Reality Gap
Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex: What Parents Don't Know and Teens Aren't Telling
By Stephen Wallace
(Union Square Press, Hardcover, 9781402753046, 318pp.)
Publication Date: August 2008
Categories: Parenting - General, Life Stages - Teenagers, Life Stages - Adolescence
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Grounded in hard facts with practical, common-sense advice, "Reality Gap" combines Wallace's 25-plus years of experience working with young people as a school psychologist, adolescent counselor, camp director, and college professor with groundbreaking research on adolescent attitudes and behaviors from SADD. Wallace includes concrete suggestions for improving teen-adult communication as well as age-specific "decision-points" at which parents should address various issues with their teen and pre-teen children.
With Wallace's strong media contacts, professional affiliations, and extensive speaking platform "Reality Gap" promises to be the go-to book on a vital topic.
Wallace highlights the myths and rationalizations of teens and adults that help fuel the reality gap:
- The myth of improbability: "It's not going to happen to my kid."
- The myth of inevitability: "She's a teenager, of course, she's going to drink."
- The myth of irrelevancy: "I'm the parent, he's not going to listen to me."
- The myth of invincibility: "I'm young, I'm healthy, I'm not going to get hurt."
- The myth of immunity: "Even if I get caught, I'll get out of it."
Stephen Wallace has served as Chairman and CEO of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) since 1995. He directs the SADD Teens Today research project and speaks frequently to young people, their families, and professional groups (including the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Independent School Health Association, and the American Camp Association) about youth development and decision-making. He was honored by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in July 2006 as a leader in drug and alcohol education and prevention and often serves as a national spokesperson for their public awareness campaigns. In February 2008, Wallace was given a national award by the American Camp Association for being a tireless and passionate advocate for youth and the camp movement.”











