Media Appearances

TV Appearances

2003 - "Teen Life Coach" - a 6-week Anglia TV series Called "Playing Up"
2004 - "Parent Coach" in a BBC3 Programme called "Fantasy Parenting"
2004 - "Family Coach" in a BBC 1 Programme called "The Stress Test"
2004 - Regular Teen Expert on The Trisha Show
2004 - ITV Central News – Feature
2004 December - "The Teen Tamer" on "Teenagers From Hell" ITV
2005 7th November - Channel Five lunchtime news promoting TV show "My Teen's a Nightmare - I'm Moving Out"
2005 November - Channel Five evening news speaking about teenage abortions
2005 November - "My Teen's a Nightmare - I'm moving out". An 8-week series on ITV2
2005 13th December - LK today promoting TV show "My Teen's a Nightmare - I'm Moving Out"
2006 February – "The Wright Stuff" Channel 5 – talking about how divorce affects teenagers.
2007 June – "The Wright Stuff" Channel 5 – promoting her book

Radio Appearances

2003 - Radio 4 'Woman's Hour'
2004 - LBC Radio David Prefer Show
2004 - Radio 4 'You and Yours'
2004 - BBC Norwich
2004 - Radio 4 - Life Skills
2005 8th November - Northants 96 promoting TV show "My Teen's a Nightmare - I'm Moving Out"
2006 New Years Day - Sunday Surgery 9pm speaking about New Years Resolutions for Teenagers
June 2006 Radio 4 "Woman’s Hour" - answering the question "Should we bribe our children to pass their exams?"
February 2007 Radio 4 "Woman’s Hour"
March 2007 - BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio Humberside, News talk 106-18, Spin fm, BBC ‘Sunday Night Extravaganza’, BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, BBC Radio Northampton, Anna Raeburn, LBC

Magazine and Newspaper Coverage

2003 June 1st - Observer Newspaper, "Just wait till I tell... my coach"
2003 June 26th - Chronicle and Echo, Northampton - "Teens learn to live again."
2003 June 30th - The Independent Review -'Could you do better?'
2004 March -The Times Body and Soul Supplement - "Parent Coaching is the latest phenomenon to cross the Atlantic. But do mums and dads really need to learn how to raise their parents?"
2004 April 11 - Sunday Express - "Would you spend £30 an hour on tidying-up lessons for your teenager?"
2005 November 8th - Northampton Chronicle and Echo feature piece.
2005 December 1st - Mirror, "NO KIDDING-From catering manager to cop to teenager coach, how TV star Sarah Newton found her calling " Read the full article here
June 2007 The Times "Don’t fret about festivals"

Magazine Coverage:

2004 January - Real Magazine " Do we all need Parent Coaching?"
2005 July – Sugar Magazine " How to train your Parents – it’s a hard job so help them do it better"
2005 November - Sarah and her TV show "My Teen's a Nightmare - I'm Moving Out" featured in these TV magazines covering the 9th November

Radio Times
TV Times
TV Easy
What's on TV
Big on TV
We Love Tally
The Guide
TV Magic
Daily Express Saturday Magazine
Mail on Sunday

March 2006 - Closer Magazine " Tamed the boy expelled 100 times"
November 2006- Supernanny Magazine ASBO-proof your kids
August 2206 and August 2007 Tesco Magazine
November 2007 Candies Magazine
November 2007 She Magazine
Sarah regularly contributes to Bliss and Sugar Teenage magazines

Campaigns - 2003 - Expert for The Talking Teenagers Campaign

Sample Media Questions and Answers

I would like to introduce to you Sarah Newton, the UK ’s Leading Teen Coach and founder of the Sarah Newton Consultancy. Sarah has dedicated the last 10 years of her life to disengaged and tearaway teenagers and to date has helped over 1500 young people turn their lives around.

So Sarah, what is it you do and how did you get into this work?

The best way for me to answer this is to share a personal experience. In 1995 I was a police officer and I was working with a 15-year-old. I had arrested him over 30 times and I was at my wits end. It did not matter what I did, he was demotivated and disengaged. He didn’t care about life. While I was working with him he took his own life and that had a profound effect on me, I could not believe that he felt his life was not worth living. So I decided to go on a quest to see what made a successful teen and 9 years and 1500 teens later, I started the Sarah Newton Consultancy, we work with young people to inspire and motivate them and give them hope

So what makes a successful teen?

What I found was that when teens felt listened to, valued and respected they worked harder and were easier to get along with. So as adults, when we treat them like that they are more successful. I also found that when we teach them to accept themselves, take responsibility and manage their own behaviour they become more confident, motivated and inspired, thus becoming more successful. So it is a combination of both. The way we treat them and what they are taught.

You call your self the voice of teenagers – what is it they are saying and why do they need you to tell the world?

Quite simply they are saying that adults do not listen to them, they do not understand them and they do not respect them. They need me to tell the world because we appear to have created a society where the voices of young people are not valued. Our young people are screaming out for acknowledgement and recognition and they are not getting it. My plea to your listeners is the next time a young person speaks to them, do us all a favour, sit down and shut up!


You work a lot with what people might call rebellious teenagers, isn’t that part of what being a teenager is all about - rebelling? Shouldn't we just let them get on with it?

I think been a teenager is all about finding identity and meaning and becoming responsible and independent, and for some that will mean rebelling. However, the worst thing we can do is shut the door, close our eyes and hope that they will get over it by the time they are 21. Teenagers need an influential adult to guide them and leaving a rebellious teen to “Get on with It” will not only isolate them, it will also give them a very clear message that they are no good and not fit for society.

You have been quoted more than once in the media, saying that parents needs to take responsibility for their teenager’s behaviour. Is this just not another case of the Blame the Parents syndrome?

Absolutely not, it is not about blame, it is about taking responsibility. I get parents coming to me every day asking me to fix their kids, telling me something is broken. To me, this is the parents not taking responsibility. They first need to look at themselves and ask how they are contributing to their teen’s behaviour, what can they do differently that will get a different result? It is unrealistic to blame only the teenager or the parent.


So what is the one thing a struggling parent can do that will have the biggest impact?

Simple, they can shift their own perspective, they can stop trying to fix their teenagers. Before they say or do anything to their teenager, ask themselves if this is this bringing them closer or further away, and if its further away, don’t do it.

They can start to separate the person from the behaviour, they may not like their teenager’s behaviour but they can still respect them as a person. I would ask every parent that is listening to get a pen and paper after this call and write down the greatest things about their teenager, be it their perseverance, creativity or whatever and don’t tell me that there are none as I don’t believe you! Then when their teenager comes home from school, tell them one thing that you admire or respect in them. Do this every day for a month and you will see a change.

So lets take a typical situation with a 16-year-old who won’t get out of bed and is de-motivated – what do we do?

First let me say what I do is not first aid, I do not have a magic wand; teenagers are human and therefore one size does not fit all. What I would tell a client who came to me with this challenge is to speak to them, ask them what they need to feel motivated and get out of bed in the morning. What support do they need to get that?

And what about something more severe, how can parents prepare for the inevitable drugs, sex and alcohol situation?

Well, I always say that if you cannot handle the conversations about laundry and washing up, then when it gets to sex you’re snookered!

The key here is to consistency in the early pre teen years, which is sticking by your word and being clear in what you ask. Parents can makes lists of what it is they want in their house, for example, the time that the child should be home by. Then, rather than imposing rules, sit down, discuss and come to agreements about what is and is not acceptable in the house. If agreements are broken then parents need to ensure a natural consequence take place. If they do this then they will be prepared when it comes and will have a framework to work around.

You are also talking a lot about where the school system is failing – what do you mean by that and what is your answer?

Well, I spent a whole year in two schools and asked the teenagers what was missing, what were they not learning at school. It became evident that the old ethos of going to school, getting good grades and getting a job for life is no longer valid. They want to learn how to be entrepreneurs, how to make and manage money, how to make money on the Internet. They want to learn to manage themselves emotionally and accept themselves in a world where the perfect 10 is the norm. Our school system is failing by feeding false hope to these kids; jobs for life no longer exist and the school system needs to be training these kids for the real world as it is now.

And what about the teenagers – where do they come in all of this, where do they take responsibility for themselves?

Firstly, to take responsibility they need to be shown and taught it. Parents are so scared to let their teenagers do anything these days out of fears for their safety that our teenager has almost been wrapped in cotton wool. Parents need to stop rescuing their teenager at every moment and start supporting them to take responsibility. For example, if your teenager comes to you for £5 do you just give it, or do you explain that you are not willing just to hand money out? Do you ask them how you can support them in getting what they want? Our teenagers tend to see no further than the demand culture of today, therefore it is important that parents offer a model of responsibility.


So tell us Sarah – what’s your secret, how do you get through to these teenagers where most others have failed?

To answer that, let me go back to the 15-year-old boy. After his suicide, I wanted to deal with young people in a different way and I didn’t know how, as back then I wasn't a coach, so I reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out something my dad use to say; look beyond what you see, look for the gift.

So that is what I did. The next cocaine addict that came before my was, three months later, teaching others the dangers of drug use, all because I looked beyond what I could see and looked for the gift. That is why I succeed, because I have the courage to look beyond the hard exterior and be curious enough to ask what the gift is and what can be given to society. Imagine how different our teenagers would be if they all had that experience.

Sarah's Story: Why a Teen Coach

………. “How on earth did you get into this line of work?” It’s a long story! Are you ready?

When people find out what I do, it is normally met with an interesting 'How did you get into that?' question. I do find it difficult to answer in one sentence. I have, after all, been training all my life to do this.

I was a really lucky kid. I came from a very stable home and my dad was not averse to the odd bit of Steven Covey material, so while most other children were watching TV, I was reading ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. I was immersed in self-development from a very early age and was always led to believe I could be and do anything I wanted. I truly thought that everyone had the same sort of upbringing.

The truth, however, was far more shocking and affected me deeply.

My dad, sick of the local kids hanging around, started a youth club when I was about nine. I thought it was so cool as I was able to hang out with the big kids. Every Friday night there I was at the teenager disco and they all looked after me so well. They loved my dad and because of that they loved me too. I recognise now that he may have been the first person in these young people’s lives to care about them. I particularly remember two young lads, Chris and Tom. I thought they were the bee’s knees as they would sit and talk to me for hours, always making sure I was happy and even, on the odd occasion, sorting out people who were picking on me. They were the kindest, gentlest and funniest people I had ever met. I never remember feeling as alive as I did that summer.

I learnt very fast though that all was not as it seemed. I remember hearing whispered murmurings coming from the kitchen one night and my dad leaving in haste. However much I quizzed mum she would not tell me what had happened. I just knew something was wrong — I could feel it in the air. I waited up for dad for as long as I could but eventually fell asleep on the settee hoping that morning would bring the answers. Dad woke me early with a very serious look on his face. “Sarah,” he said sternly, “I need to talk to you about Chris and Tom.” It transpired that they had been arrested and, because of previous convictions, it was likely they would go to jail. I remember feeling devastated. I could not believe it; they were not criminals, they were my friends.

That day my life changed. I realised that people did not all get an equal chance, that some made decisions that were bad, not because they wanted to but because they did not know anything different. I sat in my bedroom and vowed that, because I did know something different, I would never ever be tempted to break the law, take a drug or do anything bad. I felt that I had to make the right choices for those that could not. From that day onward I have always refused drugs and I have never committed a crime. I really did, and still do, take the moral high ground because I did not want to let Chris and Tom down. So, many of the decisions in my life were moulded at the age of nine. Tom had always said that he wanted to go to America and work, so I decided I would go instead (and, sure enough, at twenty I worked at Disney for a year). I decided I would get married and have children late because Chris often complained about being a teenage father. I stuck to every promise I made to myself that night my summer was torn apart.

My teenage years were pretty uneventful. I was highly driven, highly motivated, challenging, principled and maybe slightly rebellious but I never did anything really bad – despite the long list of juvenile delinquents that I tried to save. I was a normal kid. I left school, went to college, went to Disney World to work and spent seven years of my life working in Hotel and Catering Management (which was a posh word for pub manager). Chris and Tom were far from my mind. I did see them once when I went back home but the drugs had done their work and they were like empty shells.

I had almost forgotten my calling; my promise to save teenagers was far from my mind. Then it happened. I was watching TV and something about rent boys came on and all the feelings I had that day when I was nine came flooding back. I was strong — I had to help those who were not. On the spur of the moment I made a decision. I was going to be a police officer. Now, as you can imagine, most people discouraged me (especially my dad) but I was undeterred and after a year’s selection process (this was the time when 10,000 people applied to the “Met” for 1,000 places), I got in.

Now I do have to say the police and I were never a great fit. While I was busy trying to save the kids, I felt that the rest of the “Met” were trying to lock them up. My entire probation felt as if I was fighting the system. After two years of dealing with young offenders like a conveyor belt, I just gave in and succumbed,. Don’t get me wrong, I did not forget my purpose, and the relationship that I had with most of the local youths was second to none. They told me things that perhaps they shouldn’t have and that I was too nice to be a copper. I had no time, however, to save them … that was until I met Luke.

Luke was funny, humorous, handsome and gregarious. He had bright skin and big blue eyes that always had a mischievous glint in them. He was also a persistent offender. It felt as if I spent more time with Luke than I did with my own family. His ins and outs to the police station spanned over a two-year period. As time went on his eyes became grey and his skin sallow.

His humour seemed to pack its bag, his looks went down the drain and gregarious turned into downright annoying. It did not matter what I did, I could not stop him offending.

One day I led Luke from the police van to a prison cell. That was the last time I saw him because later he took his own life. Luke was disengaged, de-motivated and apathetic about life. He had no adult to guide or support him. He felt a failure. I felt helpless and useless, unable to make a difference. I had failed again. I spent weeks not knowing what to do. I wondered if it really was possible to change things. Where had I gone wrong? What was I to do? I then remembered something that my dad used to say, “Sarah, everyone has a gift, when we find it we have cracked it.” I realised that was what I needed to do; I needed to look for the gift in each young person I saw. So when young offenders came my way I began to ask different questions like “What drives you in life?”, “What is important to you?”, “What are you passionate about?” I began to look at them differently. I began to see young people in front of me who had purpose, drive, motivation and, of course, a special gift. I remember this one boy who, in three months, turned himself around and began teaching other kids about the dangers of cocaine just by me asking him “What is the gift in this situation, what can you give the world?” I had finally found the key to unlock these young people from their patterns, perspectives and their miserable lives.

The rest really is history. I spent the next nine years of my life after that moment getting through to young people who had previously seemed unreachable. My passion was eventually born into a business and, as I said, the rest is history.

When I see young people now, I really do see the gift they are to the world, the gift they can give the world, the gift of hope they can give themselves. So the next time you are on the street and see a gang of teenagers will you cross over? Will you ignore them? Will you check your bag whenever a teenager walks by? Will you believe everything you read in the press or will you be brave and look for the gift? Look for the gift and you will find it, look for the gift and you will see things in our young people that you have not seen before. Look for the gift in your own teenager and you will be overwhelmed with their greatness, and if you think they haven’t got one, look again — it’s not them, you’re just not looking hard enough.