Adolescence | Susan Bodnar PhD

Sexual Assault: How it Happens, What to Do

August 26, 2015 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

My letter to the editor in the New York Times discusses the issue of sexual abuse in relationship to the alleged assault that took place at St Paul’s. Below I offer a more thorough discussion of the role of cognitive confusion in sexual abuse and what to do to help prevent it. Update: Also see […]

Filed Under: adolescence, College, ethics, human interaction Tagged With: campus sexual assault, date rape, Prep school sexual abuse case, preventing date rape, Preventing sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexuality, social guidelines to prevent sexual assault, St. Paul's court case

Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be: An Encounter with Frank Bruni

March 19, 2015 by Susan Bodnar 2 Comments

A year ago Frank Bruni wrote a series of columns that were to become his book Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania, published March 17. I read those articles avidly. After many years of offering words of wisdom and comfort to many anxious and wigged out teens […]

Filed Under: adolescence, books, College Tagged With: adolescent anxiety, anxiety applying to college, college acceptances, college admissions, dealing with the college application process, Frank Bruni, Where you go is not who you'll be

An Open Letter to Young Adults about Sex, Drugs and Alcohol

February 27, 2015 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

Dear Young Person: Alcohol, drugs and sexuality can enhance and create life. They work. They can alter your moods, change your perceptions and disinhibit you. It’s fun to be able to behave differently. Blotting out discomfort relieves anxiety. Going wild can release tension. Alcohol, drugs and sexuality have always been part of the human experience. […]

Filed Under: adolescence, human interaction, identity, relationships, young adults Tagged With: adolescent anxiety, adolescent drinking, adolescent sexuality, alcohol and hooking up, alcohol and young adults, drugs and young adults, is saying no okay, sexuality and young adults

Teach Your Children Well

February 26, 2015 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

I’m not going to link to every reported instance of college or high school partying getting out of hand. Nor am I going to link to the number of emergency room visits that occur every weekend due to alcohol poisoning or drug overdoses; nor every instance of campus sexual abuse. In almost every adolescent community […]

Filed Under: adolescence, human interaction, parenting, relationships Tagged With: adolescent drinking, adolescent limit setting, adolescent sexuality, alcohol and hooking up, campus drug abuse, Campus sexual abuse and alcohol, college drug use, ecstasy abuse, molly abuse

How to Date in Five (not so easy) Lessons

February 23, 2015 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

I’m not sure why exactly it is easier to arm the student population than to simply reinforce the idea that sexuality is an extension of a relationship. I’m not advocating a return to a repressive sexuality. Rather, I’m thinking that the brilliant talented kids who constitute our country’s future might benefit from learning how to […]

Filed Under: adolescence, human interaction, relationships Tagged With: adolescent sexuality, dating, dating tips, hooking-up alternative, how to date, young adult sexuality

Thoughts on Male Sexuality

December 27, 2013 by Susan Bodnar 1 Comment

In an age when sexuality has become openly commonplace, both boys and girls find it hard to recognize and value limits. Conversations offer a beginning point, an opportunity to sort out the new sexual mores for the twenty-first century. See my recent post on CNN.com for some thoughts about helping boys find an honorable sexuality.

Filed Under: adolescence, relationships Tagged With: adolescent anxiety, adolescent drinking, adolescent sexuality, honorable male sexuality, male teen sexuality, parent guide to teen sexuality, raising good men, sexual mores for teens

Binge Sex: How Kids Learn About Rape

October 22, 2013 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

Is there an epidemic of binge sex? Is there a week that goes by without a story about teens or young adults drinking way too much who end up in an encounter of unwanted sexual contact and rape? In response to the recent onslaught of these stories Emily Yoffe’s post urged women to stop drinking. […]

Filed Under: adolescence, parenting, relationships, young adults Tagged With: binge behavior, Binge drinking, binge sexuality, date rape, Emily Yoffe girls and alcohol, parent guide to teen sexuality, Soraya Chemaly, teen sexuality

Underage Drinking: The Real Problem

June 3, 2013 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that alcohol use by those under the age of twenty- one is a major health problem. Research continues to demonstrate that teenage alcohol use endangers brain, liver and endocrine function. Binge drinking can also be lethal to young bodies. In New York City alone emergency visits due […]

Filed Under: adolescence, mental illness Tagged With: adolescent alcohol abuse, adolescent alcohol misuse, adolescent drinking, alcohol abuse by teens, alcohol and hooking up, high school alcohol abuse prevention, high school drinking, teen alcohol abuse prevention, teen drinking, teen social pressure, underage drinking

Sex Tips for Teens, or Sexual Mores for the 21st Century

March 23, 2011 by Susan Bodnar 3 Comments

What is the best way to talk to teens about sexuality? Surprisingly, I have found that young people respond positively to the concept of a meaningful and sustainable sexuality. Just like kids want to protect their ecosystems, they also want to protect their bodies. Between high school and the first post-college years many young […]

Filed Under: adolescence Tagged With: 21st century sexual mores, hooking up, parent guide to teen sexuality, sex tips for teens, sexting, talk to teens about sex, teen sex, teen sexuality

Gulf Coast Oil Spill #4: Teens

May 25, 2010 by Susan Bodnar Leave a Comment

If you are wondering just how bad things really are in the Gulf see this ABC news report. Philippe Cousteau (Jacque’s grandson) calls it a “nightmare.” Transocean is holding a memorial today for those who died in the Deepwater Horizon in Jackson, Miss. . People have died. The US government is now calling it the […]

Filed Under: adolescence, environmental disaster, human interaction, personal environmentalism, politics Tagged With: Gulf Coast oil spill, gulf oil crisis, no offshore drilling petition to President Obama, NRDC bakesale, psychological response to Gulf Coast oil spill, response to gulf oil crisis, teens respond to gulf coast oil spill