Instead of School Supplies, Give 'Life Supplies'

HIGHLAND BEACH, FL, Aug 11 (MARKET WIRE) --
According to a new study published in the journal Child Development,
teenaged girls with involved fathers tended to practice safer sex than
those without. According to the article, mothers are important to teen
sexual behavior, but fathers have twice the effect.

"Too many people talk in abstracts about communicating with their kids,"
said Mark Hansen, author of "Success 101 for Teens: 7 Traits for a Winning
Life" from Paragon House (www.success101forteens.com). "You have to talk
about specific issues, and this study makes it clear that the risks of not
talking to your kids about the important things is great."

Hansen, a former West Palm Beach, FL School Board member, thinks that the
weeks prior to the start of school are the perfect time for parents to
discuss the qualities they should seek in their friends:

-- Determination means being committed to what you want to achieve and
making sure you are mentally and physically prepared.
-- Responsibility revolves around accepting full responsibility for
ourselves. We are each the only example of who we are, we are each in
charge of our own behavior and actions.
-- Confidence is about believing in yourself, because if you don't
believe in yourself, no one will.
-- Love means understanding the power of that emotion. It has the power
to drive us to do both wonderful and dreadful things, and we must be able
to manage that power with wisdom and judgment.
-- Persistence maintains that you must stick to what you are looking to
achieve and continue forward with making sure what you are doing is
supporting what you want to accomplish.
-- Dreams are important, because they are the fuel for our engines. We
must keep each of our dreams alive, each of our personal dreams that we
have for ourselves.
-- Attitude is about maintaining a consistent positive attitude in order
to accomplish all of our dreams.

About Mark Hansen

Mark Hansen is a successful businessman and a former elected official who
relates to struggles in adolescence because he went through tough times
after being hit by a car as a child. His struggle to overcome partial
paralysis underscores the passion he has for teaching young people the
lessons he learned the hard way.

Contact:
Rachel Friedman
rachel@newsandexperts.com

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