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mary-jo-podgurski

Adults share thoughts, concerns

Not only young people write to me through my column. To kick off the New Year, I selected a parent and a grandparent email to share. Q. I appreciate the way you support teachers in your column and your social media posts. I taught for 45 years, mostly middle school. My teacher colleagues ...

Teens share words of thanks

Since my first year of writing Ask Mary Jo, IÎÞëÊÓƵ™ve dedicated the Thanksgiving column to teensÎÞëÊÓƵ™ words. These expressions of gratitude are from teens at our Common Ground Teen Center. I wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday! Aujalae 17: I am thankful for many things, but one thing mostly ...

Q. IÎÞëÊÓƵ™m reacting badly to my parentsÎÞëÊÓƵ™ divorce. I thought they loved each other. I thought they loved me. As an only, IÎÞëÊÓƵ™ve had their full attention all my life. TheyÎÞëÊÓƵ™ve been good parents. So many memories of holidays and vacations and trips, and of just hanging out at home. A lot of my ...

How to talk about self-harm

Q: I have a dilemma. As a senior, I'm a leader in my sport (I don't want to share which one). Our coach says I should be a role model for the younger players. I do try. I love the sport, and I enjoy looking after and helping to orient new teammates. Here's my problem. I noticed scars from ...

Friendship challenges affect adults too

Q. I read your column about friendship last week and wished so much IÎÞëÊÓƵ™d had you to talk with when I was 13. No one seemed to understand how devastated I was when my longest and best friend simply dropped out of my life. I was brokenhearted. IÎÞëÊÓƵ™m a mom now and my children are small ÎÞëÊÓƵ“ I know ...

Beat boredom during school break

Q. I think IÎÞëÊÓƵ™m the only kid in the world who is in a hurry to get back to school. IÎÞëÊÓƵ™m so bored during this break. ItÎÞëÊÓƵ™s too long. I just live with my mom and she works two jobs. I donÎÞëÊÓƵ™t connect with my school friends when IÎÞëÊÓƵ™m not in school because I donÎÞëÊÓƵ™t have a phone. Is it weird ...