The Teen Life
Blog
How to Turn Negative Thoughts to Constructive Ones
Learn to change negative thoughts into constructive ones with these 3 steps toward more positive thinking.
How Much is TOO MUCH? Winning at Screen Time
It’s our job as adults to guide teens into adulthood, and screen time habits are as much a part of our lives today as brushing teeth and eating vegetables.
Death of “Future Me”
I believe this is why we are seeing such a surge in mental health issues with teenagers. When there is no real future, no real reason to engage with our “anticipating self”, then what is the reason to engage or hope?
The Power of Teamwork
Teamwork: cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause. As the wife of a High School Basketball Coach, I spend A LOT of my time thinking about and cheering on good teamwork. It is...
Building Resilience Together
With teens in particular, we have an incredible opportunity. At an age where they understand loss, they appreciate more than ever when we take the time to teach them how to overcome it. And it’s teachable!
The Quest for Hope
This week is HOPE Week at my kids’ school put on by their HOPE Squads. For my elementary aged students, it’s a week of dressing up and having some extra fun in the classroom while talking about how to be kind and caring to others. For my middle schooler, the idea is...
Shifting Gears
We live in a world that invokes anxiety in even the most tranquil souls. A pandemic, social isolation, social media, job insecurity… the last 12 months alone have gone beyond the average social drama. Current reality is so far beyond the imaginable that even soap...
The Fake News Effect
“We accept the reality of the world with which we’re presented. It’s as simple as that.” – The Truman Show Social and political polarization is at an all-time high. Conspiracy theories, strong opinions, and stereotyping are taking over social media channels. I don’t...
Mental Health in a Pandemic
Mental health during a pandemic can’t be overlooked and it’s fitting that September is also National Suicide Prevention Month. Check in on your student. Check on your own mental health. Pay attention. What you do and your willingness to be active in students’ lives, can make a huge difference.
Ask Culture and Guess Culture
“In some families, you grow up with the expectation that it’s OK to ask for anything at all, but you gotta realize you might get no for an answer. This is Ask Culture.
In Guess Culture, you avoid putting a request into words unless you’re pretty sure the answer will be yes. Guess Culture depends on a tight net of shared expectations. A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do this with enough subtlety, you won’t even have to make the request directly; you’ll get an offer. Even then, the offer may be genuine or pro forma; it takes yet more skill and delicacy to discern whether you should accept.”
