Talking To Your Kids
	It's one of the most challenging aspects of parenthood: sitting down with your kids and not only talking to them, but also hearing them. Here, some stories from TIME to help you understand what your kid is going through By Jessica Reaves

Monday, June 23, 2003; 2:31 p.m. EST
We know, we know. Talking to your kids can be like attempting conversation with, alternately, a particularly impenetrable brick wall or an alien from a distant planet. You work up your courage to broach the tough subjects — sex, drugs, violence — and then, as you deliver your heartfelt speech, you watch your kid's eyes take on a glazed look, their jaws go slack, and then, if you're really on roll, they start drooling.

If you look around any middle school or high school in America, it's pretty clear that while kids today may still hew to the age-old traditions of their age group (crushes on pop stars, flavored lip gloss, dubious hairstyles), they're not exactly carefree. They've been forced, by world events and, some would argue, by our culture, into a sort of demi-adulthood, well before they are able to drive or vote. Hot on the heels of the topics most parents look forward to broaching — first date jitters, getting into a good college, success on the athletic field — come a slew of far less appetizing subjects: teen sex and birth control, depression and stress, and peer pressure.

Over the years, TIME has amassed a certain expertise in this tricky arena; our writers and reporters have delved deeply into topics as diverse as teen violence and teen sex. In the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy, TIME investigated the psychology of the young killers, and offered advice for parents who fear for their own child's state of mind. Our columnists have recounted uncomfortable but important conversations theyıve had with their own children about sex and drugs, occasionally even allowing for the possibility that they, as parents, had no idea what they were doing, other than hoping for the best. And just as we've provided stories of kids who have succeeded in spectacular ways, we've tried to make sense of failing systems and personal tragedies.

Let's be clear: what we're offering here isn't going to suddenly make you and your parenting messages as irresistible to your child as, say, the latest Britney/Justin breakup news, but it just might help you decipher and maybe even address some of your kid's concerns and fears. Today, of course, those fears reach far beyond the normal crises and dramas of growing up; the current headlines leave all of us desperate for a bit of clarity — or, failing that, just an open conversation.

We can't guarantee anything, but chances are you'll learn more from your kid than they learn from you.