Being a teen has always been challenging, but today teens face issues that have been compounded by a rapidly changing society and a plethora of technology. These changes require new strategies in ways to teach teens to protect themselves from the challenges they will constantly face in school and community, and with their friends and family. Some of the areas in which teens need to worry about their personal safety include: • Risks related to violence including bullying, exposure to gangs, and harm from guns and other weapons. • Online dangers including harassment, cyber-bullying, sexually explicit materials, identity theft and financial theft and scams, and agreeing to meet strangers in person after developing online relationships. • Victimization of crimes. • Risks while driving in dangerous ways, including driving after drinking or taking drugs, underestimating dangerous road situations, texting or using cell phones inappropriately and not wearing seat belts. • Putting themselves in personal danger by pressures to do things they do not want to do such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol, having unprotected sex, going to unsafe places by themselves and engaging in risky behaviors. For teens, staying safe is a much more difficult task than in the past. To help teens sharpen their awareness of the need and ways to stay safe, the Teen Safety Workbook will guide them as they explore situations fraught with danger and face people who may threaten their safety. During adolescence, teens are eager to press to become more independent from their parents, caregivers or family. They need to learn to be more responsible for their own safety. Regardless of whether they are at home, school, work, or in the community, or online, they must face great safety hazards and need to be aware of them. Teen’s judgment levels are still forming; most are not ready to make adult level decisions. It is vital for teens to learn that they have the power to keep themselves safe and to be equipped with the tools to overcome dangerous situations. The Teen Safety Workbook is designed to help teens engage in self-reflection, examine their thoughts and feelings that go into the decisions they make, and learn effective tools and techniques to stay safe in the future. This book combines two powerful psychological tools for the management of unsafe, potentially dangerous thoughts, feelings, and behaviors: self-assessment and journaling. The Teen Safety Workbook contains five separate sections to help the participants learn more about the choices they have made and the choices they have yet to make in their lives: • Positive Feelings Scale helps teens explore the negative feelings they are experiencing in life and learn effective methods to constructively express their emotions. • Healthy Choices Scale helps teens explore how healthy or unhealthy their lifestyle choices are. • Social Media Safety Scale helps teens explore safe behaviors while texting, chatting, using social media sites, and surfing the Internet. • Relationship Safety Scale helps teens explore the safety in their family, friendships, and dating relationships. • Self-Harm Scale helps teens explore the extent to which they deliberately harm themselves in attempts to cope with intense, overwhelming emotions. Enrichment activities at the end of each chapter are a third tool for facilitators of teens from families struggling with substance abuse. About the Authors: Ester Leutenberg has worked in the mental health profession for many years as an author, publisher and as an advocate for those suffering from loss. She personally experienced a loss when her son Mitchell, after struggling with a mental illness for eight years, died by suicide in 1986. Soon after, as a way of both healing and helping others, she co-founded Wellness Reproductions & Publishing with her daughter Kathy Khalsa. Ester began developing therapeutic products that help facilitators help their clients. She is the co-author of theSEALS series for teenagers as well as Meaningful Life Skills for older adults, and the eight-book Life Management Skills series for adults. Ester, a breast cancer survivor since 2003, has counseled other survivors in overcoming body-loss issues. Her involvements with Survivors of Suicide, the Coyote Task Force in Tucson, various support groups in Sun City Oro Valley and volunteering at two hospitals are among many ways she continues to feed her passion of helping mentally ill people, their facilitators and their families. John J. Liptak is the Associate Director of Career Services and adjunct instructor in the Counselor Education Department at Radford University. He received his EdD in Counselor Education from Virginia Tech. He has worked in a variety of settings including a federal prison, a mental health center, a job training program, and now in higher education. Dr. Liptak frequently conducts workshops on assessment-related topics. He has written seven books on career-related topics that have been featured in numerous newspapers including The Washington Post, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Associated Press. His work has also been featured on MSNBC, CNN Radio and on the PAX/ION television series, "Success Without a College Degree." At Radford University, he works with college students entering internships or preparing for graduation and entrance in the workplace. Through individual coaching sessions, workshops, and classroom presentations he helps students develop the emotional intelligence skills they need to be effective in the world-of-work. He is teaching a senior-level course that will teach emotional intelligence skills to graduating seniors. With Kathy Khalsa and Ester Leutenberg, John has written three comprehensive books for teachers and counselors to use with their students and clients: The Self-Esteem Program, The Social Skills Program, and The Stress Management Program: Inventories, Activities & Educational Handouts. With Whole Person Associates, he and Ester continue to co-write books to add to their Mental Health & Life Skills Workbook series, and their Teen Mental Health Series as well as the new Coping Series, the Mind-Body Wellness Series, and the Family Issues Series. John resides in Radford, Virginia with his wife Kathy, and their Shih Tzu named "MacKenzie." |