of your feelings [...]

Lights, Camera…Suicide! Enter stage right, “13 Reasons Why” a new Netflix television series about a teenage girl (Hannah Baker) who commits suicide and then leaves behind seven double sided audio tapes for her friends and classmates to listen to. Each tape depicts the harmful events (e.g., sexual assault and rape) that occurred for Hannah that culminated in her tragic demise. Based off of Jay Asher’s 2007 novel of the same name, the show has earned praise from critics for tackling the difficult subject matter of teen suicide in such a raw, gritty and real sort of way. But “13 Reasons Why” [...]