"They've always wanted me to be open and honest with them, I've spent
years explaining stuff to them, and sometimes they still don't
understand everything" - Milly, 16
"Your parents aren't actually hatching a plan to ruin your life..."
Reg, 52
From the small stuff (bedrooms, punctuality, screens) to the huge stuff
(relationships, exams, mental health, drugs and alcohol), teenagers and
their parents often struggle to talk to each other - and talking is key
if your young person is facing new challenges as they leave childhood
behind. A well-timed conversation, a listenting ear, a non-judgemental
and receptive attitude - all of these can make an enormous and lasting
impact on how safely and happily a teenager navigates this crucial stage
of their development.
Oh, if only it were that easy.
It's not easy to talk to your teenager, or for them to talk to you,
but it is critical and may even be life-saving. This book draws
extensively on hundreds of conversations that Fiona Spargo-Mabbs has
conducted with young people and parents in school and college workshops,
to give a framework for tackling tough conversations about difficult
things, without judgement or anger. It gives context and insight, based
on the latest neuroscience findings on the teenage brain and,
importantly, it gives hundreds of prompts and plenty of practical
suggestions and strategies to make communication between parents and
young people a two-way street that builds the foundations for a strong
relationship with your adult child. Covering everything from the small
stuff, like curfews and tidiness, to the tough stuff of relationships,
sex, mental health and drug and alcohol use, this is a warm,
compassionate and important book that draws on lived experience and the
lives of young people as they are, not as we think they might be.
