Teens Today with Vanessa Van Petten

Welcome to a secret view into the world of the net-generation. I love writing to you (maybe a little too much) so enjoy, stick around and be sure to tell me what you think…and, duh, get on my email list quick! (on the right, “subscribe via email”). Or subscribe to my RSS feed. [...]

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Catchy title ay? I hope this post is not going to be as controversial as my posts on pot, but I did want to post about how I talk to teens about drinking. I often give presentations to teens about the teen social scene and parties.
Let’s be real here: if your kid wants [...]

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“I smoke joints with my kids”
“Don’t worry, just come over and I will buy the alcohol for you, better in my house than on the street”
“My dad took me to my first strip club”
“My mom dresses promiscuously”
I have heard many of these from the kids and parents I work with. I remember and still [...]

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Hi Vanessa,
You seem to be the ‘teen whisperer’ talking to and hearing things teens really do.  I was wondering why teens drink alcohol and if they really realize and of the consequences of drinking?  Could you enlighten me on this topic, my teen was recently caught drinking after school and I want to know what [...]

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Currently, a few million teens in the world are on spring break as college students and even as seniors and juniors in High School. Do parents have any clue what is really going on?
Probably not.
I always thought that the Spring Break antics were sort of a well-kept secret/point of denial and ignorance from many [...]

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