You may want your marriage to be over, but when that marriage shares children, you and your ex will inevitably be connected for a very long time. Regardless of how you feel about your ex, your role as parents require each of you to ensure that the divorce is as painless as possible for your children and to prioritize spending
Read moreBy adolescence, the time spent with peers is greater than the time spent with adults, including parents. Friendships are very important to teens. As they prepare to pull away from their parents, youth need the acceptance and support of their friends. In addition to offering general companionship, adolescent friendships help teens develop conflict resolution skills and provide stability during transitions
Read moreMany of the behaviors that we associate with teenagers actually begin to emerge in the younger years between the ages of 9 and 12, affectionately known as the “tween” years. In addition to the fact that children seem to be entering puberty at earlier ages, tweens face a number of changes in their young lives. Here are some of those
Read moreBullying includes a wide variety of behaviors, but all bullying involves a person or a group repeatedly trying to harm someone who is weaker or more vulnerable. It can involve physical aggression (hitting, pushing, or damaging belongings), verbal attacks (threatening or intimidating, maliciously teasing and taunting, name-calling, or making sexual remarks) or more subtle, indirect attacks (spreading rumors or encouraging
Read moreA study put out by Kaplan Test Prep shows that college admissions officers take a look at what your teen is posting on their social networks by checking their name on Google, Facebook or other online hot spots when they get the applications. Almost 3 in 10 admissions officers review applicants’ online footprints. Although that isn’t new, the percentage of
Read moreWould you ask your teen to lie for you? I’m sure you just said, “no!” But, consider the question closely. Have you ever asked your teen to tell someone on the phone that you’re not home because you don’t want to talk to them? Have you asked them to not mention the broken heater or the minor fender bender because
Read moreThe holiday season is upon us, and as usual, everyone is running around trying to find that perfect gift for their loved ones. It makes it especially hard when you are shopping for a teenager. It is difficult to know what items might delight their heart or earn their scorn. Below are some budget-friendly, stress-free ideas to make your teen’s
Read moreTrust is a fundamental building block of the parent-child relationship. Therefore, it can feel devastating when that trust is broken. When expectations have been established, it hurts when a parent or child acts in a way that doesn’t value those expectations. Parents can just as easily break their child’s trust as vice versa, but in this blog, we are going
Read moreYour teenager may have 495 friends on Facebook, but does he or she have a couple of close friends? The friends you can tell anything to, the ones you always want to hang out with, the ones who support you no matter what. Does your teen know how to make friends, keep them, act like a good friend? As parents,
Read moreA frenemy makes you think of that old adage, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” A true friend is someone that you love, trust, and who provides support and encouragement. In contrast, a frenemy is someone your child calls a friend, but who never acts in their best interest; someone who is manipulative, unkind and critical. These toxic relationships
Read moreThere are few parents that relish the idea of their teen beginning to date. However, there are actually a lot of benefits to your teenagers experiencing the give and take of a relationship. No one can “learn” how to be a good partner – it’s more “on the job” training. Dating helps young people learn to get along with others,
Read moreThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe dating violence as physical, sexual, or psychological harm placed on one partner by the other in a dating relationship. Physical violence includes slapping, scratching or pushing, but can be more extreme. Psychological violence includes insulting, humiliating, threatening, or trying to control what the other partner can or cannot do. Most studies and
Read morePeer pressure is a normal part of life. Right or wrong, humans tend to compare themselves to each other and pressure kicks in. Sometimes that pressure can be good, such as trying to get straight A’s like Judy, and sometimes that pressure can be bad, such as trying to be as “cool” as Tim when he smokes, but we all
Read moreHave you ever been in a situation in which you were so surprised that you didn’t know what to do? Afterwards, you might have thought, “I should have done something.” You feel like kicking yourself that you reacted poorly. The problem is that, when we are confronted with a situation we never expected, it takes us longer to figure out
Read more“Breaking up is hard to do” say the lyrics in the 1950s song, and truly it is, especially for teenagers, who may be in their first true relationship. Your teen may see it as a casual relationship or as what they thought was the love of their life. Either way, don’t underestimate the impact this break-up will have on them.
Read moreAlthough it is frequently referred to in negative connotations, peer pressure can be both positive and negative. Teenagers can “pressure” their friends to study harder (positive), try drugs (negative), join a club (positive), engage in sex (negative), or pretty much everything in between. No matter how a teen feels about themselves or how popular a teen is, all teens are
Read moreMaking friends, being friends, and occasionally ending friendships are all an important developmental task for tweens and teens. In the early years, many times parents could “choose” their children’s friends by making “play dates” for them. However, despite parents’ worries over their children’s friends and their influence, your teen’s friendships are completely in their own hands, as they should be.
Read moreHave you made eye contact with the teens around you lately, or are their eyes glued to their phone? Texting is a teenage craze. The Nielson Company estimates that American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 texts each month – or almost 80 messages per day – during last year. A study conducted by the American Public Health
Read moreA great deal of research has been done on adult-teen relationships. A healthy adult-adolescent relationship is not a friendship but more like an apprenticeship into adulthood. So, what constitutes a “healthy” relationship? Positive communication, open sharing, respect and trust are all elements of a healthy relationship. In this blog article, we will inform you of the findings from several high-quality U.S.
Read moreBullying includes a wide variety of behaviors, but all involve a person or a group repeatedly trying to harm someone who is weaker or more vulnerable. It can involve direct attacks (such as hitting, threatening or intimidating, maliciously teasing and taunting, name-calling, making sexual remarks, and stealing or damaging belongings) or more subtle, indirect attacks (such as spreading rumors or
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