Disoriented

Fellow parents of teens, this does not make us look good. I like chatting with my kids, too, but it’s easier to converse with them when they’re alive, or at least not in a coma (if you can’t tell whether or not your adolescent is in a coma, have him brush that hair out of his eyes). We’ve got to do better, y’all; no one really wants to miss out on next year’s school orientation.

David L. Hill, M.D., FAAP, is the author of Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro (AAP Publishing, 2012). He is also vice president of Cape Fear Pediatrics in Wilmington, N.C., and  adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as Program Director for the AAP Council on Communications and Media and as an executive committee member of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. He has recorded commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered and provided content for various print, television, and Internet outlets.