I can think of quite a few juvenile books off the top of my head that have words like d*mn in them. (Harry Potter being one. Probably some Newbery award winners are on the list as well!) For books, the classification is mostly up to the library. My family has had library cards at different libraries, and a book in the teen section at one library might be in the juvenile section at another. However, since you're talking about a graphic novel which has its own self-assigned rating on the back (from what I understand), I would ask the librarian about it. You might also be able to find out how they determine their juvenile vs teen classification as well, which would be helpful in figuring out what sections to allow your child free rein in.

My husband really likes all of the ones which have the poet Rives. I've only heard/seen those, because he's shown them to me. He likes others as well I'm sure.

I'm rather surprised they assigned it for ninth graders. I read Their Eyes Were Watching God in 11th grade, and I think in other years 11th graders read Angela's Ashes, but never 9th graders at the public school I went to. (I've never read Angela's Ashes myself.) I actually had a friend in public high school who objected strongly to the content of one book which was required reading. He was able to read another book instead, but did have to jump through some loopholes to do so. I'm sure that varies from district to district however.

I visited two colleges before completing applications. The only reason I did so was because I was not paying travel expenses for either visit! (Both colleges were far away.) One of the colleges I decided not to apply to, based on what happened at my visit. The other college I applied to. I applied to three other colleges, and visited two of them after I was accepted as part of the decision-making process. One of them was very close to home, thankfully. I believe my parents paid travel expenses for both of those visits. I never finished the application to the third college, but was somehow accepted anyway. :P If your child is going to do college visits, they should stay in a dorm with current students and attend classes. Most colleges, as far as I know, try and do this for all their prospective students. I didn't feel the need to visit colleges before applying, but I would have been very uncomfortable deciding to attend a college without visiting it first.

As a 21 year old who's been using Facebook since she was a teenager, I would consider anything posted in a status message to be public knowledge, especially if it's something as major as breaking up with a girlfriend or having triplets. I would also never post anything like that without telling people like my parents/siblings/etc. first, in person or over the phone - NOT on Facebook. Nor do I think adults should be limited in what they post in response to teens' stuff on FB. That's just silly. HOWEVER: recently Facebook made it possible to customize status update privacy, so that not everyone can see every status update. (It's the same system that has been there with photo albums for a long time.) So, I would not go around announcing someone's pregnancy/breakup to everyone. But if I'm talking to that person's *mother* I would expect her to know about it already!! If she doesn't, that's her child's fault, not mine.

I am the oldest child of another member of these boards, and I was homeschooled for eleven years (1993-2004). Of course, I'm also younger than most people on these boards, so I was homeschooled back when it was starting to get popular, I suppose. :) I am constantly glad I was homeschooled. I can read very fast: years of free time plus the inclination to read --> lots of practice --> fast reading speed. The ability to read well and quickly has benefited me in countless ways in public high school and college. I also write fairly quickly. This is the most visible benefit of homeschool for me, but there were others as well. (Not that I wouldn't have been good at reading as a public schooled child, but I would not have had *nearly* as much practice time!) DH was also homeschooled for a grade or two in elementary school. We're hoping to homeschool our kids at least through elementary if not longer, but who knows what'll happen before our child gets old enough for that.

It would bother me if my husband was in that situation, and it would bother me to be the female employee in that situation. It isn't that I don't trust my husband, either, more of preventing any possibility of something going wrong later, KWIM? My DH wouldn't see it as that big of a deal but he would also stay out of the situation because he knows how I feel about it. If there was a third person of either gender present I wouldn't care.

Hmmm. This is a very, very good question, and is making me think along lines I hadn't before. Off the top of my head, I honestly can't think of one rule/law I am currently subject to that I cannot understand the reason for and therefore respect. I am also old enough to understand that to break the rule/law means consequences and be able to accept those consequences. But I am thinking of things like state and federal *law*, or rules that apply to everyone who participates in an activity or is a member of a website. When it comes to individual authority figures telling my children things, I'm sure I will tell my children to simply disobey in some cases (e.g. where it could be something which could lead to child abuse). I would also hope to be able to discuss different rules/laws with my children especially as they get older, explaining/finding out *why* the laws are in place and/or why they should be subject to that law. I guess for me, though, just not liking a rule doesn't mean I can disobey it. If I have a serious moral/ethical/etc. disagreement with the reason for the law or rule I will disobey it. But I am not going to, say, condone my children breaking a dress code simply because they think the dress code is stupid. They need to respect the rules of the institution they are attending, or the website they are part of, etc. I think part of maturity is being able to do that even when they don't want to do so. The other part is knowing which rules are actually worth disobeying and why - I guess speeding would be a good example :P - along with the fact that those broken rules still carry consequences if one gets caught.

COPPA says that no website can ask children under the age of 13 for any identifying information. It is against the law for them to do so. So, when a child under 13 creates a FB profile, it is against the law for FB to ask for any of their identifying information, including their birthdate. This is why you have to be 13 to have a FB. From http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm : This would include many, many, if not all, the things FB gives users the option of providing in their profiles. I suppose the difference between parents talking about their kids online and kids talking about themselves online is that kids don't have the wisdom to withhold information, and parents do...but I really don't know. If I saw a FB profile for a child clearly under the age of 13, I would consider that individual to be lying about their age, whether or not the birthdate was a valid one belonging to another individual. My guess is FB would see it the same way. If I saw a profile with age/information on a person who was in their teens, and their age said they were in their 20s or 30s or 90s, I would consider them to be lying as well. (The second was more common on MySpace than FB, I think, due to the natures of the two sites.) FB is unique in that it is one site where most users do actually use their real, legal names to identify themselves, and put accurate information about themselves. I'm sure it would be just as easy to falsify a profile there as elsewhere, but it seems to happen much less than, say, on a MySpace.

In my case, this situation will be a long time in coming - but I have much younger sisters, so theoretically they could come to me asking for advice in such a situation, too. If my daughter became pregnant as a result of consensual s*x, I would support my daughter with the same resources I had to support her before the pregnancy, including health insurance, car insurance, phone, etc. No reason to take such things away. I would mention adoption to her as an alternative to keeping the baby, but I would not pressure her one way or the other. If she decided to keep the baby I would be willing to help with child care, with limits that DH and I would discuss and then I would discuss with her. She would also be able to live at our house while in high school/close-by college. I would strongly discourage marrying the guy until they were both at least 18. If they decided they wanted to marry at that point I would pay for secular counseling, and help them find good, Christian premarital counseling. If she decided to have an abortion there is no way I would ever consider paying for it. I would never disown her, but I would have a very hard time with that decision. I don't know if I could bring myself to go with her to the clinic or not.

From Facebook's privacy policy: http://www.facebook.com/policy.php The first help page mentioned is titled "Report an Underage Child". The explanation before the report form says: The second help page mentioned in the first quote is a list of various FAQs for parents. Looking at that help page, it seems that there is no way for parents to authorize their under-13-year-old child's use of FB without fudging the birth date. Also, there is no way for a parent to shut down a 13-18 year old child's FB website. However, parents can request removal of photos/videos of children under 13. Hope this helps - just wanted to gather relevant info and see what FB actually said about the issue. :001_smile:

That is disturbing...first of all naked pictures are against FB's terms of use. You should be able to report the picture if you haven't already. Secondly, only your friends' posts should be showing up in your news feed! Hopefully whoever posted that picture is someone you are not good friends with...or something. I've never had anything like that happen to me and I've been on Facebook for about 4 years.

Facebook's rules say 13 - and that's not just something that Facebook made up. That is the COPPA magic age. I would not mess with that. There are ways to get around it, with explicit parental permission, but I'm not entirely sure what that would entail in order for my child's age to be accurate and for FB not to delete the profile. I would wait till 13 and then let my child have a somewhat moderated FB - e.g., be friends with them, make sure their privacy settings were such that the FB was *private!!*, and have serious discussions about how we Do Not Add People We Don't Know In Real Life.

When I was in high school 3-6 years ago, there were quite a few pregnant teens. There probably still are quite a few. No one I actually knew got pregnant until after I graduated..then a girl who graduated with me got pregnant, as well as another who was still in HS. Both of them had the babies and married the dads. Another girl I knew got pregnant out of wedlock later on, and is engaged to the dad. All of these girls were in their late teens, and only one was still in high school when she got pregnant and had the baby. As far as I know, out of people I knew in high school, I'm the only girl to get pregnant *after* getting married. I'm also no longer a teenager.

First I have to say that I do not have kids or a public blog. I do have a Facebook and have some pictures up of my siblings. Those pictures are quite heavily protected..only family members and close friends can see them. I might post occasional pictures of my children on a public blog. I would not post pictures of other people's children without their very explicit permission.

I used to attend a very small church which is part of a little-known charismatic denomination. At one service, when no children were present (they were at children's church), the head pastor told us that there had been some kind of s*xual sin between the worship leader and his girlfriend, that they had then come to the head pastor and told them about it, and wanted to apologize to the church body. The worship leader had not been leading worship for several weeks. There were no details about the sin given. It was just "we sinned, we're sorry" and lots of hugs, support, and tears. The couple in question became engaged not long after and are now married. I do *NOT* think they were required to go in front of the congregation and apologize. I do *NOT* think that just any old church-goer at the church would be required to do that, either!! I think it's because of his position that anything of the sort happened to begin with, along with a wish on their part to get more accountability and apologize. (It was also a charismatic church, and the church believes that sins can affect everyone whether you know about them or not, which contributed to the public confession/repentance I'm sure.) I do think that in Mennonite churches public confession/repentance would probably be required, though I don't know. I'm almost positive it would be required in Amish churches from what I know of them. But I think most mainline Christian churches/denominations do *NOT* require that, except perhaps if a leader commits a grave sin.

My college has regular twin beds, but you can get XLTwin if you request them. I also believe the information is on the website. So check your school's website!

To Twilkin's dd, from one expecting mama to another: CONGRATULATIONS! :grouphug: Praying that everything gets worked out, especially in regard to the boy, and that the pregnancy goes well!

I am not the mother of a big family, but I am the oldest child in a big family. When I was 12 years old and told an adult how many of us there were (and it was several fewer than now), she said "Don't they know what causes that?" :glare: I've also had many, many well-meaning people in more recent years ask me if my parents are done having kids. I *hate* being asked this. I don't understand why people think that the oldest child is privy to the family planning of her parents!!! My response is usually along the lines of a cheerful "I don't know and I don't want to know!"

Subsidized loans are much better because interest does not accrue while the student is in school. However, I think they are also harder to get. I do not have co-signers on my loans, but I have many friends who have their parents as co-signers. So if you are willing to co-sign then your child may be able to get a loan where they would not be able to do so otherwise, from what I understand.

In college, papers are typed. In-class essays, essays during tests taken in class, quizzes administered in class, and sometimes even multiple-choice tests are handwritten. (I have never had a class which used scantrons during tests - but I go to a small school with small class sizes, and I am not a science student.) Notes can be done on a computer, but some professors forbid computers unless you have a good reason you can't take handwritten notes. So basically, it is important for your child to be able to read their own writing at *minimum*. They probably need to work on legible handwriting too, as well as being able to write smaller/bigger as the need arises. (I know some people whose handwriting is large and bubbly, and I've taken tests where we were limited to one page in a blue book for an essay. Handwriting size can be important in such circumstances!)

This is a really interesting thread to read as someone who is only 21yo, tends to be fiercely independent, and is expecting a child. :D My parents were very easy-going once I reached the age of 16 and showed that I was responsible (good grades, job, and my personality) and highly unlikely to do anything crazy and stupid. I think that, as a 16yo, if I was convinced that a religion was true and my parents were refusing to let me attend services, I would find a way to do it anyway!! It would also make me more set on joining the religion officially when I was "allowed" to. However, I also know that I would not have been involved in any extremist movements. As a parent, and with my background, I think that the key thing for me if a teenager wants to be part of a radically different religion will be their reasons why. If they can clearly articulate why they believe what they believe and show that their beliefs are based on something stronger than just emotion, then I would accept their decision -- unless it was a cult or something which required questionable behavior (e.g. animal sacrifice or illegal drug usage). I don't think I would require my teens to go to church if they had good reasons for being skeptical or a good reason to stay home. (If they just wanted to be lazy and sleep in I wouldn't be okay with that.) And once they're 18, they would be allowed to do whatever they wanted religion-wise. I would draw the line at illegal or irresponsible behavior committed while they were living at home -- they would need to live elsewhere if they wished to participate in that. I wouldn't keep them from visiting unless they were extremely bad examples for younger siblings. Now ask me about all this in 15 years and I'll tell you if I still think this way. :D

I personally use the NLT 2nd edition (published 2004/2007). It is a translation (as opposed to a paraphrase) but uses modern English. It also translates the various measurements, which I really appreciate. I think the KJV is beautiful but would caution anyone against using it as their primary Bible. Elizabethan English is simply not very clear to today's English speakers! Words that look like ones we have today can mean different things! The NKJV has always struck me as awkwardly worded for some reason. I enjoy the ESV, but it is also awkwardly worded sometimes. The NIV is considered a good translation, very middle of the road Protestant. If you want a Bible with the Apocrypha, the RSV is the first version that comes to mind. There are also the Catholic Bible translations, which I don't know much about since I'm not Catholic. Also, the KJV included the Apocrypha. Not all KJV Bibles published today have the Apocrypha in them, but the 1611 KJV had it.

Based on my personal experience taking AP classes (at a public high school), the only AP classes which really *need* prior experience with the subject are the science classes. The AP science classes are more like year 2 of a subject, and could *not* be taken after one year. The AP foreign language tests require fluency in the language. For the other tests, prior experience in the types of writing required are helpful, especially for the AP history and AP English tests. But you don't need any "inbetween" classes.

Random technical question: How in the world do you get a 3.5 year old into a rear-facing car seat?? :001_huh: From what I remember of when my siblings were younger, any rear-facing car seat would have been too small for them by the time they were that age. They fit fine when the same seat faced forward however. Rear facing just didn't give them any leg room. Are certain seats just bigger, so the kids have leg room? Or are three year olds just smaller than I remember? :001_smile: