Review of the book by Professor Alan Hayes is: Timely Advice for Teenagers and Those Who Care About Them
Book by Bennet & Rowe is: What to do when your children turn into TEENAGERS
Talk about a just-in-time intervention! As the father of a twelve-(“no Dad, almost thirteen”) going-on-33 year old daughter this book is just the thing to give my wife and me the competitive edge in handling the next stage of our parenting – the teenage years!
To be serious, however, Dr David Bennett AO and Dr Leanne Rowe have succeeded in writing an excellent text that provides a thoroughly researched, balanced and accessible treatment of the key topics. From the outset, it sets just the right tone and provides a timely counterweight to the predictable, perennial view of adolescence as a period of change, turmoil and vulnerability. In contrast, it has a refreshing optimism about the resilience of teenagers. The book is also very much about affirming and supporting parents. It also acknowledges the challenges that accompany the middle years of life and that make the task of parenting teenagers all the more challenging.
The dialogues between the authors are very good, and achieve the right mix of reassurance and acknowledgement. Throughout Bennett and Rowe give very useful advice on what is happening, why and how to respond, as well as valuable insights into when behaviour may signal a more serious problem.
In summary, What to do when your children turn into TEENAGERS provides a comprehensive coverage of the key topics of concern to teenagers and their parents. It is based squarely on wisdom, borne of a great deal of clinical practice tinged with the insights from personal experience. The topics covered relate to puberty, behaviour, parenting styles and their impacts, the media, diet and nutrition, hygiene, fitness, sexuality, romance and relationships, safe sex and contraception. In short, all the major issues for teenagers and their parents. I congratulate the authors and thoroughly recommend their excellent contribution on teenagers and those who care about them.
Bennett, D., & Rowe, L. (2003). What to do when your children turn into TEENAGERS. Sydney: Doubleday. [400 pages, paperback, RRP $29.95]
Professor Alan Hayes is a former member of the Research Committee of the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund and is currently Dean of the Australian Centre for Educational Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, Chair of the Interim Committee for a NSW Institute of Teachers, Chair of the Australian Council for Children and Parenting and a member of the Board of Management of the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
