by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Parent-child Communication, Personal Strength, Teen Sex
With a new documentary, the “Lorena Bobbitt story” is in the media again. Do you remember her – the woman who, almost 30 years ago, was raped by her husband; and then while he slept, she cut off his…with a kitchen knife and tossed it into a...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books, Teen Success
Every parent I’ve ever met hopes their teen will grow up to be a capable, successful adult, even though we all have seen instances of the opposite. Realistically, wonderful things can happen during the second dozen years of growing up. For example, a teen can: Become...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Teen Success
It happens on a regular basis. Someone you know – a friend, a spouse, a child, a co-worker – will come to you frustrated because he’s having problems. If you’re in a hurry and if you have superior experience and wisdom, maybe you can make the...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books
People sometimes ask me, “What’s your favorite book about parenting?” It’s a good question, because there are hundreds of parenting books to choose from. But for me, it’s not a hard question. At the top of my list of favorites is Get the...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting
Should you give advice? The answer is the same whether you’re relating to another adult or to a teenager. One of my friends has an interesting idiosyncrasy. Whenever we talk, his way of interacting with me is to give me advice. I think he does this because...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Education, Fitness, Health & Nutrition, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Peer Pressure, Personal Strength, Rebellion, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture, Teen Sex, Teen Success
One of the underlying themes of my writing is that parents of teens need to be realistic. But being realistic doesn’t necessarily imply some kind of worst-case scenario. Because realistically, lots of really wonderful things can happen during adolescence. For...
