/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/home.aspxHank Morse's Big Adventure Blogen-usCopyright 2013, WROR-FMSun, 26 May 2013 07:12:52 GMTTue, 14 May 2013 12:16:43 GMT1http://emmisinteractive.comIt's prom season, one of the greatest times in the life of high school students. I can also be a time of great anxiety for parents. WHY? First of all, we worry about our kids safety. How will they get there, who are they going with, what are they doing afterwards? Second of all, THE COST! It's much more expensive if you have a daughter. My nearly 17 year old just went to her junior prom. Her dress was $200, but it easily could have been $500. The shoes were on sale for $40. The mani-pedi was $55, the hair and makeup $90, the eyebrow wax was $15, the cluth was $20, and the tickets were $160.  We got off easy with the limo. A friend's uncle provided it free, but would have cost $300-$400. We gave the driver a $20 tip. I also spent $100 on pizza and wings .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544285hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544285Tue, 14 May 2013 12:16:43 GMTIt's a tough day in Massachusetts and the world after the senseless bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on Boylston Street, yesterday afternoon. Three people, including an eight-year-old Dorchester boy, were killed and 144 others were injured, several critically. For those of us who are parents it brings up the difficult question about how to handle it with our children. It's frightening for ALL adults, so it stands to reason children will be horrified and frightened, as well. The experts, including Dr. Susan Swick, head of Pediatric and Adolescent Psychiatry at Newton Wellesley Hospital, suggest finding out exactly how much your kids know. Answer them in accordance with how old they are. Toddlers and three and four year olds need not be told, since they probably aren't aware anyway. However, Dr. Swick points out that if your four-year-old is the youngest and has older siblings, they may .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10531596hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10531596Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:27:47 GMTI have more driving anxiety now than I did when I got my license over 30 years ago. WHY? My 16-year-old daughter now has her driving permit. She’s only been on the road once, with my wife, after practicing in the cemetery a few times.   I’m worried about everything. Is she paying attention, going too fast, have her seatbelt on, looking in her mirrors, have the radio on, cell phone turned off???? YIKES. Then there are the other drivers to worry about.   I hate to say it, but I now think the driving age should be raised from 16 to 18. Of course, I didn’t feel that way in 1982 when I got my license at 16 ½, with far less training than they get today. However, there are far more drivers, with far more distractions in today’s world, compared to 1982. I’m sure my parents felt the .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10528236hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10528236Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:27:31 GMTPittsburgh, PA high school senior Suzy Lee Weiss wrote a funny, sarcastic op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal about the college acceptance process. She says that colleges have lied to kids, telling them "to be yourself" and you'll got into the schools you want to go to. Weiss sarcastically writes that had she known being "herself" wouldn't have done the trick, she's have pretended to be from another ethnic group, helped under privileged animals or start some fake charity. A "Gawker" columnist totally missed the sarcasm of Weiss' piece and criticized her for being entitled, spoiled and afraid of actually working to get good grades. One thing I've noticed as my two daughters prepare for the college application process. It is a total crap shoot. When 34,000 students apply to Harvard University and only 2,000 get in, you can't base your acceptance on achievement alone. They all basically got .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10525019hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10525019Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:53:02 GMTIt's prom season and one of the grandest high school traditions makes high school hearts flutter with excitement, while causing their parents to beat excessively with worry. From formal gowns and tuxes, to luxurious limos and spas, the prom has became an act of excess. It's up to you Here are my rules for your children, who are going to the prom. Focus on what I called the "The Five B's"! They are bouquets, breasts, booze, buses and boys! Bouquet and buses are the way to goWhen it comes to breasts, just say no Flowers are pretty, they smelly really niceBuses are safer, they will suffice Breasts are for babies, not teen boysKeep your hands to yourself, the girls are not toys Booze is for losers, with no self respectThey'll all get caught when the teachers check So, here's what I mean! Boys don't bring their .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10522430hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10522430Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:58:36 GMTDo you spy on your kids? Many people think it's a violation of parent/child trust. However, I feel it's my responsibility to know as much about my kids as I can. You can't be friend and parent at the same time. If you disagree, pay attention to some of the following facts. Among high school seniors, 75 percent have had sex at least once. Among the same group, 72 percent have tried alcohol. Forty-two percent of high school students have used alcohol in the past month. Thirty-seven percent of eighth graders have tried alcohol. These are numbers put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Believe it or not, nearly 1 in 5 high school students, 17 percent, drink, smoke or use drugs during the school day. That's according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. The statistics are scary! You will NEVER know what .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10519216hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10519216Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:49:25 GMTThis one is hard to fathom. A nine year old boy from Brockton is starring in a series of YouTube videos as a rapper. The boy goes by the name Lil Poopy and is a member of the rap group the "Coke Boys". It's not the rap music that is bothersome, it's the boy slapping grown women on the backside and engaging in adult like behavior. He raps that he's a "cocaine cowboy" and sings about machine guns and groupies, according to the Boston Herald. Brockton police have filed complaint against the boy's father, Luis Rivera, with the state's Department of Children and Families, alleging child abuse and neglect. Rivera says his son is just acting and isn't doing anything wrong. He goes to school, doesn't smoke or do drugs. Well, isn't that something to be proud of for a nine year old. He alleges that the authorities just don't .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10509762hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10509762Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:06:19 GMTCongratulations on making it through the Blizzard of 2013! Man, my back and neck are killing me after all that shoveling, walking, slipping and sliding! Thankfully, my neighbors Bobby Lloyd and Joe Brown cleared my sidewalks with their Bobcat/snowblowers and I didn't have to do all that much. My wife and daughter helped out, too! OK - only one of my daughters helped. The other was busy sleeping! Teens! How did you clear your property? Did your kids help? I know, I know.....kids HATE to shovel and I didn't want to do it, either, when I was a kid. Did you pay your child or children to help you shovel? Do you think there's anything wrong with paying your children to do chores? Don't you expect reward when you go to work? It's called a paycheck! I actually didn't have to pay my daughter this time around, but I have .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10502691hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10502691Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:07:46 GMTI emailed Mike Boyle the other day with a question. Mike is the world famous strength and conditioning expert, who operates several of his own facilities and is a consultant to the Boston Red Sox and the strength coach for the US Women's Olympic Hockey team. I figured, if Congress can figure out the "fiscal cliff", then Mike will certainly be able to tell people how to avoid going over the "physical cliff", in 2013. No matter how many times I lose weight, when I don't do what Mike taught me, I get back to the edge of the weight loss cliff. I think there are a lot of people like me, too! Here was Mike's response: Five Things to Help Avoid Going Over the Physical Cliff  1- Unlike the government, you can simply turn around and start walking back. That will help! 2- As you turn around and walk, make .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10486626hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10486626Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:44:32 GMTAs a radio station intern in 1985, I was a gopher at the station's concert at Boston Garden in May or June of that year. Two of the big acts that night were Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Whitney was the hottest act in America at the time, a squeaky clean 21 year old singer with Gospel roots, who was now getting into the R and B world of music. She was was the daughter of gospel singer Sissy Houston, the cousin of Dionne Warwick and the Goddaughter of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Bobby Brown was a 16-year-old from Roxbury and he and local group of Bostonians were just starting to hit the charts with "Candy Girl" and "Cool it now". Shortly after the show, Brown went solo and was replaced with Johnny Gill. I remember vividly being back stage at Boston Garden when Whitney was whisked in .../on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10347927hmorse@wror.com (Hank Morse)/on-demand/blogs/hanks-big-adventure/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10347927Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:26:00 GMT