This book unveils that "YOU ARE A GIFT, YOUR LIFE IS A GIFT" and "YOUR LIFE DESERVES TO BE CELEBRATED." The life of a Teenager is too beautiful and precious. And your life is meant to be filled with the joy and abundance of happiness. This is your birthright Your life has a divine purpose You're here to shine, to accomplish, celebrate life, and celebrate your sacred purpose Young adults will find techniques, in this book that can harness their mind, their body and their intellect. When these three aspects are in sync, they will realize the world is at their feet. Fear is no longer in their psyche and confidence becomes their second nature. A must read for teenagers, this book should be a guide on a daily basis. When life get bumpy, read the book. You will gain knowledge on why and how things work. It will energize you physically and enrich your thoughts with inspiring ideas, quotes, and timeless universal principles of joy, happiness and health.

This guy is tough, and so is his message.(By Ruben Rosario, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN August 2011. Edited for length)Like the U.S. Postal Service, apparently nothing keeps Larry Bauer-Scandin - foster dad to 125 - from his self-appointed rounds.Not the weather. Not the heart ailments or the genetic neurological disorder that robbed him of movement and rendered him legally blind. The 64-year-old Vadnais Heights resident just gets up and does it."My life was normal for the first nine years of my life until 1957 when my foot went to sleep, except that my foot never woke up," Bauer-Scandin told a group of inmates from the 3100 unit at the Dakota County Jail.But that's not the main message that Bauer-Scandin, a retired probation officer and jail counselor, wants to deliver on this day. "Whom do you blame for your problems?" he asks the group of 34 men, who are members of IMC, or Inmates Motivated to Change. Under the program, inmates with chemical dependency or mostly nonviolent offenses sign an agreement to take part in several programs and pledge not to make the same mistakes that keep landing them in lock-up."What people need to do is stand in front of a mirror and ask: 'How much of the problem is mine and how much is it somebody else?' "I first wrote about Bauer-Scandin five years ago. It was centered on his life as a foster parent. As he told the inmates, two of his former foster kids are cops, one in St. Paul. Two are soldiers deployed to Iraq. One's a millionaire. One's an author. Most are raising families or staying out of trouble in spite of hardships.But "15 are dead," said Bauer-Scandin, author of "Faces on the Clock," an engrossing memoir about his life. The dead include suicide victims, including an 11-year-old, others from AIDS and "my last one, they found in three or four pieces, as I understand."Bauer-Scandin's worth writing about again for what he continues to do at great pain and sacrifice without pay or fanfare. He didn't sugarcoat or pull punches with his audience."What I'm afraid is still happening is that the system is trying to figure out how to get tighter," he told them. "The sentences are getting tougher."And it's not the police, the sheriffs, the courts or even the folks in state and county-run corrections that are responsible for the race to incarcerate."It's the legislature," Bauer-Scandin said. "And legislatures have been known to do very stupid things."He also faults the media and a gullible public that forms opinions and dehumanizes people strictly on what they watch on TV and not on real-life experiences or knowledge."What do they see?" he said. "They see the Charlie Mansons. They see the unusual. They see the extreme. Most of you aren't that way. But that's what makes the news."Yet he doesn't divert from his main message: It's up to the inmate to take a positive step and choose the right way."Get yourself back into a position where you can influence those people, to be able to go to a school board or a city council or legislative meeting and have your voice heard."You can't fight the system from in here," he concluded. "You have to be out there."The inmates applauded and, one by one, stood in line to shake his hand on his way out the jail complex.His progressively debilitating disorder is taking more of a toll these days. But he steered the scooter inside the van and deftly wiggled his frail body into the driver's seat. He has no complaints, he told me. He will continue to go out and speak as long as God and his wife allow him."I hope something stuck," he tells me before he drives off.I hope so too, Larry.

As an older foster child, Andrew longed for the day when he'd be adopted by a real family because they loved him and wanted him to be part of their family unit. Until that day dawned, like many other foster kids, he lived with the stigma that he was kept by his foster parents to generate income for them.

Of late, bad had gone to worse for 13 year old Andrew. He was being sexually abused by Blanche, his new single foster mom. Blanche had been abandoned by her husband and despised men. Although she used Andrew for her own depraved needs, she treated him poorly. To add to his pain, news of this sexual relationship leaked out to his peers at school and he was now enduring verbal torment at recesses and noon hour. Andrew couldn't bear the pain any longer when the only friend who'd stuck up for him at school turned against him. He felt totally alone, so unloved.

"Dear God, I have nothing left to live for," he sobbed one night when his foster mom left for a party. "Please forgive me for what I have to do, but I'm hurting so much."

Andrew headed to his foster mother's shed to get the rope. With the rope coiled up under his coat, he headed to the big black poplar tree in the Kinsman Park. Twelve feet off the ground was a large branch at right angles to the trunk. Andrew quickly fashioned a hangman's noose and shinnied up the tree. Bracing himself with his legs he slipped the noose over his head and tied the other end of the rope to the branch. Grasping the branch, he let himself down. As he hung there by his fingertips, his short life passed before him.......

Ever since the killings at Columbine High School created a renewed focus on the problems of adolescent aggression, professionals in education, criminal justice, and social services have been seeking ways to curb its rising tide. This volume examines adolescent aggression from many perspectives--biological, psychological, and social--and analyzes some of the contributing factors to this growing problem. Written by internationally recognized experts in adolescent psychology, this book not only covers the causes of teen violence but, more important, offers solutions. McCarthy, Hutz, and their contributors reveal the precursors to violent behavior, and provide strategies for working with adolescents to prevent future violence. The symptoms and strategies are described clearly in a way that can be understood and adapted by parents, schools, social service agencies, and criminal justice institutions. Topics include: substance abuse; suicide and self-harm; sexual aggression; anger management and impulse control; gang violence; school violence; bullying; resilience; and increasing critical thinking skills. This book is a must-read for anyone who lives, works, or comes in contact with youth.

The only sex education book you need to start a conversation with your kids about sexual harassment, consent, #metoo, and more Being a teen in today's world can be hard. Raising a healthy, aware, and sex-positive teen can be even more of a challenge. When it comes to sexuality in adolescence, harassment, autonomy, advice, and consent, it's crucial that teens be able to ask hard questions about how to take care of themselves, make decisions that reflect their values, and stay safe. Enter: Sex, Teens, and Everything in Between, by veteran teen sex educator and mother of three Shafia Zaloom, which acts as a conversation starter to discuss a wide variety of sex-related topics with your teens, including: How to get and give consent What it means to have "good" sex How to help prevent sexual harassment and assault How to stay safe in difficult situations The legal consequences of sexual harassment and assault, and what to do if a teen experiences assault or is accused of it Stories from survivors of sexual assaultTalking to your child about sex and realizing it's perfectly normal is step one. Having proactive and engaged discussions about all that comes along with teen sex is step two, and that's where this book is here to help. Approachable, engaging, and with real-life scenarios and discussion questions in every chapter, Sex, Teens, and Everything in Between is a must-have resource that gives parents and educators the tools they need to have meaningful conversations with teens about what sex can and should be.