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, 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, Critical Thinking, Strong for Parenting, Teen Culture, Teen Sex
Eventually, your teen may want to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Most parents become concerned at this point because these relationships are new, and their child may be feeling natural sexual urges and want to explore. Of course, the consequences of teen sex could...
by Dennis Coates | Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Strong for Parenting, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Youth Athletics
Heman Bekele is a 14-year-old boy who won First Prize in 3M’s Young Scientist’s Challenge for working to create an affordable soap that could treat skin cancer. Read more about him here… As a young man, he wasn’t focused on being popular. He...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture
A classic conflict: a teenager who is discovering who they are and wanting to be popular is tempted to give in to peer pressure to do things that are ill-advised or even dangerous. It’s the kind of conflict that few teens know how to deal with. Have you tried...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Teen Suicide
Today I read a disturbing article. The truth: the executives of tech companies that create social media don’t care. They not only don’t care if their technologies are addictive, they’re counting on it. They don’t care that vulnerable children...
