Faith@Home: Parents of Teens

Four habits to avoid in family disagreements by Gary Smalley, Attempts at communication between parents and teens can be extremely frustrating for both parties. Unfortunately, many families tend to use one or more of four common habits that bring further anger and destruction to the relationship. In other words, these four common habits are what we shouldn’t do [...]

Kim Anderson is a Web writer for Awana. She and her husband have daughters in fifth and eighth grade. Kim has experience working with children and teens, most recently as a youth ministry leader at her church. Kim also has co-written six books on youth ministry. Ever have one of those weeks? You know the [...]

When and where to go for help when your teen rebels by Dr. Bill Maier When to step in and intervene — and how — is not always clear. There aren’t always straightforward answers to a parent’s frantic questions. I’ll start, though, with two responses to the query about what to do when your teenager is [...]

Avoid power struggles by getting on the same team as your teen. by Gary Smalley, Greg Smalley Once you and your teen have heard and understood each other using drive-thru talking, it’s time to pursue solutions to whatever conflict remains. The goal is forboth of you to come away feeling like satisfied, honored winners. So how can we [...]

Have you ever been pulled over for speeding? I have. It’s a terrible feeling to see those flashing lights in my rearview mirror. In every instance, I knew I was wrong and deserving of a ticket. In most cases, that’s exactly what I got. But on one occasion, the police officer gave me a warning [...]

by Dr. Juli Slattery   Another Christian mom recently visited my home and commented on a particular video game she saw on my shelf. “This game isn’t appropriate for your children,” she said gravely. Her words stung. Not because of the video game, which belonged to my husband, but because of the judgment I felt. [...]

by Tim Sanford Your teenager is in the process of moving away from you. Therapists have a term for this: developmental individuating. It means your child is doing the following: disconnecting leaving the nest launching out becoming his own person growing independent becoming a free moral agent These phrases sound nice and inviting when they crop [...]

by Glenn Williams   I’d be a wealthy man if I had a dollar every time somebody asked me, “How do I talk to my teenager about drugs?” The problem is, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question. How you talk to your teenager about drugs will depend on: the nature of your relationship [...]

These two examples show how an influencing parent should respond to a teen. by Tim Sanford Dance Three: the TOSS and FOLD This time the teen is once again a TOSSer, declining to take responsi­bility for what he can control. But the parent is a FOLDer. She doesn’t take responsibility for things she can’t control. [...]

Even teens and tweens learn more by example than by teaching. Modeling proper virtues for your children is important. by Tiffany Stuart Why do today’s teens answer the question, “What is character?” with good looking? Since when did physical appearance become a character trait? Society and pop culture send unchristian messages like: It’s all about me. Sex [...]