When our kids were younger we had confidence in our parenting ability and set up boundaries and montioring knowing we were being wise. Yet when our kids become teenagers we start feeling insecure in our parenting and start questioning what boundaries and monitoring should look like, especially with technology. In this article I discuss the idea that we are loving our teens well by monitoring their technology interactions., and offer some suggestions on how to have this conversation with your teen today.

There is one question that if you ask your kids will guarantee to transform your parenting and improve your relationship with your kids! Make 2019 your best year in parenting!

Your tween has entered a season of life where he or she doesn’t share everything like they did even 3 months ago! Instead of panicking and pining for the days they would follow you into the bathroom to explain the hilarity in excruciating detail of a YouTube video about legos, here are 3 ways to get and keep your child talking and you still have free time to go to the bathroom by yourself! WIN-WIN!

Your son just informed you that after the big holiday dance at school all the guys and girls are going to the twins Julia and Jacob’s house and spending the night. He explains that everyone going are just friends and the parents will be at home to supervise. He also describes the sleepover as a solution for your worries about him being out late and making risky decisions. So you are left with the question, “Is this a coed sleepover, and do I let my child go?”

Here are some of the teen rationales when asking for permission to attend a coed sleepover:

“I can’t believe I had an affair,” Emily thought to herself. She reflected back on how her affair could have started, but not one thing stood out as the leading cause of her infidelity. Instead, it was a bunch of little things that happened before the first kiss. Seeing him in the preschool pick up line and thinking, he must be such a great husband and dad!Or when setting up the play date for the kids turned into a gripe session over their different marriages. If Emily had been aware of how her behaviors were setting her up to be unfaithful, it may have prevented the destructive results of her affair.  So be preventative instead of reactive. Here are 5 ways you could fall into an affair.

Your teen has started dating! You have set up healthy boundaries and rules for them to follow. You stay involved and you ask the ‘right’ questions. But you recently hear a scary statistic about teen dating violence. Every one out of three youth in America are victims of physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner.

Physical abuse will often times leave evidence. It’s the emotional and verbal kind that are harder to spot. The goal is to identify red flags in the beginning stages of the relationship.

Here are some questions and scenarios that may help you protect your teen from an abusive relationship.

Surprises are supposed to be fun unless you accidentally discover your teen is having sex! Here is an all too familiar scenario and what we as parents can do next if it happens to us.

We have all been there, where we overhear our kids talking to their friends nonstop about their day, and yet when we ask but 5 minutes later the only thing they say about their day is, ‘Good.’ One word answers can be infuriating. We have spent years trying to get our little ones to quit talking so much and eat their dinner, to now be in a place where they are not even willing to complete a sentence can be frustrating, even hurtful. Here are some tips to walk through with your children when they get to that place where they seem to be allergic to talking to their parents.

High school is the time to experiment, to try out different personalities, appearances, friends, passions, and making drugs and alcohol so enticing. The school systems have been doing a great job of educating the students in health class about the dangers of drugs and alcohol so we have seen a decrease in the use of these substances.

In addition to teaching our kids the ’80s slogan of “Just Say No,” I think it’s important for us as parents to recognize why, even with education on the dangers, the use of substances is still an option. I have broken down what I have seen behind their motivation; it is complex and multifaceted. Therefore, we have to educate, offer support, display grace, and love intentionally to help our kids make good decisions.

Here is what I have seen. 

As a mental health counselor specializing in adolescents, one of the workshops I offer for parents of teens is called Technology and Teens. I go over all the present apps that the majority of adolescents use to educate parents about the potential emotional, relational, and psychological struggles kids could have using these apps.

Sexting is always a big topic parents want addressed. And while sexting isn’t an app, there are plenty of apps that are conducive to producing and sharing sexts. And though we can probably guess the negative consequences, legally and socially, let’s talk about 3 dangers of sexting parents need to know about.

Equipping your child to avoid and prevent bullying. 

I walk through some of the tough questions parents are asking regarding teen suicide.