Sparks: How Parents Can Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers

by Peter L. Benson

Overview

Praise for Sparks

"Peter Benson's Sparks is an insightful, step-by-step guide for parents who want to help their teenagers be happier. It deserves to be read by all adults looking for ways to inspire (and be inspired by) today's youth."
—Kathy Cloninger, CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA

"Dr. Benson provides an evidence-based and empowering breath of fresh air that reminds us that all youth need and deserve caring adults who support them to find the spark within."
—Judy Vredenburgh, president and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

"Sparks provides a whole new outlook on our relationships with teenagers. I hope it reaches and touches everyone who cares about our nation's youth."
—Irv Katz, executive director, National Collaboration for Youth

"Peter Benson's pioneering work has long been an inspiration for all who are dedicated to bringing out the highest potential in our young, and his new book is a wellspring of illuminating insight, sound practical advice, and a stirring call to action for raising the younger generation with the wise guidance they deserve."
—William Damon, Ph.D., professor and director, Stanford Center on Adolescence and author, The Path to Purpose

"A must-read for parents, this book is also an inspirational, practical guide for youth development professionals, teachers, coaches, and mentors who want to help teens discover their passions and enjoy meaning, purpose, and happiness."
—Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

"The teen years can be the most challenging ones for both teens and their parents. At the same time they can also be the most rewarding. Peter Benson provides valuable, practical insights and advice in Sparks which parents will turn to time and again as they support their teenager in making healthy choices."
—Neil Nicoll, president and CEO, YMCA of the USA

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470437636
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	09/25/2008
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	522 KB

About the Author

Peter L. Benson, Ph.D., is widely recognized as a leading authority on children and teenagers and the processes that help them flourish and thrive. He is the creator of the framework of Developmental Assets and other widely celebrated innovations in human development. He serves as president and CEO of Search Institute, an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide leadership, knowledge, and resources to promote healthy children, youth, and communities.

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Table of Contents

Foreword.

Introduction: How Igniting Our Teenagers’ Sparks.

Can Support and Save Our Children and Their Future.

Part One: Five Steps to Help Ignite Your Teen’s Sparks.

Step One: Recognize the Power of Sparks.

Step Two: Know Your Own Teenager.

Step Three: Help Discover and Reveal Your Teen’s Sparks.

Step Four: Be the Captain of Your Teen’s Spark Team.

Step Five: Keep Your Teen’s Spark Lit.

Part Two: What Helps Teens Thrive.

Chapter One: On the Road to a Hopeful Future: Stories from Across America

Chapter Two: Thriving Youth, Thriving Nation.

Spark Resources.

Teenage Sparks: A Rich National Tapestry.

What Kids Need to Succeed: The 40 Developmental Assets (Ages 12 to 18 Years).

Key Spark Resources.

Notes.

Acknowledgments.

About the Author.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

A spark could be a talent, an interest, a skill-the reason we're in the world; the goal of this book is to show parents and teens how to find that spark and develop it. A well-respected author and psychologist, Benson (All Kids Are Our Kids) trains educators and other professionals as CEO of the Search Institute in Minneapolis. He fills his chatty text with stories of kids who have recognized their spark and how their parents nurtured it. To help parents understand their teens, he turns to the Myers-Briggs test. The idea is excellent, the presentation upbeat, and the anecdotes inspiring. In the end, though, the book is simply too repetitive; readers will feel as if they are reading the same definitions and stories over and over. Perhaps this should have been a periodical article instead of a 256-page book. All Kids Are Our Kids is a more important work.
—Linda Beck

Library Journal

"In careful steps filled with quizzes, self-assessments, checklists, and true stories, this engaging guide empowers adults to help teens discover their sparks and bring them to life…’A spark is about developing yourself from the inside out,’ Benson writes. This new aspect of youth development is an exciting and worthy outgrowth of the developmental assets approach." –Youth Today (December/January 2009)

From the Publisher