by Dennis Coates | Oct 22, 2016 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Parenting Books, Rebellion, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Work
Since the 1990’s, when Dr. Jay Giedd and his colleagues at the National Institute for Mental Health published their pioneering research about adolescent brain development, more than a dozen authors with different backgrounds have written about “the teen brain.” For...
by Dennis Coates | Oct 7, 2016 | Adolescence, Drugs, Guest Blog Posts, Health & Nutrition, Parent-child Communication, Parenting
When teens abuse any kind of drug – legal or illegal, prescription or OTC – it can disrupt ongoing brain development in the prefrontal cortex, with lifelong consequences. This guest post comes from Blaise Brooks, a mother of one, caregiver of two and a...
by Dennis Coates | Sep 28, 2016 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Education, Encouragement, Parenting, Teen Culture, Teen Success
In a separate post, I quoted Dr. Jay Giedd, the pioneering brain researcher who discovered that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is still under development during a child’s adolescence, that this is the “smart” area of the brain, and that wiring the PFC...
by Dennis Coates | Sep 23, 2016 | Adolescence, Education, Encouragement, Guest Blog Posts, Parenting, Parenting Blogs, Parenting Books, Self-Esteem
The second 10 years of a child’s life is their last opportunity to prepare for the challenges of adult life. This guest post was written by Elisabeth Stitt, a parenting expert who focuses on middle school adolescent children. She is the author of Parenting as a...
by Dennis Coates | Sep 7, 2016 | Parenting
Remember the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in 2009? And the heroism of the pilot who kept his cool, saving everyone on board? In 2016 Clint Eastwood has created a thought-provoking movie about this real-life hero, who was later investigated and...
by Dennis Coates | Aug 20, 2016 | Critical Thinking, Parenting, Parenting Blogs, Parenting Books, Parenting Videos
As a parent, you have four ways of taking action… You do what other people tell you to do. Husband. Friend. Relative. Your TV. You react instinctively, emotionally. You unconsciously act out of habit. Your brain is wired for a particular behavior pattern. You...
