by Dennis Coates | Mar 15, 2020 | Adolescence, Health & Nutrition, Parenting, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Suicide
If you found out your teen daughter was experiencing pressure from the cool kids to “hook up” with boys, would you encourage her to go along in order to be well-liked? I admit, it’s a silly question. Of course you wouldn’t. The many risks are...
by Dennis Coates | Feb 24, 2020 | Behavior Change, Education, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Rebellion
A young father was telling me about his two children, a seven-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy. “My daughter is an angel, but my little boy is a terror. He defies me every chance he gets. At lunch I asked him to come to the dinner table and he refused....
by Dennis Coates | Feb 7, 2020 | Behavior Change, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Teen Success
With every choice, there is a consequence. And the situation of that consequence sets up another choice. One choice after another, we create our life paths and become who we are. It’s a process that continues throughout one’s life. It’s how a child...
by Dennis Coates | Jan 20, 2020 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Parenting, Personal Strength, Self-Esteem, Teen Success, Work, Youth Athletics
I’ve lived long enough to be aware of the sometimes remarkable paths that lives take. When I was a West Point cadet, my activities and achievements were quite a bit different from my high school experience. I know the same was true of my classmates. For example,...
by Dennis Coates | Jan 11, 2020 | Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting Books, Personal Strength, Teen Success, Work
“I was a terrible student,” he said, “always staring out windows or looking at the clock, waiting for class to be over.” From a very early age, the only thing that interested him was excitement, danger, and risk-taking. He considered schoolwork...