Talking About Kids

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The rising cost of college is in the news once again, as are 529 plans and student loan repayment. As a result, I wanted to revisit the topic of paying for college and how to balance saving for college with saving for retirement. My guest to help unpack these issues is Brad Baldridge. Brad is a College Funding Specialist and the host of the Taming the High Cost of College podcast. Brad has helped thousands of families plan for the expenses of college, and I am grateful that he agreed to share some of his insights here. More information about Brad is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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The transition from high school to college can be difficult for some students. Here to talk about that is Amy McGrath. Amy is the Vice President of Educational Outreach and Student Services for Arizona State University and the Managing Director the ASU Preparatory Academy, which is a network of public charter schools sponsored by ASU. Starting now, Talking About Kids will be dedicating one episode a month to supporting the formation and coordination of adolescent-centered care and services. We will be using Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health as a model, so, once a month you will also hear Vinny Chulani and Beheir Thompson participate in the discussion and share information about Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health’s activities and resources. These episodes are recorded live using a webinar platform to encourage questions from alliance members and other listeners. If you would like to participate in the webinars, you can register here. I hope that these episodes will inspire you to join the Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health or whatever alliance exists in your community or, if none exists, to form your own. More information about Amy, Vinny, Beheir, and the Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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Millions of kids in the U.S. have jobs. For this mini Labor Day Episode of Talking About Kids, I want to examine what we know about the benefits and risks of juvenile employment. Links to some of the research I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com.  Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (September 11, 2023).

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Not long ago, Rebecca Sugar, creator of Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe, and I were discussing things that undermine the health and wellbeing of kids. I must have been painting a bleak picture because she suggested that I read Living in a World That Can’t Be Fixed: Reimagining Counterculture Today by Curtis White. I did, and then I immediately delved into his other writings, including The Science Delusion:  Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy Answers and the brand new Transcendent:  Art and Dharma in a Time of Collapse. In these and other works, I think Curtis makes a strong case for the importance of arts education. Given the increased emphasis on STEM in schools at the expense of the humanities, I thought it was important to have Curtis on the podcast to share his perspective. More information about Curtis, including links to his books, is talkingaboutkids.com.

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Participation in sports declines during adolescence. There are many reasons for this, and I want to address all them because, when kids stop playing sports, they miss out on the mental and physical benefits that sports afford. My guest today is Pam Luk. Pam believes that one of the reasons adolescents quit sports is that athletic wear for kids does a poor job of accommodating different body types. Pam share her story and what she did to address the problem next. More information about Pam and Ember & Ace is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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Adolescence is a time of experimenting, and that experimenting sometimes involves trying illicit drugs. Unfortunately, dealers are adding fentanyl to illicit drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine, to make them cheaper and more potent, but fentanyl also makes them more deadly. Every day in the U.S., over 150 people die from overdoses related to fentanyl. To explain what fentanyl is and what you, as people who care about kids, can to do prevent overdoses from happening, I reached out to my friend Haley Coles. Haley is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sonoran Prevention Works and a pioneer in harm reduction. More information about Haley, Sonoran Prevention Works, and harm reduction is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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News about increases in adolescent suicide can seem overwhelming, so in this second mini summer vacation episode of Talking About Kids, I want to share a newly published paper on the care of kids with suicide-related symptoms that I think it suggests something constructive that we, as people who care about kids, can do to help reverse the trend. Links to some of the research I cite are talkingaboutkids.com. Full-length Talking About Kids episodes return in mid-August with an important examination of fentanyl.

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Back-to-school sales are underway, so in this a mini summer episode of Talking About Kids I decided to address the “back” in “back-to-school.” That is to say, I examine lower back pain in students, its prevalence, its causes, and how to prevent it. Links to some of the resources I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com. Full-length Talking About Kids episodes return in mid-August with an important examination of fentanyl.

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This episode was recorded in front of a live audience on July 19th, 2023, at the Adloscent Health Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. My guests are Veenod Chulani, Section Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and Beheir Thompson, Adolescent Health Program Coordinator for Affirm. Along with their colleagues, Vinny and Beheir are working to bring professionals together to advance health equity for youth. Their insights on what adolescent-centered care entails, why it is important, and what steps you can take to become more effective when working with youth are addressed. More information about Vinny, Beheir, and the Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health is talkingaboutkids.com.

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My guest for this episode is Stephanie Young Moss. Dr. Stephanie, as she is known professionally, approached me with a unique thesis:  pharmacists can help reduce healthcare disparities among families. Her education and decades of experience as a pharmacist and an activist convinced me, and I am eager for you to hear her insights as well as the advice that she, and every pharmacist, has for parents. More information about Dr. Stephanie is at talkingaboutkids.com.