Parenting is hard stuff. Parenting teens is, well, hard. A teen’s brain knows just enough to question authority, especially when that authority is you. The more you try and control them, the harder your teen is to control. If you have strict guidelines on socializing, dating, talking on the phone, going to the movies, talking about [...]
When your teen fails, they define themselves by that failure and it affects their self-esteem, their identity. The poor performance, the missed goal, the drug problem, the teen pregnancy, the rejected girl or boyfriend define who they are. “Man, I’m such a loser!”
Irrespective of what you may have thought about the speech President Obama gave [...]
There is an art to saying, “No.” If your teen really means it then there is no doubt, but if there is any uncertainty well, your teen can end up with the other person thinking they were simply shy about saying, “Yes.”
Ask your self, if you have ever seen them really say, “No” to someone (besides [...]
The original U.S. Labor Day was designed as a celebration of the strength and spirit of trade and labor organizations. Today it has become a sign of the end of summer. Despite this change, the appreciation for hard work can still be instilled in teens. The trick becomes recognizing opportunities to teach teens about hard [...]
What does it mean when your teen tells you they’re gay? If you’re like any other parent, you’re going to have questions like, “Well, how do you know you’re gay?” “How will you have a family?” and “What about your safety?” or you may just deny it and be very angry.
If your teen has told [...]
Cleaning up or even preventing your teen’s mistakes doesn’t make your teen’s life easier. Instead, it can make them dependent on you. Mistakes are the learning opportunity of life. To truly live life your teen needs to know they are capable. So although some mistakes are very painful, they serve to show your teen’s resilience. These [...]
1. Social Life
For some teens starting high school separates them from friends they have had for the past 5-8 years this can create desperation to enter any social group and the easiest is the drug using group. For others, it is a sea of new faces and opportunities to hang out on the phone or [...]
