Extensive Gallup research offers a unique glimpse inside the heads and hearts of today's teens. A must-have for parents, youth workers, and teachers.

Family pastor Tim Smith and noted researcher George Gallup Jr. have been listening closely to the mixed messages sent out by today's teens. What they've discovered is that if we can get past the externals -- their hair styles, music, clothes, and even piercings and body art -- we may be surprised to find a receptive generation that is: Eager for clear rules to live by. Spiritually hungry. Open to relationships with people of different ages and cultures and backgrounds. Willing to work for a peaceful, healthy world. Enthusiastic about helping others. This cutting-edge profile of the Millennial Generation shows us that our adolescents not only need adult guidance, they want it! In the current design-your-own-morality culture, our teens are pleading for our mentoring. This book is an accessible, unintimidating guide that will allow you to interpret what your teenagers desperately want you to hear, so you can respond and make a new connection with them, beginning today. Book jacket.

The I Want to Talk with My Teen series provides parents and youth leaders with clear and concise guidance, real-life hints and helps, and quick tips and checklists to equip them to communicate with their teens while connecting biblical principles to relevant topics.

I remember one of the first times our younger daughter Amber vented her anger at me for something I did. In reality, it was something I didn't do that made her mad. She had asked me to help her with a paper she was writing for a middle school class. The paper required a lot of research, and Amber didn't know how to go about doing the research."There's nothing to it," I assured her flippantly. Then instead of showing her what she needed to do, I simply told her to get started, explaining that she would figure out how to do the research as she went along.She let out an exasperated sigh. "But Dad, I don't know how to--""Amber, just get started," I insisted with authority, "and you'll figure it out." Then I left the room.(from the introduction)When the author understood his mistake, he was able to go and talk with his daughter. As she vented, he began to understand what a capacity parents have to make their kids angry, and how he could change his approach to communicating with his children to improve their relationship. In the years since Roger Cross has been studying the things parents do that make kids angry, such as:playing favoriteshaving loose or confusing boundariesexpecting kids to fill adult roles and moreDrawing on his ministry of Youth for Christ along with a survey of one hundred students of varied ages and backgrounds, Roger Cross has created a practical, helpful book for parents who want to understand why their kids are so angry and what they need to do to change.

Why do some children grow up and then abandon their parents' Christian values and convictions? How can parents prevent this? Laura Lee Heinsohn's search led to startling conclusions. Through interviews with more than 1,000 individuals about their childhood and parenting experiences, she discovered common themes--nearly every person who abandoned their parents' Christian values and convictions said: "I needed something from my parents that they couldn't or didn't give me." In Cracking the Parenting Code, Heinsohn identifies six critical needs of children and six corresponding clues to meeting those needs.

Introduces key principles to transform the relationships between parents and teens, unpacking the essential characteristics of a good coach that will successfully prepare teenagers for adult life. Reprint.

Timothy Smith says it isn't enough to have kids who act nice and don't get into trouble. Instead, Christian kids need to be equipped to become influencers who can challenge and change their culture. He targets nine key qualities children need but often lack and shows you how to build them into your children by modeling core values and biblical practices.