Teens can get prickly. Your cuddly little kid may have turned into a porcupine who bristles or rolls his eyes when you want to hug him. But that doesn’t mean you should stop being affectionate. You’ll do it differently than when she was younger—but please don’t stop all touch. Teens need human contact as much […]
For Parents of Teens and Preteens
Why Young Women Need a “No”
There’s a lot in the news about sexual assaults on college campuses. Outright assaults do happen (far too often). But a more common problem, I think, is young women (and sometimes guys) not wanting to say Yes but not knowing how to say No. Sometimes they’re not even sure it’s acceptable for them to […]
TalkStarter for Teens: LGBTQ Then and Now
One of the things that strikes me when I talk to young adults is their matter-of-factness about gender identity and especially sexual orientation. They are unfazed about many LGBTQ topics–in a way that would have been unimaginable 30 years ago. This gives parents an opening for some interesting conversations. At the large suburban high school […]
TalkStarter for Teens and Preteens: The Overheard Argument
Sometimes when you’re out with your teen or older child, you may overhear a couple talking angrily. This feels uncomfortable—but it can open a conversation about relationships, communication, and how people treat each other. Next time you’re at a restaurant or shopping or whatever and people nearby start arguing audibly, you might give your kid […]
Why Being Nice May Not Be Such a Good Idea
If your parents were like mine, they taught you to “be nice”—to speak nicely, play nicely ( = sharing, not hitting other kids, not grabbing), generally to be polite and accommodating. For the most part this is a good thing—but niceness can go too far. “Nice” becomes a problem when it’s a code word for […]
Equal-Opportunity Heartbreak
There are a lot of ways that guys and girls are different—social expectations, speed of sexual arousal, all sorts of things. But there’s one important way they’re not different: heartbreak. Despite the image that guys are tough and unemotional, their hearts work the same way as girls’. They are every bit as likely to moon […]
TalkStarter for Teens: Hot on Halloween
If you have a teenager, you’ve noticed that girls’ Halloween costumes today tend to be a lot sexier than when we were in high school. A lot of girls look like Playboy bunnies in outfits that are tight, short, and low-cut. What does your teen think about this? If you’ve got a son, he probably […]
TalkStarter for Teens: A Family Dinner to Remember
Did you ever notice that we use one word for “elbow” and one word for “foot,” but dozens of words for our private parts? You can use the abundance of slang words to break the ice with your teens and preteens about sexuality. It will be a raucous family dinner none of you will […]
TalkStarter: Sex and the Check-Out Aisle
The other day I was waiting in a checkout line by a large rack of magazines. I was struck by the fact that almost all of the female-oriented magazines had “sexy” and/or “hot” in large letters on the cover. “Sexy hair,” “sexy shoes,” “hot body,” “sexy abs,” “sexy moves”…. What does this say to women? […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 11
- 12
- 13