by Dennis Coates | Dec 17, 2019 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Personal Strength, Teen Success
I once had a conversation with an intelligent woman about the value of team sports. She said emphatically that the idea that team sports promoted teen development was utter nonsense (not her words) and that team sports promoted aggressiveness and generally callous...
by Dennis Coates | Aug 27, 2019 | Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Teen Success
As I was coaching a twelve-year-old girl, I concluded with this summary: “In the future, some of your friends will want you to conform, so you’ll need to stand up for yourself and be the kind of person you want to be.” Her reply: “What do you...
by Dennis Coates | Aug 5, 2019 | Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Parent-child Communication, Self-Esteem, Teen Success
This weekend we’re headed to Corpus Christie to celebrate our niece’s wedding. Since our go-to cat sitter isn’t available, we found a 15-year-old young man who wanted the job. He came to our home to be briefed, and I had a chance to talk with him. Me...
by Dennis Coates | Jun 17, 2019 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Rebellion, Self-Esteem
I know several parents whose child is fast approaching adolescence. Even raising a sweet child can be difficult in many ways, but after puberty the challenges change. Middle school-aged children don’t want to be treated like sweet little kids anymore. Far from...
by Dennis Coates | Jun 11, 2019 | Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Health & Nutrition, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books, Parenting Videos, Programs, Self-Esteem
My book, How Your Teen Can Grow a Smarter Brain, and most of the hundreds of articles on this blog, address how to encourage, support and coach a young person during the adolescent years to wire their prefrontal cortex (PFC) for the thinking skills that they’ll...
by Dennis Coates | Jun 3, 2019 | Adolescent Brain, Drugs, Education, Health & Nutrition, Rebellion, Teen Culture
You don’t want your teen to smoke cigarettes. You don’t want your teen smoke marijuana. There’s the danger that normal development of the prefrontal cortex will be disrupted, with permanent consequences. Damage to lungs. Addiction. Gateway to other...