by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Personal Strength, Strong for Parenting
The other day I was sitting in the waiting area of my dental clinic, along with seven other people. One of them was a woman in her mid-30s who was holding a small dog in her lap. I was amazed at how quiet and well-behaved the dog was. But a dog in a dental clinic? How...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Critical Thinking, Education, Guest Blog Posts, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Youth Athletics
When I’m with someone, a friend or family member, or even a stranger, I try to imagine what their experience of being alive in the world is like, based on their situation, experience, values, knowledge, skills, etc. I even do this with our cats. It’s my way of...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Education, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication
What is it like to be a child? Do you have any memory of this? A refresher: Compared to any adult, a child is lacking in almost every way. Physically smaller than an adult, without financial resources, and woefully lacking in understanding about how the world and...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Critical Thinking, Education, Inspiring Quotes, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Programs, Teen Culture, Teen Success
Recently, a bizarre death was reported in most news outlets. A 14-year old boy fell in love with an AI image. This computer-generated image became so real to him that he saw her as a real person. Ultimately, he killed himself with his father’s pistol in order to...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books, Personal Strength, Teen Success, Uncategorized
Being a parent means doing hard things on a regular basis. In other words, raising a child to be a happy, successful, independent adult will require you to engage many aspects of character strength. Likewise, to succeed in life as an adult, a child will also have to...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books
The great thing about a mistake or any bad experience is that you can learn from it. But it’s just as easy, if not easier, to not learn a thing. Kids make go through a lot of emotions on the way to growing up. They have so much to learn and the road can be...
