Pay The Price

CARE partnered with McCann Health to create an emotionally visceral film that exposes the cold hard reality of death by overdose from prescription drugs. Watch film.
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The Art of Change

The Art of Change 11/16/2017 03:58 am ET Change is good. Change is hard. Change happens. It is that very inevitability that makes change predictable, though not necessarily anticipated. Linear change, including grade progressions, graduations and other milestones (such as a first driver’s license, a first job and the loss of older family members) is…
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Adolescence, Identity, and Summer Camp

Adolescence, Identity, and Summer Camp Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed November 2017 The Broadway megahit and multi-Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen has crystallized America’s focus on one of the most challenging and most consequential developmental processes for children and young adults: identity formation. Ben Platt, 23, serves up a serial performance that accurately, engagingly captures what…
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Misdirection

No doubt the transition to college can be difficult to navigate, both for incoming first-year students and their parents. Let’s start with the latter. As my friend Ginny commented on Facebook about her son’s impending departure, “I will not post a picture of my son sleeping in his bed for the last time (ok, I know he’ll be back but…
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Nice kids

October marks the 12th annual National Bullying Prevention Month … and it hasn’t come a minute too soon. Citing data from the National Center for Educational Statistics, PACER Center, which began this movement, says that 20.8% of students – more than one out of every five – report being bullied. One in 5. The results can be devastating.…
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Let the Kids Sleep, Part II

From a purely psychological perspective, the notion of “springing forward” sounds more appealing than “falling back.” And while debate continues to rage about the manmade construct of Daylight Saving Time (DST)—as well as its origins and intentions—I for one enjoy a little more daylight at the end of day, despite the fact that many a school child…
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Glory Days?

  Returning from spring break marks the beginning of the end for both high school and college seniors. More important, it reveals a duality of realism reflecting both the best of times and, perhaps, the worst of times. For high schoolers, senior spring offers a victory lap of sorts, cavorting and celebrating with some of…
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Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines

As we turned the corner from winter to spring, a new urgency of summer planning for kids likely found its way into more than a few family conversations. Although options are galore, those that offer fun, experiential learning may prove optimal. Summer camps provide those very opportunities in “safe” spaces without fear of ridicule and filled with…
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Reality Check – Underage Drinking in America

The parents of “John” waited to speak with me after my recent presentation at a private, independent school in New England. They appeared anxious, even scared, sharing their son’s response to admonishment over his alcohol use: “Everyone … really, everyone, does it!” But in high school, as in life, things are not always what they appear…
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3 Reasons Why Not

As the saying goes, it’s easy to be a “Monday morning quarterback.” Thus, I begin this piece with a shout out to Netflix and the producers of “13 Reasons Why,” a series that tackles the epidemic and tragedy that is youth suicide. If nothing else, it has sparked a spirited national conversation that is, frankly,…
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