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Set healthy boundaries to find peace

Q. What’s the hardest part about setting boundaries and how do I keep those boundaries. – 16-year-old Mary Jo’s Response: Great questions, with complicated answers. First, let’s define boundaries. A healthy boundary sets appropriate limits for a relationship in a way that protects all ...

Choosing kindness wins the day

Q. I feel like I should help others more. I know that sounds weird. Let me explain. Since my parents split, I’ve watched how they act. I love them both, but I’ve decided I want to live my life the way my mom does, not the way my dad does. First of all, he takes every chance he has to put ...

Finding your way in high school

Q.Why does high school seem so scary and long? 14year-old Mary Jo’s Response: I’m so pleased you reached out to me. It takes courage to admit our fears. High school is scary in part because it’s new. Change is a big part of life but can be ...

Moving forward after a breakup

Q. My boyfriend broke up with me without any reason at all. We met online. We’ve been together over a year. And it’s just over – no phone call, no text, nothing. He blocked me. I can’t even find out what went wrong. My gram says I need to snap out of it. She says I wasn’t in love in ...

Teens examine food additives

As promised, this column is a follow-up to last week’s column from the 15-year-old who was concerned about chemical additives in our food. I met with our peer educators. With their help, we researched what they felt was a complicated subject. Our teen committee felt it was complicated ...

Show respect to young, old alike

Q. Would you please talk about two things in your column? The first is pretty straightforward. I became curious about chemical additives in our food when I read that the FIFA team from Norway brought their own food to the U.S., rather than let their team eat American food. I asked you to post ...