You can find resources here for help if you are a gay teen and struggling with your family, your religion, your friends, your job or your school.

It’s fantastic that pages like this exist. The item that stuck out the most for me was the fact that gay teens have specific health issues to go over with tier doctors.

So you guys, those questions your doctors asks, like if you’ve veer had sex with someone of your same gender, are for a good reason. Your doctor needs to know about your sexuality so he or she can best care for you.

Also, there is a lot of information available on this page that can help a GLBT teen to come out to their parents, and information to pass along to parents to help them out with the transition.

Something that you might want to let your parents or friends know about is PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. This organization was created as a support system for those who are close to a GLBT individual, in case they are having a rough time dealing with their friend or family member, or in case they want to offer more support to their friend or family member themselves.

And you guys, if you are having some trouble coming out, or want to understand your sexuality better, go to GayTeens.org, another fantastic organization out there only to help you.

You can read about the story at Science Daily.

This study and previous work has shown many people studied who had started drinking before age 17 were alcohol dependent.

This could partially be from the decrease in the legal drinking ages for some countries youth.

This is a long-term significant consequence of heavy underage drinking. When you’d young, drinking is fun and cool and a way to relax or be wild. We don’t think that the weekend partying could lead to week night partying, and also could lead to sneaking booze in your soda bottles in class just to keep awake.

If not under control, drinking too much can cause alcoholism, which is a serious disease affecting millions of people. You can never be cured of it; you would be an alcoholic for life.

When partying, be safe. Drink in moderation. And be aware of your body. If you sense that you are relying on alcohol a bit too much, seek some help right away.

17 girls in a high school in Massachusetts joined a “pregnancy pact” so they all can raise their children together.

There are rumors that a couple of the girls were already pregnant when the pact was made, and they all decided that best way to support each other is to all be pregnant together, so they all know what each other is going through.

One of the fathers is reported to be a 24-year-old homeless man.

It’s unfortunate that these girls felt their best way out of their situation is to have others be in their same situation. Did they really not feel they had any other options? Did the school not provide them with any education into safe sex practices?

Do schools need to institute parenting classes at an early age so students know the trouble it takes to raise a baby when they are only 15?

What do you all think about this?

The basic premise is that there is a cute young girl who has pre-marital sex and gets pregnant. Also, basically everyone on the show is a Christian and Jesus-followers who aren’t going to have sex until they get married. So the fact that Amy is pregnant is a big scandal.

It’s interesting to me - who grew up in a Catholic household but never really followed the Faith - how the biggest confession that Amy gave to her friends was that she had sex. To me, it would be that she was pregnant. But that’s just me. Again, I was never a big believer in waiting until marriage and all that.

The show seems like it will touch on a lot of sensitive topics that are affecting teens today; mostly teen sex. I hope that they start preaching about safe sex and condoms rather than just preaching abstinence.

Teen are going to have sex no matter what, so they might as well be prepared with all the knowledge available to make sure that they are safe and healthy.

If this show doesn’t do a good job with giving information on prophylactics or where to get them, ask around. Or go to your local Planned Parenthood. They offer great advice, services and  condoms

“I was dating an amazing guy. I was his first, and he was my first. We had it in our minds that we would be together forever, but that all changed when I found out I was pregnant. I wanted to keep the baby, but he made me choose. He said, and I quote, It is either me, or THAT! I wanted to be with him SO bad that I made my appointment at the clinic for two weeks from that day.

“I wake up at night, and I think I hear a baby crying, but then I realize that it is only in my head, and I lie back down and cry myself back to sleep. Girls and Guys, abortion IS permanent. It IS a horrible thing to have to go through, and it IS NOT the only way out.”

It sounds like she is having a rough go of it. I don’t know anything about this girl - how old she is, where she lives, what her family support structure is like, etc. - but she seems like she is a loving person.

It’s true what she said; abortion is permanent, and it’s true that it is not the only way out. There are many options for teen girls who find themselves to be pregnant unexpectedly. If abortion isn’t the option for you, there are thousands of couples out there who want to adopt children. And if you have a strong support system behind you and are self-sufficient and want to do it, you can always keep the baby.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think abortions are a definite and viable option for any woman - no matter her age - who doesn’t want to have the child with which she is pregnant. It would be a crime if they were made illegal again, and thousands of women every year would die or be rendered infertile after giving themselves the clothes hanger treatment.

My opinions of this girls situation differ, but there is no way i am chastising her for her feelings. It is a tough to go through this, and she may need to find another outlet to share her feelings if she is this upset. There is support out there for you if you need it.

You can read more at The Local

This is such an unfortunate story. Understandably the student wanted to go back ad get his cap, but what would possess him to jump up and try to reach out to the passengers? I understand trying to be cool, but this is such a tragic event, and it could have been avoided.

Maybe the theme park needs higher security fences around their rides (6 years ago, a maintenance workers was also killed underneath this ride in the same manner). Maybe the theme park needs more security warnings “Do not cross this line or you could be killed”.

But when kids are having fun with each other, sometimes stupid things happen. I’d like to believe the theme park did all they can do to protect their visitors, but if not, they will surely be held accountable.

My thoughts go out to this student’s family in this hard time.

Have you seen any instances of this group mentality? Maybe mixed with teen grandeur (”I’m invincible”)? What are some ideas you have that could have prevented this tragedy in Georgia?

Okay, this episode of Saved By The Bell came out when I was about 10 or 11 years old. And while most of you probably don’t get excited when the reruns come on Saturday mornings, the message can still be as effective.

Zach and the Gang preach against drug use. There are a lot of things that can go wrong when someone becomes addicted to drugs, and we all know what those are by now, with the D.A.R.E. program being as persistent as it is.

If you don’t want to listen to this message, fine. This just brought me back to my younger days and it still gets the “Say No To Drugs” message out there. Be safe.

Last month El Camino High School played a prank on the student body. Officials kept students out of class, and polica officers went classroom by classroom telling students that their absent friend has been killed in a drunk driving accident over the weekend. Hysteria ensued when students realized their friends were dead….

… Only to find out this was a practical joke used to “scare straight” the student body before diving head first into prom and graduation without thinking.

You can read the story on CNN

I think this is a great plan to get the kids to not realize they are invincible before leaving home for the first time to go to college. Underage drinking is not legal, yet we all know it happens. I’m sure we’ve all done it! But when we do this, we must be aware of the consequences.

If you are planning on sneaking some drinks of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, White Zinfendel or my cousin’s favorite - Captain Morgan and iced tea - into your summer festivities, please plan accordingly.

• Plan on staying in - There are no drinking and driving accidents if no one is driving.
• Keep a sober cab handy - There will undoubtedly be someone you know who isn’t going ot drink. That person can be your chauffeur.
• Moderation, moderation, moderation - You may still be doing something illegal, but when you get home at night, your parents will be able to tell if you’re wasted, versus being just 1 drink in.
• Play it safe - If you don’t want to get in trouble, don’t do anything stupid. Underage drinking might just be that thing you want to stay away from.

During my senior year of high school, two junior classmates were killed in a horrific drunk driving accident. No one I knew drank and drove for the rest of that year.

Perhaps if my school had had a program like El Camino High School’s had, those two boys would still be alive.

Welcome to the Teen Issues Blog - an informative and helpful resource for those of us who have questions and need to know where to go to get answers.

Growing up is tough. Duh.

And with the extra weight of increasing expectations for our youth (straight A’s, perfect boyfriend/girlfriend, good college, extra-curricular activities, great friends, curfew) it’s tough for anyone to keep up. No one should expect a teenager to be able to handle the responsibilities of being an adult because they are an adult.

So here is your place to ask questions. Need to know if you should sleep with your controlling boyfriend to keep him? Ask. Wondering if you’ve contracted an STD from the sleazy girl? Ask. Not sure how to tell a friend to stop drinking? Ask.

Questions will be posted anonymously.

I will be able to point you to the right solution or resource, and I can even offer up some of my teen experiences as examples (which weren’t all that great, trust me).

Feel free to email me at teenissuesblog [at] gmail [dot] com (type it out like name@example.com) and we can work together to get help you out if you need it.