research: family matters

The important role parents play in the lives of their teens includes modeling behaviors and emphasizing norms. How parents fulfill that role determines a number of risks or protections for their teens.

Research shows that parents help to protect their teens by maintaining a connection, valuing on-going communication, expressing approval and disapproval as well as appropriately monitoring teen behavior.

Programs That Work

Who teaches the parents of teens? Families instill values and expectations in their children, but parents often need additional skills and increased support to communicate clearly and effectively with adolescents. Research has shown that parenting styles have a strong impact on children's health, behavior, performance in school and success later in life.

Positive Parenting

Positive Parenting, from the University of Minnesotas Extension Service, is a train-the-trainer program aimed at the parenting of teens. This series of educational materials helps professionals provide the parents of teens with the information they need to be "positive parents."

Can We Talk

Can We Talk is a program of the National Education Association designed to promote parent-youth communication on sexuality and health topics. The series of workshops can be conducted in schools, the community or workplaces for parents of 4th through 8th graders to support parents' values in helping children and youth develop positive decision making skills and positive self-esteem.