Tuesday, June 7, 2011

This week we begin our first summer reading book. Our goal is to provide education to parents and community members and allow them to dialogue with one another about the tips they are learning from books about teen culture and substance use.

Our first book is Stephen Wallace's Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex--What Parents Don't Know and Teens Aren't Telling.


Reality Gap, is a fairly new book by SADD Chairman and CEO Stephen Wallace. Wallace paints an alarming portrait of a modern-day adolescence filled with potentially deadly behaviors carefully hidden from the view of parents and other adults. But it is also a book about hope and inspiration, pointing to the incredibly powerful role that parents and other mentors can play in the lives of young people and highlighting the tremendous contributions that many teens are making to their families, schools, and communities.

Combining stories from today’s teens with original, groundbreaking research conducted by SADD, Reality Gap offers an intriguing analysis of the adolescent decision-making process and shares important conclusions.

Most critically, the book shares common-sense solutions and practical steps for parents and other important adults, such as teachers, coaches, counselors, and health care providers, to use in their relationships with teens.

Reality Gap reveals:

  • When certain behaviors are most likely to peak
  • What factors most influence good and bad choices
  • The role of development on decision-making
  • The influence of parental expectations and modeling on teen behaviors
  • How positive risk-taking can make negative risk-taking less likely
  • Recognition of important life transitions as a way to reduce destructive behavior

You’ll also find advice for how and when to talk about drinking, impaired driving, sex, drug use, depression, suicide, and bullying – including Wallace’s five essential elements of successful communication.

Stop by your local bookstore and pick up a copy today then visit our blog starting June 6th for the first post.


We need your help picking the books for July and August. Please send suggestions to katy@dftipp.org

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