Your Teen's Summertime Toolbox: A guide for keeping them safe, joyful, and thriving over Summer break

Summer break is fast approaching, and children and teens are anticipating weeks of excitement and freedom

OXFORD, MS (May 2023)— Frankly, so are their parents. We want our children to have a fun and relaxing vacation, and most of us would also appreciate a break from the constant flurry of activity the school year brings. Not so fast, says student well-being activist David Magee: Children don’t need absolute unstructured freedom just because school is out.

“With plenty of free time on your child’s horizon, it’s crucial to know what they are up to and to guide them on healthy paths,” asserts Magee, author of the upcoming book Things Have Changed: What Every Parent (and Educator) Should Know About the Student Mental Health and Substance Misuse Crisis and award-winning book Dear William: A Father’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love, and Loss. “Left to their own devices, they are likely to stay up all night absorbed in social media, eating junk food, and certainly--not following the routines and habits that feed their well-being.”

Magee doesn’t mean to be a spoilsport. It’s just that he is all too aware of the risks and dangers that lurk everywhere these days. For example, rates of depression and anxiety in young people are at all-time highs. Teens are misusing drugs like Adderall and marijuana, and accidental fentanyl overdoses are soaring. And smartphone and social media addiction damage children’s self-esteem and lead to eating disorders and body image issues.

The good news is that parents can do a lot to lower the risk of their children falling prey to these and a host of other tragic outcomes. One of them is helping them develop a toolbox of habits, practices, and mindsets that help them maintain their mental health, sidestep risky obstacles like substance misuse, and learn how to create the well-being and sustainable joy that all young people crave, says Magee.