House of Lies — Adolescent Honesty and Personal Responsibility

Late October focus groups with teens and parents in Chicago, Illinois, and Alexandria, Virginia, yielded a familiar, if disconcerting, reality gap between well-meaning parents and their sometimes less than honest offspring. For example, a teen might say his parents give him free rein on weekends because they trust him, yet later acknowledges that he tells…

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Minor Infraction — The Dangers of Underage Drinking

The recent football recruiting scandal that rocked West Point (Roeder, 2014) smacked of similar incidents involving both military and civilian athletic programs at schools across the country. And while the Academy sought refuge in the “harsh punishment” it levied against the cadets involved, it simultaneously pointed out that what transpired is deemed to be only…

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Gone Girl — Dangers College Students May Face

The tragic conclusion of the search for University of Virginia student Hannah Graham reminds us of the vulnerability of young adults in college. Indeed, this academic year has already spawned tragic tales of missing, injured and dead college students spanning schools across the country. While each case has its own particularities – and the ones…

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Beautiful Boys — Addiction, Recovery, and What They Learned at Summer Camp

Addiction, recovery, and summer camp — four words that don’t often appear together. Nevertheless, addictions of all kinds, perhaps especially to alcohol and other drugs, remain hugely problematic at individual, familial, institutional, and societal levels. They beg the question, “If camp experiences are transformative in so many ways, might they also result in easier, faster…

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A User’s Guide to Surviving Boarding School

Several years ago, I contributed to a book titled Where Should I Sit at Lunch? The Ultimate 24/7 Guide for Surviving the High School Years (McGraw-Hill, 2006) by Harriet S. Mosatche and Karen Unger. Covering more than the classic cafeteria dilemma, the real-life stories of teen collaborators offer guidance on a host of other issues,…

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