Talking to teens? Read the book

The students in Susie Myers' eighth-grade honors English class are giving parents something to talk about.

Thirty-eight Churchill Junior High students and their teacher spent the past five months researching and writing "What Our Parents Should Know," a frank book of advice that aims to help parents communicate with their teens.

"The way they wrote it was just really respectful, and it helps bridge the gap," said Myers, who got the idea for the book after her nephew committed suicide. "It gives so much information to help parents understand, because the gap between parents and teenagers is huge, and if we can pull together from both sides, I think it can make all the difference in the world."

The 141-page book contains 24 chapters that tackle such sensitive subjects as depression and suicide, drugs and alcohol, teen sex and dating, religion and dealing with divorce. The students also address trust, curfews, war and getting into college. Each chapter was written and researched by one, two or three students, who say the experience has opened communication lines with their own parents.

"It's a lot easier to talk to my parents about different issues, and what's affecting me or bugging me or what happened at school," said Michael Matthews, one of Myers' students.

Cortney Henne said the book has improved parent-child relationships for herself and her peers, and she hopes the effects of their advice can be far-reaching.

"Our parents are more open-minded to some of our ideas because of the way we approached it, and I think this book would help a lot of parents understand us more."

But how have parents felt about their teens addressing taboo topics? Myers said they "have been so supportive."

"They were a little leery about the names (being in the book), but they've been incredible and have helped in reading the chapters. And they've learned from it, too."

Myers, who has 14- and 16-year-old children, said she, too, has benefitted from the students' insight.

"I just want to get this out there, because it's saying, 'Hey, listen, I have a lot to say,' and they just laid it out," she said. "I learned from reading all the perspectives. I learned things I'm doing right and things I need to change."

The writing is honest, straightforward and surprisingly mature for students that even Myers laughingly admits are an "ornery bunch of kids." But this ornery bunch gets serious when talking about what they've learned while writing their book.

"I've learned that every little thing matters in growing up," said Taylor Brody. "If you have a problem with anything and it's not dealt with soon enough, sometimes it can be really bad in the end, if you hold it all in."

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