Deborah Rivas-Drake speaks on teens' identity development with the Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

When teens hear negative messages or experience discrimination or other exclusions based on race, national origin, ethnicity, or culture, it may negatively impact their mental health. In the article titled “The Importance of Building Teens’ Racial and Ethnic Identities” Rivas-Drake said, “Parents can teach their children more explicitly to have certain values, honor certain aspects of their culture, practice certain traditions, and know about their history. That’s one of the main ways that young people learn about their identities. There are some indirect things that parents teach their children about their own identities.”

In the article “How to Support Teens’ Racial and Ethnic Identity Development,” Rivas-Drake examines how family, school, community, and peers can support adolescents when navigating issues related to race and identity. Young people begin learning to make sense of their ethnic and racial identities at a young age. They often observe the world around them and try to make sense of that part of themselves. They are influenced by watching and listening to what is shared at home, what they see on TV or media, and what their friends talk about.

Rivas-Drake said, “Caregivers can mean grandparents, extended family, or extended kin—encourage a child to have access to all of those important adults in their lives. To be able to ask questions or to just have conversations about what others have lived, and what their experiences were growing up, can help positively build a child’s identity.”