Here are some things people can do to prevent getting many wrinkles at an early age:

What Are Wrinkles?

You can often get an idea of how old someone is by looking at his or her face – specifically the skin. As people age, it’s normal to get wrinkles. And if the person has spent a lot of time in the sun, at tanning salons, or smoking cigarettes, he or she might have a lot of them.

The skin is made up of three layers:

—The outermost layer everyone can see, called the epidermis (say: eh-puh-dur-mis)

—The middle layer, called the dermis (say: dur-mis)

—The innermost layer, called the subcutaneous (say: sub-kyoo-tay-nee-us) layer.

When a person is young, he or she doesn’t have wrinkles because the skin does a great job of stretching and holding in moisture. The dermis has an elastic quality thanks to fibers called elastin that keep the skin looking and feeling young. A protein in the dermis called collagen (say: ka-luh-jun) also plays a part in preventing wrinkles.

However, over time, the dermis loses both collagen and elastin, so skin gets thinner and has trouble getting enough moisture to the epidermis. The fat in the subcutaneous layer that gives skin a plump appearance also begins to disappear, the epidermis starts to sag, and wrinkles form.

There’s not a magic age (like 40) when everyone suddenly gets wrinkles. Some people in their 20s have little wrinkles around their eyes (called “crow’s feet”) from squinting or spending too much time in the sun.

Other people may be in their 50s or 60s before you can even see a wrinkle. This is usually because they have taken good care of their skin over the years and may have more sebum (say: see-bum), the skin’s natural oil.

They may also have “good genes” – which means their family members don’t have many wrinkles. Eventually, however, everyone will have at least a few wrinkles. It’s a natural part of the aging process.

Here are some things people can do to prevent getting many wrinkles at an early age:

— Avoid spending too much time in the direct sun, especially during the hours when the sun’s rays are harshest (between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM). Ultraviolet (UV) rays cause many wrinkles. Sunblock helps, but it doesn’t block out all the damaging UV rays that cause wrinkles to the skin. Still, if you are outside a lot, be sure to wear a sunblock with sun protection factor (SPF) 15 or higher and reapply often (every 2 to 3 hours). Always reapply after swimming or playing sports that make you sweaty!

— Don’t go to the tanning salon. The UV light from tanning booths is just as damaging as the sun’s – and sometimes worse.

— Don’t smoke! Smoking robs your skin of precious moisture and causes premature (early) wrinkles. (Did you ever notice that most heavy smokers have wrinkles around their mouths?)

— Drink water.

— Moisturize dry skin, especially during months when the air is drier.

The Reader’s Bill of Rights

Tips to encourage reading

The Reader’s Bill of Rights

Everyone has the right to read. Here’s The Reader’s Bill of Rights to help you make the most of that right: Readers have:

The right to not read.

The right to skip pages.

The right to not finish.

The right to reread.

The right to read anything.

The right to escapism.

The right to read anywhere.

The right to browse.

The right to read out loud.

The right not to defend your tastes.

—Pennac, Daniel, Better Than Life, Coach House Press, 1996.

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Take time to:

Provide teens equal access to all library resources.

Provide high quality customer service to teens.

Become familiar with popular books and magazines that teens enjoy.

Read some of the popular books and magazines and talk to teens about them.

Design a “cool” space for teens. Make it accessible, comfortable and eye-appealing.

Provide multiple copies of favorite books in paperback editions.

Open the library during the times teens use the library the most.

Involve teens in library activities, services, collection development and programs.

Ask teens for their opinions and advice about library collections, policies and programs.

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Take time to:

Read to your teenagers as well as to your younger children.

Make a time and a place for reading in your home.

Encourage talking about reading in your family.

Set a good example—read on your own.

Help your teen build literacy skills.

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Take time to:

Collaborate with the librarians in your school and community to encourage reading for the fun of it.

Make regular reading for fun a part of your lesson plans.

Consider letting students choose their own books to read for assignments.

Keep track of your Daily Reading Time (DRT) and have your students do the same. Compare totals for a week. Use the totals as a benchmark and discuss ways to increase the time with your students.

Work with administrators and other teachers to make reading a number one priority in your school.

Read the article “Dear Teachers: Please Help My Kids Become Readers” by Chris Crowe, English Journal (March 2001): 139–144.

Read the “Statement on Adolescent Literacy” in the September 1999 issue of Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.

Talk about books and reading with your students regularly. Find out what texts teens value: magazines? Web sites? videos? Use these texts as a jumping off place to guide their reading. Read the texts teens value yourself.

Align instruction with successful reading relationships that teens have at home.

Get to know the passionate interests of individual students outside the classroom and connect these interests to their reading.

Ask the families of your students about their home reading habits.

How to Build Your Child’s Confidence

Mansour Ahmadi never earns gold stars on his school tests. His class-mates tell him that he is stupid, and he does not argue. Ahmadi a 9-year-old, has already given up on life.

Susan is an overweight 10-year-old. She has no friends and is nicknamed Fatty. Susan hates the world and herself.

These children are victims of the flawed standards society uses to assess the worth of children. Not everyone is seen as worthy or is accepted. Instead, we reserve praise and admiration for the few who have been blessed from birth with the characteristics we wrongly value most highly — beauty, brains and riches. It is a vicious system, and we must counterbalance its impact by helping young people to develop self-esteem.

All children are created worthy and are due the right to personal respect and dignity. But how can we, as parents, build strong egos and indomitable spirits in our children? There are strategies by which we can instill confidence and self-worth.

Examine your own values

Are you secretly disappointed because your child is ordinary? Have you rejected him, at times, because he lacks charm or is awkward? Do you think your child is stupid?

A sizable portion of a child’s self-concept emerges from the way he thinks you see him. When the child is convinced he is loved and respected by his parents, he is inclined to accept his own worth as a person.

Many children know they are loved by their parents, but don’t believe they are held in high esteem by them. A child can know that you would give your life for him, yet still detect your doubts about his acceptability. You are nervous when he speaks to guests. You interrupt to explain what he was trying to say, or laugh when his remarks sound foolish. Parents need to guard what they say in the presence of their children.

Parents must also take the time to introduce children to good books, to fly kites and play football with them, listen to the skinned-knee episode and talk about the bird with the broken wing. These are the building blocks of esteem.

Teach a “think positive” policy

One characteristic of a person who feels inferior is that he talks about his deficiencies to anyone who will listen.

While you are blabbing about your inadequacies, the listener is forming an impression of you. He will later treat you according to the evidence you have provided. If you put your feelings into words, they become solidified as fact in your own mind.

Therefore, we should teach a “think positive” policy to our children. Constant self-criticism can become a self-defeating habit.

Help your child compensate

Our task as parents is to serve as a confident ally, encouraging when children are distressed, intervening when threats are overwhelming, and giving them the tools to overcome the obstacles.

One of those tools is compensation. An individual counterbalances weaknesses by capitalizing on his strengths. It is our job to help our children find those strengths.

Perhaps a child can establish his niche in music. May be he can build model airplanes or keep rabbits or play football. Nothing is more risky than sending a child into adolescence with no skills, no unique knowledge, no means of compensating. He must be able to say: “I may not be the most popular boy in the school, but I’m the best football player in the team!”

I recommend that the parent assess a child’s strengths, then selects a skill with the best chance for success. See that he gets through the first stage. Reward, push, bribe if necessary, but make him learn it. If you find you have made a mistake, start again on something else. But don’t let inertia keep you from teaching him a skill.

My own father decided when I was 8, to teach me tennis, though I would rather have been with my friends. He would hit me a ball and I would whack it over the net. I tried to be involved. “Do you think I’m getting it, Dad?” I would say, as another ball flew straight up.

Then one day, a fellow asked me to play. I beat him – and I liked that! Through school and college, tennis was my source of self-confidence – thanks to my father who helped me compensate.

A parent who opposes the stress placed on beauty, brawn and brains knows his child is forced to compete in a world that worships those attributes. Should he help encourage his “average” child to excel in school?

I can give you only my opinion. I feel I must help my child compete in his world as best he can. If his teeth are crooked, I will see that they are straightened. If he is struggling at school, I will seek special coaching. We are allies in his fight for survival.

But while helping my child to compete, I also instruct him in the true values of life: love for mankind, integrity, truthfulness, and devotion to Allah.

Discipline with respect

Does punishment, and particularly spanking, break the spirit of a child? The answer depends on the manner and intent of the parents. A spanking, in response to willful defiance, is a worthwhile tool, but belief in corporal punishment is no excuse for taking out your frustrations on little Johnny; it offers no license to punish him in front of others or treat him with disrespect.

It is important to recognize, however, that one way to damage self-esteem is to avoid discipline altogether. Parents are the symbols of justice and order, and a child wonders why they let him get away with doing harmful things if they really love him.

Keep an eye on the classroom

Make certain a child has learnt to read by the end of his second year at school. Self-esteem has been assassinated more frequently over reading problems than over any other aspect of school life. Extra coaching may help a child through other academic rough spots.

The slow learner is even more likely to have self-esteem problems. What can parents do? De-emphasize academic achievement. Anything your child cannot accomplish, despite his best efforts, should be toned down in importance. Too many parents want their “average” children to become scholarship winners.

Avoid overprotection

Preparation for responsible adulthood is derived from training during childhood. A child should be encouraged to progress on an orderly timetable, taking the level of responsibility appropriate for his age.

Each year a child should make more of his own decisions. A 7-year-old, for example, is usually capable of selecting his own clothing for the day. He should be keeping his room tidy and making his bed.

An overly protective parent allows the child to fall behind his normal timetable. As a 10-year-old, he finds it hard to make decisions or exercise self-discipline. A few years later, he will steamroll into adolescence unprepared for the freedom and responsibility he will find there.

The importance of parental concern in a child’s development of self-esteem has been confirmed by numerous studies. There are three important characteristics which distinguish those with the highest self-esteem:

1) The children were more loved and appreciated at home.

2) Their parents set firm guidelines.

3) Their homes were characterized by democracy and openness.

These are the ways to teach a child to appreciate his genuine significance, regardless of the shape of his nose or the size of his ears or the efficiency of his mind. Every child is entitled to hold up his head in confidence and security. This can be done.

Mothers, source of Security for children

Sociologists believe that a healthy personality is formed in the family under the influence of parents, especially the mother. Women make the future for the people of every society. Therefore, the formation of a woman’s character is very important.

The mother of today is the child of yesterday, who has grown up and been raised in the warm hands of her mother, who paved the way for raising another generation. Psychologists say that psychologist’s sympathetic security, to love and to be loved, is what every human being seeks in her/his life. The one who possesses these characteristics can present his/her love to others as a gift.

Erich From said, “Every healthy human being should be able to love him/herself first, then sacrifice his/her love to others.” What should we do if we want to get this security? When a child enters the world, he/she experiences anxiety. It is the mother’s duty to alleviate this concern. When a child is born, the mother is considered to be the source of nutrition, life, and love. The presence of the mother makes the child feel calm and secure. So, the mother, this source of life and energy, should have a lively personality.

We should not use “love” as the only tool. For raising children, because love is a goal not a tool. For example, if our child breaks his/her toys, we should not say. “I do not love you any more.” Because this would have a bad effect on the child. The child would be more worried about losing his/her mother’s love than about the broken toy.

If the child’s toy is broken again, s/he would lie bout it and not mention the broken toy. One sentence has made the child lie and hide what has happened. The mother should say, “I don’t like what you did,” not “I don’t love you any more.

A child who is worried about losing maternal love acquires bad habits and can never leave his/her mother. How can this child grow up and become a good independent mother of father?

CHEATERS NEVER WIN AND WINNERS NEVER CHEAT

What exactly is cheating?

Cheating is when a person misleads, deceives, or acts dishonestly on purpose. For kids, cheating may happen at school, at home, or while Playing a sport. If a baseball team is for kids who are 8 or younger, it”s cheating for 9- year- old to play on the team and hit home run after home run.

At school, in addition to cheating on a test, a kid might cheat by stealing someone else”s idea for a science project or by copying a book report off the Internet and turning it in as if it”s his or her original work.

Copying someone else”s words or work and saying they”re yours is a type of cheating called plaerizm.

How do people cheat?

Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. Hamid is doing it by sneaking answers to a test, but it”s also cheating to break the rules of a game or contest or to pretend something it in as if it”s yours work it isn”t. When people cheat, it”s not fair to other people, like the kids who studied for the test or who were the true winners of a game or contest.

It”s tempting to cheat because it makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the test. But it doesn”t solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won”t help on the next test- unless the person cheats again.

Sometimes it may seem like cheaters have it all figured out. They can watch TV instead of studying for the spelling test. But other People lose respect for cheaters and think less of them. The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they are not really earning that good grade. And, if they get caught cheating, they will be in trouble at school, and maybe at home, too.

Why kids cheat

Some kids cheat because they”re lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time for studying. Other kids might feel like they can”t pass the test without cheating. Even when there seems to be a “”good reason”” for cheating, cheating isn”t a good idea.

If you were sick or upset about something the night before and couldn”t study, it would be better to talk with the teacher about this. And if you don”t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice, you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.

A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions together. Talking about these problems and working them out will led to feel better than cheating.

Truth and Consequences

Many kids feel tempted to cheat once in a while most resist and to the work instead. Some kids cheat once and feel so bad and unfortunately, some kids start cheating and feel like they can”t stop.

Kids who cheat may feel worried about getting caught. Even if the cheater feels fine or doesn”t get caught, that doesn”t mean it”s Ok. If you see someone cheating, or if someone asks to copy your work, you can tell a teacher or another grown-up.

If a kid gets caught cheating, the teacher may give the kid a “”zero”” score on the test, send him or her to the principal”s office, and contact his or her parents. Worse than the bad grade may be the feeling of having other people disappointed, like parents and teachers. A parent may worry that you are not an honest person and a teacher might watch you more closely the next time you”re taking a test.

Making a comeback

There are plenty of reasons why a kid shouldn”t cheat, but some kids have already cheated. If that”s you, it”s never to stop cheating. Cheating can become a habit, but like other bad habits, a kid can always decide to act better and make better choices. It might help to talk problem over with parent, teacher, or counselor. Choosing to play fair and be honest again can help a kid feel relieved and proud.

There”s an old saying that

CHEATERS NEVER WIN AND WINNERS NEVER CHEAT.

This may sound confusing because sometimes it seems cheaters do win- at least for the moment. But kids who don”t cheat are true winners because when they win, they do it fair and square.

Compiled by Minoo Kasaeian