Written in Partnership with In the City Camps | The number of tweens with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasing, but sadly, a growing number of preteens are rebelling against treatment. According to ADDitude magazine, tweens tend to stop taking their ADHD medication. Peer pressure is a big factor, but refusing to take medications may also be another way for them to assert their independence. Parents and other caregivers can help their tweens feel less stigmatized by showing them ways to take their pills in a less obvious manner or in private. If your preteen is going to a sleepover, for example, speak to at least one of the adult chaperones beforehand.

Written in Partnership with In the City Camps: One in six youths, ages 6-17, experience a mental health disorder each year. Anxiety and depression are prevalent among children. Between 2016 and 2019, an estimated 9.4 percent of children from 3 years old to 17 (approximately 5.8 million) were diagnosed with anxiety and 4.4 percent (approximately 2.7 million) with depression.While we do not yet understand the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, we know it had a significant impact on children’s mental health. From March 2020 to October 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emergency department visits for mental health crises increased 24 percent for children from 5 years old to 11 and 31 percent for those from 12 to 17 compared with the same period in 2019.