Simple Acts: The Busy Teen's Guide to Making a Difference

by Natalie Silverstein

Overview

Simple and actionable tools to help busy young people make a difference in the world.

Young people can make a difference in the world no matter how busy they are. Simple Acts shows them how, with easy and practical tips, activities, and resources that will inspire teens to add intentional acts of kindness and service to their everyday lives.
 
Simple Acts equips tween and teens with the hands-on tools and know-how they need to make small but meaningful change, such as:

• honoring happy occasions by giving back
• raising money and awareness for the causes they care about
• harnessing the power of social media to spread positive messages

A passionate advocate for family and youth service, Natalie Silverstein, MPH, wrote Simple Acts to inspire a more realistic approach to service for young people, a more organic way to make the world a better place: one simple act at a time.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631986260
Publisher:	Free Spirit Publishing
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	512,919
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.34(d)
Lexile:	1250L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Natalie Silverstein, MPH, is an author, speaker, consultant, and passionate advocate for family and youth service.

Her first book, Simple Acts: The Busy Family’s Guide to Giving Back, was published by Gryphon House in 2019 and was named one of the “10 Books for Parents Who Want to Raise Kind Kids” by HuffPost. In September 2013, Natalie launched the first local affiliate of Doing Good Together (doinggoodtogether.org), a Minneapolis-based nonprofit with the mission of helping parents raise kids who care and contribute. As the New York area coordinator, she curates a free monthly email listing of family-friendly service opportunities that are distributed to thousands of subscribers.

Natalie is a frequent writer and speaker on the importance of service and acts of kindness in family life, and she has presented to parents, educators, and children across the country. She has appeared on many popular podcasts and on the 3rd Hour of TODAY on NBC.

Her personal essays have appeared on parenting websites Grown and Flown, Red Tricycle, and Mommy Poppins, and on the Moms Don’t Have Time to Write platform on Medium. Natalie earned an undergraduate degree in health policy and administration from Providence College and a master’s degree in public health from Yale.

She lives in New York City with her husband and three children.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction

The Truth About Being a "Changemaker" 1

Chapter 1 What's Your Why?

Identifying Your Passion and Finding Ways to Help 12

Chapter 2 Don't Count the Hours: Make the Hours Count

Changing the narrative on Community Service Requirements 49

Chapter 3 Elevate Your Celebration

Honoring Happy Occasions by Giving Back 61

Chapter 4 Finding the Fun in Fundraising

Raising money and Awareness for a Cause You Care About 75

Chapter 5 Do Well by Doing Good

Understanding Social Entrepreneurship 91

Chapter 6 Turn Time Off Into Time on

Exploring Internships, Community Projects, and Youth Leadership 109

Chapter 7 #Bekind

Harnessing the Power of Social media to Spread Positive messages 121

Chapter 8 Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness

52 Intentional Ways to Spread Kindness in Your Daily Life 130

Recommended Resources 137

Bibliography 139

Index 143

About the Author 151

Editorial Reviews

Simple Acts: The Busy Teen’s Guide to Making a Difference is a gift to any family who values raising a teen with kindness, generosity, and a sense of community. This book is not only inspirational, it also helps aspirations become a reality by including actionable ideas and practical resources to get started and sustain a life of giving and empathy.

Dr. Sheryl Ziegler

Simple Acts inspires the next generation of changemakers to find their passion for service and provides the tools they need to make a meaningful difference in the world, one small act at a time.

Laura Benanti

Research tells us that not only does giving back help our communities, it also our helps our tweens and teens manage their stress and anxiety. This is the perfect roadmap for our adolescents to do good in order to do well.

Vanessa Kroll Bennett and Dr. Cara Natterson

Silverstein encourages and inspires teens to know that—even with their busy schedules—they still have time for simple acts of kindness and giving that make a positive difference. She makes it seem not only possible, but incredibly simple (as the title suggests!). Let’s get this book into the hands of teens everywhere, because it’s their turn to make a positive difference in the world.

Audrey Monke

Natalie Silverstein’s Simple Acts should be in the hands of every teen who wants to lead through their values and build a purposeful life. Silverstein shows teenagers (just like my own) how they can harness their passion for purpose into giving back and social entrepreneurship—preparing the leaders of tomorrow to make work and life better for us all.

Erica Keswin

As the parent of two soon-to-be teenagers, this book is perfectly timed for our family. Simple Acts is aligned with my goals of encouraging my kids to live with authenticity and intentionality. Filled with tools, tips, and resources to help busy tweens and teens figure out their why—their purpose and passion—Simple Acts empowers young people to use their time, skills, and energy to help others.

Fran Hauser

I have never seen such a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that connects all of the dots: helping others, volunteering, and making kind acts part of daily lives. Simple Acts puts actionable steps and resources at the teens’ fingertips and provides clarity with overwhelming. Simple Acts should be required reading for all middle and high school students. I recommend it to all proactive parents who want to raise teens with kindness and purpose. Excellent resource for families!

Kimberly King

As a mother of two teenagers and a little one living in New York City, finding time for service can feel daunting, often like another thing on the endless checklist. Silverstein helps reframe service in this book, helping teens identify which issues matter to them, how they can most effectively help, and why it’s so important to act now. She offers practical advice, substantiated by thorough research, that helps teens integrate service into their lives in a meaningful and organic way. This is a book every teen should read, then read again, then pass it to a friend.

Elyssa Friedland

As teenagers figure out how to become the purpose-driven leaders of the future, perhaps the most important thing they can do is find ways to engage in volunteerism and philanthropy. Natalie Silverstein's new book, Simple Acts, is a great tool to help them get started on this journey. Covering topics like social entrepreneurship, fundraising, and social media as a force for good, it is an approachable, actionable resource guide for today’s busy teens who care about making an impact on the world.

Lindsey Pollak

2022-06-22
General advice for doing good on personal and local levels.

Following on her Simple Acts: The Busy Family’s Guide to Giving Back (2019), Silverstein proposes a limited program of “intentional acts of kindness and service, sprinkled throughout your busy everyday life,” geared to privileged teens. Along with an emphasis on collection drives to address a broad range of social needs, the author tallies fundraising ideas from bake sales to dance marathons without substantive practical tips on setting them up and perfunctorily recognizes that, yes, some young people don’t have much free time because financial necessity means they actually have to work, while promoting the value of community service as a way of raising social consciousness and doing good. She suggests turning birthdays and other celebrations into fundraisers (or…collection drives), argues that readers can “blast positive messages that can silence the perpetrator” of cyberbullying and online hate, and promotes head-shaving in support of children in chemo as a “Stretch Idea.” The text largely assumes that readers will benevolently give to others (advising that readers can establish a school diversity and inclusion board and “use this platform to give any marginalized individuals or groups a safe place to share experiences”), setting up an us-vs.-them framework (“We need to remember that we will all be in need of help one day”). Black-and-white spot art shows racially diverse human figures.

A bland offering next to the many more compelling guides available. (resources, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews