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14096 Steve Harper Interviews Allan Philip Gold Retired District Psychologist at Reed Union School District

·27 min·1 clip

Gold says parents should “keep them off the darn thing” when social media comparison crushes self-esteem.

1. Podcast Business News Network’s Good Advice Helps with Dr. Alan Gold focuses on vaping, middle-school friendship conflict, social media comparison, and parental role modeling. 2. Steve Harper hosts the segment, and Dr. Alan Gold is introduced as a California school psychologist who has worked in the field for many years. 3. The episode asks how parents, schools, and counselors should respond when kids face substance use, peer exclusion, and self-esteem problems. 4. Gold says vaping is “rampant” and “everywhere,” and he frames it as a challenge for middle school and high school students, parents, and schools. 5. He points to an organization started in Marin County called Being Adept, which focused on substance-abuse education rather than a simple “just say no” message. 6. Gold says the program explained the effects of smoking, drinking, marijuana, and vaping on a child’s brain because kids’ brains are “not fully developed” for a long time. 7. He says that approach helped some students postpone use beyond middle school, even though he does not treat that as a guarantee. 8. Gold advises parents to begin with a “softer, respectful approach” and act more like a consultant than a manager when they suspect vaping or drinking. 9. He suggests parents ask why the child is using substances, whether it is curiosity, peer pressure, friendship, or wanting to seem cool. 10. If the child will not engage, Gold says parents may need “tough love,” including cutting allowance, taking away a phone, or requiring a therapist. 11. Gold says adult substance use also reflects avoidance, and he notes fewer kids drinking while others move toward THC, CBD, and fentanyl-related risks in places like San Francisco. 12. He says parents have to set “very concrete limits” and should not use drugs, smoking, or vaping at home themselves. 13. On the best-friend exclusion question, Gold says eighth-grade friendship shifts are not unusual and may reflect a conflict, less in common, or a need for more space. 14. He says puberty happens at different times, so physical development can change interests, social needs, and who feels included. 15. Gold recommends that a school psychologist or counselor bring the two girls together for a confidential dialogue that is not framed as punishment. 16. He suggests starting with positive questions about what each girl likes about the other before raising complaints such as interrupting, asking personal questions, or joining a boyfriend-centered shift in peer groups. 17. Gold’s tone is practical and advisory, with Steve Harper pushing him through listener-style hypotheticals and follow-up questions. 18. The conversation moves quickly between school, parenting, and counseling examples, and Gold repeatedly returns to communication, limits, and role modeling. 19. Parents of middle-school and high-school kids dealing with vaping or social pressure. 20. Listeners wanting celebrity gossip, entertainment news, or lighter conversation.

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