Relationships

Go With The Flow: 10 Ways to Easily Engage Teenagers

One of my axioms about working with teenagers is: “Adolescence is like gravity,  It is much easier to work with it than against it.” A lot of the talk about dealing with teenagers focuses on how to combat or overcome the forces of adolescence.  As adults it can be easy to think of the teenager [...]

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Parents & Teenagers: 5 Must Have Conversations (ii)

This is the second part of two part post on conversations parents absolutely must have with their teenagers, preferably  before the teen years. I want to acknowledge before continuing that talking about these topics will happen more effectively as a series of short conversations over time rather than one long conversation.  These short conversations are [...]

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10 Signs Of Low Self Esteem In Teenagers

Adolescence is a time of life when a person’s self esteem is known to fluctuate significantly. It is estimated that up to a half of adolescents will struggle with low self esteem, many of these occurrences during the early teen years. In previous posts I have discussed the key factors that influence teenager’s self esteem [...]

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The 3 Deadly Sins Comitted by Parents of Teenagers

Being a parent is not easy.  It is a huge responsibility that requires significant skill and wisdom, and kids come with no training or resources provided. Then when you finally get it worked out for children they go and hit puberty and turn into adolescents. Lately I have been doing some research into best practices [...]

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What Are Eminem & Rihanna Saying About Domestic Violence?

What are your thoughts on the new video “Love the Way You Lie” from Eminem and Rihanna? (Warning: it contains explicit language) On first viewing it seems to present a strong message against domestic violence by suggesting that violent relationships are a vicious cycle that are best avoided. The video contains various images of the [...]

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The Do’s & Don’ts of Helping Teens During Divorce

No one sets out in life to get divorced. But it happens, and it continues to happen, and it continues to affect not only the adults but also children. In the previous post we explored the impacts the divorce of parents has upon teenage kids. In this post we will look at some of the [...]

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Teenagers & Bullying

The research suggests it is more common than many people think.  But could you tell if a teenager in your life was being bullied? Bullying involves a power imbalance and deliberate acts that cause physical, psychological and emotional harm. It can involve physically aggressive behaviour, verbal or relational forms of aggression like name-calling or social [...]

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15 Tips & Resources for Mentors of Youth

In my previous post I referred to part of a study by the Search Institute that collated the top 10 things teenagers want from adults in order to build meaningful relationships. The post  raised the importance of teens developing strong relationships with adults who aren’t their parents, like neighbours, teachers, coaches, or youth group leaders [...]

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What Teens Want From Adults

I’m sure most of you agree that connecting with teenagers can be challenging. Apparently teenagers think connecting with adults is no simple task either. A recent survey released by the Search Institute in Minneapolis found, among other things, that teens are looking for more from adults in order to develop relationships. A survey of 1,860 [...]

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Teenagers & Mobile Phone Disorders!

Have you ever thought your teen’s mobile phone has become somehow anatomically attached to their body? Do you ever worry that the amount which they text might be dangerous?  Well your fears may be well founded. Apparently mobile phones put teens at risk of developing all sorts of disorders. A study into youth communication habits [...]

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