Joyful Courage for Parenting Teens

Solo show

My friend Douglas Haddad is here this week to chat about all things middle school, with a focus on encouraging discouraged learners.   Douglas has been teaching for over 24 years (at ONE school!), and I love his commitment to his students. Douglas shares what he’s seen changing during that period, like higher anxiety & social media misuse, and what’s stayed the same, like a child’s need to feel loved, heard, and understood.    Douglas shares his wisdom on keeping middle schoolers encouraged & engaged: making sure they understand the systems in place around them, how we can help when our kid isn’t connecting with a teacher, collaborating on family agreements, and helping our tweens grow their tolerance for discomfort.   Takeaways from the show What’s different between middle school today & when you were a tween?  “Loved, heard, and understood”  What does discouragement look like in the classroom?  Wait Until 8th Pledge  Does your child know & understand the systems in place around them?  How to help foster connection between your child & their teachers  Family contracts, charters, agreements, & meetings  Being available without an agenda or judgment  Setting & celebrating small goals  Scaffolding for our kiddos to grow their tolerance for discomfort For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Solo show

Amy & Christy are back for part 2 of our conversation, and we’re talking about pornography.   Please believe us: your kid is going to see porn. Some families are more aware & ready for this moment than others, so what can you do and say to prepare? You can’t prevent the exposure or know how your child will react, but we can get ready for it and start the conversation now. Pornography is all over the place and often hidden, and unfortunately kids view that as Sex Ed & think that pornography is what sex with a partner will be like for them - they assume that hardcore porn is real life. Seeing these images train their brain; watching porn today is very different from running into an issue of Playboy when we were kids, and it’s impossible to avoid.   So what do we say to our kids? What’s the magic word? Christy shares the way she uses values to talk to her teen, and Amy explains how to keep the conversation around other kids to break through to your own teen. We touch on monitoring software & sugar dating. The good news here is that there are many resources available for families to use, and it can get better.  Takeaways from the show Your kids will see pornography  Pornography is different than when you were a kid  Kids often keep it a secret if they see pornographic material. Let them know they won’t be in trouble!   Pornography is often in hidden, unexpected spaces Kids see pornography as Sex Ed  Pornography trains their growing brain - including the themes of misogyny, racism, & shame around their bodies  Don’t tell yourself, “it won’t happen to my kid”  Porn is harder to avoid today than it was to find in the ‘80s  What do we say to our kids about this?  Conversations about pornography need to start early - earlier than you think! Keep them short & frequent Using monitoring software For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Solo show