#370 Helping Teens Think Critically
From Power Your Parenting: Moms With Teens by Colleen O'Grady LPC, LMFT, author, speaker & C-Suite Radio
April 27, 2026 · 35 min
About this episode
Colleen O'Grady discusses the importance of critical thinking for teens with cognitive psychology expert Dr. Maree Davies.
In this eye-opening episode, Colleen O’Grady sits down with Dr. Maree Davies, cognitive psychology expert and author of Teaching Critical Thinking to Teenagers: How Kids Can Be Street Smart About AI, Algorithms, Fake News, and Social Media. Together they explore why critical thinking is one of the most essential life skills for today’s teens—and how parents can help develop it at home. Dr. Davies explains how social media platforms and AI algorithms are designed to capture attention, influence thinking, and keep teens engaged. She shares practical ways parents can help teens become more aware, more curious, and less vulnerable to manipulation, misinformation, and online rabbit holes. This conversation is packed with wisdom for raising thoughtful, self-aware, and resilient teens in a digital world. Key Takeaways: 1. Critical thinking starts with curiosity, not lectures. Instead of telling teens what to think, ask questions like: Does that sound right to you? What do you think? Where could we verify that? Curiosity builds stronger thinkers than criticism. 2. Parents should model critical thinking out loud. When parents say things like, Hmm… I’m not sure that’s true. Let’s check…
People in this episode
Host: Colleen O'Grady
Guest: Dr. Maree Davies
Topics covered
- critical thinking
- teens
- parenting
- social media
- AI
- cognitive psychology
Keywords
- critical thinking
- teens
- parenting
- social media
- AI
- misinformation
- curiosity
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Teaching Critical Thinking to Teenagers
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