The occurrence of children's nightmares is a problem that comes up rather often in my work with parents. This is especially true for parents of children ages four to six. Usually the nightmares are similar and include monsters or other fantastic creatures that are threatening the child's demise. Sometimes they awaken the child in the middle of the night requiring the parents to comfort and reassure them.

Parents, teachers, daycare workers, pediatricians, camp counselors, scout leaders, coaches, playground monitors, and anyone who has any regular interaction with children are all acutely aware of the growing prevalence in our culture of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Certainly the recognition of ADD and ADHD as real psycho-biological disorders has positively impacted those children and parents who were suffering helplessly with highly disruptive behavior and symptoms that hampered learning, damaged relationships, and stressed families to their breaking points.

One has only to turn on the TV to observe the growing proliferation of violent and aggressive content in today's media. A regular offering includes daytime talk shows, some of which are characterized by blatant emotional, psychological, and physical abuse by panel guests toward each other. WCW (World Champion Wrestling) is viewed by a growing number of Americans, many of whom include young children and adolescents who watch along side of their parents. Network news is littered with graphic renderings of murders, kidnappings, traffic accidents, international war scenes, and the like of which violence is the key component.

The entrance into middle school is perhaps one of the toughest transitions children encounter in all of their years of education. It presents numerous challenges to the new sixth grader who is leaving the familiar and comfortable environment of the elementary school for the unknown world of middle school with its new responsibilities and demands.

In the 1980s, the notion of using "consequences" as a means of developing and reinforcing desired behavioral patterns in children was popularized among child specialists and parents alike. The methodology was probably best articulated for the public in a landmark book called Positive Discipline authored by Jane Nelson and published in 1981. The basic approach involved establishing consequences for specific misbehaviors that were aimed at helping children experience the results of their mistakes.