Invitation for dialog

I'm honored that Crossleft has chosen my new book, "What Every 21st Century Parent Needs to Know" as its April book of the month.

In the book, I explore how parents today can raise physically, emotionally, sexually, and spiritually healthy children and adolescents. Despite frightening news reports to the contrary, today's young people are actually less likely to be drinking, taking drugs, and having sex than young people 15 years ago, and more likely to be volunteering and participating in public policy activities.

I'll copy the Publisher's Weekly review of the book below, but I'm interested in your thoughts. Is it more difficult to parent today than in previous generations? And how can parents raise spiritually healthy children?

Books are now available online and should be in most chain bookstores. If you're a parent or a grandparent, or a professional who deals with youth in your work, I hope you'll get a copy and let me know what you think.

Here's one review:

Haffner (From Diapers to Dating), an ordained
Unitarian minister, isn’t afraid to tackle
the big questions, including drinking, drugs
and teen sex. But while Haffner “tells it like it
is,” she also presents the research and statistics
to prove that many of parents’ worst fears
are unfounded. Instead of a media-hyped view
of the challenges parents face in the 21st century,
Haffner concludes that most kids are on
the right track; in fact, she claims that they are
“smart, committed, and engaged in their families
and communities,” and that they are making
better choices about health and related issues
than many of their parents did at the
same age. The author stresses that parenting
style can have a significant impact on whether
kids go down undesirable roads. Utilizing what
she calls the “Affirming Parent” style, she offers
a number of viable solutions to common problems,
ranging from Internet use to overscheduling.
Haffner covers a great deal of ground in
this compact book; readers will appreciate her
just-the-facts-please approach as well as her
tendency to interpret the stats from the bright
side. (May)