by Dennis Coates | Jun 14, 2015 | Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books, Teen Success
Every time a teenager tries to figure out why something happened, tries to understand the relationship between thing A and thing B, tries to see the connection between cause and effect, foresees possible consequences, evaluates options, solves problems and consciously...
by Dennis Coates | May 28, 2015 | 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 | May 20, 2015 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Teen Culture, Youth Athletics
Drinking alcohol with the expressed purpose of getting “messed up”? Believe it or not, this is an activity practiced mostly by kids. Watch this brief video… What can a parent do? 1. Get the book, How Your Teen Can Grow a Smarter Brain. Then read...
by Dennis Coates | May 19, 2015 | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books, Rebellion, Teen Culture
A few years ago my wife and I were doing some recreational house-hunting. While viewing a beautiful home, she commented, “I like this house but we’d need to replace all the tile floors.” I thought the tile was nice. After mentally estimating the cost...
by Dennis Coates | May 15, 2015 | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Parent-child Communication
Father: “Hey, son. I thought I asked you to clean and put away the tools after you use them.” Son: “Oh. Right.” Father: “Well, the tools you used last night are still on the bench. Why didn’t you put them away?” Son: “I don’t know. I guess I forgot.” Father: “I told...
by Dennis Coates | May 12, 2015 | 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...
