The problem with energy drinks and teens

Plus, good books for summer! |

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SUBSCRIBE to TIME Magazine Friday night again already parents! I had occasion this week to spend some time on a reporting assignment with a delightful family and I was reminded how easy it is to enjoy children when you don't have any responsibility for them. You don't have to worry if they're getting enough sunshine/nutrition/enrichment or too much sun/food/stimulation. You can just be with them, play with them, take whatever weird conversational avenues they want to go down. You can put aside teachable moments and cautionary tales, just for a while. These were a curious, loving, friendly little bunch of young boys and, to be fair, I did threaten to write in Time magazine they were not eating well when lunch dragged on, because it takes a village, but on the whole it made wish I could have the kind of lightness around my own children that I have around other people's. My resolve to just let my children be who they are will last, I predict, right up until I see the state of my oldest child's bedroom. Happy July 4th, everyone. I'm at Belinda.Luscombe@time.com or @luscombeland on twitter. Thanks to all the parents who emailed me with their stories of having left paid employment to look after their kids! Still looking for others, particularly if you did it recently. P.S. If you like this newsletter, please pass it on to a friend. And if you got it from a friend, sign up here for email delivery each Friday. You know, more or less. roundup A 2018 report found that more than 40% of American teens in a survey had consumed an energy drink within the past three months. These drinks can actually be a problem; groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the  American College of Sports Medicine say youth should forgo these products entirely. Here's why and why they persist.  TIME This just in from Time for Kids's Allie Singer: Summer is in full swing, and nothing helps prevent the "summer slide" like a good book. We've picked 10 buzzworthy books for kids ages 8–12 to enjoy as part of our Summer Reading Adventure. The selections can be found here, along with a free book review template and monthly reading trackers. Our Kid Reporters are reviewing them, too—we'll be posting those reviews weekly. Two are up so far:  We're Not From Here reviewed by Roman Peterson, and Pie in the Sky reviewed by Will Holland. A couple of years back, we posted a story about how to make Independence Day more meaningful for kids of all ages. But we did it after July 4. I'm not making that mistake again! Here's that piece, chockful of good advice, but this time you get to read it  BEFORE the holiday. You're welcome  TIME Teen suicide is a difficult problem that seems to be getting worse. But a promising new study has found very encouraging results with a very simple technique. A group of researchers at the University of Michigan has been working with recruiting three or four familiar adults — not the young person's parents — who pledge ongoing support through recovery. "In a recent paper reporting a decade-long follow up of teens in the program, those who received the attention of trained adults in their lives were nearly seven times less likely to die than teens who received only standard care."  TIME My kids are of an age where they feel comfortable criticizing my parenting skills. (I did this to my mother too, right up until I had a child.) Usually the charge is over-parenting. A new study suggests that over-parenting leads to children who have difficulty with schools and friends, so I read more about it and it seems to consist mostly of intervening when things get messy. If you saw my home, you'd know that's not me.   Child and Family blog Are you a sucker for a good parent/child reunion video? There's no shame in it; it's one of the great family genres. So here's one for you.  It involves the Women's U.S. Soccer team. TIME   Not quite enough? Here's a BONUS: TIME PFFT: Parenting from Famous Types Keira Knightley, actress and parent of one, "We have to act out PAW Patrol in the bath. And Edie will only let me be Rubble. Parents understand, Rubble is rubbish! I want to be Skye." To Unsubscribe You have received this e-mail because you are subscribed to this newsletter from TIME.com. Unsubscribe here. Update Email Click here to update your email address. Privacy Policy Please read our Privacy Policy, or copy and paste this link into your browser: https://time.com/privacy TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. For Further Communication Please contact parents@time.com TIME USA, LLC 225 Liberty Street New York, NY 10128 Connect with TIME Find TIME on Facebook Follow TIME on Twitter Subscribe to more TIME Newsletters Get TIME on your Mobile Device Get TIME on your iPad Subscribe to RSS Feed