Teenage Issues
John's Most Recent Articles
We Shouldn't Always Shield Our Children From Pain
Posted on 6/6/2023
The depraved excepted, parents do not enjoy making children unhappy. Nevertheless, sometimes it is in a child's best interest that parents - while not deliberately trying to induce unhappiness -...
Read MoreBack Off on Daughter’s Eyeliner Use
Posted on 6/28/2022
Q: Our 14-year-old daughter is a rising high school sophomore. We let her wear eyeliner this past year, but she is wearing entirely too much. She is well-adjusted (plays sports, good grades) but...
Read MoreDon't Enable Entitled Teen
Posted on 4/19/2022
A recent online article concerned a mom who refused to pay her teenage daughter for doing household chores. A poll of readers found that an overwhelming majority of them agreed with the...
Read MoreKids Need Parents Who Are Authentic Adults
Posted on 3/22/2022
The contemporary parenting ideal consists of equal parts fixer, go-fer, and friend, which is why, when it is encountered in the flesh by someone of my ancient age, the new definition of a “good...
Read MoreIs Vaping Ok for High School Senior?
Posted on 2/15/2022
Q: Our son, a senior in high school, is vaping. He claims he does it to control his anxiety. I worry about him getting into harder drugs when when he goes to college this coming fall. What’s your...
Read MoreJust 'Stop It!'
Posted on 10/12/2021
I often find myself telling parents that they need to stop doing something that is counterproductive and, in most cases, contributing significantly to whatever parenting problem is bedeviling...
Read MoreShould Son Switch Schools?
Posted on 10/5/2021
Q: Our 13-year-old eighth-grader says he doesn’t like the small private school he attends and wants us to put him in public high school next year. His grades are fine, he’s got several close...
Read MoreHow To Help Your Child Get More Grit
Posted on 9/7/2021
It’s all over the web, that “grit” thing. Seems like every day, I get some promo for a webinar on how to get more grit, project more grit, or get in touch with your inner grit. So, allow me to...
Read MoreFour Steps To Give Argumentative Teenager the Last Word (and Restore Sanity)
Posted on 6/8/2021
Q: My fifteen-year-old daughter is slowly driving me insane! She argues with me about everything and always wants the last word. No matter how well I explain the “why?” of a decision to her, she...
Read MoreToday’s Kids Suffer a Lack of Common Sense in Their Lives
Posted on 12/22/2020
A journalist asks, “What is the biggest challenge facing today’s children?” “The real world,” I said. For the last fifty years or so, good parenting has been defined...
Read MoreRecent Questions
Delusions of Grandeur Quickly Eliminated by the World
Posted on 1/23/2024
Hello, I am concerned about my son. He has delusions of grandeur. He thinks he is going to be some kind of music star, but his skills do not match up to his aspirations. I try to advise him...
Read MoreDon't Play with a 14-Year-Old
Posted on 12/29/2023
Long story short, after finding out my nearly 14 yr old daughter tells her stepmom how much she hates me and her stepfamily from my side and how much she wants to live with her dad I conceded and...
Read MoreTeens Pushing Buttons
Posted on 10/24/2023
Whenever we try to discipline our son, it always escalates into a very bad situation. He recently started driving to high school and he has had a few tardies. He had a tardy a week ago, his...
Read MoreMoving adjustments for teen
Posted on 9/13/2023
Our family has just moved to a new town where we don’t know anyone. My daughter has just started 8th grade. She is quiet/shy at school so it has been hard for her to make friends. I’ve...
Read MoreReport alcohol sale to minor, step one.
Posted on 7/20/2023
Because my son was acting slightly off, I realized that he may have been drinking. I went into his room and found an empty bottle of wine. He confessed that he created an account on Instacart and...
Read MoreTeenage sexual awakening.
Posted on 5/9/2023
My son is 14 years old and receiving sexual comments from his girlfriend. He is also sending sexual comments to her. I don’t understand my son because he has been raised to know this isn’t godly....
Read MoreTeenage Dating Expectations
Posted on 2/13/2023
My daughter just started to date for the first time. The guy came to our house to ask our permission. What would you advise on how my husband and I can talk about christian perspective on dating.
Read MoreBe the Adult in the Room
Posted on 12/20/2022
Here goes the scenario, most of the time this happens while eating dinner, where one of my step kids will correct my "wording" or how I "phrased some words" I used in a sentence. I work all day...
Read MoreDitch the "Smart" Phones
Posted on 10/1/2022
Hello, After coming in contact with your blog, I (dad) am trying to be more macro manager and not micro with my two girls, ages 13 and 11. They have iPhones. Should I be setting a screen time...
Read MoreYOUNG TEEN SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
Posted on 6/28/2022
We have a large and close-knit extended family with 27 cousins newborn to 16-years-old. A few months ago, at a family gathering there was a surprising incident of sexual misconduct involving a...
Read MoreAudio
Parenting Teenagers
Posted on 9/1/2023
The teenage years are well known for being a time of difficulty and conflict between parent and child. The teenager has a new desire for the privileges of adulthood, but must first learn the...
Read MoreParenting the Strong Willed Teen
Posted on 3/16/2023
This is an entertaining and informative talk on understanding and managing even the most petulant of today’s teenagers. The talk was recorded live before an audience in San Diego, CA, and is based...
Read MoreVideo
Parenting Teenagers
Posted on 6/28/2023
The teenage years are well known for being a time of difficulty and conflict between parent and child. The teenager has a new desire for the privileges of adulthood, but must first learn the...
Read MoreTopics Covered
- Academic Issues
- ADHD and other disorders
- Adoption/Foster Parent
- Aggression
- Allowances
- Alpha Speech
- Anxieties, Fears
- Arguments with Children
- Audio Files
- Bedtime/Sleep
- Bedwetting
- Behavior Modification
- Biblical Parenting
- Bill of Rights for Children
- Bonding With Baby/Child
- Boundaries
- Bullies/Bullying
- Character/Values (teaching)
- Chores/Responsibilities
- College
- Consequences/Punishment
- Daycare/Preschool
- Depression/Self-Harm
- Developmental Issues (e.g. late talking)
- Discipline Methods (e.g. time-out)
- Disobedience/Defiance
- Divorce/Custody
- Drugs (marijuana, cocaine, etc.)
- Education
- Electronics (Computers/Video Games/Television/Cell Phones)
- Elementary School
- Emotions
- Extracurricular Activities/Hobbies
- Fatherless Homes
- Fathers
- Food/Eating Problems
- Gender
- Gender Identity
- Gentle Parenting
- Grandparents/Grandchildren
- High School
- Homeschooling
- Homework
- John's Discipline Methods
- Juvenile Antisocial Behavior
- Learning Disabilities
- Lying
- Manners
- Marriage Issues
- Mealtime/Eating
- Mental Health
- Middle School
- Miscellaneous Discipline Problems
- Miscellaneous Editorial Columns
- Mothers
- Nouveau Parenting
- Only Children
- Pacifiers/Security Blankets/Thumbsucking
- Parent Leadership and Authority
- Play
- Podcasts
- Post Modern Psychological Parenting
- Preschool
- Psychiatric Diagnoses
- Psychology
- Rebellious Behavior
- Respect
- Rewards
- School Behavior Issues
- School Issues
- Seasons of Parenting
- Self-Esteem
- Seven Biggest Mistakes Parents Make
- Sexual Identity
- Sexual Issues
- Shyness
- Sibling Conflict
- Single Parents
- Social Issues (fighting/arguing with friends)
- Socialization/Social Skills
- Spanking
- Step-Families
- Strong-Willed Child
- Tantrums
- Teenage Issues
- Terrible Twos
- Toilet Training
- Videos
- Violence (Looting, Stealing)
- Webinars
- Woke Parenting