Understanding Your Teen: Shaping Their Character, Facing Their Realities

by Jim Burns

Publisher:

IVP

, 2017

Overview

Parenting teenagers is one of the biggest challenges parents face. New realities make becoming independent more difficult. Teens are traveling a different road and are moving at a different pace than those of previous generations. Today’s cultural environment is more complicated and confusing than ever.But fear not! Family expert Jim Burns provides a handy guide for parenting teens. For teens to become responsible adults, parents need to help them grow through developmental changes to attain a healthy self-identity, establish good relationships, make wise decisions, and grow in their relationship with God. Burns shows how parents can shape behavior and character, navigate social media challenges, and communicate and resolve conflict healthily. He also tackles the realities of our day, including cyberbullying, dating violence, self-injury, depression, and much more.Whether you’re facing serious troubles or looking for simple tips for a better family life, this book offers help and hope.

Contents

Preface
How to Use This Book

Part One: Parenting Teens to Become Responsible Adults
1. Understanding Your Teenager
2. Learning the Developmental Stages of Adolescence
3. Shaping Behavior Without Crushing Character
4. Energizing Your Teen’s Spiritual Life
5. Creating a Media-Safe Home
6. Teaching Healthy Sexuality
7. Ending the Homework Hassle While Preparing for College
8. Keeping the Communication Lines Open
9. The Changing Culture
10. Your Marriage as You Raise Your Teen
11. Dealing with a Troubled Teen

Part Two: Common Teen Issues and What Parents Can Do
12. Bullying and Cyberbullying
13. Tragedy
14. Dating Violence
15. Depression
16. Dinnertime
17. Driving
18. Drug and Alcohol Use and Abuse
19. Eating Disorders
20. Overweight and Obesity
21. Self-Injury
22. Sexual Abuse
23. Sleep
24. Suicide

Conclusion
Acknowledgments
NotesAcknowledgments

Praise for Understanding Your Teen

"Being a teenager is hard! Being the parent of a teenager is equally as hard! I can’t imagine anyone better at helping teens and their parents navigate this season of life than Jim Burns. Understanding Your Teen is filled with practical wisdom and great stories. Philip and I have known Jim for decades, and his wisdom on family dynamics has been a great help to us personally as well as to our church, Oasis. If you are doing your best to understand your teenager, or if you know someone who is, then I can’t suggest strongly enough that you need this book!"

"I can’t think of any twenty-first–century leader who has earned more right to speak to the topic of parent-teen relationships than Jim Burns! His sage insights come from his highly successful decades of being in the youth ministry trenches like few others. If you are the parent of a teenager, disregard this book at your own peril."

"Once again, Jim Burns has written a practical, user-friendly guide for parents who are asking how to handle the predictable—and in some cases, not so predictable—issues that arise in the course of navigating the teen years. It will point parents in the right direction, keep them on the straight path, and bolster their parenting confidence."

"Jim Burns is a life-giving blend of encouragement and wisdom for all parents of teenagers. Understanding Your Teen will quickly become one of your go-to books as you navigate the highs and lows of adolescence."

"I don’t know anyone I trust more to help me with my teens or you with yours than Jim Burns. He has spent his life studying teens and the youth culture helping parents make sense of it all. This book is the culmination of that work; I couldn’t recommend it more. Loving and parenting your teen well begins with understanding them, and this is the resource that will get you there."

"‘So, even though we were all teenagers once, in a very real way we were never the age of today’s teens.’ That sentence is so Jim Burns. A little counterintuitive perhaps, but right on the money. Of course Jim doesn’t just leave you hanging with those pithy statements. Jim applies all his experience, wisdom, and communication savvy to help you understand exactly what he means. Pretty soon you’ll be quoting Jim Burns too (just like I’ve been doing for years). Simply put, nobody is more qualified to write a book for parents about teenagers. He’s been there, done that—and he’s been doing it for years. He covers key developmental issues but doesn’t dwell on them or keep restating the obvious. He gets to the good stuff right away: great advice, insights, and practical how-tos for parents who want to succeed with their kids and see them grow into capable, well-adjusted, fun-to-be-around grownups."

"This really is the very best book I’ve ever read on parenting teenagers. It combines biblical wisdom, experience, discernment, and a heart attitude that builds relationships with our teenagers rather than driving them away, while setting clear expectations and boundaries. It addresses the most troubling and difficult areas of parenting teens without clichés or platitudes. It is absolutely the most practical and helpful book for youth workers, parents, and grandparents of teens I’ve come across. I highly recommend it!"

"Jim Burns consistently delivers concise yet practical helps for parents and youth workers, and Understanding Your Teen is no exception. This is a must-read for anyone who intends to influence their children toward God’s best."

"There is no such thing as a perfect parent, but there can be an informed and intentional parent . . . and this book will help. If you want guidance navigating the minefields of adolescence, this is your guide. Pick it up, digest, and you’ll soon learn you’re not alone in your journey. Practical help is waiting for you."

"As a lifelong youth worker, I’d always suspected that parenting teenagers wasn’t easy; but after the fits and starts, joys and anxieties of parenting two of my own, I’m convinced that parenting teenagers is the single most difficult task in the universe. But like most difficult tasks, parenting teens can be immeasurably rewarding. What we all need—and what Jim Burns provides in this helpful book—is a wise traveling companion."

Product Details

• Title : Understanding Your Teen: Shaping Their Character, Facing Their Realities
• Author: Burns, Jim
• Publisher: IVP Books
• Publication Date: 2017
• ISBN: 9780830891832

About Jim Burns

Jim Burns is president of HomeWord and executive director of the HomeWord Center for Youth and Family at Azusa Pacific University. He is also the host of the national radio broadcast HomeWord with Jim Burns. Jim's passion and purpose for this broadcast is to build God-honoring families through communicating practical truths that will enable adults and young people alike to live out their Christian faith. In addition to the radio program, Jim speaks to thousands around the world each year through seminars and conferences. He is an award-winning author, whose books include Creating an Intimate Marriage, The Purity Code, Confident Parenting, Faith Conversations for Families, and Teenology. He has been featured through numerous media outlets including CNN, ABC, Focus on the Family, and Library Journal. Jim and his wife, Cathy, have three grown daughters and live in Southern California. Visit www.homeword.com for more information.