If you were to ask most millennials or Gen Xers if their parents sat them down to talk to them about dating and sex, their answer would be no. Even if their response is yes, the conversation may have gone something like, “Don’t get a girl pregnant,” or “If you lay down with dogs, you’ll wake up with fleas.” These are true stories from many of our friends. In fact, a friend of Axis shared that the only instruction her parents gave her about dating was that she couldn’t date until she was sixteen. She turned sixteen, got her license to drive and date. There was no conversation about character, attraction, boundaries, or appropriate and inappropriate touch. “There were more conversations on how to drive than how to date,” she said.

Many parents of these generations outsourced the conversation about dating and sex, entrusting it to sex education teachers, youth group leaders, and television shows like Family Matters, Step by Step, and 90210. Though this trend has significantly diminished, as current parents have experienced the ill effects of their parents not having “the sex talk” with them, The New York Post reports that over twenty percent of parents still do not plan to talk to their kids about sex. Read More

One of the ongoing challenges of helping children with autism thrive is understanding behaviors that can seem baffling. When they’re toddlers, they’re easily misdiagnosed if they don’t fit the stereotypes of kids on the spectrum — especially girls. Older kids can also struggle to have their needs met by even the most supportive parents and teachers when they aren’t able to communicate clearly. Read More

The advice in this piece is so basic, it’s hard to believe that anyone would really need it. What’s more revealing here are the statistics: 81 percent of recent college grads surveyed said that they wish they learned more life skills during their education. In another survey, Gen Z was the most likely demographic to not know how much they spent in the last month. Figuring out the skills your children are going to need if they are to live independently and contribute to a household of their own sets them up for early success, but it takes intentional conversation to figure out those knowledge gaps and address them. Your best bet is probably to ask teens to make a list of skills they want to learn and things they are nervous about doing on their own. Read More