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With the passing of Independence Day, summer finally seems full-on. That means changes of all kinds, including parenting. When it comes to raising kids, most of us likely have one eye trained on them and the other on potential hazards that may lie in their path. In other words, trying to mitigate risk. At least the…

When I was a young, first-year staff member at camp, two orientation speakers left me with distinct lessons that have carried me through forty more years in camping. The first was a recommendation from Camp Director Grant Koch, who said, “Ladies and gentlemen, take advantage of your opportunities.” The second was advice from Tufts University…

Some camps welcome teens, but others do not — perhaps because they find normative adolescent behaviors intolerable. Why should we care? Because the summer camp experience is uniquely symmetrical with the developmental demands of this age group, including identity, independence, and social relationships. After all, where would be better for teens than camp in terms…

For many young people, the world seems to be crashing around them. It is a phenomenon years in the making but certainly accelerated by COVID-19, which created a climate of learning loss, decreased human interaction, and a scary lack of resilience. It is a perfect storm for anxiety, loneliness, and depression. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and now…

This is the second post in a series. A six-year study of adolescent decision-making by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Liberty Mutual Insurance revealed spikes in youth alcohol use (between 6th and 7th grades) and other drug use (between 8th and 9th grades). These “Decision Points” has helped parents know when it’s best to talk about these issues with their…

Two recent youth suicides in rapid succession claimed the lives of a 19-year-old young man and a 14-year-old teenager in a small Northeast community. Both deaths, and thousands more across the country, beg the question that serves as the title for the 2021 book by Josie Jacob, Why Did You Choose to Die? A Personal Story of Reconciliation…

By Stephen Gray Wallace, featured in Psychology Today.   Even with a new subvariant of COVID-19 (BA.2) speeding our way, there is an undeniable feeling among the broader population that the sunset of this pandemic is soon to set. People across the land are ditching their facemasks – except where mandates are reappearing – packing restaurants and…

By Stephen Gray Wallace COVID-19 has wrought so many unforeseen consequences for youth mental health that it’s almost hard to quantify them. Some were recently noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which stated that mental-health related emergency room visits for children aged 12 to 17 increased by 31 percent from April…

By Stephen Gray Wallace. Why resiliency is key for kids during, and after, the pandemic These days, it seems that every time we are about to turn a corner on COVID-19, we somehow miss the intersection. Such is the long, slow, agonizing slog that is the pandemic. By now, most people are familiar with the…

By Stephen Gray Wallace, featured in Psychology Today Since 1986, educators and public health proponents have used social norming theory to reduce youth risk behaviors. This theory holds that the behavior of young people is heavily influenced by their perception of what the norm is among their peers with regard to behaviors such as underage drinking…