Read the book your teenager is reading
It gives you a subject that is not school, not their friends and not anything they have to defend.
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Conversation with adolescents fails mostly on subject matter — everything available is either an assessment of them or an interrogation about their life. A shared book, game or program provides neutral ground where you can disagree about something that is not them. It also signals interest in their world without the surveillance that asking questions implies.
How
Read what they are actually reading rather than suggesting something. Have an opinion and be willing to be wrong about it. Do not use it as a route into a conversation about their feelings, which they will spot immediately.
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