Talking with Kids about COVID-19: Up to Date with Steve Kraske:
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Talking with Kids about COVID-19: Up to Date with Steve Kraske:

Here’s the discussion from my March appearance on Up to Date with Steve Krakse in it’s special COVID-19 time slot. We talk about how to explain social distancing to kids of all ages, why folks with anxiety may actually be doing better right now than less anxious peers, how to create safe social interactions for…

Moving from Sex Talk to Sex Conversation
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Moving from Sex Talk to Sex Conversation

Here’s the material from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) I discussed on the air (listen to attached clip), with the annotations taken from our slowly forthcoming book Consent-Based Sex Education to be released in 2020 (finally!) Key Concept I: Human Development Goals: Help children[1] to appreciate their bodies. Provide information about…

Understanding How A Teen's Conflict in Gender Identity Can Come Out Pretty Great
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Understanding How A Teen's Conflict in Gender Identity Can Come Out Pretty Great

In this segment of Up to Date with Steve Kraske, I’m joined by Peter, a twenty-four-year-old transman who recently underwent top surgery–the removal of breast tissue to to confirm gender. I’ve known Peter for many years and have watched him on his journey from insecure and dysphoric teen to confident and hopeful young adult. As…

Same-Sex Attracted and Gender Nonconforming Teens: What a Difference Five Years Makes
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Same-Sex Attracted and Gender Nonconforming Teens: What a Difference Five Years Makes

I thought I’d post this blast from that past, from November 2013. While the Up to Date segment with Matt Rood of Lawrence High School and Casey, then a student at KU, is still great information for parents, it’s amazing how far we’ve come since then. To think that this was cutting edge stuff back…

Insta, Finsta, Snapchat, Nudes: Teens and Sexual Expression on Social Media
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Insta, Finsta, Snapchat, Nudes: Teens and Sexual Expression on Social Media

Nicole and I are just finishing our chapter on Sexting, Snapchat, and Finstagram for Consent-Based Sex Education, Book Two: Parenting Teens in an Internet Age. The book is going  out to our focus groups, likely in October. Book One: Parenting Teens for Sexual Competence is finishing it’s focus group run and should be to reviewers…

Teens and Social Activism
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Teens and Social Activism

When millions of Americans saw the students of Parkland High School speaking before the cameras about their experience of gun violence following a particularly brutal school shooting, many couldn’t believe their poise and disciplined presentation. Many in conservative media claimed they were some kind of “crisis actors” coached by adults to spew a leftist agenda…

KCUR Up to Date: Teens & Anxiety
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KCUR Up to Date: Teens & Anxiety

According to the National Institute of Mental Health 25% of teenagers will at one point or another be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and 6% will be considered severe. Research over the last 80 years suggests either an increase in anxiety among teens or better recognition of a condition that’s existed all along. Either way, over…

Can a School Require My Child to Take Medication?
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Can a School Require My Child to Take Medication?

Dear Dr. Wes: I heard you on Up to Date with Steve Kraske talking about IEPs, 504s, and student improvement plans and medication management with psychotherapy. The school told us that if my child didn’t take medication, he’d be kicked out of elementary school. Can they do that? Dear Listener: The short answer is “no.” No school…

KCUR Up to Date: Thirteen Reasons Why...And Why Not
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KCUR Up to Date: Thirteen Reasons Why...And Why Not

We had a great on-air conversation about Thirteen Reasons Why on Kansas City Public Radio as the film and controversy continue to draw considerable attention.  While I remain convinced that this is an important, if imperfect, tool for discussing a broad array of teen issues, I’ve heard some very intelligent dissent. Very little of it…