Randal

Bradley has created a wonderful text on dealing with today's adolescents. It would be beneficial to any parent, teacher, or adult who has interactions with teenagers.
The author begins with an explanation of today's youth, and how the pressures they face today are much different than the ones we older folks dealt with. The main stress point today is social media, specifically cyberbullying. When I was a teenager, there were bullies, and cliques, and of course they were difficult to deal with. But only while at school, once out of school for the day I had not to deal with them any longer. Today's teens, thanks to all the social media platforms, have to deal with these factions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They never know when they are going to be slammed online. No wonder today's kids seem so exhausted! And this exhaustion plays into teens making bad decisions. Behavioral, schoolwork, sex, and on and on.
Bradley's solution is to not shelter teens from the bombardment. After all, how could we, there seems to be a new social media platform everyday. His solution is to teach kids resilience. How to absorb the hits and bounce back effectively. In time, teen brains mature enough to deal with these life stresses, but it takes time.
The author lays out seven strategies to teach resilience. And then goes in depth into how parents can help. The "do's and don'ts" of dealing with teens.
All in all, this is a very effective book. I lingered over it for a long time, as there is a lot of information inside, and I found it very engaging. I look forward to trying the ideas in my classroom.