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Published on 05/11/1998 All articles from this issue

Speaker to address parent, teen relationships

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Town Crier Staff Report

Family-life educator Steve Saso will present "What Parents Want From Their Teens and What Teens Want From Their Parents," a workshop for parents and children to help build better family relationships, at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at the Egan Intermediate School Gym, 100 W. Portola Avenue, Los Altos.

As a former high school teacher, counselor and administrator, Saso has helped families foster healthy change through strategies he has developed over the past two decades. Saso is currently Chairman of the Religious Studies Department at Bellarmine High School in San Jose.

Saso and his wife, Patt, who is a private marriage and family therapist, began speaking about family issues nine years ago after talking to students and parents about the needs missing from their relationships.

Through stories about personal experiences and very specific strategies, the Sasos help families bridge the gap.

"We want them to go away and feel affirmed with their parenting," Patt said. "When parents are under stress or they're in the heat of the moment, their resources go out the window. We remind them how to stay grounded."

Patt said a lot of parents are not prepared for the developmental changes kids go through, so they feel thrown.

Steve said sometimes conflict comes because teens want freedom, but parents want them to be safe.

Steve said every parent-child relationship is fraught with some kind of conflict from kids being moody to not wanting to do the dishes.

Tomorrow's presentation will focus on teen and parent needs, showing perspectives from both viewpoints.

For more information about the event, which is being sponsored by the Year of the Good Neighbor Committee, call 949-5501.