Ruth Schapira
“This is not Camp!” How Parents Can Be More Welcoming
If your child is returning home from overnight camp, expect that your laundry room will be filled with the dirtiest, grimiest piles of...
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Ruth Schapira
3 min read
the challenge of raising teens in a country missing moral clarity
Ethical clarity? Clueless The year is newly born, yet through the lens of ethics things feel quite stale. The clarity that should come...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
What 7 of today’s top headlines tell you about teens today
Where’s the good news? When it comes to teens, it seems that “Headlines” are usually “Dead Lines”….yes….news about deaths, teenage thugs,...
Ruth Schapira
3 min read
“You’re Not Invited”: Teen Victims of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Years and What To Do Abo
Party time (for some) We know that many Bar/Bat Mitzvah Celebrations have gotten way out of hand. Thousands have seen Rabbi Wolpe’s...
Ruth Schapira
1 min read
Catching Catfish: Real and Unreal Life for Jewish Teens
Just when you think you can keep pace with the bizarre events of the everyday, you find yourself having a discussion with Jewish teens...
Ruth Schapira
3 min read
“After my Bar Mitzvah, my Dad decided to convert. Will he be a real Jew then?”
Some labels might be useful. Others, not so much. I wasn’t prepared for such a troubling question by this earnest 8th grader in my class....
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
Writings About Jewish Teens: Annual Review
The WordPress.com team sends me a summary e-mail at the end of the year (complete with fireworks!) that help me learn about what you find...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
For Teens: Worrying About Being Normal? Don’t.
What’s the new normal anyway? I recently read a great post called Approaching Normal. It got me thinking about how teens today think...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
Current Events: did your teenager’s eyes just glaze over?
Mention “Current Events” to a group of teens and just watch what happens. Their eyes seem to glaze over. As if talking about...
Ruth Schapira
1 min read
Teens: Got a bad grade? Work it!
Image via Wikipedia Getting a bad grade, especially when you expected something else entirely, pretty much stinks. It’s hard enough being...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
Five Things Jewish Parents Should Know
Imagine that you’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean in a thunderous storm. Waves are coming fast and furiously. Water is...
Ruth Schapira
1 min read
Why Do We Hate Teenagers?
Image via Wikipedia Did this headline grab you? You’re not unique. It’s what seems to work for newspapers and television. This is what I...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
Jewish Teens Need More
We need to define Judaism more broadly. The Jewish teens I work with in a Jewish community high school are looking for more ways to...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
When Teens Say “I’m not that Jewish”
Image by Alex E. Proimos via Flickr I met with several teens yesterday, and when I asked them to tell me about their Jewish identity,...
Ruth Schapira
3 min read
Non-Day School Jewish Teens: Orphans in the Field?
photo courtesy of ePublicist Almost every day I experience a huge disconnect between my reality and the world of foundations and...
Ruth Schapira
2 min read
“The Truth About Youth”: What we can Learn
The world in mosaic tiles, courtesy of Genista. I recently visited a blog on manufacturing (not my usual topic for browsing) because it...
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