When you think about your teenager, what are some of the things that come to mind?

Perhaps you find yourself thinking about your desire for your teenager's success and happiness;

• Or your fond memories of your teenager as a child;
• Or your teenager's performance in school;
• Or your teenager's attitude and approach to life;
• Or the fight you had with your teenager last night;
• Or your teenager's increasing interest in independence;
• Or...

Whether your teenager is doing well, coasting along (and not really achieving his or her "potential") or starting to spend time with a "bad crowd", one of the most important thoughts on your mind is your desire to help your teenager become a successful adult. Unsure how you or your teen is doing? Take a look at the following sites and then speak to your child's counselor. 

Parenting Issues

Parents. The Anti Drug.
This site was created by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to equip parents with the tools they need to raise drug-free kids.

Mental Health Fact Sheets
The National Mental Health Association has a number of fact sheets on issues relating to the mental health of children and teens.

Talking with Kids
This site offers practical, concrete tips and techniques for talking easily and openly with children about some very tough issues: sex, HIV/AIDS, violence, drugs and alcohol.

Parent Soup
This "Guide to Raising Teens" offers suggestions on such topics as education, dating, diet and fitness, health, self-esteem and discipline.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
The AACAP "Facts for Families" provides concise and up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families. 

The Parent Report.com
TheParentReport.com was developed as an extension The Parent Report an internationally syndicated radio program. Established in 1990, The Parent Report radio program has provided parents with objective, useful tips to help make their job of raising children a little easier and a little more rewarding. 

Parent-Teen
An online magazine for parents of teenagers, with information and articles on parenting, adolescence, physical and mental health, education, humor and more.

Teen Depression
Teen depression, treatment for depression options, adolescent depression symptoms, teenage depression statistics and hope for parents of depressed teenagers.

Parenting the Adopted Adolescent
This factsheet is a guide to parents of adopted teenagers. It focuses on child development, typical adolescent behavior, the special issues of adopted teenagers, the times when parents should become concerned, and the steps parents can take to make these difficult years more manageable.

Raising Successful Teenagers
The information provided here will provide parents with the necessary information they need to know to help teenagers reach their full potential. The site also provides suggestions for helping teens cope with various life issues.

School and Homework Issues

Helping Children Succeed in School
This information, provided by University of Illinois Extension educators, gives successful strategies to assist parents in helping their children succeed in school.

The Learning Network
This site is designed to assist you in helping your child be more successful in and out of school. 

The Pressure of College Admission

The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College 
The SAS Counselors recommend this book, published by Viking Press on September 12, 2002 (ISBN: 0670031356) and available from Amazon.com

New York Times education reporter Jacques Steinberg presents a compelling tale as told from the perspective of Ralph Figueroa, an admissions officer at Wesleyan University. Expanding on a series of articles in the New York Times, Steinberg provides an insider's look at how Figueroa and the school's admissions committee factored grades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities and race into account as they winnowed 700 students for the class of 2004 from nearly 7,000 applicants. Using real names, applications and interviews, Steinberg follows six applicants of varying backgrounds from their first encounter with Figueroa to their final acceptance or rejection. The process that Steinberg describes is similar at most selective private colleges and universities.

MIT Dean of Admissions Talks about Parents
In January 2003, USA Today published this article about how aggressive parents can actually hurt their senior's chance of admission. 

A Parent's Apology
This reprinted article from the May 2002 issue of the National Association for College Admission Counseling ( NACAC) Bulletin has given counselors a chuckle. Hopefully you will laugh, too.

Confessions of a Prep School College Counselor
In this article from The Atlantic Monthly, The author looks at books about college admissions -- and at the unexamined prejudices fueling the "elite" college admissions frenzy.