SOCIAL MEDIA
Cell phones, ipods, Instagram, facebook, Skype, Snapchat... The list goes on and on. Teens and parents can find useful information about movies, apps, and websites at
Commonsensemedia.com. The
Healthychildren.org website from the American Academy of Pediatrics also has valuable tools to help families manage the impact of these toys and tools.
IMMUNIZATIONS
There are still a few shots during the teen years. A tetanus booster is given at age 10 or 11. A meningitis vaccine (meningococcal) is given at 11 or 12. If you have not gotten you Hepatitis A vaccines yet, we will start those. (This is a series of two vaccines to protect you from the form of hepatitis you can get from contaminated food and water.). We also begin the HPV vaccine during the early teen years. This series of three vaccines protects against several strains of the human papillomavirus which can lead to some forms of cancer and warts. Your provider will discuss these with you at the visit. Please visit the
vaccines page for more information.