Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes that Can RUIN Your College Spring Break!

After 20+ years of helping teens and college students pick up the pieces of their Spring Break disappointments, these are the most common mistakes I’ve seen that can easily be avoided:

  1. Getting caught with a FAKE ID: Plenty of club bouncers might look the other way or simply confiscate “fakes”, but every state has unique penalties, and local enforcement can vary significantly- especially during Spring Break. Did you know that “knowingly possessing, using, selling, manufacturing or even delivering” a fake ID in Florida is a 3rd DEGREE FELONY? AND, Florida is getting very serious about cracking down on spring break
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Top 10 Things Every College Freshman Must Know About Alcohol (Whether They Drink or Not!)

College HangoverWorried about how your kid will deal with ALCOHOL in college? You’re not alone! If you’re focused on your student not drinking and driving, though, let me reassure you that this generation does a far better job than their parents! Please send them off with an UBER or LYFT gift card to support responsible choices, but meanwhile, let me share the top ten things every freshman needs to know about college drinking:

  1. College drinking today often starts with doing vodka shots, rather than sipping on beers. Pro tip: If you choose to drink, skip the shots and grab a
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14 Surprising Must-Know Health Tips for College-Bound Teens

*This post was originally published as a guest blog on one of my favorite teen parenting sites, RaisingTeensToday  Be sure to check out this awesome resource!

When kids venture off to college, they often have a steep learning curve, especially when they start to take charge of their own health. While mom and dad are only a text away, having an ounce of preventative knowledge may be worth way more than a pound of cure! As both a college physician and as a mom of young adults, I’d like to offer fourteen practical and possibly surprising health tips to share … Read more

Does Your Kid Want a Tattoo?

What would you say if your kid asked to get a tattoo? (“Kid” meaning 18 or older, the legal age for ink in the US.) Most people have an immediate gut response- either a HARD NO (“we don’t do that”) or a WHY NOT (because it’s an artistic expression or rite of passage.) As a family doctor, I see the spectrum of tattoo outcomes: a lot of pride and joy, but also regret*, infections, and ink allergies. What do I advise?

Ultimately, the medical risks of tattoos are acceptably low for most people (see details below), and in fact, … Read more

Hey College Parents, Today’s Weed is Not Your ’80s Pot

“They’re just smoking a little pot, right?”

Listen up, parents, because today’s “WEED” is not your “POT”.

Back in the late 70’s and 80’s, smoking pot usually meant passing a joint or bong around a circle of friends with half-closed eyes and mellow vibes (thanks, Cheech&Chong). The nicknames were endless- pot, dope, grass, marijuana, MJ, Mary Jane, reefers, roaches, etc, and the concentration of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive part) ranged from 2-5%. With these low THC concentrations, there was no recognized withdrawal syndrome and therefore pot was not considered addictive.

Today’s “weed” in the United States- legal or not- routinely … Read more

Spring Break 2023: The Good, The BORG & the Ugly

What college students need to know about Spring Break

It’s Spring Break Season! Parents, if you’re nervous about your college student’s pending #SB2023, you’re not alone. Although spring break partying is nothing new, the cultural normalization of over-the-top alcohol, drug and sexualized excess has taken things to a new level, exponentially magnified across social media. Let’s jump in with a few tips that can hopefully save your favorite young adult harm or heartache.

First, however, let me reassure you that roughly 20-30% of college students happily choose NOT to drink (or have sex or use drugs for that matter), AND approximately a third of college students drink quite … Read more