Can your teenager handle silence? Can you? In a Hay House radio program, Carolyn Myss posed a similar question to a caller who felt like escaping her problems by retreating to a monastery was a “cop out”. Instead, Carolyn suggested that it may be the bravest thing she could do; that being alone with her thoughts would bring the most truth and clarity. The idea that silence is the loudest company resonated with me. I wanted to apply it to raising teenagers and I immediately thought about parents who worry if their child is a “loner”. Let’s think about aloneness as a skill set. I believe that the teen who can be alone with his or her thoughts may be more authentic than the social butterfly who is constantly in need of distraction. Who can handle the most truth?