Health

Trendy teens have their eye on a contact lens fad that could earn them fashion points, but cost them their vision. The culprit: “circle lens” contacts, which enlarge the appearance of the eyes and create a childlike, doe-eyed look.

Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance video, which features the pop star with computer-enlarged, cartoonish eyes, is being credited – or blamed – for a surge in popularity of the lenses.

Circle lenses come in a rainbow of hues and create the illusion of larger eyes by not only covering the iris, like typical contacts, but extending to cover part of the whites.

I was probably 9 years old and in the fourth grade when my mother, a teacher, allowed me to walk home alone from school at 3:30 p.m. and stay by myself until she arrived at 4:30 p.m. Admittedly, I was a monsters-in-the-closet, what-if-the-bogey-man-breaks-in, snakes-under-the-bed kind of kid. So it’s no surprise that early on in my home alone adventure, I heard a strange noise and ended up at a neighbor’s house crying in terror that there was a stranger hiding in the kitchen — probably with a big knife!

DVIS defines dating violence as “the physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment of a dating partner for the purpose of gaining control and power over that person.”

(Use of “she” to describe victims and “he” as batterer is only for ease of reading and as that is most often how abuse occurs.) J.L.

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Finding Hope and Help
by Kristi Eaton

Stages: Tweens & Teens
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Q: Our 13-year-old daughter has just informed us she has become a vegan. I don’t know if this is a test of me and my commitment to support her, a challenge or what. Life seems hard enough without having to think about new menus and pleasing all the picky eaters in my house without this. How do I keep my sanity? Could this really be healthy for a growing teen?

DWT is as dangerous as DUI
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Q: Can anything be done about texting and talking on the phone while driving? I am very worried that my daughter is doing this, but I’m not sure. How would you talk to your child about talking on the phone and texting while driving? What should be the consequences if I find my child is doing it?”