Dear Counsellor:

I am preparing for back-to-school. I would like to improve the grades of my10-year-old son. He is a bright student and I want him to achieve his goals.

- Maxine

DearMaxine:

It is every parent's dream to have their children excel academically. There are certain activities that can be done at home to increase the grades of your child.

Encourage reading and storywriting at home. Choose books that are related to the topics that your child likes. Encourage your child to discuss the material that he has read. Comprehension, spelling and composition can be done well if your child is a reader.

There are many books in series that can be bought and will stir interest. The Hardy Boys and Enid Blyton books are good series to read.

Nowadays, there are many local authors who write about life in Jamaica. Reading is key as words and dialogue are prime issues in life. When a child reads, he learns to use descriptive words and gets to learn unfamiliar words. Let your child join the library so that he can be exposed to a variety of books and material. Reading books is not very expensive and the major bookshops have a lot of offerings.

Television, computer, Internet and games tend to occupy the time of our children. You will need to limit the time that he spends with these things. There are 24 hours per day and so you need to fit in reading and storywriting.

When school resumes, there will be homework to be done as well as continuing the home tutoring. Some parents find that they cannot manage home tutoring and so, employ a teacher to do the tutoring. Life is competitive and we need to give our children the added advantage to succeed in life. Tutoring is not cheap, but we all have to make sacrifices and get things done.

If your child is doing GSAT, then he needs to be good at social studies and science as well as the other subjects. Reading and discussing the topics are good ways of remembering the material.

Some children require the extra lessons to improve on their grades. Some children need one-on-one tutoring to be able to do well. Many teachers do private tutoring, so you can find one who will help your son.

Dear Counsellor:

My husband is an alcoholic and whenever he goes drinking, he returns drunk and verbally abusive. I am trying to be supportive, but I want him to get detoxified and rehabilitated.

- Angela

Dear Angela:

Many men are social drinkers, but some are alcoholics. Alcoholism runs in families and may skip a generation. Alcoholism becomes a problem when it has biological manifestations and affects an individual's functions at home and work.

Some individuals are drinking alcohol to socialise with friends. These drinking buddies provide social security, advice and story sharing. They will discuss current affairs, politics and religion. As the saying goes, some individuals cannot 'hold their liquor'. Too much alcohol can cause gastritis and brain problems. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach can cause ulceration.

Getting an alcoholic to abstain from drinking is not easy. It is helpful to seek out Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in your community and encourage your husband to attend the meetings. AA is very good at helping individuals to stay off alcohol and to cope with life's stresses. Some individuals imbibe alcohol to soothe their depression and anxieties.

Getting therapy to treat depression and anxiety will cause a cessation of drinking. Life is stressful, and when an individual is an alcoholic, it causes the family to become dysfunctional. Dysfunctional families cause members to adopt protective roles and functioning. Therefore, the entire family needs therapy.

In Jamaica, patients are treated privately or in the public system. He can be detoxified and rehabilitated.