The Hot Button Series: Dating and Internet Editions

Are you avoiding the hot button issues with your tweens?

For many parents,  there are some issues they would rather delay discussing with their children or just down right avoid all together. However, author, Nicole O’Dell, encourages parents to do away with that bury-your-head-in–the-sand approach to discussing matters such as dating, sex, Internet activity, and drugs. Instead she offers them encouragement and tools necessary to be proactive in providing youth a solid, Biblical foundation to make wise choices.

The decision to just wait until an actual situation arises before we face a subject is naïve, at best, and possibly lethal. We have both a parental right and a godly responsibility to hit these issues hard, head-on. If we approach them preemptively, our teens will be prepared to face and handle life’s toughest battles.

Each book in The Hot Button Series focuses on one key area and related  subtopics. For the purposes of this review, I read the dating edition as well as the Internet edition. Each book has common format, which opens with an introduction of just what a hot button is and why it’s important to address them and how. Additionally, each book has a strategic scenario section that gives tweens the opportunity to test drive making choices in the hot seat before it’s their reality. Each scenario is accompanied with key points for discussion and relevant scripture passage. The books conclude with a parent-teen study guide.

Although I might have taken issue with some of the suggested restrictions when I was a teen myself, I think the book offers parents some good ideas about setting proper boundaries. This book is bound to get tweens and parents talking and I think it’s a great resource for parents to make a part of their library. The small size of the book makes it a great companion when you are on the go or at home.

About the Author

Youth-culture expert, Nicole O’Dell, resides in Paxton, Illinois, with her husband and six children—the youngest of whom are toddler triplets. She‘s the host of Choose NOW Radio: Parent Talk and Teen Talk and the founder of Choose NOW Ministries, dedicated to guiding teens through tough issues and helping parents encourage good decisions.

As an author, Nicole writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her popular YA fiction includes the Diamond Estate Series and the Scenarios for Girls interactive books that feature alternate endings, allowing young girls to decide the outcome for the main character. Her nonfiction for teens includes Girl Talk, which she wrote with her two daughters.

While her YA resources encourage and equip teens, Nicole also works to bridge the communication gap between teens and their parents. The Hot Buttons series helps parents discuss tough issues with their tweens and teens before the issues pop up in real life. Watch for Hot Buttons books on subjects like dating, Internet activity, sexuality, prejudice, friendships, politics, and more.
For more information on Nicole O‘Dell or her books, visit http://www.nicoleodell.com. Podcasts of Choose NOW Radio are available at http://www.chooseNOWradio.com.

Paperback: 168 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0825442397
ISBN-13: 978-0825442391
Available at Amazon

Disclosure: I was provided complimentary copies of Hot Button Series: Dating and Internet Editions  as a part of the Kregel Blog Tour. Views and opinions expressed are my own.