April 28th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Getting rid of unused, unwanted prescription medications can help prevent the misuse or abuse of these drugs. Since many homes end up with unwanted or expired prescription medications, including controlled substances, such as certain pain medications and ADHD drugs, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has coordinated drug take-back events across the country. Consumers are encouraged to use this unique opportunity to safely and legally dispose of any unneeded pills, including controlled substance medications, as these pills can only be accepted for disposal when law enforcement is present.

The next DEA coordinated National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2012, 10 AM - 2 PM. DEA drug take-back events provide a safe means for the disposal of unwanted, unused prescription medications. DEA coordinates with local law enforcement agencies so that drug take-back sites can accept controlled substances for authorized disposal.

Now available online, the DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day collection site locator allows consumers to search for a convenient location to dispose of unneeded medications, on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Thousands of DEA-coordinated collection sites across the country will accept unwanted, unneeded, and expired prescription medications, including controlled substances, for safe disposal. Check the DEA collection site locator often, as new locations will be added until April 28, 2012.

DEA reminds consumers that the take-back service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. Sites will accept tablets, capsules, and all other solid dosage forms of unwanted medication. Personal information may be blacked out on prescription bottles, or medications may be emptied from the bottles into the bins provided at the events.

Join me on Facebook  and follow me on Twitter for more information and educational articles on parenting today's teenagers.

Protecting Your Internet Identity: Are You Naked Online?

Order today!

By Ted Claypoole and Theresa Payton

It's finally here!  Isn't it time you protect you and your family's Internet identity?

Who is looking at you online?

The government, your neighbors, employers, friends - the short answer is EVERYONE.  This book is a handy guide that digs deep past the media headlines to tell you how your data is collected and used.  The author's provide practical tips on how to regain control of your internet persona while also fending off identity thieves and other cybersnoops.  

And, for those with kids in their lives, Chapter 9 is dedicated to digital natives - the generation born into our digital age that cannot imagine life without instant access to info!

Chapter 6 gives pointers on internet impersonation:

The Face of Online Impersonation

Internet image impersonation is easy to do. Anyone can open a free email account with Yahoo!, Hotmail, Google, or any other email provider and use your name. Setting up a social media account on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace is equally simple. With a little information about your life, your impersonator could even fool those people closest to you. 

Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to remove these accounts from the Internet. Most Online companies assume that an account is opened in good faith, and you will probably have to prove the damage was done by an imposter (and prove that the imposter is not simply another person who happens to have the same name), before a site such as Yahoo! or Facebook would consider closing an active account.

We have a 6 question quiz for victims of internet defamation; here is question #1:  

Do You Have The Facts to Support a U.S. Lawsuit to Protect Your Online Image?

1)    If someone has written unflattering about you online, were those comments

a)    False;

b)    Intentionally malicious or made with a reckless disregard for the harm they might cause;

c)     Harmful;

d)    Not stated in a formally privileged way, such as filed legal pleadings;

e)     All of the above?

 Ted and Theresa's new book, Protecting Your Internet Identity:  Are You Naked Online?

Order today on Amazon! 

Follow Theresa Payton on Twitter.

Ask Listen Learn: April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Did you know that 83% of youth cite parents as the leading influence in their decisions not to drink alcohol?
Additionally, when compared to 2003, more kids today recall having the conversation with their parents about the risks and consequences of underage drinking.  This is encouraging news and emphasizes the importance of parents continuing these conversations at home.

The Century Council, a national not-for-profit dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking developed Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix in 2003 with a team of educators and professionals.  The program provides resources to start the conversation between parents and kids on the risks of underage drinking.

To kick-off Alcohol Awareness Month, the organization has teamed up with athletes and positive influencers, including Apolo Ohno, Bryan Clay, Mallory Weggemann, and Tyson Gay, to help reach youth and urge kids to take the pledge to say ‘YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking.

What are you waiting for?  Talk to your kids today!  Never stop talking.  They are listening.  Just look at the statistics - they speak for themselves.

Join Ask Listen Learn on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Crossing the Line From Alcohol Use to Abuse to Dependence: Debunking Myths About Drinking Alcohol That Can Cause a Person to Cross the Line

Order on Kindle today!

By Lisa Frederiksen

Order on Amazon today.

You have likely heard one or more of the following statements:

• Drinking coffee sobers a person up.
• Alcoholism is not a disease. Cancer is a disease. Alcoholism is a choice - put down the bottle!
• Letting your teen drink at home teaches them how to drink safely.
• An employee's alcohol use is none of a company's business.
• "Forgetting" what happened while drinking is just a convenient way of pretending you don’t remember the horrible things you did last night.
• An alcoholic has to hit bottom.

Or

O

O

Whether any of these sound familiar or you've questioned any number of the other common presumptions about drinking alcohol, this book is for you. It can be used by parents, students, people worried about their drinking, clinicians, policy makers, law enforcement officials, doctors, veterans, domestic violence professionals, social workers, family law attorneys, medical school students, family members, business leaders and treatment center providers – the list is endless.

Here readers will find the latest brain and addiction-related research and science discoveries written for the general public that debunk the common myths about drinking alcohol. For it is in believing these myths that a person’s drinking can cross the line from alcohol use to abuse to dependence.

And what is this “line?”

It represents the three stages of drinking briefly described below:
• Alcohol Use = “low-risk” or moderate drinking [Myth 1]
• Alcohol Abuse = repeated binge drinking and/or routine heavy social drinking [Myth 9]
• Alcohol Dependence = alcoholism, one of the brain diseases of addiction [Myth 10]

Most people are unaware there is a line comprised of these three stages of drinking, believing instead that drinking is either “normal” or “alcoholic.” Most people are unaware there are increments along the line itself, that 35% of American adults never drink alcohol, or that 37% of American adults always drink within “low-risk” drinking limits. Thus examining and challenging the common myths from a scientific perspective can help readers recognize what it takes to cross the line from alcohol use to abuse to dependence and what it takes to stop the progression.

Much of the breakthrough research being presented is the result of two very important decades: the Decade of the Brain – the 1990s – and the Decade of Discovery – the 2000s. Much of it is the result of new imaging technologies that allow neuroscientists and medical professionals to study the live human brain in action and over time.

As for the research itself…

It is being conducted and reported by numerous national and international agencies and organizations, such as the NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency), the Partnership at DrugFree.org, the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), and the WHO (World Health Organization), to name a few.

So, we’ll begin at the beginning of the line with alcohol use – Myth 1.

Learn more about Lisa Frederiksen at www.breakingthecycles.com and follow her on Twitter.

Born, Not Raised: Voices from Juvenile Hall

Order today!

By Susan Madden Lankford

 For two years, Lankford interviewed more than 120 incarcerated teenagers, eight of them weekly, and features their voices, views, writing and drawings along with interviews with pediatric psychiatrists, neurobiologists, judges, probation officers and other professionals in BORN, NOT RAISED.

In researching her book on women in jail, Lankford learned that a majority of inmates had at least two children in foster care, living with relatives or in detention. Many of them would end up in jail, too, because they lacked the basic parenting necessary to become productive individuals.

Jefferson-award-winning and number-one New York Times bestselling author Dave Pelzer writes, “Susan’s Lankford's BORN, NOT RAISED spotlights the raw stories of children traumatized by neglect, abuse and poverty. Working with outside professionals, Susan exposes an overburdened juvenile justice system, while offering powerful tools for change."

University of California at San Diego Professor of Medicine Vincent J. Felitti says, “This important book clearly illustrates the vast gap between what we typically believe of ourselves as a successful society and the dark side that contains our failures, which we prefer locking up or overlooking.”

Library Journal declares, “More policy-oriented than academic, this book is a powerful reminder of the social costs of neglecting the specific needs of at-risk youth.”

Lauri Burns, founder of Orange County, CA’s The Teen Project and author of Punished for Purpose, declares, “Susan Lankford has captured a powerfully personal glimpse into my life and the lives of other children in the Juvenile Hall system. Every parent should read it. I was so moved by this book’s message. If I hadn’t gotten rehab while incarcerated, I would have stayed a street prostitute and heroin addict.”

Order today on Amazon.
Watch a preview on YouTube.