Background: Peer crowds are macro-level, reputation-based subcultures with shared preferences, values, and behavior. The Country peer crowd has been the focus of tobacco industry research and marketing but has yet to be the primary focus of public health research. The current study explores the utility of "Down and Dirty," a "Social…

The Teen Excellence in Leadership Institute (TELI) was created to provide meaningful leadership and civic-engagement experiences to teens. We integrated Chickering's Theory of Identity Development and the 4-H Citizenship Framework to develop program objectives and a model, consisting of four components: understanding of self, developing a network,…

People who deal with at-risk teens say dropping out is not an event; it's a process. Youngsters miss school and get "backed up" in class, so they miss more school because they're bewildered or embarrassed, and fall further behind. In the three years the 75-seat Hampton Performance Learning Center (PLC) has been open, it claims to have…

To address a gap in the literature on the impact of healthy relationship programs for teens on the peer facilitators of these programs, three focus groups were conducted with the peer facilitators (N = 49) of a five-week healthy relationship program (Chesterfield Relate), which was provided in two public schools over a two-year period.…

Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of…

Until recently, teen pregnancy and birth rates had declined in the United States. Despite these declines, U.S. teen birth and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates remain among the highest in the industrialized world. Given the need to focus limited prevention resources on effective programs, Advocates for Youth undertook exhaustive reviews…

This article illustrates how the use of the basic elements of a story can help create an event that will stimulate imagination and encourage further reading. Margaret Robison, the librarian at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (VSDB) in Staunton, Virginia, decided that for Teen Read Week she would use a popular series as a bridge to…

Spaces such as the Chicago and Miami YOUmedia centers are great examples of digital media labs. Focused on providing technology and services that allow teens to explore their passions in an unstructured creative process, these labs provide technology that encourages the self-expression and creation of ideas in almost any digital format, such as…

Until recently, teen pregnancy and birth rates had declined steadily in the United States in recent years. Despite these declines, the United States has the highest teen birth rate and one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among all industrialized nations. To help young people reduce their risk for pregnancy and STIs,…

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of an abstinence education program on sexual intercourse initiation and on possible cognitive mediators of sexual initiation for virgin seventh graders in suburban Virginia. Methods: Measures of sexual behavior and 6 mediating variables were compared at 3 time periods for program participants and a matched…

This guide for the 1999 Virginia teen summer reading program for public libraries, "Read around the World," includes the following chapters: (1) "Reading and Teens," including serving the underserved, tips for teens, and a recipe for choosing a book to read for fun; (2) "Programming and Teens," including "The Why…

This study explored the differences between students who remained at one early college acceleration program and those who left. Students who left appeared to seek what they perceived as a greater academic challenge or more specialized academic majors than were provided by the host college, a phenomenon that lends credence to the notion of positive…

Youth participation in sports has increased greatly over the past 20 years. Consequently, there has been a rise in the number of sports injuries. A study was conducted to determine teen's level of physical activity, knowledge about risk factors for sports injuries, use of protective equipment, and parental involvement. Two groups of teens, one of…

Describes a four and a half week elective unit, jointly organized by reading and English teachers, which is designed to allow maximum free reading and extensive skill development through utilization of a wide range of materials. (MS)

This article summarizes methods and findings from a community diagnosis designed to identify cognitive, affective, and cultural variables that seem to be associated with teen pregnancy. On the basis of information collected, critical elements for an intervention strategy are proposed. (IAH)