by Dennis Coates | Aug 4, 2022 | Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Personal Strength, Self-Esteem, Strong for Parenting, Teen Culture, Teen Success
Children are miracles. Loving parents know this. But kids start out life innocent and only learn what they observe and they’re taught. And these days, slogans such as “Black Lives Matter” are visible everywhere. When required to declare race on a...
by Dennis Coates | Jul 5, 2022 | Adolescence, Alcohol, Drugs, Encouragement, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Blogs, Peer Pressure, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture, Teen Sex, Teen Success
Teens need to be liked and included by friends. And in all sorts of ways, friends can pressure your child to conform and get involved in what they’re doing. Not all peer pressure is bad. If your child’s friends have good values, they can influence your...
by Dennis Coates | Jun 17, 2022 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
If you like to read, here’s a good article from the Stanford Children’s Health website about the developing teenage brain. It attempts to explain how teens eventually grow out of thinking emotionally to thinking logically. As the article says, not all...
by Dennis Coates | May 23, 2022 | Critical Thinking, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books, Teen Success, Teen Suicide, Uncategorized
I guess I’m a natural introvert, meaning I spend most of my time in my head, not interacting with people. Not that I can’t engage; I just prefer reflecting about the world around me. It’s a pattern that has served me well in learning, researching,...
by Dennis Coates | Apr 25, 2022 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success, Teen Suicide
Across the street lives a beautiful family: a nine-year-old boy, a four-year-old girl, and parents who spend a lot of time with them outdoors teaching them things. A lot of fun. A lot of love. I’ve enjoyed watching the kids grow up. I sometimes wonder what the...
by Dennis Coates | Feb 14, 2022 | Adolescent Brain, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Health & Nutrition, Parenting, Parenting Books, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Work
The pandemic has been tough on kids. Online classes, more time at home…kids could be excused for spending more time in front of screens. While it’s true that technology has some amazing benefits, there’s this: It’s addictive. The rewards from...