THE TEEN CREED

GOOGLE
The Bonnie Hunt's show on Friday was really interesting with Rosie O'Donnell as a guest. Rosie talked about her new movie "America" airing tonight on the Lifetime Channel and also about "Munny,"from KidRobot which is a new toy that helps children become more creative.

The most poignant part of the show was a retrospective of Bonnie's about when she was 12 years old and her mother (who often shows up on the show via web cam or Skype)gave all of her brothers and sisters a laminated copy of "The Teen Creed," which they had to memorize and recite each time they left home without their mother.

It's really funny how everything comes full circle. This is a great tool from when I was a teen, (I'm older than Bonnie, much older)and parents provided very specific guidelines for children, and instilled a sense of responsibility in them. In my home most of what we had to memorize were bible verses, but they were related to punishment, which in hindsight I now realize gave me a distorted sense of structured religion.

Even two parent homes seem to be having difficulty teaching their children about the consequences of their actions these days. And it is such a difficult time right now in the world, our children need to know how to handle much graver issues than we ever had to deal with. Below is a copy of "The Teen Creed" consider making a laminated copy for your child, have them memorize it, and also instill in them that you will love them unconditionally, and they only have to call you to pick them up when they are in trouble...NO QUESTIONS ASKED...and make sure to stand by that commitment, don't ask....unless they want or need to talk about the situation. Be proud of them for taking the right route. Calling home and removing themselves from bad situations, means they have the tools they need to make smart decisions, by knowing and understanding the consequences of their actions.

Bonnie including her mother as part of her show, and sharing experiences of her childhood with her mother's parenting skills, is a purely perfect move. Her mother ads a great dimension to the show. Her mother truly understands what loving "unconditionally " means.

HERE IS THE TEEN CREED from the Bonnie Hunt Show

1. Don’t let your parents down, they brought you up.
2. Be humble enough to obey, you may give orders someday.
3. Choose companions with care, you become who they are.
4. Guard your thoughts, what you think you are.
5. Choose only a date who would make a good mate.
6. Be a master of your habits or they will master you.
7. Don’t be a show off when you drive, drive with safety and arrive.
8. Don’t let the crowd pressure you.
9. Stand for something or you’ll fall for something.