Book excerpt: Raising pre-teens and teenagers doesnít have to be hard. In fact, if you only know five essential truths about why kids do what they do, youíre on your way to becoming a smarter, happier, and more sane parent. Brad Snyder is an expert in adolescent behavior and has years of experience decoding the messages that parents donít get. Heís surveyed over 100,000 children and adolescents, and has interviewed close to 4,000 in group and one-on-one sessions. In spite of what you see on tv, kids these days are not more violent, more sexual, or more in danger than you once were. Kids are kids. With The 5 Simple Truths of Raising Kids, youíll: Learn some secrets of tween and teen communication Find out what exactly your kid is doing all day and why Make rules that make sense for the whole family, without building resentment Learn the truth about kids and social networking, texting, and bullying Become a parent your children respect, but not one they hate or fear