Learn more about Christina-Taylor Green and the memorial foundation that her parents have begun in her name:

Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundatinon
http://www.christina-taylorgreen.org/

Read this excerpt from the foundation's website about Christina-Taylor Green:

Christina-Taylor Green was the vivacious and loving child of a caring family who lost her life abruptly in the violence that occurred on January 8th, 2011, in Tucson, AZ. The shots fired resulted in the wounding of 13 people and the death of six, including Christina-Taylor Green.

At 9 years of age, Christina was interested in politics to the point that she went to meet Gabrielle Giffords, at an outdoor constituent event, held by the representative on that fateful Saturday morning. Having just been elected to the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School, she was eager to ask her Congresswoman questions concerning the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and what it was like being a politician. 

Christina had a wide range of interests.  She was  passionate about dancing which included ballet, hip-hop, jazz and gymnastics. She was involved in sports, and was the only girl on her Canyon del Oro Little League baseball team, "The Pirates". She enjoyed singing in her church choir, and loved animals.  Her older brother, Dallas, was her best friend.

Christina-Taylor had many hopes for her future and told her family that she wanted to have a career that involved helping people less fortunate than herself.  More than once she told her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life."

President Barack Obama remembered Christina-Taylor in a nationally-televised speech to the Tucson community on Jan. 12, and said she was dancing in rain puddles in heaven. "I want America to be as good as she imagined it," he said. 

The Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation was created by the Green family to honor their beloved daughter's hopes and dreams.  The foundation aims to make the community as good as Christina-Taylor imagined it by helping local schoolchildren who are in need. 

NBC News' Natalies Morales will host a Google+ Hangout to answer your questions about how to talk to your child about discrimination, as featured in the Dateline hidden camera report 'My Kid Would Never Do That: Discrimination' from Sunday, May 6th.

Visit Dateline NBC's Google+ Page to watch and join our live Hangout on Monday, May 7th, at 12pm/ET. 

Guests for the Google+ Hangout will include:

• NBC News' Natalie Morales
• Dateline NBC producers of 'My Kid Would Never Do That' series
• Amaru Cloud, teen participant from 'Discrimination' report
• Robin Vosler, Dateline NBC fan and parent Robin Vosler
• Joy-Ann Reid, Managing Editor of theGrio.com
• Chris Pena, Executive Editor of NBC Latino

Read these personal accounts from kids and one parent on what it was like to be in Dateline NBC's hidden camera report on discrimination, part of the full series 'My Kid Would Never Do That.' 

Allison Kempe

Let me start off by saying it was great to work with the many kind people of NBC.  During this show, I learned a lot about myself and discrimination in general.  I am lucky enough to live in a very diverse community where everyone is accepted equally.   In a way, I knew there was discrimination, but I really didn’t think it was that bad, and I definitely didn’t think I would EVER discriminate.

Let me explain that I as a person do not see color when I’m choosing friends.  It may sound cheesy but I look for what’s inside.  When the amazing Latino young man (Nicholas) began to sing, I was thrilled! I loved the song he was singing and thought he did a great job! Plus even his (fake) accent was awesome! In the beginning , I thought that we were supposed to choose the person we wanted to win, so I immediately chose him! I then realized that we were choosing who we wanted to send home and the others were basing it on his race. I was appalled.  I couldn’t believe they thought that way!    There is simply no question that he is American.  America is known as the melting pot of all cultures and ethnicities and I love it.  When I heard all the horrid things they were saying about him I wanted to yell at them! And tell them how wrong they were, but in an attempt to be kind and please everyone, I tried to change how they were voting.  I didn’t realize at the time that they were actors  I tried to get them to understand, and in the end, I finally gave in because I felt like I had no other choice.  We needed to make a decision so they could continue filming. I felt out-numbered and out of options.  I gave in but refused to say anything about his race because I didn’t agree with it. 

Everything happened so fast.  I was chosen to give the verdict and instantly regretted it. When Natalie came out and told us we were on Dateline, on a segment about discrimination, and that two of the participants were actors, my heart broke into a million tiny pieces because I gave in!   Even though I am so strongly set in my beliefs and ways, I gave into peer pressure!   This made me realize that no one is immune to peer pressure, and it is VERY important to stand up and listen to your heart. If your gut says something is wrong, you need to voice it!  Stand up for what you believe. 

Instantly, the only thing that would make it any better was to apologize to the actor. He was very kind and understanding and very much the type of person I would be friends with back home.  I feel for everyone who has to deal with discrimination on a daily basis and even though I am lucky enough not to have to, it is something that really needs to be addressed.   Kids need to understand what they’re really saying when they make these derogatory comments.  If everyone could feel even a fraction of the heartbreak I felt or could live a day in the life of the victim, maybe they could understand NO ONE is better than another person regardless  of the color of their skin, their language or the religion they practice.  We are ALL EQUAL and need to treat each other as such

In the end, this was an amazing experience and I thank Natalie, NBC, MY mom and everyone involved in this project.

Julia Kempe (Allison’s mom)

I was very happy that my daughter was chosen to participate as a judge in the “staged” Teen Singing Competition.  I honestly felt certain that she would never let anyone persuade her to discriminate against someone.  She is blessed to attend a very diverse school and I often listen to her rant and rave about select students who treat others unkindly or unfairly.  She is definitely a proponent of all human rights. 

She was most impressed with the young man who she was eventually persuaded to vote off.  She felt so highly pressured that she eventually gave in so as to appear professional “on TV” and not come across as argumentative or not a “team player”.    She was incredibly heart sick over the situation, but I was extremely proud of how she handled it.  She couldn’t forgive herself without apologizing to the young man she had discriminated against and later, sharing a little of who she really is.  

I think we both learned a great deal.  She learned to be strong no matter what others think and to stand her ground.  I learned that peer pressure can undermine who a person truly is.  I also realize that having regular conversations with your child, not only about discrimination but about all of the issues that “Dateline: My Kid Would Never Do That” has reported on recently (and more) is the best way to help our kids be strong in difficult situations. 

Amaru Cloud

Hey, I'm Amaru Cloud. My experience on Dateline NBC's 'My Kid Would Never Do That', is something that I will never forget for as long as I live. When I stepped into that auditorium and listened to the boy and girl (who turned out to be actors) begin to judge the best singer in the line up by the color of his skin, it immediately reminded me of Martin Luther King Jr's quote, "Judge a man not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character." When I was put under pressure to vote against someone just because of his ethnicity, I knew I had to stand up for equality. I had to do the right thing, because that could have been me being discriminated against. I think Dateline NBC is doing a great job with this show by teaching people across the country many important lessons.

...

Visit the website for the full series 'My Kid Would Never Do That'

NBC News' Natalies Morales will host a Google+ Hangout to answer your questions about how to talk to your child about cheating at school or sports, as featured in the Dateline hidden camera report 'My Kid Would Never Do That: Cheating' from Sunday, April 29th.

Visit Dateline NBC's Google+ Page to watch and join our live Hangout on Monday, April 30th, at 12pm/ET. 

Guests for the Google+ Hangout will include:

• NBC News' Natalie Morales
• Dateline NBC producers of 'My Kid Would Never Do That' series
• Rosalind Wiseman, parenting expert and author
• Heather Armstrong, blogger and founder of dooce.com
• Betsy Landers, PTA President

Experts say cheating in schools is an epidemic, but most parents think their kid would never do it. Below are facts about cheating from Dr. Eric M. Anderman of The Ohio State University.

Facts about Cheating:

• Cheating is more common among adolescents than many people believe. Studies estimate that as many as 85% of students engage in some type of academic dishonesty before graduating from high school.
• Cheating rates have risen, and continue to be high.
• Most cheaters believe that they won’t get caught, and most don’t get caught.
• Technology has increased the ways in which students can engage in cheating behaviors.
• Cheating is associated with certain characteristics: impulsivity, low levels of academic confidence, and attending a school where the belief is that “everyone cheats.”
• Cheating is generally unrelated to moral development.

Ways to Reduce Cheating:

• One of the strongest predictors of cheating is a focus (by teachers and parents) on grades and test scores.
• Students are less likely to cheat in classrooms where teachers emphasize learning for the sake of learning; in other words, when “mastery” of the academic material is what is stressed (more so than grades), students are less likely to cheat.
• Teachers can decrease the amount of cheating that occurs by not stressing students out about grades; of course grades and test scores matter and are important, but that shouldn’t be the focus of discussion. Students shouldn’t be told they have to learn something “because there is a test on Friday;” rather, students should be told the need to learn something because of the inherent value of the topic.
• When parents see that schools are focusing too much on grades and test scores and causing stress and anxiety in their children, parents should discuss these concerns with teachers and school administrators.

...

Dr. Eric M. Anderman is Director of the School of Educational Policy and Leadership and Professor of Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University.  His area of research is adolescent motivation; he focuses in particular on (a) academic cheating, (b) the effects of school transitions on student motivation, and (c) HIV/pregnancy prevention in adolescent populations. He recently edited the book

Experts say cheating in schools is an epidemic, but most parents think their kid would never do it. Below are tips and facts about cheating from Rosalind Wiseman Rosalind—a writer and educator on ethical leadership:

How to Talk to Your Kids About Cheating

Teaching our children honesty and why not to cheat can be more complicated than it seems. Why? Because we live in a world of mixed messages where often the external rewards of winning often seem to outweigh the internal rewards of achieving honestly. From reality show characters who boast, “I didn’t come here to make friends,” as a way to justify undermining and deceiving competitors to athletes taking performance enhancing drugs, our children often see adults acting the opposite of what many parents want to teach their children.

Here are some tips about cheating to share with your children:

• It’s not enough to tell your children, “Be honest,” or “Do the right thing.” Talk to them about specific situations where being honest will be hard like seeing the questions before the test and what you expect them to do.
• Use the bad role models in the media as examples. When you see someone in the news who has cheated or been dishonest, ask your child why they think their behavior is against your family values.
• Admit that it doesn’t always feel good to be honest.

If your child is caught cheating here’s what you can do:

• Dig deep. Sometimes children cheat because they feel tremendous pressure to get the high grade or win the game. You need to find out why it was so important to them to achieve their goal that they were willing to do so dishonestly.
• Remind them the faster they admit what they’ve done the less anxious they’ll feel, and the less trouble they’ll probably get in.
• Don’t let your anxiety rationalize getting him out of trouble. It’s easy to be so worried about the long term impact having something on a student’s permanent record, but if you truly want to raise a child with integrity and self-confidence he has to see that you 1) Will hold him accountable when it counts 2) Believe he has the strength of character to get through the process.
• Express disappointment but see this as the learning opportunity that it is.
• Your kid may get really angry at you for holding them accountable and that’s ok.

It’s likely your children will face a situation where their honesty is tested. And it’s possible that they will make a mistake and cheat or lie. Remember for most of us, our integrity is developed only through a process of being tested and having adults we respect guide us along the way.

…

Rosalind Wiseman is a writer and educator on ethical leadership and media literacy, and bullying prevention. She is the author of Queen Bees and Wannabes and is currently working on a book for parents of boys.  rosalindwiseman.com

In "A Father's Love," David Goldman shares his five-year battle to bring his son, Sean, back to the United States after Sean was abducted by his mother, Bruna, who wanted to raise Sean in her native Brazil. Goldman describes the emotions he went through and how he got support from both high-level U.S. government officials and national media organizations. Here, Goldman writes about the first few days of what was supposed to be a two-week trip for Bruna and Sean. Read an excerpt:

Chapter 1: The phone call

Viking

A TWO-WEEK TRIP — that’s all it was supposed to be. Two weeks. I didn’t relish the idea of being apart from my wife, Bruna, and our four-year-old son, Sean, not even for two weeks, but it was unavoidable. I had to work. I can handle it, I kept reminding myself. After all, I had clients scheduled aboard my charter fishing boat during the first week my wife and son would be gone. After that, I planned to join Bruna and Sean for the latter part of their vacation in Brazil, my wife’s birthplace. In a few days, we’d be back together as a family again.

I loaded the suitcases — there were more than the usual number of them — into my Jeep Cherokee SUV, along with Bruna’s parents’ luggage. Although citizens of Brazil, my in-laws. Raimundo and Silvana Ribeiro, owned a condominium in New Jersey, and visited often, sometimes for a month or two at a time. The night before, we had attended a local carnival sponsored by St. Leo’s Church, and Bruna’s parents had been at our home the day of the trip, after going out to lunch with my parents. Everyone got along as usual, two happy families united as one, with no tension among any of us and never a cross word between us. Now Sean’s maternal grandfather, Raimundo — or Ray, as he was known in the United States — and his grandmother, Silvana, were returning to Brazil with Bruna and Sean.

It wasn’t the first time during our four-year marriage that Bruna had visited her homeland. She and I had traveled to Brazil before Sean was born. Bruna took great pleasure in spending time with her friends in her old stomping grounds. I enjoyed surfing off the beautiful beaches of Barra, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. We both savored Brazil’s barbecues and delicious mangoes. Bruna took Sean to visit our extended family a few months after his birth, and had made the trip by herself for her grandmother’s funeral a few years earlier. More recently, in March 2004, she and a friend and fellow teacher at the school where Bruna taught went to Brazil during the school’s spring break. So it didn’t strike me as unusual for us to plan a trip during the summer, after Bruna completed her teaching responsibilities for the 2004 spring semester. We usually traveled as a family to Brazil twice a year, once during Bruna’s winter break and once during the summer. Just as any couple whose family members live in different locations, we made special efforts to enjoy time together with all of our relatives, especially after Sean was born. Although Rio was a dangerous place, as Bruna and her parents often reminded me, it was still her hometown in her native land and it was beautiful. We wanted Sean to be familiar with both cultures, and to know that he was part of something much bigger than himself.

On Wednesday, June 16, 2004, I drove the family to Newark’s Liberty International Airport to begin their vacation. Under Brazilian law, when any one parent travels alone with a child to Brazil, the other parent or guardian is required to sign a letter of authorization. So before the trip, as part of normal procedures, I signed the release authorizing Bruna to take Sean out of the country for a limited period of time.

Since I was going to see the two of them in a week or so, I didn’t think much of it at the time. Besides, I was busy planning Bruna’s thirtieth birthday party. As a surprise present for her, I hoped to have our kitchen redone while she was out of the country. I was also working on an itinerary for another family trip to Turnberry Isle in Florida — one that would include Bruna’s mom and dad — to celebrate her birthday in mid-August after we had all returned from Brazil. Ordinarily when we vacationed together, I made the arrangements. Having traveled as much as I had over the years, I found it easy to book all the family members’ flights and hotels, and handle all the other details myself. But this time, Bruna’s mom kept protesting, saying, “Oh, we can take care of that from Brazil.” This struck me as odd, but I thought, Okay, fine. We’ll make the arrangements from Brazil.

At the airport, after I got Sean comfortably situated from his stroller, I helped carry Bruna’s, Sean’s, and my in-laws’ suitcases into the busy Newark terminal. I assisted in getting all the suitcases checked in, then walked Bruna and Sean to the security area in front of the Jetway leading to their flight. With passengers bustling all around us, I kissed Bruna and Sean good-bye and embraced Bruna’s parents.

I watched as my family went through the initial identification checkpoint and started down the hallway toward their flight. Then, as we always did when one of us was traveling, Bruna and Sean stopped and turned toward me, and we used sign language for our final good-bye. I pointed to my eye, my heart, and then to Bruna and Sean, and mouthed the words “I love you.” Bruna and Sean pointed to their eyes, their hearts, and then back at me: “I love you.” Bruna turned and followed her parents down the Jetway, toward the security metal detector, pushing Sean in the stroller as she went. I watched them until I could no longer see them, and waited a few minutes longer in case they had forgotten anything or there was a last-minute flight cancellation. Then I returned to our vehicle and headed back to our home in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. It was going to be long, lonely night.

In many ways, ours had been a storybook romance. I met Bruna Bianchi Ribeiro in 1997 in Milan, Italy, where I was working as a fashion model and she was studying fashion. We moved back to New Jersey, where we were married in 1999, and in May 2000, Bruna gave birth to Sean. We had a beautiful marriage, an ideal little family; it was perfect in every way, and we were head over heels in love.

At least so I thought.

The day after their flight, Bruna called from Brazil to let me know that she and the family and arrived safely. “Sean is so excited,” she gushed. “He’s eating mangoes and he just loves it here.”

Bruna’s unusual emphasis on how happy Sean was to be back in Brazil seemed a bit over the top, but I was glad my wife and son were safe and sound and already enjoying their vacation. We talked briefly, then said our “I love you’s” and our good-byes.

On Sunday, June 20, Bruna called again. I could tell immediately from the tone of her voice that something was wrong, but I would not have guessed what she was about to say. “You’re a great guy, David, and a wonderful father to Sean. I have no regrets about our relationship and having Sean together.”

I didn’t even have time to wonder where Bruna was going with this line of thought, as she continued without a pause, almost as though following a script.

“Our love affair is over. I’ve decided to stay in Brazil,” she said. “I’m keeping Sean here with me.”

Whooom! It was as though the earth had suddenly dropped out from under me, and I was hanging in midair. “What? What! What are you talking about, Bruna?” I could not believe what I was hearing. Our love affair? What about our marriage? The tone of voice with which she said those words to me was one I had never before heard from her. She sounded cold, calculating, and unemotional — not at all like the upbeat, vivacious, passionate woman to whom I was married.

I remember thinking, What is this? Where is this coming from? The person I loved, and envisioned loving for the rest of my life, until death do us part, had suddenly become as cold as ice.

It got worse. Bruna had a list of demands. “You need to come here immediately,” she said. I want you to sign over the full rights of Sean to me. If you ever want to see Sean again, you need to fly to Rio de Janeiro immediately. I have a document my lawyer has drawn up, and you need to sign it.”

Lawyer? What lawyer? And how could she have secured such a document? She had been gone only a few days! It never occurred to me that this might have been a meticulously devised plan by Bruna and her parents in collusion with a Brazilian attorney.

According to Bruna, the document she wanted me to sign was ten pages in length and spelled out several demands, including that Sean remain with Bruna and her family in Brazil, and that I surrender my legal role as Sean’s parent, in addition to giving full custody to Bruna. “And you need to agree never to press any criminal charges. Never to go to the police in the U.S. to file kidnapping charges, never file any custody papers in the U.S. courts, never file for separation or divorce in the United States, and you must do nothing that will interfere with my plans to obtain U.S. citizenship.”

My brain was reeling, my body convulsing; I felt nauseated. Bruna, what is going on here? I was shocked and devastated at the same time.

“David, if you do any of those things and go against what I want — if you hire a lawyer — you will never see your son again, and you will spend all your money trying.”

“Bruna, what is happening?”

Bruna was done and she wanted to get off the phone. “You must come here, David,” she demanded.

“I can’t believe this…”

“You need to come here now. Bye.” Click. The phone line went dead.

I hung up the phone. My knees gave out, and I slumped to the floor, my face in my hands, my head still spinning, my heart pounding. I thought it might explode into a thousand pieces. My mind refused to fathom what I had just heard, yet there had been no equivocation in Bruna’s words. She had made herself quite clear. Our marriage was over, and she planned to keep our four-year-old son, Sean, in Brazil.

Our son, my buddy, my baby boy, Sean. I loved that little guy more than my own life. This couldn’t be happening. I was crushed and confused, distraught and disoriented, by this ghastly turn of events. I had never felt so alone in all my life.

I called my parents. My mom answered the phone. “Mom…” I struggled to get sound out of my mouth.

“Oh, hi, David,” she answered cheerfully. “Happy Father’s Day.”

Happy Father’s Day? My wife has just run off with my son. It was not a happy Father’s Day at all. It was the start of six years in a father’s hell.

From "A Father's Love: One Man’s Unrelenting Battle to Bring His Abducted Son Home" by David Goldman. Copyright © 2011. Reprinted by permission of Viking, part of the Penguin Group.

As part of the Dateline report Sean's Story from Friday, April 27th, learn more about how you can help to resolve child abduction in the United States and abroad by visiting the following resources:

Bring Sean Home Foundation:
http://bringseanhome.org/

Bring Abducted Children Home:
http://www.bachome.org/

Child Rescue Network:
http://childrescuenetwork.org/

Forever Searching:
http://www.foreversearching.com/ 

We’ve heard from his father, David Goldman, but for the first time since Sean Goldman was abducted by his mother and taken to Brazil, he sits down with Meredith Vieira for an exclusive interview. An intimate conversation about his confusing ordeal and all its painful repercussions, the interview with 11 year-old Sean Goldman will air on “Dateline” Friday, April 27 at 10p/9c.

The challenges faced by this young New Jersey boy are staggering. When Sean was 4, he was abducted to Brazil by his mother and abruptly cut off from his father. When he was 8, his mother died and his Brazilian family tried to keep him away from his biological father, David Goldman. Sean never knew that for years, David was trying to bring him back home.

Are you worried about your teen and driving while texting or intoxicated?  Join us for a live video chat at 2pm EST on Monday, April 23rd, with NBC News' Natalie Morales and other guests, including parenting expert Dr. Michele Borba, to answer your questions about how to teach your kids to make better decisions while driving.

This web exclusive event is part of 'My Kid Would Never Do That', a new four-part Dateline series.

By Dr. Michele Borba

1. Set Clear Rules Against Drinking

A study of over 1000 teens found that teens with “hands on” parents who establish clear behavior expectations, monitor their teens comings and goings, and aren’t afraid to say no are four times less likely to engage in risky behaviors like drinking and driving. Teens also say they will be more cautious about drinking and driving if they know you are serious and will follow through with punishments. Feel free to be strict without feeling guilty. It makes no difference whether your teen has a driver’s license nor a car—peers do. So stress one rule: “NEVER ever drink and drive.”

2. Put a No Drinking and Driving Rule in Writing

Have your teen sign a contract to never drink and drive. Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) www.saddonline.com provides a free online contract to download. It may help them pause just the second needed to not get behind that wheel. Stress to your teen that drinking and driving—either as the driver or passenger—means an automatic loss of his or her driving license. Then make a pact: if your teen calls for a ride, he can keep that license. Also, let him know you will be monitoring. (Waiting at the front door when he comes home is a great technique. Then give him a quick check: a hug (smell for liquor); check eyes for redness; ask how the party was (check speech patterns); and look for gum or mints (to reduce alcohol smell).

3. Form an Alliance With Other Parents

A survey by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the "MetLife Foundation Attitude Tracking Study found that the place where teens are most likely to encounter drugs and alcohol is at parties and other social situations. While not shocking, what is, is that teens say that many parties are not adult supervised and in some cases it's the adults who are the suppliers. (Ninety-nine percent of parents say they would not serve alcohol at their kid’s party; but 28% of teens say they have been at supervised parties where alcohol is available). A Survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia also found that half of teens who attend parties say alcohol, drugs or both are available though 80 percent of parents believe teens attend substance-free parties.

• Know your teen’s friends and their parents. Make a pack to monitor each other’s kids and pledge that there will be no unsupervised parties.
• Make a rule that you call any parent hosting a party to assure supervision.  Doing so helps you find other parents share rules, which helps when your teen says, “You’re the only parent with those rules” – you can beg to differ.

4. Create a Secret Code with Your Teen

Teens say that losing face with peers is a big reason they don’t call for help. “I couldn’t call you. My friends would hear!” So create a text code like “1-1-1” or a phrase such as “I’m getting the flu” so your teen can save face and still alert you that he needs a designated driver and rescue.

• Earn your teen’s trust. Promise that you’ll pick up your teen with no questions asked. Many teens admit having a code with their parents but don’t use it because their parents don’t follow through on their “no questions asked” pledge and discipline them instead. If you want your teen to call, earn their trust.
• Pass your code on to one trusted adult. Also make a pack with a trusted adult that if you’re not available, your teen knows he can call that person for help.
• Have emergency backup plans. Give your teen a card with phone numbers of taxicab services and money in a drawer and tell your teen to use in case of an emergency. Doing so does not mean you are giving your approval to drink but you understand that peer pressure is tough and in case something comes up, your teen is prepared and knows how to get a safe ride home.

5. Don’t Make Liquor Available

Teens admit getting alcohol is easy-and the easiest place to get it is in their home. The second easiest place is in their friends’ homes.

• Lock up your liquor supply. Don’t tell your teen where the key is! Count those liquor bottles.
• Watch your credit card. The hot place teens buy alcohol is on the Internet.
• Admonish an older sibling to not be the supplier.

6. Create a Safety Net for Special Occasions

Prom and Grad Night are teen occasions when alcohol is more prevalent and drunk driving accidents peak. Get on board with the school and other parents to reduce the likelihood of drinking and driving to keep teens safer.

• Set up a Safe Rides program in your community.
• Designate other peers, older siblings or younger class as drivers who do not drink.
• Consider hiring a limo for a group of teens who are going to an event together.
• Don’t let your teen rent a hotel room after an event. Limit the amount of driving.

7. Develop Peer Comebacks with Your Teen

Peer pressure is fierce, and teens say those “Just say no” type lines don’t work. So help your adolescent create lines to use with peers that let her save face and buck the pressure: “My dad will take away my license.” “I don’t need a ride-my friend is coming.” “My mom will ground me for life—and she always finds out.”

8. Teach “Sneaky” Ways Not to Drink

The truth is the party scene is on and your teen will be faced with the “Do you want a drink?” question from a peer. If your kid can’t say no (and let’s be clear…it’s a rare kid who can…), then teach sneaky ways to avoid drinking and save face. Take the drink-but don’t sip it. Take the drink-but leave it. Take the drink-then take it to the bathroom and pour it down the sink and fill the glass with water.  Those tricks will also help your teen navigate those college parties where alcohol is flowing even more

If teens are at your home, you are responsible for their safety and well-being. Be at the door when they leave. Tell them you will wait up and be at the door when they return. Ensure that they are safe to drive. If you have just an ounce of doubt, take their keys and you the driver. Now go talk to your teen. And then talk again and again and again. And don’t forget teens get their views about alcohol from watching. Be the example you want your teen to follow.

...

Dr. Michele Borba is a TODAY Show contributor, author, parenting expert and educational consultant. For more about her work see MicheleBorba.com or follow her on twitter @MicheleBorba

As part of a four-week series reported on by Natalie Morales, “Dateline’s” My Kid Would Never Do That: Driving premieres on Sunday, April 22 at 7p/6c.

Giving your teenager the keys to a car is one of the scariest moments of parenthood. Will they make safe choices? With hidden cameras, we watch, along with Robert Turrisi, a Penn State professor and consultant to MADD, as teens make decisions in what appeared to be three potentially dangerous situations:

• Will they text while driving, even though they’ve promised not to?

• Will they get into a car with a teen they think has been drinking?

• What about with a driver who says he is high?

And on Monday, April 23 at noon ET, Natalie Morales will host a hangout on Google+ and DatelineNBC.com to discuss Sunday’s episode. She will be joined by Jan Withers, MADD's National President, Rafael Lemaitre who is the Communications Director for the White House Drug Policy Office, and Michele Borba, a child safety expert. In addition, the co-producers of Dateline’s My Kid Would Never Do That franchise will offer their behind-the-scenes insights, and preview next Sunday's show.