The September/October edition of Camping Magazine features Stephen’s new article, “Camping Alone? Connection, Consistency, and Contribution – How Summer Camps Build Social Capital.” Based on his keynote address at the Cape Cod Sea Camps’ 85th Anniversary Alumni Banquet and grounded in the work of Harvard Professor Robert Putnam’s Saguaro Seminar, the article focuses on communities linked to civic engagement through collective work and play.
It also features quotes from campers as well as authors Michael Eisner (Camp), Leo Buscaglia (Loving Each Other), Josh Wolk (Cabin Pressure), and Richard Lerner (The Good Teen).
Most important, the article points to the enduring benefits of interconnectedness and contribution to others and community.
Here’s an excerpt …
Eight years ago, Harvard University Professor Robert Putnam published a book, Bowling Alone, chronicling the demise of connection in modern-day American society and warning that the precipitous decline in “social capital” (the collective value of all social networks and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other) impoverishes our lives and communities. As evidence, Putnam cites plummeting rates of membership in PTAs, unions, and clubs of all kinds; long-term declines in blood donations, card games, and charity; and drops of 40-60 percent in dinner parties, civic meetings, family suppers, picnics . . . and league bowling.
Succession offers “user’s guide” to small and family owned businesses through the stages of planning, employment. and ownership policies, shareholder meetings, family health emergencies, business planning, and alignment/engagement of employees. Covering both the positives and potential pitfalls inherent in the planning and implementation process, Succession represents a realistic roadmap to one of the more difficult periods of business ownership.
Stephen’s new book, IMPACT – An Introduction to Counseling, Mentoring, and Youth Development, offers insightful commentary on the important role of mentors in the lives of children and teens. While it specifically addresses camp counselors, it is equally relevant for all key youth influencers, including parents, teachers, and coaches. …
This is an important time in teenagers’ lives — when they will develop driving habits that can be good and bad. Parents need to take an active role in helping teens develop safe driving behaviors because teenagers are involved in more car accidents than any other age group. …
The Parents League Review is an annual literary journal with articles on parenting and education.
Child and Youth Development features eighteen articles that have been carefully selected from past editions of Camping Magazine, including Rites of Passage: Camp Pays Off in Youth Development, Happiness, Health, and Safety,” written by SADD Chairman and CEO Stephen Wallace. The contributing writers are recognized as authoritative voices in the field of child and youth development. Produced in cooperation with the American Camp Association. …
This new book gives high school students the inside scoop on figuring out who they are and where they want to go by offering teens the kind of comprehensive, down-to-earth advice they need and want. …
LOVE THAT BOY is a uniquely personal story about the causes and costs of outsized parental expectations. What we want for our children—popularity, normalcy, achievement, genius—and what they truly need—grit, empathy, character—are explored by National Journal’s Ron Fournier, who weaves his extraordinary journey to acceptance around the latest research on childhood development and stories of other loving-but-struggling parents. 
Reality Gap 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. …