John's Articles
Solution to Teens Leaving Clothes on Floor
Posted on 1/3/2023
Q: Getting my daughters, fifteen and thirteen, to pick up their clothes from the floors of their rooms requires constant nagging from me. I’m at my wit’s end. Please help me out with...
Read MoreSchool Principal Asks About Discipline
Posted on 10/25/2022
Q: I am a principal at a private church-affiliated school. Contrary to my graduate school training and most of my peers’ practice, I believe disciplinary actions should "fit the crime."...
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 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 MoreThe Biggest Problem Teachers Face Is Parents
Posted on 7/13/2021
When I ask a teacher, “What is the biggest problem you face?” the answer – there has never been an exception – is “parents.” That is certainly a recent phenomenon. My parents were...
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 MoreMicromanaging Child Always Produces Conflicts
Posted on 2/23/2021
A therapist takes a 10-year-old boy into what she calls “therapy.” The young fellow is belligerently defiant toward his parents and throws titanic tantrums when things don’t go his way. At school...
Read MoreBeware of 'The Protocol'
Posted on 12/29/2020
Q: Our son is seven years old and in the second grade. His school went virtual this past Spring and we see no end to it, not in the near term at least. When he was going to a brick-and-mortar...
Read MoreThe Realities of Smartphones and Teenagers
Posted on 9/20/2020
A mother in California seeks her pastor’s opinion on allowing her fifteen-year-old son to have a smartphone. The boy claims that if he can’t use social media, he will have no friends. Mom is...
Read MoreWhy Small Classrooms Are Overrated
Posted on 5/5/2020
No rational person would argue that the smaller the class size, the better, right?” asked the radio talk show host. “I think I’m a rational person,” I said, “and I can offer proof...
Read MoreIn Defense of Homeschooling
Posted on 4/28/2020
In his November 1863 address at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the men who lost their lives on that battlefield had done so in order that “government of the people, by the people and...
Read MoreFather's Visitation With Child Should Be Allowed
Posted on 1/15/2020
Q: Our ten-year-old granddaughter lives with us. We have custody of her but her father, our son, is now asking us for visitation privileges. I probably don’t need to tell you that both he and his...
Read MoreIt Is Not Necessary to Help Your Child With Homework
Posted on 11/26/2019
After a recent talk in South Florida, women came up to me in droves asking, “How much should I help my children with their schoolwork?” That not one man asked the question...
Read MoreChildren Do Best in School When Parents Do Not Monitor Progress
Posted on 10/29/2019
The Portal. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, the gateway to an alternative universe that lures, then traps the unwary in its nefarious web of illusion, where things are...
Read MoreTeenage Girls and Boys Respond to Technology Differently
Posted on 10/2/2019
Q: We held off giving our oldest daughter a smartphone until she was fifteen, the age at which we allowed her older brother to have one. We read your column weekly in our hometown newspaper and...
Read MoreTeen Not a Suicide Risk
Posted on 7/23/2019
My recent column pertaining to a 12-year-old who told his parents he’d thought about suicide several times over the past six months stirred a fair number of folks to respond. Feelings toward the...
Read MoreHow to Talk to Teens About Internet Pornography
Posted on 7/16/2019
Q: We recently discovered that our 12-year-old has been visiting pornography sites of all sorts on the Internet. When we caught him red-handed, he began crying and said he is addicted. Apparently,...
Read MoreSimple Solutions for Teens, Tantrums and Smartphones
Posted on 12/4/2018
Q: Our 15-year-old daughter is very demanding and, to be honest, self-centered. One of the things she does is ask one of us for something and demand an instant decision, as in, “Can I go to the...
Read MoreMake 'Em an Offer They Can't Refuse
Posted on 10/16/2018
When I was a child, my most important possession was my bicycle, followed closely by my radio. My bike was how I got around. I rode it to school, friend’s houses, pick-up...
Read More15-Year-Old Daughter Should Not Get Private Time With 20-Year-Old Boyfriend
Posted on 6/13/2018
Q: Our 15-year-old daughter has told us she’s in love with a 20-year-old guy who is in the Army and intending to make the Army his career. We’ve met him, and he is extremely respectful and...
Read MoreThe Peer Group: When to Do Something, What to Do, and When to Do Nothing
Posted on 5/1/2018
No question about it, the peer group exerts great influence on teenagers. From the way they dress to the way they carry their books, the stamp of peer pressure is upon them. If the influence is...
Read MoreParents of Unmotivated Teen Should Stop Stressing
Posted on 4/25/2018
Q: Our 17-year-old son is flunking his junior year in high school. Flunking is not a possibility; it is a definite, a done deal. He has passed the point where he could turn this around. He’s very...
Read MoreAre College Visits Necessary?
Posted on 1/3/2018
Q: Our 17-year-old daughter wants to begin visiting colleges. She’s a high-school junior this year and this is when the college visitations begin. We’re feeling like the Grinches Who Stole...
Read MoreCelebrate Son's Chosen Education, Career Path
Posted on 12/13/2017
Q: Our 18-year-old son made only slightly better than average grades in high school and finished in the top half of his graduating class. He could have done better, but has a history of...
Read MoreMicromanaging Weakens Child's Success in School
Posted on 8/22/2017
Q: Our son attends first grade at the local public school. At the beginning of the school year, all the parents were basically told that we are expected to go to the school’s parent website every...
Read MoreTeen Using Pot Should Lose Car, Phone
Posted on 8/16/2017
Q: A few months after he got his driver’s license, we found a bag of marijuana in our 16-year-old son’s car. He swore it wasn’t his and that he didn’t know whose it was and that he’s never used...
Read MoreStay the Course With Rebellious Teen
Posted on 5/23/2017
Q: Our 18-year-old daughter is a month away from high school graduation and she is failing nearly every class! About six months ago, she took up with a group of young adults who are less than...
Read MoreTeenage Boys Need Healthy Adult Role Models
Posted on 5/3/2017
When my son, Eric, began showing interest in girls, I reflected back upon the foibles and fiascoes of my adolescence and promised myself he would be better prepared for datinghood. Undertaking...
Read MoreDon't Fret About Teen Son With Average Grades
Posted on 4/18/2017
Q: Our 17-year-old son is an unmotivated student. A junior in high school, he is clearly capable of making straight A’s, but typically makes B’s and C’s. He plays on both the football and tennis...
Read MoreBring Back Vocational Education in High Schools
Posted on 4/11/2017
During my sophomore year at Proviso West High School in Hillside, Illinois, my guidance counselor, Mr. Gusloff, refused my request to take auto shop because I was, he said, college-bound and my...
Read MoreSuccess Is a Matter of Character, Not Grades
Posted on 2/15/2017
There must be some relationship between aging and the “You’ve got to be kidding me!” response, if I am any indication, that is. What was once occasional has become almost daily. ...
Read MoreStay Dispassionate yet Approachable During Teen's Experimentation With Vaping
Posted on 1/18/2017
Q: I found a vaping pen hidden in my 13-year-old son's room and am at a loss as to how to deal with it. He is very susceptible to peer pressure and wants very badly to fit in with the "cool"...
Read MoreTake a Time-Out Before Engaging With Argumentative Child
Posted on 11/22/2016
Q: In last week’s column, you advised parents not to argue with teenagers. That’s fine and dandy advice, John, but you failed to tell your readers how to stay out of or end these arguments. For...
Read MoreA Non-Argumentative Teen Is a Happy One
Posted on 11/15/2016
My advice to The Wall Street Journal, the only news source to which I subscribe: Stop trying to be all things to all people. Specifically, stop giving parenting advice. The latest attempt by...
Read MoreHelp for the Unmotivated Teen
Posted on 11/1/2016
Q: Our 17-year-old daughter is bright but puts very little effort into her schoolwork. For example, she currently has very low grades in several classes simply because of not turning in...
Read MoreStepparents Should Have Authority over Teens, Too
Posted on 8/24/2016
Q: In a recent column, you advise that stepparents have complete disciplinary authority over all children who live in or visit the home, but do you feel the same policy should apply when the...
Read MoreSmart Car for Teens May Not Be the Smart Choice
Posted on 8/9/2016
Greg Fulton thinks his teenage daughter, who’s already hit three solid objects with her car—thankfully, no humans or other moving vehicles included—would do better with a car that comes equipped...
Read MoreRoll With Young Adult's Self-Absorption
Posted on 7/5/2016
Q: What can we reasonably expect of our 18-year-old daughter when she comes home on weekends from her summer job? She usually heads straight to her boyfriend's family’s home and rolls in around 3...
Read MoreParents Should Sweat the Small Stuff
Posted on 6/7/2016
Q: While exploring your website, I ran across a column you wrote a while back about a 13-year-old who wanted a Mohawk haircut. You told the parents not to allow it, pointing out that if you give...
Read MoreSet Clear Parameters for Son Who Smokes Pot
Posted on 5/3/2016
Q: I caught my 16-year-old smoking pot. I took everything from him and told him that the next time I catch him, he’s out! What else can I or should I do? A: Where is he “out” to? You...
Read MoreSomething's Gotta Give, and That Something Is Electronics
Posted on 2/2/2016
Q: We would like to limit our 16-year-old son’s video game and cell phone time. We think homework should come first and then free time. He wants to relax with his video game and phone after...
Read MorePuberty and Teenage Girls
Posted on 11/17/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond A recent caller to my syndicated radio show (Saturdays, 6 pm EST, American Family Radio) objected to advice I dispensed concerning a teenage girl...
Read MoreParents Need to Act Now for Son
Posted on 8/11/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Q: Our 17-year-old has completely fallen apart! In less than a year, he’s gone from being an outstanding honors student, athlete, and well-mannered...
Read MoreNicotine Use
Posted on 6/30/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Q: We just discovered that our 17-year-old is using nicotine. He tells us he’s been using for the past several months, smoking two to four cigarettes a...
Read MoreUse Proper Authority with Teens
Posted on 4/21/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Q: Our son is going to be 13 next year and we’re trying to be proactive about the coming storm. He’s been a good kid and relatively easy to raise to...
Read MoreAlarming Trends
Posted on 3/3/2015
In the 1960s, child and teen mental health and behavior problems began an alarming rise that has continued to the present. In 1970, one of my grad school professors proposed that this trend could...
Read MoreTeens Want Later Curfews
Posted on 2/3/2015
Copyright 2015 John K. Rosemond Q: My twin boys just turned 13 and are demanding—that is the right word—later curfews. They tell us that their curfew, which is 8:30 on nights when there...
Read MoreExpanding a Teen's Freedom with Fiscal Program
Posted on 1/13/2015
Teenagers are highly motivated by any opportunity to expand their freedom. More freedom is in fact THE MOST POWERFUL OF ALL MOTIVATORS for teens. I wouldn’t have put it in capitals if it wasn’t. ...
Read MoreThe Teenage Brain
Posted on 9/30/2014
I’ve spoken at several conferences in the last year or so where presenters were opining on the subject of the teenage brain. Their thesis was that features of the so-called “teenage brain” are...
Read MoreTeens & Sleep
Posted on 9/2/2014
New research finds that teens whose school days begin later than the national norm of approximately eight o’clock achieve at higher levels than teens who start school earlier. The researchers in...
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