What I Wish You Knew Conversations

Kids today are growing up in scary times. What I Wish You Knew Conversations: Advice to Parents & Other Adults addresses the stress, anxiety and far too real fears of children and teens growing up in the world today. It is about communicating and connecting.

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT HOW TO GET YOUR KIDS TO TALK.

AND HOW TO RESPOND TO THEM WHEN THEY DO.

All parents want to help and protect their children, but most don't know how to initiate serious conversations with them. This unique new book by Sharon Weingarten, MSW, with prologue and input from pediatrician, Mariana Glusman, MD is about the importance of having ongoing dialogue with children and teens. They make it easy to open conversations about some "hard to start' topics by using the words of others. The How to Use this Book and Starters chapters give specific directions.

What I Wish You Knew Conversations: Advice to Parents & Other Adults includes advice by real kids (maybe yours?) interviewed by Weingarten and Glusman. It is meant to be read by, not only parents, but also teachers, school psychologists, social workers, coaches, clergy, neighbors, friends and anyone who works with or observes children, tweens or adolescents.

This glimpse into the diaries of real kids leads to discussion openers, for both adults and children, about topics such as stress, school, family problems, sex and sexuality, gender identification, racial slurs and discrimination, violence, the media, teasing, bullying, cyberbullying, body image, drinking, drugs, healthy relationships, unhealthy relationships, rape, pregnancy, money and privilege and lack of it, hope for the future, and more.

This deceptively simple book is not so simple. Like worrying about our pulse, we often don't pay much attention to real communication with our kids until something is wrong. And then we have to pay a lot of attention. Knowing how to communicate with children and teens about what is on their minds can help prevent future problems.

Sharon Weingarten is a teacher and licensed social worker. When her children were in high school, she went back to school also, earning her MSW summa cum laude from Loyola University of Chicago. She has worked in both public and private schools, as well as in the Therapeutic Day School of the Department of Adolescent Psychiatry of NorthShore University HealthSystem. Sharon has also had the unique experience of working in the South Pacific. She has conducted classes for teachers, parents and students in both schools and hospitals on the islands of Samoa, Tinian and Saipan. She is especially proud to have been the "Founding Mother" of a writing project for Mental Health America in 2003 that still that continues annually. She is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers, the National Association of Social Work, the American Group Psychotherapy Association and the Illinois Society for Clinical Social Work. Sharon serves on the Institutional Ethics Committee of Northshore University HealthSystem and the Interhospital Education Subcommittee and is an active member of the Steering Committee of the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Education of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. In addition, she serves as a consultant and advisor to a wide variety of organizations, including the Agency Oversight Committee of New Trier Township, and Erika's Lighthouse. She enjoys her work as a volunteer for the Community Council of International Students at Northwestern University and Rotary International and she particularly values her role as a member of the Professional Advisory Board of Northwestern University's Camp Kesem, a national program for children who are impacted by a parent's cancer. Sharon created What I Wish You Knew Conversations(R) to encourage dialogue in families, schools, therapeutic settings and everywhere communication is important. She can be reached at WhatIWishYouKnew@gmail.com