Speaking of Teens

Screens. It’s the absolute bane of every parent’s existence. And it only gets worse when kids get old enough to spell and search! And when puberty kicks in, well it’s a whole other story. I know I’m not the only one who’s silently cursed Steve Jobs every day since my child first laid his hands on an iPhone. Today’s teenagers have never known a world without a smart phone, a computer, or a gaming s...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal). Today, we address the following questions: 1. Can you discuss Hip Hop’s origins with your teen? 2. What are the chances your son or daughter has been approached by a sextortionist online? 3. Have you seen or experienced TikTok’s Bold Glamour filter? Sources and Resources for today's...

Today’s episode is our 60th and we zeroed in on this topic because recently, I’ve been seeing more questions about teen drug and alcohol issues in online groups and forums. These questions cover everything from punishments to at-home drug tests. Learn the answers in this episode featuring Richard Capriola, author of The Addicted Child, A Parents Guide to Adolescent Substance Abuse (or available on...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal). Today, we address the following questions: Is your teen more or less likely to develop a substance use disorder if they take stimulant medication for their ADHD? What is it about your voice and the way your teen reacts? Is your teen such a picky eater that you’re really concerned about t...

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” It’s the question kids become accustomed to from the time they can talk. They’ll give answers like astronaut, doctor, teacher, veterinarian or maybe artist, dancer, singer. But as they move through middle school, they begin to understand a little more about the “practicalities” of some of those careers as the adults in their life begin to wield more influ...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal). Today, a Question from a Facebook Group. Find our FREE Parenting Guides Here "I just wanted to let you know that I'm so thankful for your podcast! ...I'm so happy I discovered it!" Speaking of Teens Listener ^If you feel the same way, please consider rating and review...

Guess what? Your teen’s not staying up late because they make poor choices. They’re not fighting to stay asleep in the morning because they’re lazy. It’s not their fault - it’s not a conscious decision.  Just like other fallout from adolescent brain changes (you know, the ones that make them more prone to unpleasant emotions, more likely to do risky things like party and have unprotected sex, move...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal). Today, we're asking the questions: Can helping someone else improve your teen’s mental health? What kind of driving are you modeling for your kids and teens? Is Junior college a good option for your kid? Find our FREE Parenting Guides Here "I just wanted to let you know that I&...

We just don’t know how much we don’t know when we’re trying to be the best parents we can be. So many of us learn later that we should have done things differently. That’s me. I should have done so many things differently. And that’s what drives me to help you learn now so you don’t have to correct course later. The mistakes I talk about in this week’s episode are those that lead to lots of unnece...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal). Join our Facebook Group   for Free Support for Parents and others who care for Teens! Show Notes   Find our FREE Parenting Guides Here "I just wanted to let you know that I'm so thankful for your podcast! ...I'm so happy I discovered it!" Speaking of Teens Listener ^I...

Please note – although this episode is not about suicide, Our discussion does contain references to a relative’s suicide. Listen with care. This week’s episode is an interview with someone who has a very interesting story to tell and I’m honored she decided to tell it to me. If you’ve ever worried that your teen’s heading down the wrong path, hanging out with the wrong people, or making the wrong...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal).   Show Notes Find our FREE Parenting Guides Here "I just wanted to let you know that I'm so thankful for your podcast! ...I'm so happy I discovered it!" Speaking of Teens Listener ^If you feel the same way, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps peop...

This week’s episode is a continuation from last week, episode 54: “Big Social Media”, The Surgeon General And Teen Mental Health. You may want to go back and have a listen to that episode first. We know that social media’s not all bad for our teens but it’s certainly easy to blame these platforms for the adolescent mental health crisis. Afterall, continuous scroll, targeted algorithms and the like...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (maybe a little less formal). Chroming and Death Ozempic and addiction Ozempic and teens Vape and Australia Vape and house fire Show Notes Find our FREE Parenting Guides Here "I just wanted to let you know that I'm so thankful for your podcast! ...I'm so happy I discovered it!" Speaking of Teens L...

This past week the Surgeon General’s Advisory about Social Media and Youth Mental Health has been all over the news. Mostly, people have hit the highlights and chimed in with their own opinion.  But let’s dig a little deeper. Why are so many of our kids in a position of having to choose between their mental health and their social connection with peers?  The Surgeon General’s Advisory highlights t...

Every Friday we're dropping a BONUS episode. Shorter but no less informative (but a little less formal). Snopes.com PolitiFact.com The Clintons didn't kill Kenny Episode 40 - Andrew Tate. The Cult-Leader-Type Influencer Radicalizing Teens MediaWise Teen Fact Checking Network 13-year-old Attacked by Shark Uber for Teens Medpage Today - Profiteering off the Body Insecurity of Teens FDA - T...

Even if your teen has never suffered in the past and isn’t currently suffering from depression, you need to educate yourself on this very serious topic.  Because the risk is so great and the statistics for teen depression and associated harms are currently so high, you simply can’t take a chance. Depression in teens can escalate way too fast and when we’re desperate, we tend to not make great deci...

Today, I have a "bonus episode" for you. Honestly, I'd rather it just be a surprise, but I think you can tell by the title what I'm talking about (and those are 3 separate topics, btw!) AP article about teens Veozah information Show Notes   Find our FREE Parenting Guides Here "I just wanted to let you know that I'm so thankful for your podcast! ...I'm so happy I...

On this one-year anniversary episode of Speaking of Teens, I’ll share with you what it has taken me the better part of the last 4 years to extrapolate from the science: A 4-part framework that will help you avoid conflict with your teen, build a stronger relationship with them and positively influence their behavior. Back in 2017 and 2018 our family was struggling. Our son was experiencing horribl...

This episode discusses depression and suicide – listen with care. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. Teens’ mental health has been in decline for years. The pandemic was then responsible for pushing the statistics into oblivion. The...

Some people think Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the best thing ever. It scares other people to death. Then there’s the rest of us who’ve been happily unaware of why we should feel either way. Well, join me this week for a foray into a topic that used to be reserved for dystopian and sci-fi movies: AI. After listening, you may have a little better idea of where you stand on the subject. If you ha...

NOTE: I failed to mention in this episode that I have all sources detailed in the show notes (see link below) It seems everywhere you look lately, TikTok is in the news; exposés on the algorithm and sneaky search terms, the story of another teenager dying because of a TikTok challenge, investigative reports on data privacy, and the alleged threat to national security. TikTok’s CEO has made the rou...

It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of emotion in our lives. Our emotions give us direction, they tell us what’s important to us – they can even change our physiology and make us sick, not to mention to huge impact they have on our relationships, including those with our teenagers. Some of us are more aware of our emotions as we’re experiencing them, than others. But there’s a big difference...

Experts agree that social media is to blame for the huge increase in the decline of teen girls’ mental health over the past few years. While boy’s mental health has also suffered, especially due to COVID, it’s the girls’ which has taken a nosedive. Cyberbullying, competition between peers and the constant barrage of unrealistic and sexualized images of influencers to compare themselves to.  Sexual...

Therapists and other professionals often use a style of communication with their patients, called motivational interviewing. The method uses open-ended questions and reflective listening to help people find their inner motivation for change. It was originally developed back in the 1980s to help patients who were ambivalent about addressing their substance use disorders. Since then, it has been use...