Many Questions to Start a Family Discussion

Getting to Know Your Child
• What are the three most interesting things about you?
• Name five reasons you’re glad to be alive.
• If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
• What’s your favorite song?  Why?
• What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
• What’s your favorite movie?  Why? 
• Why do you think kids put rings in their eyebrows and noses and bellybuttons?
• How about tattoos?
• Do you think you would ever want to do that? Why or why not?
• If we could go anywhere you wanted on vacation, where would you choose? Why?
• If you could have a conversation with anyone in history, who would it be?  
• What would you want to ask them?
• What is your earliest memory?
• What are you most proud of?
• If you could change one thing about your appearance, what would it be?
• Is there anything about you that inspires other people in any way?
• What is your idea of an ideal day?
• If you were invisible where would you go and what would you do?
• What is a quality you wish you could have more of?
• If you could ask anyone for help, who would it be and why?
• What scares you the most and why?
• What makes you feel better?
• What do you worry about the most?
• What is your biggest goal this year?

Your relationship with your child
• What is your favorite thing about our relationship?
• What is your least favorite thing about our relationship?
• Do you think you can tell me anything?
• If you got into really big trouble, how do you think I would respond?
• Is there something I can do better that I am not doing now?
• Do you feel like you could talk with me about anything at all?
• If we had a special day together what would you want to do?
•  Do I ever embarrass you?

Family
• How do you think your friends' families compare to ours? Are they about as close? Closer? More distant? Why do you think that?
• Do you think your friends talk to their parents?
• What do you think makes a family close?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how strict are the parents in this family?  What is the ideal number?
• Is the discipline in our family fair?
• What’s the best thing about our family?
•  If you could change one thing about your parents, what would it be?
•  What are the most important things your parents have taught you?
• What do you think are the most important qualities of a good parent?
• What do you think makes a happy family?
• Tell each person in the family why you’re glad they’re part of the family.
• How do you think our family is the same or different from other families?
• Do you want to have kids when you grow up?  Why or why not?
• What kind of parent will you be?
• Do you think you will be close to your siblings when you grow up?
•  How many of your ancestors can you name and what do you know about them?
•  What is your favorite family tradition?
•  What three words do you think best describe our family?

Blended families
• Do blended families take more work?  Can they be as happy as birth families?
• Do you ever miss your dad?
•  Do you think things would be different if your dad was still with us and I had never met your step-dad? How?
• Even though your step-dad is not your biological dad, you know he adores you. Do you feel close to him?
• You know, to your little sister you are completely her sister, not her stepsister. Do you feel that way, or is it different for you? Do you feel close to her? 
• When you both grow up, do you think you will stay connected?
• Do you think it’s harder for adopted kids than birth kids? 
•  Do you think it’s a good idea for adopted kids to look up their birth parents? Why or why not?

Values
•  What traits do you most admire in other people?
•  Do you think it's okay to lie about your age to get into an Amusement Park with a cheaper ticket? Is it ever ok to lie? 
•  Do you think your parents ever lie? 
•  What kinds of lies do your friends tell their parents?
• Does it matter if a person makes a moral or immoral choice, if no one ever knows?
• Is it ever ok to cheat, in academics, sports, business?
•  Do adults automatically deserve respect? How do you earn respect?
• What could our family do that would make the world a better place? 
• What do you think the biggest problem in the world is? How about in our country?   
• How would you change the world if you could? 
• What do you think the "take-away" message of this movie is?  • Do you admire the hero? Why or why not? 

School & Learning
• Who is or was your favorite teacher? Why? 
•  Do you think there is a difference between being smart and being wise? 
•  What are the best and worst things about school? 
•  What do you know how to do that you could teach someone else? 
• How common do you think cheating is at your school? 
•  What would you do if all the other kids were planning to cheat on the final and you knew that doing so would lower your grade? 
•  What do you think makes the most difference in how kids do at school? Hard work, innate ability, parental supervision, peer attitudes, how good the school is? 
• Do you think it makes sense to admit students to a college based only on academic achievement or should an attempt be made to achieve racial and ethnic diversity as well? 
•  Do you think kids from wealthier school districts have an unfair advantage? 
•  What do you think about home-schooling? 

Emotions
• Do you know what EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) is?  If someone has a high EQ, what are they like?
•  How do you feel when someone is angry with you? How do you act?
•  Are you a "cup is half full" or "cup is half empty" kind of person?
•  What do you do to cheer yourself up when you feel down?
• Have I never not noticed when you're sad?
•  What is the best way for me to help you when you feel grumpy?
•  When do you like me to hug you? When does it embarrass you?
•  What hurts your feelings? How do you act when your feelings are hurt?
•  What are the different kinds of courage?  How do you define bravery? 

Drug and Alcohol use
•  Why do you think it's illegal for kids under the age of 21 to drink alcohol?  After all, many parents do it.
•  Why are marijuana and other drugs illegall?
•  What would you do if you were in a car and the driver had been drinking or smoking marijuana?
•  What if the driver was a grown-up, like your friend's parent? 
•  What do you think happens in the brain when people smoke marijuana?  Why shouldn't kids smoke it?
•  Have you ever thought that I drank too much? Acted differently when I drank alcohol?
•  When do you think kids are ready to try alcohol?  
•  Do you know any kids or adults who you think have alcohol or drug problems? 
•  When do you think kids are ready to try alcohol? 
•  Do you know any kids who have tried alcohol or drugs, what do you think of them?
• What do the kids at your school do at parties? 
• Have you been to a party like that? Have you ever been offered a drink? A marijuana cigarette or other drugs? 
• How did you handle it? 
• What would you do if you were at a party and someone passed out from drinking alcohol?
• Would you be worried about becoming addicted to alcohol or drugs?
•  Do you think coffee is a drug?  When do you think it’s ok for kids to start drinking coffee?

Friendship & Peers
•   Who is your best friend and why? 
•   What traits do you look for in friends?
•   Do you think you're good at making friends? 
•   Where do you consider yourself on the shy to outgoing continuum?
•   Do you think there is a such thing as peer pressure? Do you ever feel peer pressure? Do you think some people are more susceptible to peer pressure than others? Why do you think that is? 
•   What do you think makes a person popular? Are wealthier kids more popular? Kids who mature faster? 
•   Are you popular? Why or why not? Would you like to be? 

Love, Sex & Marriage
•   At what age do you think people can fall in love? At what age should people marry?
•   Do you think people should be married to have sex?  If not, how should they decide whether they’re ready?
•   What do you think changes when you have sex?
•   How do you think love is different in real life than it is in the movies?
•   What would be most important to you in looking for a spouse?
•   Do you think any of the kids at school are not virgins?  What do you think about that?
•  Do kids at your school actually “date”?  What do you think about the idea of “friends with benefits”?  Does the girl benefit as much as the guy?  
• Do you think girls and guys have the same needs from sex and relationships?
•   Do you know anyone who’s gay?  Does anyone treat them differently? What do you think about that?
•  Why do you think people get divorced?  How do you think it affects the kids?

Body Image and Gender Roles
•   How do you think ordinary peoples’ bodies compare to the models and actors on TV?  How does it make you feel to watch them?
•  What do you think of the way girls and guys in high school dress these days?
• Do you think girls look better with or without makeup? 
• Is there a difference between "attractive" and "hot"? Between "hot" and "sexy"?
•   How would you define “sexy”?  Is it important to be “sexy”? Are some of the kids at school sexy?  How does someone know if they’re sexy? Is it important that your future boyfriend or girlfriend be sexy?  
•   What are the most important qualities you would want in a boyfriend or girlfriend?
•  Do you think most girls are glad when they reach puberty?  Why or why not?  Do you think most guys are glad when they reach puberty? Why or why not?
•  What's the hardest thing about being a girl? 
•  What's the hardest thing about being a boy? 
•  Do you know anyone with an eating disorder? Why do you think kids develop eating disorders? Why do you think there’s such an emphasis on thin-ness in our society?  
•  Can you name three things that you really like about yourself that have nothing to do with what you look like? 
•   When do you feel the most proud of who you are?