Peer Pressure: Using It For Good

According to a recent study from Temple University, teen decision-making about taking risks is drastically impacted by the presence (or even the belief of a presence) of friends. Thanks to Tara Parker Pope for highlighting this study in her recent New York Times article. Previously, we thought about peer pressure as teens coercing each other into … Continue reading →

Talking At is Worse than Not Talking At All

I did my Bachelors degree in Communications, but it never prepared me for dealing with teens (particularly in groups).  Tweens and teens have their own language- one that I couldn’t use, nor often interpret.  They can use that language to exclude and even ridicule their parents. When I first started working with teens, I was young enough … Continue reading →

New Presentation: February 3

I’m booking up like crazy for presentations lately, which is great! This one is more specifically focused on my work in health promotions at UBC, but I thought some of you might be interested.  Here’s the most recent one that I’m working on: What’s Working for Health? Suzanne Jolly, M. Ed, Coordinator, Health Promotion Programs, UBC Dept. … Continue reading →

Healthy Risk Taking

I was talking to a friend about how he spent his holidays skiing with his son.  The story of his 7 year old skiing brought to light for me an interesting epiphany.  He told me that his son spent the morning skiing cautiously, but by the afternoon, his confidence had grown.  The afternoon was fairly panic inducing for … Continue reading →

Upcoming Workshops and Events

My apologies for the lack of blog posts recently- I’ve been travelling through Mexico for a couple of weeks to celebrate the holidays.  But I’m back now and I’ve been tremendously busy! I’ll be the keynote speaker at the NWACUHO Conference (Northwest Association of College and University Housing Officers) in February, then I am offering another free workshop for … Continue reading →

What’s A Teen’s Job

Parents are often frustrated with their teens.  That frustration is often because a teen is doing their job.  If we think of a teen as an Adult In Training, then we can start seeing that a lot of teen’s actions are actually a very positive way of them trying to accomplish their job in life. Let’s take … Continue reading →

Take the First Step: Risky Parenting

We all worry about high risk behaviors in teens. No one wants their child using meth, drinking until they are sick, starting fights or having sex before they are ready.  Yet we see all of these behaviors, consistently, and our communities, unfortunately, often point at the parents to blame. So the tendency for parents is … Continue reading →