Raising teenagers in a complex world

Mother-daughter duo Robyn and Molly Fausett have collaborated on writing a guide to raising teenagers, their book is called The Kids Will Be All Right. Robyn is a nurse and educator and is a programme writer for health and wellbeing in school education. The book covers off a range of subjects including body image, cyber safety, sexuality, puberty and having respectful relationships. Her daughter Molly brings a youth voice and perspective to it.Mother-daughter duo Robyn and Molly Fausett have collaborated on a guide to raising teenagers in a new book called The Kids Will Be All Right. Robyn is a nurse, educator and a programme writer for health and wellbeing in school education. Her daughter Molly brings a youth voice and perspective to the guide. no caption Listen to the full interview hereMolly says the book covers a range of subjects including vaping, mental health, body image, cyber safety, sexuality, puberty and having respectful relationships."And then I think what's sets our book apart a little bit is that we talk about sort of the more global topics ... what's the difference between equity and equality, climate change, feminism."Robyn tells Kathryn Ryan that some parents feel ill-equipped to handle the issues facing today's teens." asking, believe it or not, that parents and whānau are actually up to speed with these topics. They're needing the support."They don't need us overwhelmed and scared because of these topics that we feel we're not familiar with. They do need us informed."Their book includes some conversation starters, activity ideas and tips - one of which suggests parents use every teachable opportunity."So if you're driving along in the car and you see a big billboard, and you recognise something that is really sort of amplifying a stereotypical image, which is damaging and harmful, then you might in a fun way just kind of get your teen and say, hey, look at that over there, what's that even advertising do you think?"Being open-ended gives teens a safe space to lay out their own thoughts and worries without feeling judged, Robyn says."If you can hold a safe space and try not to fill it with what you think you might want to say, then your teen is much more inclined to actually eventually start filling that space themselves, and you'll hear from them as to where their concerns are…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details