by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Parenting
Most parents think of their child as “officially” an adolescent when they technically become a teenager on their 13th birthday. And they think their project of raising the child to adulthood is pretty much over after high school, when most of these young...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Drugs, Teen Culture
A new study has concluded that teenagers who smoke pot suffer a significant drop in IQ that persists even if they stop smoking it later in life. The article doesn’t explain why, except for this statement by lead researcher Madeline Meier of Duke University:...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Videos, Teen Sex
For the past few years, I’ve been interviewing adults about their adolescent experiences. I always ask, “What did your parents tell you about sex?” Ninety-five percent of the time the answer is, “Nothing.” I remember the one and only time...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Parent-child Communication
The sound of the front door shutting announced that Ricardo was home from practice. His dad met him in the hallway. “How was it today?” “It was okay. We did a lot of conditioning drills and I’m beat.” “Good stuff. I’ll bet...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Peer Pressure, Self-Esteem
For many young people, low self-esteem comes with the territory. They don’t want to be thought of as children anymore, but they know they’re not adults. They lack the knowledge, skills, judgment, experience, resources, authority, confidence and maturity...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Parenting, Teen Suicide
Not long ago I was sitting at a table drinking coffee and talking with Johann Eyfells, the world-famous Icelandic sculptor. At some point, I used the word “luck.” He quickly seized on the word. “Luck. What is luck?” From a man who has been on...
