STORY POWER --
Talking with Teens in Turbulent Times

From the book jacket:

Why is John Alston among America's most sought-after speakers to teenage audiences and as a workshop leader for educators and parent groups across the country? How does he help parents and teachers understand and improve their relationships with teens?

The answer to these questions and a key to improving your dealings with young people is a style of talking and listening called "story power." It's a new approach to getting the attention of teenagers and stirring them to really listen and to openly share their feelings and thoughts. And it's also a way for adults to begin with themselves, by looking at their own lives, to break down communication barriers.

Alston rewrites the script for talking with kids. Difficult issues become topics of heart-to-heart conversation, and parents and teachers learn to stop nagging, scolding and threatening, and instead use this fresh approach to motivate and encourage kids.

This book of "real situations and real people" proves that adults can get good results with teenagers if they follow some simple guidelines. With clear, often-funny examples, Alston explains how to find the right time and best ice-breakers to broach important issues. He offers guidelines for listening that make kids want to approach the adult, without adults having to sacrifice firmness. His situation-by-situation methods really work for handling problems -- diffusing anger, coping with lying, addressing pouting, and getting to the core of such "acting out" behavior as bad manners, sloppy dress, refusing to clean up, breaking curfews and choosing the wrong friends.

Alston has spoken to nearly a million young people, parents, teachers, counselors and school administrators, where he has bridged the gap between adults and youth and talked with kids in all walks of life-those confronting the normal chaos of growing up as well as those facing such difficult issues as drugs, alcohol, sex, teenage pregnancy and dysfunctional families.

This instructive, upbeat, highly motivational book will help adults and teens become partners in growth.

Contents of the book:

• What We Want for Our Children
• The Power of a Story and How to Use It
• Personal Narratives and Why They Work
• Lies As Powerful As the Truth
• Dismantling the Berlin Walls in Your Homes
• Commitment Is the Key
• Habits of Successful
• Parents What You Can Begin to Do Now
• Creating Resilient Teenagers
• One Voice
• An Open Letter to Parents

Order Talking with Teens in Turbulent Times for only $16.95
Published by Longmeadow Press
ISBN: 0-681-41110-4
$16.95

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