In this latest work from Danny Kwon, youth workers will find a friend in the words written as the author shares his journey through the gains and pains of working with parents of teenagers. From parenting styles to competing values to parental fears and the need for partnership, A Youth Worker’s Field Guide to Parents speaks into multiple complexities of the parent-youth worker relationship. “My hope is that churches and youth ministries would recognize and understand parents better,” Kwon writes, “so we can serve our parents well, as it ultimately serves our teenagers.” The strongest contributions came halfway through when addressing how to have difficult conversations with parents and how to navigate different scenarios where blame is involved (i.e., parents blaming you, the church, your spouse, and themselves) for different failures. I particularly appreciated the author’s new insight after serving for 20 years in the same church and transitioning into being a parent of teenagers himself. Readers will find A Youth Worker’s Field Guide to be heavy on storytelling and light on take-aways but worth a read. Kwon’s writings serve as a refreshing reminder to youth workers everywhere that they are not alone in the rewarding, complicated and sometimes frustrating partnerships that we endeavor with parents of our students.
A Youth Worker’s Field Guide to Parents: Understanding Parents of Teenagers
Danny Kwon
The Youth Cartel, 2015, 149 pp., $14.99
