My 17-y-o son is gambling!

Q. My 17-year-old son has taken up gambling. He is even asking people about their dreams. The sad thing is, he is now watching sportscasts and betting on how people place in races by adding up numbers and other weird things. How can I help him before it gets too late? He is in an associate degree programme at a small college.

A. You need to get him into counselling right away. Gambling is a bad habit. You need to get him help now, so he can stop.

Q. My 12-year-old son keeps correcting my seven-year-old when she makes a grammatical error. It was cute at first, but now it is getting to be annoying. How can I get him to stop?

A.Tell your son that he can help his sister when she makes a mistake, but he must correct her in a nice way. You can model the way in which he should do this, so that he can know what you want him to do.

Q. I am ready for my first parent teacher association (PTA) meeting with a vengeance. I am tired of the fund-raising aspect of the school. How can we as parents be guided to help our children and not forever be planning a barbecue. Can I say this to the principal?

A. If you need to get help with parenting or academic challenges that your child may have that you think will benefit the PTA body, you should share this with the principal. I am sure the principal would be happy to hear this and plan to see how the school will be able to help you. Fund-raising will always be a part of a school's programme, as money is always needed to strengthen or start programmes.

Orlean Brown-Earle, PhD, is a child psychologist and family therapist. Dr Brown-Earle works with children with learning and behaviour problems throughout the island and in the Caribbean. Email questions to helpline@gleanerjm.com or send to Ask the Doc, c/o The Gleaner Company, 7 North Street, Kingston. Responses to concerns are to be considered as general, as cases shared with psychologists privately would be queried more deeply. Pray always!