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The mistake that Sharon and I both made is we never set any boundaries.  (Ozzy Osbourne)

Good parenting requires sacrifice. Childhood lasts for only a few brief years , but it should be given priority while it is passing before your eyes

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

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

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

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.

Children do not develop on their own - they only develop within relationships.

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

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

Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

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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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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

“Our daughter was the joy of our life until she turned 13, then all hell broke loose. Rick helped us understand what was happening to her and we made some adjustments that helped us get through it. She’s now in University and doing well.”

(D.A. – St. Thomas)