They’re called “pharm parties,” short for pharmacy parties. A group of teenagers –– perhaps as young as 12 and 13 years old –– methodically swipe opiate-based pain killers like Oxycontin and Oxycodone from their parents’ and grandparents’ medicine cabinets, dump the pills into a big bowl when no adult is looking and take turns rolling a die. Whatever number comes up, that’s the number of pills a teen must ingest. more

Concerned parents are reserving their seats for “Dangers in Your Medicine Cabinet: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children,” a parent-targeted substance-abuse awareness program that will be hosted by the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center, in partnership with the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, the Bellmore, Merrick, North Bellmore and North Merrick elementary school districts, Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg and the Bellmore-Merrick Coalition Against Substance Abuse. The talk will be held at the Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 11. more

The scenario is tragic, gruesome and perennial. A high school senior, all of 16 or 17 years old, gets a driver’s license. His or her proud parents hurry out to buy their child a new car –– perhaps a fast car. Within days or weeks, the teen is dead, killed in a fiery wreck. more

On May 18, 2008, one second forever altered Jacy Good’s life when a tractor-trailer slammed head-on into her family’s station wagon, carrying the then 21-year-old and her parents, Jay and Jean. The truck swerved to avoid a mini-van, driven by an 18-year-old who, according to officials, was engrossed in a cell-phone call. The teen sped through a red light in Maidencreek, Township, Pa., apparently oblivious to the road before him. more

In days past, parents used to be able to send their children off to school without a second thought about whether they would return safely. And while children are still in good hands during class … more

Perhaps you’ve seen the recent flood of stories about grown children moving home again. Or maybe you have your very own 35-year-old leaving his laundry on the floor. Apparently kids are landing on their parents’ doorsteps at various stages of adulthood due to bad luck, the bad job market, bad marriages or bad karma. more

Cheryl Gitlitz, a licensed social worker and the district-wide transition coordinator for the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, recently received the Exceptional Parent Magazine’s Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award during Disability Awareness Night at Citi Field in Flushing. more

Two Nassau County Police officers revved up the motor on a device not much larger than a lawnmower engine. As the machine roared last Wednesday afternoon, the officers used its cutters to slowly peel off the driver’s side door of a badly damaged minivan. No one was inside the van, but students at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville watched quietly and anxiously as the “Jaws of Life” crushed the car’s metal. more

Let’s start with a given: Today’s parents have no idea how to raise children. And if they did have an idea, they wouldn’t have time to exercise their parental prerogatives because they’re so busy working and making money. more

The Calhoun High School gymnasium was a abuzz on Friday morning as students by the dozen strolled from station to station, learning how to live healthy. more