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The Two Backpacks: Understanding Teens and What They Carry
An essential guide to how our teens develop—and the hidden emotional load they carry
Every teen walks into school or home with two backpacks. One you can see. It’s full of textbooks, pencils, maybe a forgotten granola bar. The other? It’s invisible. And it’s heavy.
Inside that second backpack is everything adults don’t anxiety, heartbreak, self-doubt, online pressures, and emotional burdens many teens don’t yet have words for. And yet, too often, we judge them as if they aren’t carrying anything at all.
In The Two Backpacks, educator and podcast host Dr. Jordan Lauer opens our eyes to what teens are really experiencing—psychologically, socially, and neurologically. Combining cutting-edge brain science with poignant real-world stories from the classroom and home, this book equips parents, teachers, and mentors to move from frustration to understanding.
What if your teen’s outburst wasn’t disrespect—but a stress response? What if the behavior wasn’t defiance—but survival?
This book helps us unpack what our teens carry—so we can help them carry it better.
JORDAN LAUER is a veteran educator and co-host of the Educational Warfare podcast. He holds a doctorate in Learning Organizations and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University and is passionate about bringing innovative change to education. He lives with his wife, Ashley, and their children in Columbia, Tennessee.
Every teen walks into school or home with two backpacks. One you can see. It’s full of textbooks, pencils, maybe a forgotten granola bar. The other? It’s invisible. And it’s heavy.
Inside that second backpack is everything adults don’t anxiety, heartbreak, self-doubt, online pressures, and emotional burdens many teens don’t yet have words for. And yet, too often, we judge them as if they aren’t carrying anything at all.
In The Two Backpacks, educator and podcast host Dr. Jordan Lauer opens our eyes to what teens are really experiencing—psychologically, socially, and neurologically. Combining cutting-edge brain science with poignant real-world stories from the classroom and home, this book equips parents, teachers, and mentors to move from frustration to understanding.
What if your teen’s outburst wasn’t disrespect—but a stress response? What if the behavior wasn’t defiance—but survival?
This book helps us unpack what our teens carry—so we can help them carry it better.
JORDAN LAUER is a veteran educator and co-host of the Educational Warfare podcast. He holds a doctorate in Learning Organizations and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University and is passionate about bringing innovative change to education. He lives with his wife, Ashley, and their children in Columbia, Tennessee.
233 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2025
About the author
Jordan Lauer
1 book1 followerDr. Jordan Lauer has spent years teaching History, Psychology, and Sociology, but his real classroom has always been the teenage brain. He’s fascinated by how it grows, why it sometimes misfires, and how parents and teachers can survive the ride. His doctoral degree in Learning Organizations and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University in Nashville gave him the research chops to dig deep into how people learn and change—but it’s his work with actual teens, parents, and teachers that taught him what really matters.
Jordan has dedicated his career to building bridges of respect and trust in the often unpredictable world where adolescents, parents, and educators collide. (Think United Nations, but with more eye-rolling and less diplomacy.)
When he’s not writing, hosting his podcast Educational Warfare, or teaching, Jordan lives in Columbia, Tennessee, with his wife—a fellow educator and partner in both life and lesson plans—their three kids, three cats, and a mini-Aussie who has perfected the art of being both sweet and slightly unhinged.
Jordan has dedicated his career to building bridges of respect and trust in the often unpredictable world where adolescents, parents, and educators collide. (Think United Nations, but with more eye-rolling and less diplomacy.)
When he’s not writing, hosting his podcast Educational Warfare, or teaching, Jordan lives in Columbia, Tennessee, with his wife—a fellow educator and partner in both life and lesson plans—their three kids, three cats, and a mini-Aussie who has perfected the art of being both sweet and slightly unhinged.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 9, 2025
Wonderful insights, research, and real stories from classrooms and parents about the things we often don’t think about when considering teenagers!.There’s also so much humor the book reads like you are just having a conversation with the author filled with laughs and references everyone will get!
December 15, 2025
“Using a backpack metaphor, the author expertly unpacks the mental and emotional load today’s teens carry. Grounded in psychological research and real-world insight, this book takes the mystery out of why teens think and act the way they do.”
- Reedsy Discovery
The Two Backpacks: Understanding Teens and What They Carry
- Reedsy Discovery
The Two Backpacks: Understanding Teens and What They Carry
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews