by Dennis Coates | May 16, 2019 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Suicide
Imagine this scenario… A well-rounded, accomplished teen boy raised in a wholesome, supportive family is asked by a girl he believes is romantically interested in him, a stranger he met online, to send her erotic photos of himself. The reasoning part of his...
by Dennis Coates | Aug 27, 2018 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Health & Nutrition, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture, Teen Suicide
First, a new word: “esports.” Makes you think that playing video games is a legitimate sport, something like poker, which is featured on ESPN and in the sports sections of most newspapers. So, mom and dad, maybe it’s ok, right? Dozens of small...
by Dennis Coates | Jul 21, 2017 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Videos, Peer Pressure, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Teen Suicide
Today, most phone calls are made using wireless smartphones, relayed by Wi-Fi devices in your home or distant radio towers. What we used to call telephones are now called landlines, and these are steadily disappearing. The smartphone technology that people carry in...
by Dennis Coates | Mar 29, 2017 | Adolescence, Alcohol, Drugs, Education, Encouragement, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture, Teen Sex, Teen Suicide, Work
Why would a teenager do something as stupid as engaging in one of the teen challenges, such as binge-drinking, or swallowing a spoonful of cinnamon, or snorting a condom. Quite a few kids have ended up in the hospital and a few have died. Part of the answer is they...
by Dennis Coates | Jan 24, 2017 | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Education, Guest Blog Posts, Parenting Books, Teen Culture, Teen Suicide
Disconnected, a new book by Thomas Kersting, documents the horrible effects of excessive screen time on children. One of the most insidious technologies is video games, because of its ability to quickly addict the gamer. Here are a few shocking stories excerpted from...
by Dennis Coates | Dec 7, 2015 | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Rebellion, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture, Teen Sex, Teen Success, Teen Suicide
Most of the 50 million parents of school-aged children in the U.S. are all too aware of the gauntlet of dangers that threaten when a child becomes an adolescent: under-age smoking and drinking; drug abuse and addiction; low self-esteem and peer pressure; self-harm and...
