Listen to the Podcast Remind Yourself that Your Teenager is a Teenager As simple as this sounds, its one of the most important aspects of parenting and relating to teenagers. Most adults suffer from projection bias when it comes to teens, in that they project onto teens their [...]
Listen to the Podcast Once I heard a teen call another teen in the classroom “fat.” Because of my own painful experience of being picked on for being obese, I over reacted and verbally berated that teen in front of the whole class. And, as painful as this [...]
If there was one thing that would improve your parenting, it would be this: stop comparing yourself to others. Easier said than done, right? As parents, we compare ourselves and our kids to others. I naturally see the ways my friends are better parents than me. One is a better financial provider, [...]
Today's teenagers expect and demand authenticity from parents and other adults who want to be in relationship with them. This principle, like so many things in my life, I learned the hard way. One Summer while in grad school, I taught catechism classes to a group of 13 year old [...]
Listen to the Podcast Roughly 34% of today's teenagers today are raised by single parents/guardians. As a child of a single parent, I was able to watch and experience, some of the challenges single parents face. Not having the support of a spouse emotionally or financially was tough on my mom. [...]
It's April, and you know what that means... It's finally National Distracted Driving Awareness Month! Okay, so you probably haven't been marking the days off the calendar in preparation, but this April is as good a time as any to practice communicating with teenagers about important teenage issues like distracted [...]
Parents ask me: "Roy, how do I know if what my son is doing is a 'normal teenager thing' or if it's something more serious? How do I know when I'm at the point where I should get my teenager some help?" One of the hardest aspects for parents raising [...]
Teenagers can be intimidating. Their facial expressions, tone of voice and body language often suggest that they want to be left alone. And sometimes that is what they want. But more often, being left alone is not what they want. Those dirty looks, rolling eyes and standoffish body language are [...]
Being the parent of a teen is tough. It's a confusing, hormonal period of constant change. Many young people experiment with new identities or behaviors. And often, teenagers, driven by a heightened need for novelty, self expression and control leading them to act out and rebel, causing problems at home and [...]
Teenage depression and anxiety is a common and serious issue. At least one in every five teenagers experiences depression or anxiety before reaching adulthood. Many teenagers turn to destructive choices like drugs and alcohol, promiscuity, eating disorders, and even suicide to cope with their depression and anxiety. In fact, suffering [...]
