My guest today is Jessica Lahey.

Jessica is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed and The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. 

Over twenty years, Jess has taught every grade from sixth to twelfth in both public and private schools, and spent five years teaching in a drug and alcohol rehab for adolescents in Vermont. She writes about education, parenting, and child welfare for The Washington Post, New York Times, and The Atlantic, is a book critic for Air Mail, and wrote the educational curriculum for Amazon Kids’ award-winning The Stinky and Dirty Show. She co-hosts the #AmWriting podcast with bestselling authors K.J. Dell’Antonia and Sarina Bowen from her house in Vermont, where she lives with her husband, two sons and a lot of dogs.

Takeaways from the show

• Secrecy and shame around substance abuse
• Jessica’s story
• The process of recovery
• The normalization of adult drinking
• Pluralistic ignorance
• Authoritative parenting
• Knowledge about raising kids and substances
• Teaching kids why they shouldn’t be using substances
• Knowing risk factors of substance abuse can help you protect your kids
• Understanding the teen brain
• Scripts to give your kids to get out of situations
• Relationship matters

For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here.

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