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Parent Up Insights
We share practical, up-to-date information to help parents tackle difficult issues with their children around underage drinking, drug use, mental health, and more. Together we can create positive outcomes for our children!
We Know How to Fight This: Flavored Marijuana
If it feels like vaping is suddenly everywhere, you’re not imagining it. Local reports and data from this past year show a sharp rise in …
Parenting: The Quiet Heartbreak of Doing Your Best
Miranda Jamison is a local parent and the lead reporter for The Richmond News and The Excelsior Springs Standard. She covers everything from local government ...
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Medicine Safety: Help Protect Kids Now & in the Future
In light of the opioid epidemic and with fentanyl already in our communities, it’s more important than ever to teach our younger kids about medication safety. ...
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Parent Up Hosting New Fall Parent Workshop Series
Join Parent Up and Beacon Mental Health for an engaging lineup of free educational sessions designed to support parents and caregivers of youth in Northland ...
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Teen Vaping is Down, But Nicotine Use is Up – Here’s Why
There’s a new nicotine trend taking hold among teens, and it’s not vaping. Usage of this product amongst high schoolers nearly doubled between 2023 and ...
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Discreet and Sweet: Steering Kids Clear of Fruity Nicotine Gum, Tablets, & Pouches
There’s a new trend with teens, especially among those who have tried smoking or vaping: New fruity nicotine gums, tablets, pouches, and lozenges. Popular brands among ...
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Help Knock Out Teen Vaping For Good. Here’s How:
As adults, helping our teens make good choices can sometimes feel like stepping into the boxing ring, facing off against the challenges that threaten their ...
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A Clear Message from Clay, Platte and Ray Prosecutors: “Don’t Provide Alcohol to Minors”
As the school year wraps up and the summer season approaches, Parent Up is joining with local prosecutors and prevention coalitions to remind parents and ...
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How to Protect Our Kids from Deadly Fake Pills
In today’s rapidly changing world, it’s more crucial than ever to stay informed about the dangers that can impact our kids and teens. Two of ...
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Make the Most of Dinners with Your Teen!
Dr. Anne Fishel is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Family and Couples Therapy Program ...
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What are We Teaching Our Kids?: How to Be a Positive Role Model with Alcohol
“Role Modeling is one of the most powerful tools you have in your parenting tool belt to influence the direction of your children’s character, whatever ...
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How to Keep Our Kids Merry and Bright Now and All Year Long
It’s the holiday season and here at Parent Up, we are intentionally celebrating the joy, creativity, and resilience of area youth. We also celebrate YOU, ...
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9 Ways to Root Your Family in Resilience
As parents or caregivers, we know you want the best for your kids and hope that they get to stay in their carefree kid phase ...
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5 Urgent Reasons to Keep Our Youth Marijuana-Free
As parents and caring adults, we all want our kids to grow up healthy, happy, and confident about their futures. But with today’s marijuana products ...
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An Open Letter to My Son about Underage Drinking
When my, now 25-year-old, son was entering 10th grade, I started getting a lot of questions from family and friends. They wondered how I was ...
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How To Talk To Your Teen About Marijuana (And Actually Get Somewhere!)
Whether you know it as marijuana, THC, cannabis, weed, or pot, one fact is clear: No amount of marijuana use is safe for youth. With ...
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How Can I Support Teens in Taking “Safe” Risks?
If you’ve ever said, “What were you thinking?!” to a teen, you’re not alone! Luckily, a basic understanding of teen brain development can help us ...
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Deadly Pills in the Northland: Time to Take Action
Law enforcement in our area are seeing deaths among Northland teens and young adults linked to pills that appear to be prescription pills or legitimate ...
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A Letter to the Parents of Our 2023 High School Graduates
Dear Parents and Guardians, Graduation is upon us and it’s time to celebrate your child’s accomplishments and achievements! As you prepare to launch your child ...
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Legal Weed is Now in Missouri – Here’s How You Can Help Ensure Kids Stay Drug-Free
With legal marijuana now being sold and marketed in our community, it’s more important than ever that we protect youth from early experimentation. The adolescent ...
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Keeping Our Kids Merry & Bright
It’s the holiday season and here at Parent Up, we are intentionally celebrating the joy, creativity and resilience of area youth. We also celebrate YOU, ...
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Underage Drinking: It’s on Us to Protect Kids
by Parent Up Staff As adults we have the opportunity, and the obligation, to do everything we can to make sure our young people have ...
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Making the Most of Dinners with Your Teen
Dr. Anne Fishel is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Family and Couples Therapy Program ...
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Giving Devices a Seat…Away From the Table
Have you noticed that at Parent Up, we ARE OBSESSED with encouraging families to sit down and eat meals together?! Why the bias? Well, it’s ...
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Marijuana: Risky Business for Young Brains
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 38% of high school youth have used marijuana at some point in their lives. In this same ...
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Fentanyl in the Northland: What We Can Do
Kim Downs is a lifelong Kansas City North resident and has been a licensed school social worker in the area for nearly 20 years. She ...
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Drawing Boundaries for Safe, Healthy Kids
Diane Pickert is a Community Prevention Specialist at Tri-County Mental Health Services in Kansas City, MO. Her background education is in Early Childhood Development, Communication, ...
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The Magic of Family Meals
How has family meal time changed for you this year? Has your family had to adapt to new school and work schedules, making it harder ...
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What We Want Every Parent to Know
There’s yard signs, news headlines, and lawsuits buzzing around us. No, we are not talking about the election. We’re talking about medical marijuana. In 2018, ...
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High-Performing Kids and Mental Wellness: The Tightrope Walk
We humans are good at finding patterns. This evolutionary benefit has kept us alive longer than the dinosaurs, but it’s not foolproof. Sometimes, these patterns ...
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7 Things to Consider As You Send Your Child Back to School
What a difficult time this is to be thinking about back to school! Not only do you need to prepare your child for going to school, ...
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The Results are In! New 2020 Data and Looking to the Future
Local Data on Substance Use Declines The Missouri Student Survey is conducted on even-numbered years and tracks risky behaviors of students in grades 6-12 attending ...
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What are We Teaching Our Kids?: How to be a positive role model when it comes to alcohol
“Role Modeling is one of the most powerful tools you have in your parenting tool belt to influence the direction of your children’s character, whatever ...
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We Are Supposed to Feel: Parenting During COVID-19
This month, Sonya Richardson-Thomas, a Licensed Professional Counselor, gives practical tips and tools for parents as they work to extend grace and acceptance during the ...
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4 Parenting Trends For 2020
New year, new trends! As we enter a new decade, here are some parenting trends and movements you might see in 2020. Mental Health Transparency ...
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Secrets Versus Privacy
With teenagers on their road to expanding independence, a parental grip must somewhat loosen. The balance between being present and involved, and allowing our kids ...
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