According to a new study published in Pediatrics, teen obesity could be cut back by 26% if teens would simply take part in more than one sport. Sounds simple enough, right?

Of course teens would stay in their target weight range more easily if they were participating in multiple sports but I also think there is an easier way to do this. I think, as parents, we need to change the status quo. We need to get back to basics and instead of figuring out a way to help our children lose weight, we need to practice some prevention.

A few months ago, I mentioned in passing that my daughter has been cutting herself. It’s an issue we’ve been dealing with for what seems like forever, but I haven’t really been comfortable talking about it, much less sharing our story because for one, there hasn’t been some miraculous, this-is-the-cure resolution, and secondly, it’s so deeply hurtful that I, as her mama, couldn’t figure out how to fix it or even prevent it in the first place. A reader criticized me in the comments for outing my kid’s cutting and it made me scuttle backwards and clam up again. But because there may be other families out there struggling with the same heartbreaking problem—particularly in the black community, where no one talks about mental health issues, much less specific problems like this—I’m out again. And I hope, as Skylar gets older, she uses her story to help others dealing with the issue, as well. 

My daughter pulled out my high school yearbook last week and pored through the pages, barely recognizing her young mother in the pictures. Looking through the clubs and classes and classmates with her, I started thinking about all of the things I'd like to tell her, once she enters the tween and teen years. Not surprisingly, they are mostly the same things I'd go back and tell myself if I could ...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a high school sophomore and her Mother against the school superintendent charging that she violated the teen’s freedom of speech right by allowing her “I HEART Boobies” bracelet to be confiscated by the assistant principal.

The student, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, had worn the bracelet for months in support of breast cancer research and in honor of her mother before having it confiscated.

Texanna Edwards, a senior at Gibson County High School in Dyer, Tennessee, took “inappropriate prom dress” to the next level when she showed up at her prom wearing a prom dress with a Confederate flag design along with a rebel flag necklace.

I don’t really agree with censoring people’s clothing, as it’s an extension of their freedom of speech. (Thank God we live in a country where they have choices). But should teen girls be dressing provocatively, especially on a night when teen hormones are known for being heightened?

And now, it appears, we have to worry not only about our girls being dressed too provocatively but whether or not their prom dress is making some kind of political statement -- one that they might  be not old enough to understand.

Last summer, I went to Earth, Wind & Fire’s 40th anniversary concert. I knew when I bought the tickets that I was going to offer myself up as a background vocalist and showgirl right from my seat. I mean, come on—it’s Earth, Wind & Fire. “Emotions,” “Fantasy,” “Let’s Groove,” “Boogie Wonderland” Earth, Wind & Fire. That’s a guaranteed party. There were people in my section I would’ve never pinned as EWF fans. Jim from accounting, Skater Guy Bill, the lady who frowns at you when you have too many items at the express checkout. They all came on out. There was another, more important person there I never would’ve expected: my mommy. And she was right next to me, hollering out all the lyrics like Phillip Bailey was going to call her onstage for a job well done.

As President Obama acknowledged in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, the American people tend to regard much of what goes on in Washington, DC, with a skeptical eye. But there was a moment during Obama's looong (is it over yet?) speech that, as the parent of two kids attending public elementary school, I found myself wanting to stand up and cheer. Actually, come to think of it, there were a few of them. Here are five things the President said about education that parents of kids of all ages -- K through college -- can celebrate. (If Washington lawmakers can manage to work out a deal to make them happen, that is -- which is, of course, a big if.)

It’s 12:00 a.m., and when most children are all snuggly buggly wuggly in their widdle beds getting lots of shuteye for their big days at school tomorrow, mine is still awake. Apparently, her class got in trouble today for excessive chattiness and in a brazen show of authoritative take-that-ness, her teacher slammed them with — wait for it — 60 definitions and 60 sentences. On top of science homework and algebra equations, Girl Child’s whole night has been spent with her face stuck in a dictionary and a marble composition book leading up to now, the stroke of midnight. I am not amused.