by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Teen Success
Driving home, I saw a young man walking on the sidewalk. Shirtless in the midday sun, he sported a tanned, muscular body. He seemed oblivious to a future consequence: excessive exposure to solar radiation (sunlight) can cause skin cancer. The sight reminded me of a...
by Dennis Coates | Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication
Many years ago, my business partners asked me to change my behavior. They claimed that I sometimes lashed out at them. When one referred to my behavior as verbally abusive, I became defensive. I thought they were exaggerating. They gave me an example. Once, in a...
by Dennis Coates | Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books
Have you ever looked up at the night sky on a clear night to see the North Star? If you can spot the Big Dipper, follow the line from the dipper to a very bright star named Polaris. This star helped seafarers navigate for centuries. It’s very, very far away...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Critical Thinking, Education, Health & Nutrition, Parent-child Communication, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Sex, Teen Suicide
As I write this, the Covid-19 coronavirus in the U.S. has been killing about 3,000 people every day. I know several people who have become infected. A member of my extended family died from the infection. This pandemic has brought out the best and the worst in our...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Health & Nutrition, Parenting, Parenting Books, Podcasts, Teen Culture
It’s well documented: how kids with growing brains can be adversely affected – for life – by too much screen time. It’s a scary issue for parents, because the new technologies are both amazingly useful and amazingly dangerous. And practically...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Education, Interviews, Parenting, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Sex, Teen Success, Work
One parent I know pushed her child hard to punch all his tickets in high school. He was a smart kid, but lazy. She felt she had to manage him to meet his requirements. His real love was playing video games, so he decided he wanted to be a game programmer. At college,...
