Cathy Glass

For the third and final part of my blog on managing teen behaviour let’s look at sanctions and rewards. At this age talking to, reasoning with and discussing are paramount ingredients for good parenting. A lot of negative behaviour can be corrected eventually through this medium, particularly if the boundaries and guidelines are already in place.

Recently I was asked to contribute to a workshop on fostering teenagers, of which I’ve had quite a bit of experience. I thought it might be useful to share some of it, especially if you haven’t had much experience of this age group.

The way we present ourselves to others, through the way we hold and move our bodies, is known as body language and, together with the tone of our voices, gives many signals about who were are and how we expect to be treated. These non-verbal messages are subconsciously picked up and interpreted by the person we are talking to, who then uses them as a base for his or her attitude and behaviour towards us. If we are positive, then our body language gives this off in hundreds of subtle signals that others subconsciously pick up and react to.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are more commonly known as police checks. All foster carers have one but what exactly are they?

December and the build up to Christmas often invites nostalgic recollections which can make us happy and sad at once. My thoughts always go back to the children we’ve looked after over Christmas many of whom had never experienced the joy of Christmas before. But the one that stands out most in my mind is the Christmas we looked after baby Harrison. I’d collected him at a day old from hospital