Author Archives: Nicole Maier

The Gift of a Struggle

Posted by: Nicole Maier on August 30, 2012 11:29 am

If your kids are anything like mine, then “struggling” is not at ALL what they would describe as a gift: Lego, iPad apps, gum and sour keys, now we’re talking. 

Of course like so many things with parenting children, is the “gift” that truly emerges isn’t what they think it will be. 

For example, if you think in your own lives, how does it feel when you have been training for your goal this year like running a marathon, cycling the Fondo, mastering headstand in yoga, completing a course you have been slogging away at, or even quitting a nasty habit (you know the one)? Likely you feel proud, strong, accomplished, maybe even a little cocky… I know I would be hard pressed to deny teasing my closest friend as we run together (one in particular who’s name rhymes with “new”). 

Essentially, after working hard at something, no matter if it’s physical or mental one tends to feel encouraged from the inside out during the process as well at the finish. 

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Parent Like You Run the Country….Which Country Though is the Question?

Posted by: Nicole Maier on August 7, 2012 4:09 pm

Without making a giant “PC” blunder and risking offending any one ethnicity, different countries are ruled, lead or perhaps left to their own devices, in their own unique way. Some countries are riddled with anarchy, hostility, laissez faire attitudes, impoverished, or are down right dangerous places to live.

Or? They are cohesive, unified, successful flourishing pieces of the planet.

This entry is not about depicting the political landscapes of today or why or why not those countries are thriving or not thriving. Rather, the parallel that I am making is how leadership style directly impacts the population.

So you, the parent(s) are the leader(s), oh, tangent, how good would it be though to have 2 equal top leaders for every country, male/female. Yes I am aware, I am now making a real PC blunder here, I am slanting this towards the conventional relationship being a heterosexual one, this is not my intention, the reference was only to highlight the potential to have a man and a woman lead the country or world, just saying…

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Hypersexualization of Tweens and Teens

Posted by: Nicole Maier on July 12, 2012 1:11 pm

If you follow the digital world at all (and that’s all of you) you will have seen the recent surge of the latest data on how the Internet, cellphones, social media, clothing style shifts, music video’s and tween/teen movies have impacted the hypersexualization of our children today.

Sitting in the audience with about 200 other counsellors, psychologists, social workers and concerned adults, I recently viewed the acclaimed work of the talented Maureen Palmer of CBC, documenting the effect of this shift in culture, on youth today. Here are a few stats:

  • Pre-teen clothing market is worth an estimated 150 billion dollars a year.
  • 
A survey of 15 major pre-teen clothing sites found that 1/3 of apparel was considered ‘sexualized’.

  • A recent survey showed that 22% of teenage girls report anal sex in the last 60 days.

  • It’s estimated that 70-80% of teenage boys watch pornography.

  • Another survey showed that 1/3 admit to sending a naked or near naked picture to their ‘crush’

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA