Tonight is Oscar Night- a time in which many teens will be watching with friends and maybe family. Our society places an emphasis on celebrities and their success. Our teens receive messages about what success means. And the movies that are nominated have messages to our teens about life and how to succeed.
What lessons can we help our teen learn from this annual event? Talking about the content of the movies which are nominated is important. You will have an opportunity to understand how your teen is interpreting messages from the movies - some of which may be very positive and some which may be negative. Another topic for discussion is how your teen perceives the actors and actresses who are present at the event. And probably the most important topic is what succeeding actually means.
Everyone has his or her own definition of success. I challenge you to really think about what is important and how this pertains to being successful. And be certain to discuss this with your teen. I have seen many a teenager become derailed from happiness because he did not think he was being "successful."
Enjoy talking with your teen about this topic - you might be pleasantly surprised about how your teen views this.
Dr. Debra
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