Navigating conversations with our High School teens
Staying Close While Standing Back …
The art and science of parenting adolescents
Julie Metzger RN, MN
One of the greatest balancing acts parents face in today’s world is knowing
when to step forward to help and guide their children’s lives and when to let
them make independent decisions and choices for themselves. These moments
can be as simple as what to wear that day to a decision on whether to attend
college. How does the developing teen brain affect decision-making and what
are strategies parents can use to maintain communication?
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How do families work together in a partnership of trust and respect as
teens and parents encounter new experiences?
What are specific ways we can encourage our adolescents to be resilient,
accountable, and independent people in a fast-changing world?
The work of adolescence • What is the developmental space of teens – physically, emotionally,
socially, and cognitively?
• What makes them unique and uniquely vulnerable to taking risks?
• What are the myths and truths about choices teens are making today?
The work of parenting adolescents
What are strategies on communication, connecting and staying informed?
Julie Metzger, RN MN is a pediatric nurse, writer and educator. For over 20 years
she has worked with families of teens and pre-teens on topics of puberty, sexuality
and decision-making. Julie has written and presented health curriculums on decisionmaking and friendships for middle and high school students. She brings a wealth of
knowledge from her experiences, is a well- respected and popular speaker on a wide
range of parenting issues, worked in many capacities as a nurse consultant at Seattle
Children’s Hospital and the parent of young adults. Julie and her colleague Dr. Rob
Lehman are co-founders of Great Conversations – focused on health education for
families. Their book, “Will Puberty Last My Whole Life was published in 2012. Julie’s
new book “This is ME – a Girl’s Journal” for middle school girls will be published Fall
2014.