by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Parenting, Parenting Books, Personal Strength, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Uncategorized
I recently had breakfast with some friends who have a graduating high school senior. He’s a great kid who wants to be a speech therapist and has been accepted into the right university for that training. Also, I pointed out that in addition to this wonderful...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Parent-child Communication, Personal Strength, Teen Sex
With a new documentary, the “Lorena Bobbitt story” is in the media again. Do you remember her – the woman who, almost 30 years ago, was raped by her husband; and then while he slept, she cut off his…with a kitchen knife and tossed it into a...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Inspiring Quotes, Parenting, Personal Strength, Teen Success, Work
In my book, How Your Teen Can Grow a Smarter Brain, I explain that adolescence is a sensitive time window for developing foundation thinking skills in the prefrontal cortex and how to maximize that development. Important insights, I assure you. But establishing the...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Encouragement, Parenting Books, Teen Success
I recently had a conversation with a local physician. Happily, we didn’t talk about my health. Instead, he spoke enthusiastically about his three children, two boys and a girl, all of whom have left home. He told me something unbelievable about them: all three...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting
Should you give advice? The answer is the same whether you’re relating to another adult or to a teenager. One of my friends has an interesting idiosyncrasy. Whenever we talk, his way of interacting with me is to give me advice. I think he does this because...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Parenting Books
As you may have heard, my new book, How Your Teen Can Grow a Smarter Brain, is now available on Amazon. Several people have commented on the title, that “growing a smarter brain” is a clever metaphor for the process of building vital thinking skills. I...
