What is happening in your tween’s brain? Want to peek inside? Healthy 11 – 12 year olds are turned inward, focusing on themselves and wondering how other people see them. They’re thinking about the here and now, not how their decisions will affect them years in the future. Tweens worry about fitting in with friends and all those changes happening with their bodies. What can you do? Address the elephant in their mental room. Reassure them that their peers are going through the same thing and that everyone feels self-conscious sometimes. Share your adolescence with them; change––like misery––loves company.
Smart thought, right? Keep snack time going with another bite of parenting advice, or sign up for our newsletter and get the next snack delivered to your inbox.
Art by: Aisa Binhashim
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Center for Parent and Teen Communication
Investing in effective communication between youth and families benefits us all. In helping to accomplish our mission, we are fortunate to receive editorial contributions from a range of multi-disciplinary experts, journalists, Youth Advisory Board members, and others.
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