Luckily my son doesn't know of any kids who cut themselves in his high school but I know its out there. He does have a few kids that he's known his grade school that are heavily into drugs and breaking the law and that breaks my heart. I've tried talking to a few of them over the years but it doesn't help. They make me realize how blessed I am to have my son who is so involved in sports and he flat out will tell you he will never try drugs because he needs to keep his body heathly for his sports.

It's hard for these kids in high school now a days to stay on the straight and narrow. Peer pressure is so much harder than is was for us in the 70's and 80's. The best thing we can do for our kids is to keep the line of communication open and to be there for them no matter what.

My daughter is now 17, a junior, and doing well. She hasn't cut, that I know of, since 9th grade. She knows that she has no right to privacy at my house. She has the PRIVILEGE of privacy as long as she exhibits behaviors that merit it. If I have concerns that something is going on that should not be happening, I have the responsibility to deal with it....if that means I search her room, her body, her closet, her backpack, whatever. There is nothing like looking at her beautiful arms and legs and knowing what could have been. Sometimes, when I look at her, I just have to take her arms in my hands and give them both a quick little kiss. Nothing inappropriate....but they are beautiful and, thank God, they are practically scar-free.

After her last severe-ish cutting (she never needed medical treatment for any of it), I asked her how she would explain the scars on her leg to her children? I think that scared her. That I know of, that was the last time she cut.

Cinderella, just curious. Did you use any of the scar treatments on her cuts, like the bandages or creams to diminish them?

I know what you mean about the kisses. My DD8 burned off the bottom of her feet when she was 2 and has no scars whatsover to show for the very traumatic event. I still kiss her feet in amazement since we weren't even certain if she would walk. (Dad was watching her for 5 minutes, and there was an investigation).

Children are blessings, and ours have had to live through more than most. We are reading a special Mom & Daughter bible this Lenten period which is a nice thing to do together.

No, not really......she was fortunate enough to not have done any deep cutting. She has absolutely minimal scarring.

I am ever so grateful for that.

So, what do they use to cut? Safety pins. The blades out of those little pencil sharpeners they carry in their backpacks. (Though she did tell me that you use only blades that have never sharpened pencils - otherwise they are dirty and the cuts may get infected.)

Where do they cut....arms, legs, ribs, anywhere. See, if they do it in an area under their clothes, you can't see it.

Fortunately, I read her journal and knew she and some other girls were cutting at lunch time at school. When I told the guidance counselor and assistant principal that, they changed the policy so that at-school cutting was no longer a guidance issue - but it became a disciplinary issue. If it was a disciplinary matter, they could call parents. They could call the police. They could call an ambulance and have a child taken to a hospital.

I know they called the parents of 2 or 3 of her friends in to the school and told them what was going on.

So, by telling what I knew, the school could push for these girls to get professional help. Hillary is right, "It Takes A Village."