Hot Buttons Bullying and Image editions ~ Review

HOT Buttons

By Nicole O'Dell

As anyone with younger children, tweens, and teens knows peer pressure is a real and present fact of life.  But by being prepared one can be ready to offer a steadying hand to keep peer pressure from overwhelming the young people in our lives.

Edition 5 is the Bullying Edition and Edition 6 is the Image Edition.  In both books popularity can be a driving force behind image and bullying issues and fear is a motivating factor in in a child keeping it hidden from parents.  Taking a proactive approach and confronting these issues before they occur is the best way to help your child be prepared.

Unfortunately issues of image are instilled early in a child's life, as adults gush over a child's cuteness, looks, and clothes.  Looks and appearance equal attention and approval/disapproval.  But we should instead focus on a young child's acts of kindness, caring, and honesty instilling value on the internal character rather than outward appearance.

Your children need for you to be approachable so that they can feel confident that they can come to you with a problem and that you will listen to them and offer advice when they need it.  Your communication needs to be two-way not just you spouting off what your experiences were in middle/high school.  Talking and consistent involvement will create a level of trust in your relationship, but remember you are the parent not the BFF of your child and they need/want your help and guidance.

Remember that fitting in and bowing to peer pressure is not the answer.  We are each unique and that uniqueness is what allows us to make individual contributions.

Bullying Edition and Image Edition overlap in areas as these two issues can contribute to one another, but by no means are they the same book.  Bullying looks at the different and various forms bullying can take physical, verbal, and technological.  While Image deals with how we present ourselves and why we seek approval of our appearance.  Image focuses on how we as adults lead by example and even how we tend to put our own selves down.

Eating disorders, body piercings, tattoos, depression, falling grades, and lack of self-esteem are signs that help is needed.  But with these two books you can offer the help your child needs before these situations arise.  And the most important tools at your disposal are time spent with your child, communication that is two-way, leading by example, consistency in all that you do and say, and prayer. 

 I was provided a copy of these books by Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review.


About the book: 

From dating to drugs, modesty to purity, morals to popularity, teens face all sorts of tough issues. How teens respond to these challenges will influence their future, possibly define their future, maybe even determine whether they have a future or not.

Following four successful books in the uniquely packaged Hot Buttons Series, author, mom, and broadcaster, Nicole O'Dell now debuts two more books on two of the most prevalent issues in the lives of today's teens: bullying and image. Parents can reach for these quick-reference resources to create healthy conversations with their teens about teasing, cliques and gangs, suicide, or self esteem, piercings and tattoos, eating disorders, and trash talk.

Nicole's creative strategic scenarios, discussion questions, and Bible studies have and will continue to equip parents to proactively prepare their tweens and teens to respond to challenges with courage and grace.

Get these Hot Buttons here!