30 Days Of Parenting Teenagers Prompts
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Creative Writing Prompts For Parenting How-To Articles
Take an idea below, modify it, change, it, or expand on it. But whatever you do, don’t stop until you turn it into a 500 to 1,000 word article geared towards helping parents raise happy, healthy toddlers. Write a how-to article for a parenting magazine. (Remember to cite your sources.)

1. How do you know your teenager’s ready to date?
   
   
2. What is the right age to have the “sex” talk?
   
   
3. How often should I discuss the issues of drugs?
   
   
4. How often should I discuss drinking and driving with my teenager?
   
   
5. What rules or advice should I give my teenager before attending a party?
   
   
6. How can I monitor my teenager’s online activity?
   
   
7. How much space should I give my teenager?
   
   
8. How much independence is too much independence for a teenager?
   
   
9. What kind of restriction works best with teenagers?
   
   
10. How can I let my teenager know I was wrong without undermining my own authority?
    
    
11. How many sports or extracurricular activities should I allow my teenager to get involved in?
    
    
12. Should my teenager go to school, participate in an extracurricular activity, and take on a part-time job?
    
    
13. How can I help my teenager prepare for college?
    
    
14. How can I help my teenager pick the right college courses or career?
    
    
15. How can I help my teenager improve his grades? What incentives can I provide? When should I hire a private tutor?
    
    
16. How can I boost my teenager’s self-esteem without smothering him/her?
    
    
17. How do I know it’s time to let go and allow my teenager to make mistakes on his/her own?
    
    
18. How can I help my teenager deal with loss in his/her life? i.e. loss of a friend, a relative, a pet, a job, etc.
    
    
19. How can I help my teenager make the transition to a new school and a new town?
    
    
20. How can I help my teenager prepare to move out on his/her own and handle the responsibilities of being totally on his/her own?
    
    
21. How can I help my teenager understand the consequences of his/her actions?
    
    
22. How can I teach my teenager to handle his/her finances in a healthy way? i.e. budgeting, saving, tithing, how debt works, paying off debt, staying out of debt, etc.
    
    
23. What can I do about my teenager’s behavioral problem? i.e. staying out past curfew, talking back, stealing, mood swings, anger problem, depression, lack of respect for those in authority, etc.
    
    
24. How can I help my adopted child find his/her biological parent and accept that person into his/her life when I feel so betrayed or hurt by his/her need to do so?
    
    
25. How can I help my teenager understand that just because I am remarrying doesn’t mean I love him/her any less and it doesn’t mean he/she is betraying his/her other parent by accepting my new spouse in his/her life?
    
    
26. What are some fun ways I can learn to bond with my teenager to make his/her transition into adulthood smoother, while still allowing us to have a close relationship?
    
    
27. My teenager says that ____ embarrasses him/her when we’re out in public. I shouldn’t have to change to please my teenager, but I would like to ease the tension in this area. What can I do?
    
    
28. How can I help my teenagers remain friends and just not sibling who tolerate each other as they transition from child to teen to adult?
    
    
29. How can I raise a teenager who not only attends church, but actually has a relationship with God?
    
    
30. How can I help my teenager become less influenced by the media?

• Practice interviewing. Call a few colleagues, friends, or family members and ask questions related to the theme of your choice. Then weave the article around the quotes.
  
  
• Talk to a psychologist, school counselor, child expert, or physician, and let him/her know that you don’t have an assignment yet, but you will pitch the article to target-appropriate magazines.