by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Education, Mentoring, Parenting Books, Teen Success
Two decades ago, Michael Gurian’s best-selling book, The Wonder of Boys, created a stir. The push for women’s rights assumed the developmental needs of both genders were the same. Going against this assumption, he made a convincing case that while boys and...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting
I accidentally help wire my boys’ teen brains for critical thinking. It was Christmas 1982, and like all parents at the time, I knew nothing about the teen brain. But I didn’t think twice about what to give them for Christmas. It just seemed like a great...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Alcohol, Drugs, Education, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
I’ve written two books, Conversations with the Wise Uncle (for boys) and Conversations with the Wise Aunt (for girls) that are fictional accounts about an older relative mentoring a young person during the teen years to give the child a “heads up”...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Education, Teen Success
When I was in high school, I got an A in every subject I ever took. I didn’t find out until later that I hadn’t learned as much as I thought. But man, I knew how to make A’s! My dad was in the military, so I knew all about West Point. For years I wanted to go to...
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...
