FRESH EPISODE: Growing Resilience In Teens, or GRIT. An interview with Dr Louise Randall

Season 2

April 28, 2023

39: Exam revision - Parenting through the pressure.

It's pre-exam time of year again, and oh boy it's tough for our teens. Does yours have a colour-coded revision schedule, carefully-timed breaks, and a confident spring in their step? Maybe they don't seem to be doing enough r...

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April 18, 2023

38: Early relationships and sex: the issues and rules to talk through with your teen.

Most first world countries agree that the age of consent is around sixteen, but teenagers don't suddenly awake to their sexuality on their sixteenth birthday. Sexual feelings and interest can start much younger, well before t...

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March 27, 2023

38: Teachers: how, and why, we should talk to our teenager's teachers.

We all want our kids to do well at school, but when they become teenagers there's a tendency for both schools and parents to ease back on communication. The schools tend to be much bigger and our teens are trying desperately ...

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March 17, 2023

37: Over-reactions: How to not overreact.

Nobody likes blowing a fuse when their teen does something that triggers them, but we all do it at some point. Nicky asked us to discuss this topic after she felt she'd overreacted to bad feedback from her son's teachers. We ...

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March 3, 2023

36: The pressures of parenting, and techniques that help reduce the stress.

The stress of parenting doesn’t go away when they’re teenagers, it just changes. We may have more physical space, but finding mental space can often feel impossible. In this episode we talk about the tools we can use to manag...

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Feb. 23, 2023

35: Vaping teens: How to educate and discourage your teenagers

Nicotine is considered highly addictive, and sales of vapes to teens are illegal, but the numbers of teens vaping nicotine in countries around the world are causing great concern. In America, the FDA called it an epidemic and...

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Feb. 8, 2023

34: School: what to do if your teen is missing school.

The 'social contract' between families and schools has been broken during the pandemic, and ongoing absence of kids is a 'deep and concerning problem' according to Amanda Spielman, chief of the UK schools watchdog. Rates of s...

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Feb. 3, 2023

33: Andrew Tate, role models, misogyny, red pills, and the manosphere.

We've been asked by a listener to discuss how we talk to our boys about influential online figures like Andrew Tate, who act both as an inspiration to achieve great things, and a lightning rod for disgruntled men who blame fe...

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Jan. 26, 2023

32: Consequences, and the teen who doesn't seem to care.

Having kids can seem like a non-stop obstacle/crash course in how you get another living being to do things, whether for their own good or our own sanity. Some of us are lucky enough to have grown up in a family structure whi...

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Jan. 19, 2023

31: New year changes that stick. How to make resolutions that actually work.

We've all done it; new year, new me. By January the 11th the lustre has rubbed off our shiny resolutions and we're back to our old habits. The reality is that making resolutions and getting them to stick is harder than we'd l...

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Dec. 15, 2022

30: Christmas and other family gatherings with teens. Magic or misery?

We all have traditional times when our extended families come together to celebrate, give thanks, and share the warmth of mutual love. In the UK, December is a non-stop reel of songs about 'Simply having a wonderful Christmas...

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Dec. 12, 2022

29: Step-children. Coping, and thriving, with a blended family.

Having your own child can feel like an overwhelming responsibility at times, but when you become a step-parent it's even more complicated. The child may feel resentful because they didn't ask for a new parent, their biologica...

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Dec. 7, 2022

28: Parties: what to consider before saying yes.

Parties can be life-enhancing, joyous, and a wonderful chance to meet new people, but when it's for a teenager it can have a touch of the wild west about it. For parents who understand the risks it can feel easier to say no, ...

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Nov. 11, 2022

26: Friendships: How to support your ‘generation isolation’ teens to build their social skills.

Our teens have been dubbed Generation Isolation by the UK charity OnSide. It follows a poll which showed that 77% of young people spend most of their free time at home and 73% spend most of their free time on screens. The ch...

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Nov. 9, 2022

25: Entitled teens: How do I stop my teenager from being entitled?

'Today's teenagers are far more hopeless than anything humanity has ever produced before,' according to Jeremy Clarkson, former presenter of Top Gear. He's talking about generation Z, which is the label for those born between...

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Oct. 14, 2022

24: Identity crisis? Why identity is such an issue for teenagers. Also, stinky teens and what we can do about it.

We've all heard about the phenomenon of a midlife crisis, but it's the teenage years when we first really become aware of our identity. For some, the sense of who we are beneath the roles we play is never a big issue. For oth...

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Oct. 2, 2022

23: Empty nest? How to cope when your teen moves out. Also, manners; what are they and what should we telling our teens about them?

Just under half a million teenagers will start university this autumn in the UK alone. Whilst it might be an exciting time for the teenager, the family left behind can be left reeling with a sense of grief and loss. We talk ...

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Sept. 22, 2022

22: Girl's clothes, and how to talk to teen about them, also talking with your teen about a change in your finances.

Can you imagine a TV presenter wearing the same blue suit on-screen for 12 months and nobody noticing, or commenting? Well in Australia, Karl Stefanovic did exactly this to make a point about the different standards men and ...

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Sept. 9, 2022

21: Parenting styles: Parenting Together When You Can't Agree on a Parenting Style, also how to talk to your teen about their future career.

In all honesty, very few of us thought about our partner's possible parenting style when we began dating them. I know that I didn't. It's mostly romance and blind hope at that stage. By the time the subject really comes into ...

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