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If it  was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called "labour".

"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

"Parents aren't the cause of ADHD, but they are part of the solution." (Kenny Handleman, M.D.)

Parents are the external regulator for kids who cannot regulate themselves.

"Cutting" is a visible sign to the world that you are hurting.

A tantruming toddler is a little ball of writhing muscle and incredible strength. It's like trying to carry a greased pig past a slop bucket.

The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

Some hope their children will be like sponges soaking up the truth and wisdom imparted by their parents. However appealing this philosophy might be, it seldom seems to catch on with their children.

Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

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Teen Issues 2

The good old days when you were a teen aren’t as different today as you think.

For example, between 1978 and 2008

  • the average age for drinking alcohol for the first time went from 16.3 years of age  to 16.2
  • the age for smoking the first cigarette went from 15.2 years to 16.1
  • the age for smoking marijuana for the first time went from 18.4 years to 17.2
  • in 1991, 54 percent of high school students had had sexual intercourse
  • in 2005 the percentage was 46%

Today’s parents can rest assured that many of the issues they faced in adolescence are similar to the challenges their teens face today.

(U.S. data from Centre for  Disease Control)

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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Parents' Comments

“You have changed our life! Thanks, it needed changing!”

(T.N. – London)