The Ultimate Guide to Staying

This book was written by the parent of four great teenagers who were just starting out and stretching their wings. Their friends were really going places, when some of them started making silly mistakes at parties, online, or when interacting with the police. They risked their scholarships. They risked incarceration. They risked their lives. And so much of it was avoidable if they’d understood the big picture and how things work―the basic rules, from police to pandemics. We’re going to cover all of that in this short little guidebook.

It’s more complicated being a young adult than it used to be. These have always been difficult years, but rarely has the chance of personal disaster felt so close.

Social media and the Internet are powerful and positive communication tools, but there's a dark side. A teen’s minor mistake can have devastating consequences. Local missteps quickly become national news. Young adults must learn how to enjoy their lives while minimizing the chance of creating long-term, life-altering problems.

Underage drinking and drug use isn’t advisable―or avoidable. So, since teenagers will always engage in unsafe and ill-advised behavior, they should at least know how to make stupid mistakes, rather than fatal ones. Doing the wrong thing or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, shouldn’t derail or destroy a young adult’s life’s goals or aspirations.

Many teenagers and young adults occasionally find themselves taking a drink or drug, or are at a party where other people are, when the police show up. Or, seemingly out of nowhere, a serious epidemic or global pandemic puts their health at serious risk. This book provides some expert guidelines to help minimize the potential damage upon their health or long-term academic or career goals.

With insider’s insight from top doctors, therapists, and criminal lawyers plus real-world input from some teens and 20-somethings, this book will offer some practical guidance in how to help avoid making truly tragic mistakes.