There’s one thing you can start doing right now that will change how you communicate with any young human: Remember what it’s like to be one.

Many parents have experienced the fact that kids don’t seem to honor their parents the way that previous generations of children did. The question we need to ask is, how did we get to this position? How did this lack of respect infiltrate even the closest family relationships? Most importantly, how can we make sure that it doesn’t ruin our bond with our own teens?

Understanding what is being said is only a fraction of the task of communicating. Taking in signals from the entire context is critical.