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EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
GREAT TRANSITIONS
PREPARING ADOLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
CONCLUDING REPORT
CARNEGIE COUNCIL ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK 1 OCTOBER 1995
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
Copyright © 1995 by Carnegie Corporation of New York
437 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022
All rights reserved.
Large portions of this publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system.
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying.
recording, or otherwise without permission of Camegie Corporation.
Copies of this report may be obtained for $10.00, (single copies, bulk rate available)
from: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. P.O. Box 753, Waldorf, MD 20604.
Telephone (202) 429-7979.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING- N - PUBLICATION DATA
Camegie Council on Adolescent Development.
Great transitions: preparing adolescents for a new century/ concluding report of
the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-9623154-4-3 (pbk.)
1. Parent and teenager-United States. 2. Teenagers-United States-Attitudes.
3. Social work with teenagers-United States. 4. Teenagers-Health and hygiene
-United States. 5. Adolescent psychology. I. Title.
H0799.15.C374 1995
95-37472
305.23'5-dc20
cip
Designed and produced by Meadows Design Office Incorporated, Washington, DC
Printed by Graphtec, Inc., Woodlawn, MD
H
-
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
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EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9
PART I GREAT TRANSITIONS
CHAPTER ONE Early Adolescence: The Great Transition 19
CHAPTER TWO Growing Up in Early Adolescence: An Emerging View 27
CHAPTER THREE Old Biology in New Circumstances: The Changing Adolescent Experience 35
CHAPTER FOUR Reducing Risks, Enhancing Opportunities: Essential Requirements for Healthy Development 49
PART 11 PREPARING ADOLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
CHAPTER FIVE Reengaging Families with Their Adolescent Children 63
CHAPTER SIX Educating Young Adolescents for a Changing World 75
CHAPTER SEVEN Promoting the Health of Adolescents 91
CHAPTER EIGHT Strengthening Communities with Adolescents 105
CHAPTER NINE Redirecting the Pervasive Power of Media 115
EPILOGUE
Looking to the Future, by David A. Hamburg 125
NOTES 136
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 144
APPENDICES
A. Task Force, Working Group, and Advisory Board Members 147
B. Publications 151
C. Meetings and Workshops 154
D. Biographies of Members of the Council 156
E. Index of Programs Cited in the Report 164
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
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CARNEGIE COUNCIL ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
David A. Hamburg, Chair
Fred M. Hechinger
President
Senior Advisor
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York
New York, New York
New York, New York
H. Keith H. Brodie
David W. Hornbeck
President Emeritus
Superintendent
Duke University
School District of Philadelphia
Durham, North Carolina
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Michael I. Cohen
Daniel K. Inouye
Chairman
United States Senator
Department of Pediatrics
Hawaii
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
James M. Jeffords
New York, New York
United States Senator
Alonzo Crim
Vermont
Professor
Richard Jessor
Spelman College
Director
Atlanta, Georgia
Institute of Behavioral Science
Michael S. Dukakis
University of Colorado at Boulder
Visiting Distinguished Professor
Helene L. Kaplan
Political Science Department
Of Counsel
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom
New York, New York
William H. Gray III
Nancy L. Kassebaum
President
United States Senator
United Negro College Fund
Kansas
Fairfax, Virginia
Thomas H. Kean
Beatrix A. Hamburg
President
President
William T. Grant Foundation
Drew University
Madison, New Jersey
New York, New York
Ted Koppel
David E. Hayes-Bautista
Director
ABC News Nightline
Washington, D.C.
Center for the Study of Latino Health
University of California at Los Angeles
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
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Hernan LaFontaine
P. Roy Vagelos
Professor of Administration
Former Chair and Chief Executive Officer
and Supervision
Merck, Inc.
Southern Connecticut State University
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
New Haven, Connecticut
James D. Watkins
Eleanor E. Maccoby
Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Barbara Kimball Browning Professor of
President
Psychology, Emerita
Joint Oceanographic Institute
Stanford University
Washington, D.C.
Stanford, California
William Julius Wilson
Ray Marshall
Lucy Flower University Professor of
Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial
Sociology and Public Policy
Chair in Economics and Public Affairs
University of Chicago
Lyndon B. Johnson School of
Chicago, Illinois
Public Affairs
University of Texas at Austin
Julius B. Richmond
John D. MacArthur Professor of Health
Policy, Emeritus
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
Frederick C. Robbins
University Professor, Emeritus
Department of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Kenneth B. Smith
President
Chicago Theological Seminary
Chicago, Illinois
Wilma S. Tisch
President Emeritus
WNYC Foundation
New York, New York
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adolescence is one of the most fascinating and complex transitions in the life span: a time of
accelerated growth and change second only to infancy; a time of expanding horizons, self-dis-
covery, and emerging independence; a time of metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood.
Its beginning is associated with biological, physical, behavioral, and social transformations that
roughly correspond with the move from elementary school to middle or junior high school.
The events of this crucially formative phase can shape an individual's life course and thus the
future of the whole society.
Early adolescence, encompassing the sexual awakenings of puberty as well as new social and
educational demands, is an age of particular vulnerability. Barely out of childhood, young peo-
ple ages ten to fourteen are today experiencing more freedom, autonomy, and choice than ever
at a time when they still need special nurturing, protection, and guidance. Without the sus-
tained involvement of parents and other adults in safeguarding their welfare, young adolescents
are at risk of harming themselves and others.
Many adolescents manage to negotiate their way through this critical transition with relative
success. With caring families, good schools, and supportive community institutions, they
grow up reasonably well educated, committed to families and friends, and prepared for the
workplace and for the responsibilities of citizenship. Even under less-than-optimal condi-
tions for growth and development-the absence of supportive and caring adults, poverty,
unsafe schools, and distressed communities-adolescents can become contributing mem-
bers of society. Some achieve this status despite facing threats to their well-being, such as
AIDS and easy access to lethal weapons and drugs, that were all but unknown to their par-
ents and grandparents.
For many others, however, the obstacles in their path can impair their physical and emotional
health, destroy their motivation and ability to succeed in school and jobs, and damage their
personal relationships. Many reach adulthood ill-equipped to participate responsibly in our
democratic society.
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NEW RISKS FACING TEN- TO FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLDS
Across America today, adolescents are confronting pressures to use alcohol, cigarettes, or
other drugs and to have sex at earlier ages. Many are depressed: About a third of adolescents
report they have contemplated suicide. Others are growing up lacking the competence to han-
dle interpersonal conflict without resorting to violence. By age seventeen, about a quarter of
all adolescents have engaged in behaviors that are harmful or dangerous to themselves and
others: getting pregnant, using drugs, taking part in antisocial activity, and failing in school.
Altogether, nearly half of American adolescents are at high or moderate risk of seriously dam-
aging their life chances. The damage may be near term and vivid, or it may be delayed, like a
time bomb set in youth.
The social and technological changes of this century, and especially of recent decades, have
provided many young people with remarkable material benefits and opportunities to master
technical skills; they have also introduced new stresses and risks into the adolescent experi-
ence. Today, with high divorce rates, increases in both parents working, and the growth of sin-
gle-parent families, slightly more than half of all American children will spend at least part of
their childhood or adolescence living with only one parent. In this situation, exacerbated by
the erosion of neighborhood networks and other traditional social support systems, children
now spend significantly less time in the company of adults than a few decades ago; more of
their time is spent in front of the television set or with their peers in age-segregated, unsuper-
vised environments.
Such conditions occur among families of all income levels and backgrounds and in cities, sub-
urbs, and rural areas. But they are especially severe in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty,
where young adolescents are more likely to lack two crucial prerequisites for their healthy
growth and development: a close relationship with a dependable adult and the perception of
meaningful opportunities in mainstream society.
For today's adolescents, particularly those who do not intend to go beyond high school, there
is much less chance to earn a decent living wage, support a family, and participate actively in
the life of the community and nation than there was a few decades ago. Many adolescents feel
adult-like pressures without experiencing the rewards of belonging and of being useful in the
valued settings of adult life. Especially in low-income neighborhoods where good education
and jobs are scarce, young people can grow up with a bleak sense of the future.
MEETING THE ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR
HEALTHY ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
In the face of the social and economic transformations of the late twentieth century, all adoles-
cents have enduring human needs that must be met if they are to grow up to be healthy, con-
structive adults. All must:
Find a valued place in a constructive group
Learn how to form close, durable human relationships
Feel a sense of worth as a person
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Achieve a reliable basis for making informed choices
Know how to use the support systems available to them
Express constructive curiosity and exploratory behavior
Find ways of being useful to others
Believe in a promising future with real opportunities
Meeting these requirements has been essential for human survival into adulthood for millen-
nia. But in a technologically advanced democratic society-one that places an increasingly high
premium on competence in many domains-adolescents themselves face a further set of chal-
lenges. They must:
Master social skills, including the ability to manage conflict peacefully
Cultivate the inquiring and problem-solving habits of mind for lifelong learning
Acquire the technical and analytic capabilities to participate in a world-class economy
Become ethical persons
Learn the requirements of responsible citizenship
Respect diversity in our pluralistic society
Adolescence is the last phase of the life span in which social institutions have reasonably ready
access to the entire population, so the potential for constructive influence and for improving
adolescents' life chances is great. Early adolescence-the phase during which young people
are just beginning to engage in very risky behaviors, but before damaging patterns have be-
come firmly established-offers an excellent opportunity for intervention to prevent later ca-
sualties and promote successful adult lives.
ADAPTING PIVOTAL INSTITUTIONS TO FOSTER
HEALTHY ADOLESCENCE: GENERIC APPROACHES
The American institutions that have the greatest influence on young adolescents are primarily
the family and the schools, but also youth-serving, health-care organizations, and the media.
The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development urges these five institutions to adapt to the
impact of a hyper-modern, high-tech, pluralistic society in ways that meet the essential re-
quirements for healthy adolescent development. These institutions have fallen behind in their
vital functions and must now be strengthened in their respective roles and linked in a mutually
reinforcing system of support for adolescents.
Many current interventions on behalf of young adolescents are targeted to one problem be-
havior, such as drug abuse or teenage pregnancy. While targeted approaches can be useful,
they often do not take adequate account of two important findings from research: (1) serious
problem behaviors tend to cluster in the same individual and reinforce one another; and (2)
such behaviors often have common antecedents in childhood experience and educational fail-
ure. The other side of the coin is that those who engage in healthy lifestyles are more likely to
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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do well in school and to come from supportive family and community structures that reward
their effort, promoting self-respect and decent human relations. These observations suggest
that families, schools, and other social institutions have a special opportunity-and obliga-
tion-to foster healthy lifestyles in childhood and adolescence, taking into consideration the
underlying factors that promote either positive or negative outcomes.
The Carnegie Council focuses on approaches that deal with the factors that predispose ado-
lescents to engage in high-risk or problem behaviors. These are generic in nature; they are dis-
tinguished from categorical or targeted approaches that focus on single problems, often after
they have already occurred. Generic approaches focus on the positive possibilities inherent in
the adolescent transition-possibilities for educating and motivating young adolescents in the
pursuit of healthy lifestyles, for fostering interpersonal and decision-making skills to help them
choose alternatives to very risky behavior, and for providing them with reasons and tools to
build constructive lives.
Generic approaches that can be adopted by the pivotal institutions include not only strong
family relationships and excellent basic education but also a variety of related approaches such
as social support networks, adult mentoring, health promotion programs incorporating hu-
man biology, peer-mediated services, and life skills training to help young people cope with
day-to-day living. If sustained over a period of years, such interventions can offset the negative
effects of low self-respect, undeveloped social and decision-making skills, indifference to ed-
ucation, lack of information about health matters, low perception of opportunities, and lim-
ited incentives for delaying short-term gratification.
CORE RECOMMENDATIONS
Ensuring the healthy growth and development of adolescents must involve the commitment of
all institutions that have a profound impact on youth. No single influence can be responsible
for the successful transition from adolescence into adulthood. Families, the schools, the health
sector, community organizations, and the media must work singly and in concert to launch all
young people on a successful life course. In the twenty-first century, every young person will
be essential; no individual will be expendable if our country is to maintain a dynamic, civil so-
ciety and a flourishing economy in the face of accelerating technological, demographic, and
socioeconomic change. The following recommendations of the Carnegie Council offer ways
to adapt to the transforming world and provide life chances for adolescents conducive to a bet-
ter future for the entire society.
REENGAGE FAMILIES WITH THEIR ADOLESCENT CHILDREN
Parental involvement in school activities declines steadily as children progress to middle and
high school. Parents need to remain actively engaged in their adolescents' education; schools,
for their part, should welcome the families of students as allies and cultivate their support.
Schools and other community institutions, including health-care agencies, can help parents
deal with the adolescent transition. They can create parent support groups, parent education
programs, and education for prospective parents. Employers, both public and private, can pur-
12
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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sue more family-friendly policies for parents with young adolescents. Examples are flexible
work hours and other measures allowing parents to spend more time with their young adoles-
cents or volunteer in school or youth programs. Under special circumstances, child care tax
credits could be extended to parents of young adolescents so they may be enrolled in high-
quality after-school programs supervised by responsible, caring adults.
CREATE DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE SCHOOLS FOR
ADOLESCENTS
States and school districts should give teachers and principals the authority and resources to
transform middle schools and junior high schools into health-promoting as well as learning
environments-environments that are small-scale and safe, that promote stable relationships
between students and their teachers and peers, that are intellectually stimulating, that employ
cooperative learning strategies and de-emphasize tracking, that provide health education and
life-skills training, and that offer primary health-care services either in or near the school.
Schools that are developmentally appropriate provide a core curriculum and teaching meth-
ods that excite students' curiosity and build on their desire to explore, strengthen their ana-
lytical and problem-solving abilities, and provide an understanding of human biology and its
place in the world.
DEVELOP HEALTH- PROMOTION STRATEGIES FOR YOUNG
ADOLESCENTS
Poor health interferes with learning; good health facilitates it. Since 1960, the burden of ado-
lescent illness has shifted from the traditional causes of disease to behavior-related problems,
such as sexually transmitted disease, teenage pregnancy, motor vehicle accidents, gun-related
homicides and accidents, depression leading to suicide, and abuse of drugs (alcohol and cig-
arettes as well as illegal drugs). Instilling in adolescents the knowledge, skill, and values that
foster physical and mental health will require substantial changes in the way the health pro-
fessionals work and the way they connect with families, schools, and community organizations.
This effort can be facilitated by a conjunction of the life sciences curriculum, life skills train-
ing, and social supports for healthy behavior. It will also require filling serious gaps in health
services for adolescents. At least three measures are needed to meet these goals. The first is the
training and availability of health providers with a deep and sensitive understanding of the de-
velopmental needs and behavior-related problems of adolescents. The second is expanded
health insurance coverage for adolescents who now experience barriers to these services. The
third is expanded school-based and school-related health facilities for adolescents. Taken to-
gether, these measures could significantly improve the health outcomes of adolescents.
STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES FOR YOUNG ADOLESCENTS
Communities should provide more attractive, safe, growth-promoting settings for young ado-
lescents during the out-of school hours-times of high risk when parents are often not available
to supervise their children. More than 17,000 national and local youth organizations, including
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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those sponsored by religious groups, now operate in the United States, but they do not ade-
quately provide opportunities for about one-third of young people who most need their sup-
port and guidance. These organizations must now work to expand their reach, enlisting the
help of community residents, families, schools, volunteers, and adolescents themselves in offer-
ing more activities that convey information about life, careers, and places beyond the neigh-
borhood-as well as engage them in community service and other constructive activities.
PROMOTE THE CONSTRUCTIVE POTENTIAL OF THE MEDIA
An ever-expanding array of media bombard adolescents with messages that powerfully shape
their attitudes and behavior. Growing, serious criticism has been directed at television, music
media, and video games for their emphasis on violence as the ultimate problem solver and on
unrestrained sexuality. The undeniable power of the media could be used far more construc-
tively in the lives of young adolescents. Families, schools, and other pivotal institutions can
help young people become more "media literate" so they can examine media messages more
critically. They can work with media organizations in developing health-promoting program-
ming and media campaigns for youth. And they can support social actions that discourage the
media from glamorizing violence and sex as well as drinking, smoking, and other drug use.
WHAT OTHER INSTITUTIONS CAN DO
Business, universities, scientific and professional organizations, and government at all levels can
help pivotal institutions meet the essential requirements of healthy adolescent development.
BUSINESS
The business community can help directly, by providing funds and technical support to im-
plement the recommendations of this report, and indirectly by mobilizing community leader-
ship on behalf of the education and health of youth. Within the workplace, it can institute fam-
ily-friendly policies and practices, and it can cooperate in diminishing the production of sex-
and violence-saturated media programming.
UNIVERSITIES AND SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
These "science-rich" institutions and organizations can stimulate interdisciplinary research
and publication on the problems and opportunities of adolescent development, recognizing
the implications for practice, policy, and social action, and bringing the facts before the pub-
lic by taking education beyond the campus.
GOVERNMENT
Government at all levels can recognize the critical adolescent years, particularly early adoles-
cence, in its policies and programs and assist communities in translating youth-oriented pro-
grams into action. One example is the recent creation of an Office of Adolescent Health in the
14
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That effort, so far, is rudimentary, but it could
become a vital focus for healthy adolescent development. Fifteen states are supporting major
reforms of middle and junior high schools to make them more developmentally appropriate
for young adolescents. More states need to join this movement. Cities and counties can also
organize effectively for youth development.
MOBILIZING COMMUNITIES FOR YOUTH
With a combination of informed community leadership and vigorous grass-roots organizing,
communities can be mobilized to engage in a strategic planning process on behalf of adoles-
cents and their families, similar to what many communities are today doing to promote a
healthy start for newborns. This process can be led by community councils for youth com-
posed of relevant professionals, business and media leaders, local youth organizations, par-
ents, and adolescents themselves. Such councils carefully assess local needs, formulate useful
interventions, and inform the entire community about the problems and opportunities of ado-
lescence. Experience thus far has shown that community mobilization is not readily accom-
plished, but recent constructive examples provide useful guidance.
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
Much of the current spending for adolescence could achieve better results if it were redi-
rected toward fundamental, comprehensive approaches. Preventing much of the damage
now occurring would have a powerful social and economic impact, including higher pro-
ductivity, lowered health costs, lowered prison costs, and improved human welfare. In the
long run, the vitality of any society and its prospects for the future depend on the quality of
its people-on their knowledge and their skill, and on the health and the decency of their
human relations. In an era when there is much well-founded concern about losing a vital
sense of community, these initiatives on behalf of all our children can have profound collat-
eral benefits of building solidarity, mutual aid, civility, and a reasonable basis for hope.
A key lesson learned from the Council's experience is the importance of serious, careful ex-
amination of the facts, nonpartisan analyses, broad dissemination with involvement of key sec-
tors, and sustained commitment over a period of years. Above all, a long-term view is essen-
tial to bring about the difficult, indeed fundamental, changes necessary in modern society to
improve the life chances of all our children.
........
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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PART I
Great Transitions
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LAND OF DIMINISHING DREAMS
The year is two thousand fifty-four,
The world is full of curses.
People walk the streets no more,
No women carry purses.
The name of the game is survival now-
Safety is far in the past.
Families are huge, with tons of kids
In hopes that one will last.
Drugs are no longer looked down upon,
They are a way of life.
They help us escape the wrenching stress
Of our fast world's endless strife
I wake up now-it was only a dream,
But the message was terribly clear.
We'd better think hard about the future
Before our goals and our dreams disappear.
JESSICA INGLIS 16
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CHAPTER ONE
Early Adolescence: The Great Transition
Adolescence is one of the most fascinating and complex transitions in the life span: a time of
accelerated growth and change second only to infancy; a time of expanding horizons, self-
discovery, and emerging independence; a time of metamorphosis from childhood to adult-
hood. Its beginning is associated with biological, physical, behavioral, and social transfor-
mations that roughly correspond with the move to middle or junior high school. The events
of this crucially formative phase can shape an individual's entire life course and thus the fu-
ture of the whole society.
In these often tumultuous years, a young person experiences much growth and joy, some anx-
iety and dread. Relationships with peers and family take on new meaning. Doubt and confu-
sion abound. Some young people believe they can see into their future and find nothing to
hope for. Others dream but often have no more than a vague image of the future as they em-
bark on a prolonged search for the pathways to promising adulthood.
In societies everywhere, the onset of adolescence is closely synchronized with the biological
changes of puberty. In most technologically advanced countries today, puberty begins on av-
erage two years earlier than it did a century ago, and the transition to adulthood can last a
decade or more. In the United States, adolescence now extends over so many years that it can
be usefully subdivided into several phases. Early adolescence, encompassing the changes of pu-
berty as well as sexual and psychological awakenings, extends roughly from ages ten through
fourteen. Middle adolescence, a time of increased autonomy and experimentation, covers ages
fifteen to seventeen. Late adolescence, occurring for those who delay their entry into adult roles
because of educational or social factors, can stretch from age eighteen into the twenties.
The distinction between early and late adolescence can be illustrated by comparing eleven-
and twelve-year-olds to seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds. They have very little in common
with each other. Young adolescents are barely out of childhood and, much like younger chil-
dren, still need special nurturing and protection; older adolescents share many of the attrib-
utes of adults.
Many young people manage to negotiate their way through the critical adolescent years with
relative ease. With good schools, caring families, and supportive community institutions, they
grow into adulthood well educated, committed to families and friends, and prepared for the
workplace and the responsibilities of citizenship. Even under less-than-optimal conditions for
growth and development, many become contributing members of society.2 Some achieve this
19
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status despite having faced threats to their well-being (such as AIDS and easy access to guns)
that were all but unknown to their parents and grandparents.
For others, however, the obstacles in their path can impair their physical and emotional health,
destroy their motivation and ability to succeed in school and jobs, and damage personal rela-
tionships. Many are at high risk of reaching adulthood ill-equipped to participate responsibly
in our democratic society.3
Both groups of adolescents-those who appear to be making a reasonably successful transi-
tion to adulthood and those for whom meaningful options may seem closed by the age of four-
teen or fifteen-are the urgent concern of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development,
established in 1986 as a program of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Since 1987, the Coun-
cil has worked to generate broad-based understanding of this vulnerable age group. Composed
of national leaders from education, law, science, health, religion, business, the media, youth-
serving agencies, and government, the Council has sought to synthesize the best available
knowledge and experience about adolescence in America and to stimulate public and private
interest in facilitating the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Ultimately, the Council's
mission has been to place the challenges of the adolescent years higher on the nation's agenda.
In the 1990s, it also has sought to stimulate interest in this critical transition as it occurs in
other countries.
WHY EARLY ADOLESCENCE?
In its work, the Council has focused attention on the challenges of early adolescence, ages ten
to fourteen. Important in its own right as a potentially rewarding time of personal growth and
development, it is the age in which individuals adopt behavior patterns in education and health
that can have lifelong significance. For this reason, early adolescence presents a vital opportu-
nity for shaping enduring patterns of behavior that can set a young person on a successful
course for life.⁴
Until recently, early adolescence was neglected in scientific inquiry, in policy formation, and
in public understanding. Within the scientific and professional practice communities, how-
ever, a notable consensus has begun to emerge on new ways of viewing the risks and opportu-
nities inherent in the early adolescent transition. This consensus is based on a growing body
of research and practical experience regarding adolescent health, education, and development.5
The new view asserts that early adolescence is part of a developmental continuum, pro-
foundly shaped by practices and policies that affect young people both before and after this
period. It reflects recent research strongly suggesting that the problems that impair learning
and health tend to cluster in individual adolescents⁶ and that the behavior patterns associ-
ated with these problems often have common antecedents in childhood experiences and in
educational failure.⁷
Such a view of early adolescence requires that those responsible for policies and programs
affecting adolescents take a broad approach to the promotion of health and the prevention of
high-risk behavior. Typically, policymakers have adopted categorical approaches to single prob-
lems without seeking to coordinate these approaches. The Council believes that more effec-
20
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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tive solutions can be found if those responsible for nurturing adolescents build a supportive
and caring infrastructure for adolescents composed of several pivotal institutions working in
concert to meet the fundamental requirements for healthy development.8
No one institution in isolation can ensure that today's adolescents will grow into responsible,
decent, thoughtful, and competent adults. Rather, it is the mutual influence of these institu-
tions that will be critical. Together, they have the potential to address the underlying factors
that increase the likelihood of millions of young people becoming involved in serious health-
compromising behaviors. The approaches to the myriad problems of adolescents at risk pre-
sented here can be adapted for use in a variety of settings.
In the Council's view of adolescence, all adolescents must meet the
same fundamental requirements if they are to be prepared for success
in adulthood. They must find ways to earn respect, establish a sense of
belonging to one or more highly valued groups, make close and en-
during human relationships, and build a sense of personal worth based
The problems of adolescence deal with
on useful skills. They must learn, in our pluralistic society, to live peace-
deep and moving human experiences.
fully and respectfully with a wide array of ethnic, religious, and cultural
groups. They must have the help of caring adults to develop a positive
They center on a fateful time in the life
vision of the future, to see images of what adulthood offers and re-
quires, and to prepare themselves for opportunities that are available
course when poorly informed decisions
to them. With appropriate guidance and support from families,
schools, and other institutions, young people can grow up with the
can have lifelong consequences. The
skills and values needed to participate in a humane, civil society.
tortuous passage from childhood to
The social and economic costs of adverse circumstances that distort
adolescent development are unacceptable. They encompass not only
adulthood requires our highest
personal tragedies, but also widespread disease and disability, igno-
attention, our understanding, and a new
rance and incompetence, crime and violence, alienation and hatred.
Such tragedies are not confined in any tidy way to certain geographic
level of thoughtful commitment.
areas or specific groups. Like a toxin, they poison the environment
and do wide-ranging harm throughout the nation.
DAVID A. HAMBURG, PRESIDENT
CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK
Although disturbing numbers of today's young adolescents face
tremendous odds, there is not the slightest reason to believe that they
are less talented or resourceful than were their predecessors. The
difference is their transformed circumstances, which are creating unprecedented challenges
for them. To help young adolescents learn what they must to survive and flourish, we have to
understand these changed circumstances and new challenges better. Such understanding can
contribute to formulating useful strategies for helping young adolescents cope with a world
that itself is in the process of transformation.
The United States is a large, heterogeneous, multiethnic nation with a strong tradition of in-
dividualism. These are significant assets, but they also make it difficult for Americans to arrive
at a shared understanding of complicated social problems and to turn that understanding into
solutions that can win broad acceptance. Can we envision how schools, churches, families,
businesses, youth organizations, health-care agencies, the media, organizations of the scientific
THE IMPACT ON SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
21
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community, and government can cooperate in addressing the developmental needs of youth?
Reaching a consensus on the values and behaviors appropriate for adolescents and on the steps
that can be taken to help young people make a successful transition to adulthood will certainly
be arduous. But we must try, for it is not only the lives of young people that are at stake: it is
also our common future.
THE REPORT'S PERSPECTIVE
Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for a New Century, the Carnegie Council's conclud-
ing report, draws together the findings and analyses from its decade-long efforts on behalf of
young adolescents. In doing so, the report presents for the first time the Council's distinctive
view of adolescence and of the steps our nation must take to ensure each adolescent's safe pas-
sage into adulthood. Although the focus is on early adolescence, the concepts for the most part
apply to middle adolescence as well, as reflected in some of the data and examples.
Much of the material for this report has been drawn from the Council's published reports, syn-
theses of research, and working papers, all of which were prepared with the guidance of the
Council members and with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York. This body of work
(see the Appendices for a complete listing) includes the Council's first major report, Turning
Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (1989); At the Threshold: The Developing
Adolescent (1990); Life Skills Training: Preventive Interventions for Young Adolescents (1990);
School and Community Support Programs that Enhance Adolescent Health and Education (1990);
A Matter of Time: Risk and Opportunity in the Nonschool Hours (1992); Fateful Choices: Healthy
Youth for the 21st Century (1992); and Promoting the Health of Adolescents: New Directions for
the Twenty-first Century (1993). This concluding report also considers important aspects of ado-
lescent development addressed in other Council publications, meetings, and cooperative efforts.
One of these is a three-volume publication of the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology Assess-
ment, Adolescent Health (1991).⁹
The Council's approach to fostering healthy development during adolescence and beyond
takes into account scientific knowledge about adolescents and identifies factors that will en-
able adolescents to meet developmental challenges successfully. This approach rests on six
basic concepts about adolescence:
Early adolescence is a critical turning point in life's trajectory. This period, therefore, rep-
resents an optimal time for interventions to prevent destructive behavior and promote endur-
ing healthful practices.
Education and health are inextricably related. Adolescents have difficulty learning when
they are not in good health. Good health during adolescence facilitates learning, with power-
ful lifelong effects. By the same token, education constitutes one of the most powerful influences
on health through the entire lifespan.¹⁰
Destructive, or health-damaging, behaviors in adolescence tend to cluster. Positive, or
health-promoting, behaviors also tend to cluster.¹¹
22
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Common underlying factors contribute to many problem behaviors in adolescents. One
is academic difficulty; another is the absence of strong and sustained guidance from caring
adults.¹²
Preventive interventions are more likely to be successful if they address the underlying
factors that contribute to problem behaviors.
Given the complexity of influences on adolescents, the essential requirements for healthy,
positive development must be met through the joint efforts of a set of pivotal institutions
that powerfully affect adolescents' experiences. These pivotal institutions begin with the fam-
ily and include schools as well as a wide array of neighborhood and community organizations.
Based on these six concepts, the Council's recommendations for change take into account the
many factors that influence learning and health, both in and out of school. If the recommen-
dations in this report are fully implemented, the institutions of society that most influence the
development of adolescents will be strengthened to foster healthy choices among adolescents-
choices that can make the difference between the fulfillment of aspiration or the eclipse of hope.
EARLY ADOLESCENCE
23
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Young
In 1993, approximately 7.3 percent (19 million) of the
Although it is illegal to sell alcohol to individuals un-
U.S. population were young adolescents, ages ten to
der twenty-one years of age, two-thirds of eighth
Adolescents
fourteen. Of these, approximately 20 percent were
graders report that they have already tried alcohol
living below the federal poverty line, which in 1993
and a quarter say that they are current drinkers.
was $14,763 for a family of four. Minority adolescents
Face Serious
Twenty-eight percent of eighth graders say that they
were disproportionately poor: 43 percent of African
have been drunk at least once.⁷
American adolescents and 38 percent of Hispanic/
Risks
Among eighth graders, who are thirteen to fourteen
Latino adolescents lived in poverty, compared with
15 percent of white adolescents. By the year 2000,
years old, the rate of current smoking (smoking any
more than one-third of all young adolescents will be
cigarette in the past 30 days) rose by 30 percent be-
members of racial or ethnic minorities: African Amer-
tween 1991 and 1994, from 14.3 to 18.6 percent.8
icans (16 percent); American Indian, Eskimo, and
Marijuana use among eighth graders more than dou-
Aleut (1 percent), Asian/Pacific Americans (5 per-
bled between 1991 and 1994 from 6.2 to 13.0 percent.⁹
cent), and Hispanic/Latino (14 percent).¹ To compete
Over the last three decades, the age of first inter-
in the global economy of the twenty-first century,
course has declined. Higher proportions of adoles-
America will need all of these young people to be
healthy and well educated.
cent women and men reported being sexually expe-
rienced at each age between the ages of fifteen and
twenty in 1988 than in the early 1970s. In 1988, 27 per-
HEALTH RISKS
cent of girls and 33 percent of boys had intercourse
by their fifteenth birthday.¹⁰
Injuries are the leading cause of death for young
adolescents. The largest single cause of death
While the number of births to those ages fifteen and
among these adolescents is injuries from motor ve-
younger is not large, this group is experiencing the
hicle crashes.²
greatest rate of increased births. Pregnancy rates for
The firearm homicide rate for ten- to fourteen-year-
all girls younger than fifteen years old rose 4.1 per-
cent in the United States during the period between
olds more than doubled between 1985 and 1992 (from
0.8 to 1.9 per 100,000). For black males, the rate in-
1980 and 1988-higher than any other teenage
group.¹¹
creased from 3.0 to 8.4 per 100,000 during the same
period.³
Current evidence indicates that increases in depres-
sive disorders and mood are greater for girls than for
In 1992, twelve- to fifteen-year-olds had a high over-
boys during adolescence. By age fourteen to fifteen,
all victimization rate. They were victims of assault
girls are twice as likely as boys to suffer from de-
more than any other age group.⁴
pression, a gender difference that persists into
In a national representative sample of adolescents
adulthood.
ten to sixteen years old, one-fourth of respondents
reported having experienced an assault or abuse in
From 1980 to 1992, the rate of suicide among young
the previous year.5 Approximately 20 percent of the
adolescents increased 120 percent and increased
documented child abuse and neglect cases in 1992
most dramatically among young black males (300
involved young adolescents between the ages of ten
percent) and young white females (233 percent). Sui-
and thirteen years.⁶
cide rates for ten- to fourteen-year- old American In-
dians are four times higher than those for ten- to
Use of alcohol and cigarettes remains more wide-
fourteen-year- olds of all races.¹²
spread than use of illegal drugs.
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EDUCATIONAL RISKS
9. Johnson, L D., O'Malley, P. M.., & Bachman, J. G. (1994) Na-
tional survey results on drug use from the Monitoring the Future
The average proficiency in science, mathematics,
study, 1975-1993. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
and writing among thirteen-year-olds was slightly
10. The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1994). Sex and America's
higher in 1992 than it was in the 1970s. However,
teenagers. New York: Author.
these achievements have not improved enough to
11. U.S. General Accounting Office. (1995). Welfare dependency:
keep pace with the higher level of skills required in a
Coordinated community efforts can better serve young st-risk
global economy.¹³
teen girls. GA0/HEHS/RCED-95-108. Washington, DC: Author.
Only 28 percent of eighth graders scored at or above
12. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Suicide among chil-
the proficiency level in reading in 1994. Two percent
dren, adolescents, and young adults-United States, 1980-1992.
Vol. 44, No. 15, April 21, 1995; and U.S. Congress, Office of Tech-
read at or above an advanced level.¹⁴
nology Assessment. (1990). Indian adolescent mental health
In 1990, 7 percent of the eighth-grade class of 1988
(OTA-H-446). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
(most of whom were then fifteen and sixteen years
13. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
old) were dropouts.¹ By their senior year (1992), 12
Statistics, "1994 NAEP reading: A first look." April 1995.
percent of this class were dropouts.¹⁶ Dropout rates
14. Ibid.
vary by students' race/ethnicity: white (9.4); black
15. They were not enrolled in school and had not finished high
(14.5); Hispanic (18.3); Asian/Pacific Islanders (7.0);
school.
and American Indian (25.4).¹⁷
16. U.S Department of Education, 1995.
17. National Center for Education Statistics. (1994). The condi-
SOURCES
tion of education, 1994. NCES94-149. Washington, DC: U.S. Gov-
emment Printing Office.
1. Day, J.C. (1993). Population projections of the United States
by age, sex, race, and hispanic origin: 1993-2050. U.S. Bureau
of the Census, Current Population Reports. Washington, DC:
U.S. Government Printing Office.
2. National Center for Health Statistics, Unpublished data, 1994.
3. Ibid.
4. Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1994). Criminal victimization in
the United States, 1992. NCJ-145125. Washington, DC: U.S. Gov-
ernment Printing Office.
5. Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. (1994). Children as vic-
tims of violence: A national survey. Pediatrics 94:413-420.
6. U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1994). Statistical abstract of the
United States, 1994 (114th edition). Washington, DC: U.S. Gov-
ernment Printing Office.
7. Johnston, L D., O'Malley, P. M., & Bachman, J.G. (1994). Na-
tional survey results on drug use from the Monitoring the Future
study, 1975-1993, volume I, secondary school students. Wash-
ington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
8. Johnson, L D., O'Malley, P. M., & Bachman, J. G. (1995). Na-
tional survey results on drug use from the Monitoring the Future
study, 1975-1994. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
EARLY ADOLESCENCE
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CHAPTER TWO
Growing Up in Early Adolescence:
An Emerging View
For all young people, adolescence involves a daunting array of interrelated developmental chal-
lenges: the biological changes of puberty with their meaning for reproductive capacity and new
social roles; the handling of feelings of sexual arousal in situations that demand the postpone-
ment of sexual behavior; the move toward psychological and physical independence from par-
ents; the search for friendship and belonging among peers; the negotiation of new and conflict-
ing demands and pressures; the exploration of novel ideas and risky behavior; the engagement
in more complex intellectual tasks; and the formulation of a distinct identity.
Substantial progress has been made through research in capturing the complexity of adoles-
cence and in determining the common features of adolescent experiences.¹ As a result, we now
understand how adolescents navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood, how devel-
opment can go wrong even in affluent circumstances, and how those in less advantaged cir-
cumstances, especially from areas of concentrated poverty, succeed or succumb.
New knowledge about adolescence has begun to illuminate the positive and adaptive qualities
of this transitional stage in development as well as the problems.3 Although young adolescents
are often stereotyped as moody, rebellious, self-indulgent, and incapable of learning anything
serious, research indicates that this portrait is greatly overdrawn. Young adolescents are also,
at this time, full of curiosity, imagination, and emerging idealism. For many, adolescence is a
time of remarkable psychological and social growth that offers excitement and hope, if some-
times anguish and disappointment.
27
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CHALLENGES TO PREVAILING STEREOTYPES
Although much is still unexamined and further research is greatly needed, the emergent view
directly challenges the predominantly negative connotations of the term "adolescent." Several
important findings challenge prevailing stereotypes about adolescents.
Adolescents are a heterogeneous group. Adolescents are a far-from-monolithic group. On
the contrary, they vary greatly in their physical development, life experiences, values, and as-
pirations. Even individuals of the same age differ enormously in their growth patterns, per-
sonalities, aptitudes, and coping skills. Some move into adult roles as early as age fifteen or six-
teen, particularly if they are from low-income or working-class backgrounds. Others, especially
those born into relative affluence, engage in a protracted period of search and discovery, sort-
ing out their sense of identity, their career directions, and their expectations of adult life be-
fore making critical decisions.
Puberty, which opens the door to adolescence, also varies from person to person.⁵ Puberty be-
gins in some individuals as early as age eight and in others as late as age fourteen, making a
difference in their self-image, expectations, experiences in school, and relationships with peers
and adults.
Social, environmental, and hormonal factors are all important in shaping development.
It is widely believed that pubescent adolescents are prey to "raging hormones," with the im-
plication that they are out of control and that little can be done to influence them. The drastic
changes in secretion of sex hormones during early adolescence do have profound effects on
every tissue of the body-most notably the reproductive system but also the brain. These hor-
mones produce the growth spurt, secondary sex characteristics, and feelings of sexual arousal.
They also herald an increase in emotional intensity, with girls experiencing more depression⁶
and boys experiencing more aggression. But these changes do not mean that young adoles-
cents are inherently difficult, contrary, or uneducable. The effects of these changes are highly
influenced by social and interpersonal factors. When such influences are positive, the biolog-
ical transition goes more smoothly.7
Youth culture is different from that of adults but not necessarily in opposition to adult
values. The social organization of adolescents is distinct from that of the child or the adult,
with its own music, heroes and heroines, language, and styles. Within this society, there are
adolescent subgroups, each emphasizing particular interests, attitudes, and values.⁸ But
youth culture is not essentially oppositional or hostile to adults. Many adolescents report
that they continue to consult with their parents on matters of concern to them, and many re-
late well to adults other than their parents.⁹ Although tensions are inevitable in this time of
major transition, only a minority of teenagers engages in rebellion against their parents as
they seek to establish a sense of autonomy and separate identity. The process of moving away
from parental authority usually leads not to estrangement but to a renegotiated interdepen-
dence with family and kin.¹⁰
28
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Peer influence among adolescents may be positive as well as negative. Despite negative
stereotypes, the influence of peers often is beneficial to adolescents.¹¹ In favorable circum-
stances, adolescents feel secure with their friends, find joy in the group, and acquire a basis for
hope. Peers can contribute to a young person's self-esteem, sense of identity, and achievement.
If a young teen becomes solidly established in a constructive peer network-one oriented to
study and learning, good health, and decent human relations-the chances are enhanced that
he or she will evolve into an inquiring and problem-solving, caring individual.
Adolescents are capable of complex reasoning, including the weighing of consequences.
Research has shown that the capacity for critical thinking and for competent decision making
is achieved or achievable by early to middle adolescence.¹² For young adolescents, yielding
the certainty of childhood is accompanied by a new appreciation of
the relativity and complexity of knowledge and ideas. Unfortunately,
many school systems do a profound disservice to young adolescents
by withholding challenging instruction from them. Educators have a
great opportunity to capture the young person's emergent sense of
One-third of American adolescents
self and curiosity about the world.
today are of non-European descent from
Along with their growing capacity for thinking and decision mak-
ing, adolescents have enhanced opportunities for self-determination
a wide array of religious, ethnic, and
in many areas of their lives. They have more control, for example,
over how vigorously they apply themselves in school, the kinds of
national backgrounds. Learning to
friends they have of both genders, and the extent to which they
adopt or avoid such perilous behavior as smoking, using alcohol or
live peacefully while respecting
other harmful drugs, and engaging in early or promiscuous sexual
diversity will be a major task for adults
activity. Unfortunately, the tendency of young adolescents to focus
on the here and now rather than on the long-range consequences
in the twenty-first century.
of their actions places them in substantial danger of making serious
errors of judgment.
ADOLESCENT ATTRIBUTES OFFER OPPORTUNITIES
Certain characteristics of this period of life make possible adaptive responses to the challenge
of major change. If the pivotal institutions that influence adolescents can harness these char-
acteristics, they can provide adolescents with a crucial advantage, enabling them not only to
survive but also to thrive under the extraordinary dislocations of contemporary society. Three
characteristics are especially significant.
Adolescents are eager for authoritative information. Young adolescents are interested in and
receptive to information about themselves and their bodies.¹³ In earlier times, their world view
and much of the information available to them was shaped by the nuclear and extended fam-
ily and older peers. Today, information conveyed to adolescents comes largely from the media
and peers. Much of it is incorrect or misleading or embodies values that are inimical to young
people's self-image and health. Yet the eagerness of these young people for information rele-
vant to their development is a fundamental asset, and pivotal institutions can respond in many
constructive and helpful ways.
GROWING UP IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE
29
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Adolescents are explorers of the unknown. Much exploration by adolescents is develop-
mentally appropriate and socially adaptive, even though it can introduce new demands and
generate new conflicts. Adolescents ask many questions about themselves and the world-
questions that constitute stepping stones across the rapids between childhood and adult life.
What is happening? Is it interesting? Is it fun? Does it lead anywhere? What can I do to be bet-
ter liked? What can I do to be smarter, stronger, better looking? What kind of person am I any-
way? Does anyone care about me? What do I really care about? Can I make a difference? How
does school relate to the rest of my life? What kind of work do I want to do? How do I give
myself a good future? Families, friends, schools, community organizations, religious institu-
tions, health care providers, and the media have a serious responsibility to deal respectfully
with the questions that preoccupy teenagers.
Adolescents are strongly influenced by what they see of adult behavior as they "try on"
their eventual roles as adults. At this time of life, a young adolescent is confronted with mul-
tiple concepts of what it means to be an adult. Older peers, who are looked up to as having
links to the adult world, play an important role as young adolescents
select among these images. Some will conclude that it is grown-up to
be cool and reject education, to live for the moment, to take what they
can get without respect for others, to get high on alcohol or other
New knowledge about adolescence
drugs, to be tough, unyielding, even violent. Such damaging con-
cepts of adulthood are available in abundance in the social environ-
has begun to illuminate the positive and
ment of young adolescents. But there are also positive, enriching im-
adaptive qualities of this transitional
ages available that can influence the choices and decisions that young
people make.
stage in development as well as the
To help adolescents meet the challenges of adulthood in a changing
problems. Although young adolescents
world that is growing ever more complex, adults in key institutions
must respond to make the best use of these positive and adaptive qual-
are often stereotyped as moody,
ities of adolescents. Right now, the vulnerability of young adolescents
to health and educational risks is far greater than most people are
rebellious, self-indulgent, and incapable
aware of, and the casualties are mounting. The following chapter will
clarify the economic and social consequences of preventable damage
of learning anything serious,
and the sadly lost potential of youth in the context of ongoing trans-
research indicates that this portrait is
formation. Tragedies are not inevitable. Using the guidance provided
by the new research on adolescence, the leadership of key institutions
greatly overdrawn.
throughout society can take steps to intervene in young lives during
the pivotal moment of early adolescence. Small steps, taken at this crit-
ical time of life, can make a big difference in determining an adoles-
cent's life chances.
30
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Further Reading
Feldman, S.S., & Elliott, G.R. (Eds.) (1990). At the threshold: The developing adolescent. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hamburg, B.A. (1974). Early adolescence: A specific and stressful stage of the life cycle. In
G.V. Coelho, D.A. Hamburg, & J.E. Adams (Eds.), Coping and adaptation (pp. 101-124).
New York: Basic Books.
Hamburg, D.A. (1989). Early adolescence: A critical time for interventions in education and
health. Presidential Essay reprinted from 1989 Annual Report of Carnegie Corporation of
New York.
Lerner, R.M. (Ed.). (1993). Early adolescence: Perspectives on research, policy, and intervention.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
GROWING UP IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE
31
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Economic Consequences of Preventable Problems
Adolescent pregnancy and substance abuse are not
Providing family planning services is one way to
simply problems when they happen. The conse-
lower taxpayers' costs. Each public dollar spent on
quences of these acts reach far into the future, and
family planning services saves an average of $4.40
their antecedents emerge even before adolescence.
by reducing expenditures on medical, welfare, and
The following costs illustrate the importance of pre-
nutritional programs.⁵
venting such problems.
SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSE
DROPPING OUT
Substance abuse costs the United States more than
Remaining in school is the single most important ac-
$238 billion a year, including the expense of treating
tion adolescents can take to improve their future
substance abuse, the productivity losses caused by
economic prospects. In 1992, a high school graduate
premature death and inability to perform usual activ-
earned almost $6,000 per year more than a high
ities, and costs related to crime, destruction of prop-
school dropout.¹
erty, and other losses.⁶
Going to college boosts income even more. In 1992,
Each year more than a million young people start
college graduates had a mean annual income of
smoking regularly, a decision that will cost the health
$32,629, while high school graduates had a mean an-
care system $8.2 billion in preventable medical ex-
nual income of $18,737. Earning a professional de-
penditures during their lifetimes.⁷
gree added $40,000 a year to the mean annual in-
come of college graduates.¹
During the last two decades, the tobacco industry
has dramatically increased the money it spends on
Gender also affects income. A male high school
advertising. In 1992, the industry spent more than $5.2
graduate's mean monthly income is likely to be twice
billion on advertising, making cigarettes second only
as much as a female high school graduate's, a sta-
to automobiles in advertising dollars spent.⁸
tistic that highlights the significance of education for
women.²
INJURIES
BEARING CHILDREN
An estimated 10 to 20 percent of all injuries to chil-
Women who become mothers as teenagers are more
dren and young people occur in and around schools.
likely to find themselves living in poverty later in their
Falls were the most common cause of injuries. Rep-
lives than women who delay childbearing. Although
resenting 46 percent of all incidents, falls were fol-
28 percent of women who gave birth as teenagers
lowed by sports activities at 30 percent and assaults
were poor in their 20s and 30s, only 7 percent of
at 10 percent. The resulting costs of these injuries
women who gave birth after adolescence were liv-
vary substantially. The bill for treating something as
ing in poverty in their 20s and 30s.³
simple as a forearm fracture, for example, can ex-
ceed $3,900. A serious injury such as spinal cord
In 1992, the federal government spent nearly $34 bil-
damage can incur medical costs higher than
lion on Aid to Families with Dependent Children,
$188,000.º
Medicaid, and food stamps for families begun by
adolescents.⁴
32
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Injuries to young adolescents, ages ten to fifteen, in
motor vehicles cost more than $13 million in 1991, or
about $56,000 per injured child.¹⁰
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimates that simply switching to break-away bases
for softball games could prevent 1.7 million injuries a
year and save $2 billion in acute medical costs.¹¹
A recent U.S. Government Accounting Office report
estimated that the nation's schools need $112 billion
to complete all of the repairs, renovations, and mod-
emizations required to restore facilities to good over-
all condition and comply with federal mandates that
6. Institute for Health Policy. (1993). Substance abuse: The na-
ensure the safety of students.¹²
tion's number one health problem: Key indicators for health pol-
icy. Waltham, MA: Author.
VIOLENCE
7. Lynch, B.S., & Bonnie, R.J. (1994). Growing up tobacco free:
Preventing nicotine addiction in children and youths. Weshing-
Violence is a social problem with tremendous eco-
ton, DC: National Academy Press.
nomic costs. In 1993, the cost of providing emer-
8. Federal Trade Commission. (1992). Report to Congress pur-
gency transportation, medical care, hospital stays,
suant to the federal cigarette labeling and advertising act for
rehabilitation, and related treatment for American
1992. In remarks by David A. Kessler. The Samuel Rubin Pro-
firearm victims ages 10 through 19 was $407 million.¹³
gram at the Columbia University School of Law, March 8, 1995.
9. Children's Safety Network. (1994). Injuries in the environment:
A resource packet. Newton, MA: Author.
SOURCES
10. Children's Safety Network Economics and Insurance Re-
1. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (1994).
source Center, National Public Services Research Institute.
More education means higher career earnings. Statistical Brief
Child Occupant Injury Facts. Landover, MD
SB/94-17. Washington, DC: Author.
11. National Institutes of Health. (1992). Sport injuries in youth:
2. U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1994). Statistical abstract of the
Surveillance strategies. NIH Publication No. 93-3444. Wash-
United States: 1994. (114th edition). Washington, DC: U.S. Gov-
ington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
ernment Printing Office.
12. U.S. General Accounting Office. (1995). School facilities:
3. Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1994). Sex and America's teen-
Condition of America's schools. HEHS-95-61. Washington, DC:
agers. New York: Author.
Author.
4. U.S. Government Accounting Office. (May 1995). Welfare
13. Miller, T. (1995). Children's Safety Network Economics and
dependency: Coordinated community efforts can better serve
Insurance Resource Center, and National Public Services Re-
young at-risk teen girls. RCED-95-108. Washington, DC: Author.
search Institute. Unpublished data.
5. Teenage pregnancy and birth rates-United States, 1990.
(1990). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. October 1, 1993,
42(38): 733-737.
GROWING UP IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE
33
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CHAPTER THREE
Old Biology in New Circumstances:
The Changing Adolescent Experience
The biology of puberty in today's adolescent is essentially the same as it always has been. Trig-
gered by events in the brain, the pituitary gland produces hormones that stimulate the secretion
of sex hormones. These hormones, in turn, have powerful effects on many tissues of the body,
including the brain, and lead to significant changes in social, emotional, and sexual behavior.
In modern, complex societies such as the United States, however, the social context for this
biological series of events has changed dramatically. Industrialization, urbanization, techno-
logical advances, geographic mobility, and cultural diversity have radically transformed the hu-
man environment. The interaction between the old biology and this new environment, in turn,
has fundamentally altered the conditions for growing up as an adolescent in America.
The swiftness of this change, in historical terms, challenges our understanding and the ca-
pacity of our key socializing institutions to adapt to meet new needs. As a result, many fami-
lies and their adolescents are not faring as well as they should. The often startling statistics
on negative events during adolescence (e.g., school-age pregnancy, crime and violence, poor
achievement in school, and disability and death because of risky health behaviors) cross
boundaries of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and neighborhood.
THE CHANGED CONTEXT FOR DEVELOPING ADOLESCENTS
The essence of human survival is the ability to adapt to the changing environment. In earlier
generations, the transition from childhood to adulthood was gradual and cumulative. Despite
generally greater vulnerability to the vicissitudes of nature, children mainly grew up in the con-
text of a cohesive family and a small community with shared values and relatively slow tech-
nological and social change. In such an environment, adolescents could count on authorita-
tive information, adult guidance, and social stability.
Adolescents spent most of their time in the presence of adults. Young people worked on
family-based farms or in small businesses and youth apprenticeships. Most adolescents' leisure
time was spent in the homes of their families and neighbors. Except in large cities, adolescents'
social contacts were largely limited to near neighbors. It was scarcely possible for a "youth cul-
ture" to develop, except for gangs in some big cities.
35
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In earlier times, children observed their elders closely and learned by so doing. The tasks they
were given from an early age pointed toward their future responsibilities. These tasks increased
in scope and complexity as the children grew up; valued skills were developed step by step.
When they reached adolescence, young people were familiar with what they would have to do
as adults and what their opportunities would be. Adults controlled the sexuality and repro-
duction of the young by arranging marriages soon after girls reached puberty. With dowries,
parents often helped provide the economic basis for the start of a new family.
The changes of this century, and especially of
recent decades, have provided most children
Dramatic Changes in American Families, 1790-1989
with remarkable material benefits as well as
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN AGES 0-17
opportunities to master many skills; but they
100%
have also brought with them major disloca-
90
tions of families, communities, and the econ-
80
omy and thus introduced new stresses into
Dual-earner nonfarm
Two-parent farm family
and one-parent families
the adolescent experience. Consequently,
70
many adolescents now must navigate these
60
treacherous transitional years with fewer so-
50
cial supports and with far less guidance than
was formerly available. Among the most sig-
40
nificant transformations influencing adoles-
30
cent development today are the following:
Father breadwinner,
mother homemaker
20
Dramatic Changes in American Families.
10
As kinship and neighborhood networks
No-parent situations
have steadily eroded and divorce has be-
0
1790
1810
1830
1850
1870
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
1989
come common, family life has splintered.
YEAR
Note: Estimated for 10-year intervals to 1980 and for 1989.
Today, slightly more than half of all Ameri-
Source: America's Children: Resources from Family, Government and the Economy,
can children will spend at least part of their
by O.J. Hemandaz, 1993, New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Adapted with permission.
childhood or adolescence in a single-parent
family-a much higher proportion than a
few decades ago.¹ By age sixteen, close to
half of the adolescent children of married parents will have seen their parents divorce or marry
again.2 Remarriage presents children with the task of managing multiple family ties and dis-
ruptions in family relationships.
Less Time Spent with Adults. With the growth of two-worker families and the geographic
dispersal of the extended family, adolescents are spending much of their time with peers in age-
segregated environments. Although there has been less research than the problem deserves,
the time that American children spend with their parents has decreased significantly in the past
few decades.³ A 1988 survey found that about 27 percent of eighth graders spent two or more
hours at home alone after school. Unsupervised afterschool hours represent a period of
significant risk for engaging in substance abuse and sexual activity.5
36
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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Changing Structure of Work. Economic restructuring and the globalization of the market-
place have occurred so rapidly that unskilled individuals can find only low-paying work, often
with little prospect of improvement. Entire adequate wage/low-skills industries have virtually
disappeared in recent years. High school graduates who do not go on to postsecondary edu-
cation are typically relegated to low-status, dead-end jobs.⁶ The growing disparity in incomes
between the economically advantaged and the poor⁷ constitutes a threat to the prospects and
morale of many adolescents and their parents. The material deprivation and job loss that in-
terfere with effective parenting under conditions of poverty can give young people a bleak sense
of the future.
Earlier Reproductive Capacity Yet Later Marriage and Work. The hiatus between the ad-
vent of reproductive capacity in individuals and their attainment of independent adult status
has lengthened.8 Infection control and better nutrition in developed countries have lowered
the average age at which menstruation begins to twelve and a half. At the same time, the period
required for education and training and for achieving stable, productive employment has in-
creased and marriages occur later. For many adolescents, there are few meaningful opportu-
nities to participate directly in the adult world and in community life. Many, therefore, are un-
certain how to be useful and earn the respect of their elders; they feel adultlike stresses without
experiencing the rewards of belonging in the valued settings of adult life.
Dominance of Electronic Media. More than any prior generation in history, young adoles-
cents in America today have become immersed in media. Television and radio, along with per-
sonal computers and videocassette recorders, are a dominant presence in the lives of both chil-
dren and adolescents and a major shaping influence. By mid-adolescence, children have watched
about 15,000 hours of television-more time that they have spent with their teachers, their
friends, and even their parents.⁹ What young people see on television profoundly influences
their fears and expectations about the future, their relationships with others, their concept of
self and others, and their values.¹⁰
More Pluralism. The United States has now become one of the leading multiethnic nations
in the world. One-third of American adolescents today are of non-European descent and come
from a wide array of religious, ethnic, and national backgrounds.¹¹ In major metropolitan ar-
eas, these young people are the majority in the public schools. By the year 2050, close to 50
percent of the entire American population is projected to be African American, American In-
dian, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Latino/Hispanic.¹² Learning to live peacefully while re-
specting diversity will be a major task for adults in the twenty-first century.
All adolescents and their families have been affected by these interrelated social transforma-
tions, and the pace of change promises only to accelerate in the new century. Consequently, a
primary task for American institutions is to find innovative ways to help adolescents adapt to
these changes. Such institutional responses are necessary so that individuals of all ages, but es-
pecially young people in the midst of profound biological, psychological and social transfor-
mation, will be able to build and maintain successful, satisfying lives.
OLD BIOLOGY IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
37
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More Education Is Linked to Higher Annual Earnings, 1992
MEAN ANNUAL EARNINGS (IN DOLLARS)
$80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Not a High school Associate Bachelor's Master's Doctorate Professional
high school graduate
LEVEL OF EDUCATION
graduate
Source: "More Education Means Higher Career Earnings," by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1994,
Washington. DC: Government Printing Office
The Ethnic Composition of Young Adolescents
is Changing (1995-2050)
PERCENTAGE OF YOUTH AGED 10 TO 14
80%
White
70
60
50
40
30
Hispenic Origin
20
Black
Asian and Pacific Islander
10
American Indian, Eskimo and Aleut
0
1995
2005
2015
2025
2035
2045
2050
YEAR
Note: Percentages may total more than 100 because Hispanic Origin group overlaps
with other ethnic groups.
Source: Population Projections of the United States, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1993 to 2050,
by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993, Washington, DC: U.S. Governent Printing Office
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
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YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FACE NEW RISKS
Across America, the demands and expectations as well as the risks and opportunities facing
adolescents are both more numerous and more complicated than they were even a generation
ago. Millions are growing up under conditions that do not meet enduring human needs for
optimal development. They are not receiving the careful, nurturing guidance they need from
parents and other adults. They are dealing with social pressures to use drugs, including al-
cohol and cigarettes, and to engage in sex at distressingly early ages. Too many are alienated
from school and moving toward dropping out. Many are engaging in antisocial activities and
violence.
Although adolescents generally have more autonomy and more money to spend than they used
to, they have less real responsibility. Urban neighborhoods once secure are unsafe; even class-
rooms and hallways can erupt into battlegrounds. With easier access to the weapons and drugs
that endanger themselves and others, adolescents have increasing reason to fear each other.
Many have not learned how to handle conflict without resorting to violence.
Today younger adolescents are commonly exhibiting many of the very risky behaviors that were
once associated with middle and late adolescence. Countless poignant examples exist of trou-
bled, self-destructive, even violent behavior in the ten-to-fourteen-year age group, among rich
and poor alike.
One-Third of Eighth Graders Use Drugs
Binge Drinking Is a Serious Drug
Lifetime Use of Any Illicit Drug Including Inhalants,
Problem in the Eighth Grade
by Grade, 1994.
Use of 5 or More Drinks in a Bow in Past 2 Weeks, 1994
PERCENTAGE INDICATING USE OVER LIFETIME
PERCENTAGE REPORTING BINGE DRINKING
50%
30%
25
40
20
30
15
20
10
10
5
0
0
8th Grade
10th Grade
12th Grade
8th grade
10th grade
12th grade
GRADE
GRADE
Source: The Monitoring the Future Study, by the University
Source: Monitoring the Future Study, by the University
of Michigan Institute for Social Research, December 1994,
of Michigan Institute for Social Research, December 1994,
unpublished data.
unpublished data.
OLD BIOLOGY IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
39
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More Adolescent Males Are Engaging in Sex
PERCENTAGE OF ADOLESCENT MALES WHO HAVE HAD INTERCOURSE
80%
70
Turned 20 in1985-87
60
50
Turned 20 in 1970-72
40
30
20
10
0
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
AGE
Source: Sex and America's Teansgers, by The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994, New York:
The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Adapted with permission.
More Adolescent Females Are Engaging in Sex
PERCENTAGE OF ADOLESCENT FEMALES WHO HAVE HAD INTERCOURSE
80%
70
Turned 20 in 1985-87
60
50
40
30
Turned 20 in 1970-72
20
10
0
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
AGE
Source: Sex and America's Teenagers, by The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994,
New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Adapted with permission.
49
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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Births to Older Adolescents Remain High, 1972-1992
NUMBER OF BIRTHS, MOTHER 15 TO 19 YEARS OLD
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992
YEAR
Source: Tabulations by American Demographics, Inc., 1995, based on National Center for Health
Statistics unpublished data. Adapted with permission.
Births to Young Adolescents Are Rising, 1972-1992
NUMBER OF BIRTHS, MOTHER YOUNGER THAN 15 YEARS OLD
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
YEAR
Source: Tabulations by American Demographics. Inc., 1995, based on National Center for Health
Statistics unpublished data. Adapted with permission.
OLD BIOLOGY IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
41
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Earlier Experimentation with Drugs. A troubling number of young adolescents are smok-
ing cigarettes and drinking alcohol. They perceive little or no risk to using these addictive sub-
stances, which are gateways to the use of illicit drugs (including marijuana, LSD and other hal-
lucinogens, inhalants, stimulants, barbiturates, cocaine, and crack). Fully one-third of eighth
graders reported using an illicit drug in 1994.¹³
Earlier Sexual Activity. Rates of sexual initiation are increasing among younger girls and boys.14
Many American teenagers are startlingly ignorant of the most elementary facts of the human body
and human sexuality, despite their wholesale exposure to sex in the mass media, the availability
of sexually related materials, and efforts to provide sexuality education in the schools. Among
teenagers in the United States, pregnancy rates
are higher than in any other industrialized na-
tion.¹⁵ In 1990, adolescents gave birth to 12
Among Young Adolescent Girls, Sex Is Usually Forced
percent of all newborns. Four percent were to
PERCENTAGE OF SEXUALLY EXPERIENCED WOMEN AGES 19 AND YOUNGER
those under age eighteen, and 8 percent were
WHO HAVE HAD INVOLUNTARY INTERCOURSE
70%
to eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds.¹⁶
Inadequate Learning. In the past two
60
decades, achievement levels and rates of high
school graduation have remained virtually
50
stagnant.¹⁷ The performance of American
students is lower than that of same-aged stu-
40
dents in both Asia and Europe. Such perfor-
mance is too low to support increasing living
30
standards in a high-technology, information-
based society.
20
More health-damaging behavior. As the
10
communicable diseases of childhood have
been controlled by biomedical research and
0
13 and younger
14
15
16
17
18
19
public health advances, new behavior-based
AGE AT FIRST INTERCOURSE
morbidities of adolescence have come to the
Source: Sex and America's Teensgers, by The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994, New York:
fore.¹ Suicide and gun-related homicides
The Alan Guttmacher Institute, based on tabulations by K.A. Moore, C. W. Nord, and J.L. Peterson
of data from the 1967 National Survey of Children. Adapted with permission.
are at record-high levels.¹⁹ Injury, homicide,
and suicide taken together account for most
adolescent deaths.20
By age eighteen, about a quarter of all adolescents have engaged in behavior that is harmful or
dangerous to themselves or others. Another quarter are deemed at moderate risk for such be-
havior. On average, about half of all American adolescents-an estimated 14 million girls and
boys-are at high or moderate risk of impairing their life chances through engaging in prob-
lem behaviors.2¹ In distressed communities, the proportion of adolescents at very high risk for
poor outcomes is even larger.
42
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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The Science and Mathematics Achievement of American 13-Year-Olds Is a Serious Concern
AVERAGE SCORE
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Korea
Taiwan
Switzerland
Hungary
Italy
Israel
Canada
France
Spain
USA
Ireland
Jordan
Math
Science
COUNTRY
Source: Learning Math and Learning Science, by A.E. Lapointe, N. A. Mead, and J. M. Askew. 1992, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. Adapted with permission.
Percent of Adolescents Ages 10 to 14
Living in Distressed Neighborhoods
Living Below the Poverty Line, 1993
PERCENTAGE OF YOUTHS YOUNGER THAN AGE 18
MEAN ANNUAL EARNINGS (IN DOLLARS)
30
50
25
20
40
15
30
10
5
20
0
Black
Hispanic
White
ETHNIC BACKGROUND
10
Note: A distressed neighborhood is defined by high levels
(at least one standard deviation above the mean) of:
0
(1) poverty; (2) female-headed families; (3) high school
Total White Black Hispanic
dropouts; (4) unemployment; and (5) reliance on welfare.
ETHNIC BACKGROUND
Source: From Kids Count Data Book 1994: State Profiles
of Child Well-Being, by the Annie E. Casey Foundation,
Source: Current Population Survey, by the U.S.
1994, Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Bureau of the Census, March 1994, unpublished date.
Adepted with permission.
OLD BIOLOGY IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
43
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Leading Causes of Death in Adolescents by Age, 1992
Unintentional injury
AGES 10-14
Motor vehicle
Malignant neoplasms
Homicide
Suicide
Congenital anomalies
Unintentional injury
AGES 15-19
Motor vehicle
Homicide
Suicide
Malignant neoplasms
Heart diseases
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
RATES PER 100,000
Note: A recent addition to the leading causes of death for adolescents aged 15-19 is infection
with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV infection was the tenth leading cause
of death for this age group, at # rate of 0.3 per 100,000.
Source: The National Center for Health Statistics, 1994, unpublished data.
The Rate of Suicide Is Rising Among
White and Black Adolescents, 1980-1992
PERCENTAGE CHANGE, 1980 TO 1992
300
10-14
15-19
250
200
150
100
50
0
White Males
White Females
Black Males
Black Females
Source: "Suicide among Children, Adbiescents, and Young Adults-United States, 1980-1992."
April 21, 1995, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 44, (15).
44
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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Firearm Deaths of 10-to 14-Year-Olds, 1980-1992
FIREARM DEATHS PER 100,000 POPULATION
12
10
Black male
8
6
White male
4
Total
Black female
2
White female
0
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
YEARS
Source: "Firearm Mortality among Children, Youth, and Young Adults 1-34 Years of Age, Trends
and Current Status: United States, 1979-88," by L Fingerhut, J. C. Kleinman, E. Godfrey,
and H. Rosenberg, 1991, Monthly Vital Statistics Report, 39, (11): and National Center for Health
Statistics. data from the National Vital Statistics program, 1994, unpublished data.
Firearm Dealths of 15- to 19- Year-Olds: 1980 to 1992
FIREARM DEATHS PER 100,000 POPULATION
160
White females
Black females
140
Total
White males
120
Black males
100
80
GO
40
20
D
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
YEARS
Source: "Firearm Mortality among Children, Youth, and Young Adults 1-34 Years of Age,
Trends and Current Status: United States, 1979-88," "by L. Fingerhut, J.C. Kleinman, E. Godfrey,
and H. Rosenberg, 1991, Monthly Vital Statistics Report, 39, (11): and National Center for Health Statistics,
data from the National Vital Statistics program, 1994, unputlished data.
OLD BIOLOGY IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
45
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Overcoming
Even adolescents at risk of developing serious learn-
Even for the Kaua'i adolescents with problems, the
ing or behavior problems can beat the odds and in-
vast majority became successful adults by their
The Odds
crease their chances to lead successful adult lives.
early thirties. Their experiences with supportive
A three-decade, longitudinal study of all children
people and structured lives-such as joining the
born on the island of Kaua'i, Hawai'i, in 1955 offers us
military or a church group, having close and stable
some clues about what makes for resiliency under
relationships with caring mates or spouses, and
adversity and how the design of effective prevention
obtaining post- secondary education - provided
strategies can be informed by naturally occurring in-
opportunities to turn their lives around. These re-
terventions.
sults are consistent with those from other com-
One-third of Kaua'is Asian Pacific American children
munities where taking on adult roles as workers,
were designated as "high ris" because they were
parents, and spouses can overturn adolescent de-
born into chronic poverty, had experienced perinatal
viance. In all cases, the commitment of nurturing,
stress, and lived in families plagued by conflict, di-
competent adults to a young person is crucial. For
vorce, alcoholism, or mental disorders. By age eigh-
some, the adults were parents, but for others, they
teen, two-thirds of this high-risk group did experi-
were concerned teachers, coaches, youth work-
ers, or relatives.
ence problems, including delinquency, mental health
problems, or teenage pregnancy. The remaining chil-
Werner emphasized the importance of naturally oc-
dren were described by researchers Emmy Werner
curring informal support networks in shaping the life
and Ruth S. Smith as "vulnerable, but resilient," and
trajectories of adolescents who overcome great
they emerged as competent young adults who were
odds. Where such support networks do not exist as
gainfully employed, involved in stable relationships
they did on Kaua'i, "a continuum of care and caring
with spouses or partners, and active in their com-
by professionals as well as volunteers" is required.
munities. None developed problems during child-
The children of Kaua'i, who are now adults ap-
hood or adolescence.
proaching middle age, and children in similar studies
Three clusters of protective factors distinguished this
throughout the world offer compelling testimony
about what can make a difference in lives threatened
"resilient" group from the other high-risk individuals
who did develop problems by adolescence: (1) tem-
by conditions of economic and personal adversity.
peramental characteristics and engaging social skills,
that involve family members and others, and at least
SOURCES
average intelligence; (2) strong attachments with
Werner, E.E, & Smith, R.S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High-
parents or parental substitutes, including grandpar-
risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Uni-
ents and siblings; and (3) a broad community support
versity Press.
system such as a church, youth group, or school that
Werner, E.E., & Smith, R.S. (1983). Vulnerable but invincible: A
offered stable support and consistent guidance, with
study of resilient children. New York: McGraw-Hill.
the hope that they could expect a good future. In this
Werner, E. E., Bierman, J. M., & French, F.E. (1971). The children
and more than 250 studies of children growing up in
of Kauai: A longitudinal study from the prenatal period to age
adverse circumstances-war, poverty, dysfunc-
ten. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
tional families-results present a consistent picture
that these common factors enable young people to
beat the odds.
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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THE UNMET NEEDS OF HIGHLY VULNERABLE YOUTH
Many low-income neighborhoods lack jobs that generate adequate family incomes, thus con-
centrating poverty in a way that pervades the community.22 There, young people are rarely ex-
posed to role models who can raise their expectations about stable jobs and family life. Few
adults are available for sustained attention, guidance, and supervision. Areas of concentrated
poverty have high crime rates and dangerous streets. Young adolescents from these areas of-
ten are tempted to get involved with illicit drugs, not only as users but also as sellers. They
spend a lot of time alone, often watching television with all its vivid violence and putative badges
of adulthood and hanging out on street corners where real violence threatens or with antisocial
peer groups. They may be engaged in sexual activity earlier than their parents were, even as
they progressively disengage from school.
Not all troubled adolescents are disadvantaged, and not all disadvantaged adolescents are
troubled. But those adolescents from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are often at
higher risk than their more privileged counterparts of reaching adulthood ill equipped for
work, family life, and full participation in our democratic society. They are more apt to be
indifferent to their health and cynical about future opportunities that could motivate them to
adopt health-enhancing behavior.25 They are more likely to bear children in adolescence-
indeed, 87 percent of teen mothers are poor or near poor.24 Yet, even high-risk behavior need
not be the case, as shown by a recent decline in smoking reported by African American ado-
lescents.²⁵ As we shall see, there is much that can usefully be done for young people even in
circumstances of deep adversity.
TURNING NEW RISKS TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Although the profound changes of adolescence create vulnerability, they also provide a unique
window of opportunity. Adolescents initially explore new behavior patterns and possibilities ten-
tatively. That is why, before damaging patterns are firmly established, adults have a major oppor-
tunity to shape interventions to prevent later casualties and promote more successful outcomes.
Adolescence represents the last phase of the life course during which society has reasonably
ready access to the entire population, so the potential for constructive influence is great. With
the supportive guidance of pivotal institutions, namely the family, schools, community and
health-care organizations, and media, adolescents can be helped to form healthier, problem-
solving lifestyles and thereby increase their odds of successfully meeting the challenges of adult
life in a transformed world.
Further Reading
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council. (1993).
Losing generations: Adolescents in high-risk settings. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Dryfoos, J. G. (1990). Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention. New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press.
Hawley, W.D, & Jackson, A. W. (Eds.). (1995). Toward a common destiny: Improving race and
ethnic relations in America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
OLD BIOLOGY IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
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per
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CHAPTER FOUR
Reducing Risks, Enhancing Opportunities:
Essential Requirements for Healthy
Development
Although new social circumstances have vastly altered the landscape for adolescent develop-
ment, all adolescents continue to have fundamental human requirements that must be met if
they are to grow up into healthy, constructive adults. All run the risk of diminished lives if these
requirements are not met.
To make a successful transition to adulthood, adolescents must still have the kind of help and
support that was once commonly available within the network of family and kin but now is
eroded. They must have sustained, caring relationships with adults; receive guidance in fac-
ing serious challenges; become a valued member of a constructive peer group; feel a sense of
worth as a person; become socially competent; know how to use the support systems available
to them; achieve a reliable basis for making informed choices; find constructive expression of
the curiosity and exploration that strongly characterize their age; believe in a promising future
with real opportunities; and find ways of being useful to others.
Meeting these requirements has been basic for survival into adulthood for millennia. But in a
democratic society that places an increasingly high premium on competence in many domains,
adolescents now face an even stiffer set of challenges. They must learn the elements of re-
sponsible citizenship; master social skills, including the ability to manage conflict peacefully;
become ethical persons; respect diversity in our pluralistic society; and cultivate inquiring and
problem-solving habits of mind. Further, to compete for good jobs in a rapidly changing work-
place, young people must not only acquire the technical and analytical capabilities to partici-
pate in a worldwide economy, they must also have motivation for lifelong learning and for
adaptability throughout the life span. Indeed, an important part of preparation for adulthood
today is preparation for change itself.
49
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THE POWER OF GENERIC APPROACHES
Many of the adolescents who have serious problems lack critical social supports and are at risk
of not meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. Serious adolescent problems, such as
delinquency, substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, and school failure, are strongly associ-
ated with family discord or violence, poor communication, lack of parental monitoring, and
inconsistent discipline.¹ They are typically associated with parents who are either highly au-
thoritarian or very permissive in their child-rearing practices.
One of the important insights to emerge from scientific inquiry into adolescence in the past
two decades is that problem behaviors tend to cluster in the same individual and reinforce one
another.2 Crime, school dropout, teenage childbearing, and drug abuse typically are consid-
ered separately, but in the real world they occur together. Those who drink and smoke in early
adolescence are thus more likely to initiate sex earlier than their peers; those who engage in
these behavior patterns often have a history of difficulties in school. When young people have
a low commitment to school and education, and when teachers or parents have low expecta-
tions of the children's performance, trouble lurks. Once educational failure occurs, then other
adverse events begin to take hold.
Just as health-compromising behaviors cluster, health-enhancing behaviors of young adoles-
cents also tend to be linked.3 These observations suggest that families, schools, and other so-
cial institutions have a unique opportunity to foster healthy lifestyles during early adolescence
by addressing the common roots of both positive and negative behavioral clusters. Such an ap-
proach to adolescent development is generic, to distinguish it from a categorical or targeted ap-
proach that focuses on a specific or single problem. Generic approaches emphasize the posi-
tive possibilities inherent in the adolescent transition: possibilities for educating and motivating
adolescents in the pursuit of healthy lifestyles;4 for fostering interpersonal and decision-mak-
ing skills to help them choose alternatives to very risky behavior;5 and for providing them with
ways to build constructive lives.
Generic interventions address some of the underlying or predisposing factors that increase the
likelihood that an adolescent will engage in high-risk or problem behaviors. These factors in-
clude low self-esteem, underdeveloped interpersonal and decision-making skills, lack of in-
terest in education, inadequate information regarding health matters, low perception of op-
portunities, the absence of dependable and close human relationships, and meager incentives
for delaying short-term gratification.
Generic approaches seek to meet the fundamental developmental needs of adolescents and
promote a cluster of healthy behaviors that are likely to emerge when these needs are met.
Generic approaches are especially useful for the population of young people who are at mod-
erate risk of negative outcomes and who, therefore, can readily go either way: toward additional
problem behavior or toward healthy adolescent development.
There is a complementary relationship between generic approaches that tackle these underly-
ing factors and targeted approaches that deal with specific problems. For instance, a generic
approach can help a shaky adolescent earn self-respect, find a place in a valued and construc-
tive group, and make durable friendships, all of which enhance the individual's resistance to
50
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New Jersey Offers Comprehensive Services for Youth
Trouble for many young adolescents comes in mul-
Today the program operates in thirty-seven sites in or
tiple doses. A young person may have parents who
near schools in urban, rural, and suburban communi-
face unemployment and housing problems or may
ties. Sites are open during and after school, on week-
have a father or mother who is an alcoholic or drug
ends, and all summer long. They offer a core set of
abuser. The young person may be performing poorly
services, all of which require parental consent. Cen-
at school, may lack adequate medical or dental care,
ters offer adolescents basic services: primary and
and may know no reliable adult to whom to turn to
preventive health services; referrals to health and so-
for advice.
cial services; individual and family counseling; crisis
intervention; drug and alcohol abuse counseling; em-
Human service agencies that could help these young
ployment counseling, training, and placement; sum-
people may themselves be geographically dispersed,
mer and part-time job development; and recreation.
unattractively labeled or socially unacceptable to
Beyond this core of services, the state encourages
adolescents, and not linked to one another. The
centers to provide classroom-based health education;
agencies may rely heavily on informal referrals, with
arts, cooking, and sports activities; transportation;
no systematic way of accepting students from the
family planning examinations and referrals; parenting
school system. Furthermore, if the agencies do not
skills instruction; violence prevention programs; child
provide family counseling, they may be unable or
care; outreach to adolescents who have left school;
unwilling to address problems in family relationships.
or twenty-four-hour hotlines. Mental health services
One promising state-based model to provide needed
are the most frequently used service across the state,
help for adolescents is New Jersey's School-Based
followed by other health, employment, education, and
Youth Services Program, which brings together ex-
substance abuse services.
isting services for adolescents under one roof, most
often at the school. State officials have found that
In 1991, about one of every three New Jersey teen-
schools offer the most effective sites for reaching
agers-more than 19,000 students-participated in
and assisting large numbers of adolescents on a reg-
this state-sponsored program. A recent survey re-
ular basis.
vealed that more than half of the students receiving
services are African American and nearly a quarter
Led by then-Governor Thomas Kean, the New Jersey
are Hispanic. More than half of the adolescents are
Department of Human Resources initiated the School-
considered at risk for dropping out of school. Girls
Based Youth Services Program in 1988 as a way of
and boys use the service about equally, and they are
connecting the state's education, health, and human
most likely to be ninth and tenth graders.
services, and creating "one-stop service centers" for
adolescents and their families. By changing the tradi-
Although evaluative data are not yet extensive, pro-
tional institutional arrangements of the state's agen-
grams like New Jersey's appear to be efficient, cost-
cies from a targeted approach to one that support
effective ways to connect adolescents and their fam-
the overall well-being of the state's teenagers by
ilies to critical services. Administratively, the state
providing comprehensive services, this program has
requires that each host community provide at least
encouraged teenagers to complete their education,
25 percent of the program costs through direct fi-
obtain the skills they need for employment or for ad-
nancial contribution or in-kind services, facilities, or
ditional education, and lead healthy, productive lives.
materials. Each site costs the state approximately
REDUCING RISKS, ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES
51
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$230,000 annually, or about $200 per student served.
development and to strengthen the parent-child re-
Stable funding is a strong factor in convincing com-
lationship. Parent support groups provide an oppor-
munity organizations and schools that they should
tunity for students to talk about what it is like to raise
work together on the program.
children as they struggle for their own indepen-
At Plainfield High School, in response to the inci-
dence. Students are encouraged to share their ideas
dence of teenage parenthood, the Plainfield School-
and experiences, to see their similarities and differ-
Based Youth Services Program developed and im-
ences, and to help each other solve problems and
plemented the Plainfield Teen Parent Program in
work through tough times.
collaboration with the Parent Linking Project of the
An evaluation of the project found that 84 percent of
New Jersey Chapter, National Committee for Pre-
program mothers graduated from high school, com-
vention of Child Abuse, AT&T, Community Coordi-
pared to 41 percent of the control mothers. Two years
nated Child Care of Union County, and the Plainfield
after their first births, 11 percent of program mothers
Health Center. The program provides a comprehen-
had a second birth, compared to 33 percent of the
sive array of services to mothers and their babies, in-
control mothers. Program mothers were more likely
cluding school-based child care, parent education
than comparison mothers to report having 8 regular
classes, mentoring, tutoring, parent support groups
source of medical care for their children. Stress as-
for both pregnant and parenting teens, life skills train-
sociated with parenting decreased significantly
ing, job skills training, health care, including prena-
among program mothers, while general self-esteem
tal, well-baby, and adolescent health care, and in-
rose. Students and faculty at Plainfield High School
formation and referral to other social service
generally supported the presence of a child-care
agencies. Services are also provided to young fa-
center on the school grounds and felt that it made a
thers, grandparents, and guardians. All students who
difference in making it possible for some girls to
have children in the Plainfield Infant Toddler Center
graduate. This program was developed by and in-
are required to enroll in a parenting class that teaches
cludes representatives from all segments of the com-
the student-parents activities to enhance their child's
munity and private and public sectors.
drugs, weapons, or early sexual activity. At the same time, it is important for adolescents to ac-
quire accurate information about each of these major risks and to develop specific skills in
avoiding them. In this way, the generic and targeted approaches are mutually supportive.
SOCIAL SUPPORTS TO ADOLESCENTS AND FAMILIES
At the heart of a generic approach to adolescent development is the restoration and strength-
ening of social supports that once were available to young adolescents within their families and
communities. A working group on social support networks, established by the Carnegie Coun-
cil on Adolescent Development and chaired by Richard Price of the University of Michigan,
examined the potential of schools and youth organizations to offer young adolescents the prac-
tical services and material benefits that promote healthy development; the feedback that raises
self-esteem and strengthens identity; and the affection, caring, and nurture they need. Care-
fully reviewing dozens of such programs across a variety of settings, the working group noted
the following critical ingredients of effective or promising approaches:6
52
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They tend to respond to more than one serious problem or risk factor. They recognize that ado-
lescent problems occur in clusters.
They plan interventions in ways that can make a difference before damaging patterns are firmly
established. They take developmental information into account-for instance, they take note
of the point at which high-risk behavior is likely to begin in offering guidance to the young to
diminish the risks.
They create incentives that adolescents are likely to perceive as relevant to their own lives. For
example, they open up social roles that are respected and provide the opportunity to learn new
skills. They tend to provide some combination of knowledge and skill that can help young peo-
ple earn respect.
They are broad enough in scope and flexible enough in mode of operation to adapt to a consider-
able range of needs.
SUPPORT STRATEGIES FOR CREATING MEANINGFUL SOCIAL ROLES
One of the problems adolescents have is that they often do not perceive what their place is in
society or what they are being prepared for.⁷ They wonder how they can earn appreciation and
approval. Particular support strategies have arisen to foster meaningful social roles for them
during early adolescence. These strategies include adult mentoring, peer tutoring, and service
to others in the community. Successful efforts to help prepare young people for adult social
roles share the following characteristics:8
They foster active participation by adolescents. They provide opportunities for direct involve-
ment, high initiative, and leadership. For example, they may arrange for rotation of leadership
in group activities and construct opportunities for adolescents to give as well as to receive.
They foster relationships among several elements of the social support system. For example, there
are programs aimed at preventing school failure that actively engage both teachers and parents,
helping each to understand the adolescent better and to work together in supporting efforts to
improve the students' educational performance.
They provide considerable continuity over time. They are arranged to provide dependable, trust-
ing relationships for one year or longer, providing incentives and guidance for adolescents to
pursue a constructive course with respect to their health and education.
They promote activities that fit well in sponsoring organizations. They try to build upon orga-
nizational readiness for change.
ADULT MENTORING
A crucial need of adolescents is for an enduring, stable, supportive bond with a caring adult.
For this reason, another aspect of social support that has captured great interest in recent years,
especially for its benefits in communities with very low incomes, is adult mentoring.9 A variety
of innovative efforts have explored ways to construct such dependable one-to-one relations
over an extended period of time.
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53
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Mentoring can be a powerful way to provide adult involvement with adolescents who are largely
isolated from the world of adults. It can help adolescents prepare for social roles that earn re-
spect and encourage them to persist in education. Elder citizens can contribute substantially
as mentors to adolescents, bringing new meaning to their own lives while helping the younger
generation grow up. On the basis of this trusting and stimulating experience, other relation-
ships may be built in the future. However, the mentor's task is not easy. He or she is expected
to provide sustained support, guidance, and concrete assistance as the adolescent goes through
a difficult time, enters a new situation, or takes on new tasks. It is also important that a men-
toring program be integrated with other resources in the community. Particularly for high-risk
youth, where problems tend to cluster, the connection with education, health, and social ser-
vices is necessary.
PEER-MEDIATED PROGRAMS THAT PROMOTE HEALTH AND EDUCATION
Peer relations in adolescence are powerful influences, for better or worse. Within the group,
there can be opportunities to become a person worthy of respect, with a distinctive contribu-
tion to make. Programs led by peers can be valuable in giving young adolescents the ongoing,
sympathetic attention they need to cope with risk factors. The credibility of peers during ado-
lescence can help some young people who would otherwise be very hard to reach. Both edu-
cation- and health-oriented interventions can function well with peer leadership, if teachers or
other professional adults provide proper training and supervision. Indeed, continuing guid-
ance of peer tutors and counselors by mature, qualified adults is important.
Peer-led programs on smoking, for example, show they can substantially reduce the onset of
smoking in early adolescence.¹⁰ In these programs, older peer leaders who themselves have
successfully resisted the lure of addictive substances can serve as models for young ones only
now on the verge. Peer leaders can be effective in teaching younger adolescents social skills to
resist pressures to use drugs or engage in premature sex and can help them identify and prac-
tice health-enhancing behaviors.
Abundant evidence also exists of the value of one-to-one tutoring as an effective teaching
method. With a trained tutor, 98 percent of students do better in school than they otherwise
would.¹ This is true not only when the tutoring is conducted by teachers or professional tu-
tors; it also works well when the tutor is a suitably prepared student, especially one who is
older. Students in elementary and secondary school can benefit from tutoring by older peers
in difficult subjects such as mathematics.
As with peer counseling, there is considerable evidence that tutoring benefits the young tu-
tors.¹² When these programs are firmly established, teachers also benefit.¹ 13 The classroom cli-
mate is likely to improve. Since fewer students are feeling left out or seriously alienated, a more
cooperative atmosphere conducive to learning tends to emerge. A well-functioning program
of students serving as auxiliary teachers allows teachers to use their professional skills more
fully than they could otherwise.
54
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LIFE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
If adolescents are to solve problems of human relations, develop healthy lifestyles, access so-
cial systems, cultivate intellectual curiosity, and meet the demands of the workplace, they must
learn basic life skills. By and large, these are practical skills that help in coping with day-to-day
living. In favorable circumstances, adolescents acquire these critical adaptive skills in the fam-
ily, in friendship groups, in the neighborhood, and in school. To the extent that families and
neighborhood resources are unable to fulfill these requirements, however, specially designed
interventions may be crucial.
In considering ways to prevent damaging outcomes in education and
health during adolescence, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent De-
velopment has given in-depth scrutiny to the role of specific train-
ing in such "life skills," especially in early adolescence, when young
I think that being a kid is the most
people are making fateful decisions that involve education, drugs,
weapons, and how they use their bodies.¹⁴ Such training offered at
important stage of your life. It's a time
this decisive time can capitalize on young adolescents' emerging
cognitive capabilities-marked by a change from the concrete think-
when you start to develop a personality.
ing of childhood to the capacity for higher-order thinking-to de-
It's when you start to learn about who
velop the social skills and competence needed for success in the
mainstream.
you are, and what you want to do with
Life skills training should become a vital part of education in all rele-
vant institutions, including most especially the family, schools, and
yourself. And it's a time when you develop
community-based organizations, so that adolescents learn to make in-
trust. It's a time when you learn how to
formed, deliberate, and constructive decisions. Such decision making
requires one to stop and think, obtain information and assess it, for-
be a person in society.
mulate or consider options, try new behavior, and get feedback.
Linked to a curriculum in the life sciences in middle grade and junior
high schools, for example, life skills training could answer many ques-
Unfortunately a lot of kids don't have that.
tions that adolescents have about their bodies and how to use them
If you don't grow up learning how to be
responsibly.
One such life skill that adolescents often lack and that can be taught
a productive person, then you're going to
is the ability to pursue constructive relations with others. Adolescents
who are vulnerable because they have been isolated and lonely, de-
have a problem once you grow up.
pressed, angry, and lacking in interpersonal skills can be helped
through life skills training to form solid friendships, learn from expe-
SARAH ROSEN, 16
rience, and participate in cooperative groups. Another useful skill is
assertiveness. An aspect of assertiveness is knowing how to resist pres-
sure or intimidation to use drugs or weapons or have sex-without
disrupting valued relationships or isolating oneself. Yet another aspect is nonviolent conflict
resolution-the ability to achieve personal and social goals in ways that make use of the many
nonviolent opportunities that exist in the society.
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55
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Mentors Rewrite the Future of Youth
A downward trajectory is not inevitable for youth liv-
The program required students to participate in (1)
ing in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. Young
academic-related activities outside school hours, in-
people from extremely disadvantaged situations can
cluding reading, writing, math, science, and social
rewrite their futures with the help of a caring adult
studies, peer tutoring, and computer skills training;
mentor from the community if the mentoring takes
(2) community service projects, including tutoring
place in combination with a multiyear mix of educa-
elementary school students, cleaning up the neigh-
tional, developmental, and cultural activities and with
borhood, and volunteering in hospitals, nursing
service to others in the community. The Quantum Op-
homes, and libraries; and (3) cultural enrichment and
portunities Program (OOP), a four-year, year-round
personal development activities, including life skills
youth development program, funded by The Ford
training, college and job planning, attending plays
Foundation, has shown that intervening during the
and concerts, visiting museums, and reading and dis-
high school years, beginning during the freshman
cussing the great books. Community service activi-
year (age thirteen), can more than marginally im-
ties connected the students to their communities and
prove the prospects for African American adoles-
helped them develop many of the skills needed for
cents in poverty. The program, initiated during the
work-reliability, following through on tasks, and
1989-1990 school year, was designed to test the abil-
working cooperatively. Through personal develop-
ity of community-based organizations to foster aca-
ment activities, students learned how to set goals,
demic and social competencies among high school
manage their time, and choose behavior appropriate
students from families receiving public assistance.
for varying situations. They learned the life skills
needed in the home, at work, and in the marketplace.
Participants were selected at random from high
Consequently, the program encouraged students to
schools in five sites-Philadelphia, Oklahoma City,
develop meaningful relationship with their mentors,
Saginaw, Milwaukee, and San Antonio. Students
form strong ties to their peers because of the family-
were eligible for the program if they were entering
like environment provided by the program, and
the ninth grade, attending a public high school in a
strengthen their ties to their neighborhoods through
neighborhood with high rates of poverty, a member
service.
of a minority group, and from a family receiving pub-
lic assistance. Each group of twenty-five students
In exchange for their commitment to the program,
at the five sites was matched with a paid mentor
students were offered financial incentives that en-
who stayed with the group for the four years of high
couraged participation, completion, and long-range
school, including summers. Extremely committed to
planning. A stipend of $1.33 was given to students
their students, mentors provided what children
for each hour they participated in these activities.
need most-an adult who cares about them and
For every 100 hours of education, service, or devel-
who sticks with them over the long term no matter
opment activities in a cycle, students received a
what. Each day for four years, mentors provided
completion bonus payment of $100. The accrued
sustained support, guidance, and concrete assis-
amount with interest became available to the stu-
tance to their students, all of whom were growing
dent for college, job training, technical training, or
up in poverty.
other approved education upon graduation from
GREAT TRANSITIONS
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high school. The average cost per participant was
$10,600 for the four years, which is one-half the cost
of a year in prison.
Brandeis University faculty conducted an evaluation
of the program using a random-assignment control-
group design to assess effects while students were
in the program and after they graduated. The results
are encouraging. The fall 1993 follow-up evaluation
of participants and controls in three sites (Philadel-
phia, Saginaw, and Oklahoma City) shows the effec-
tiveness of an intensive effort that offers an array
of coordinated services, coupled with a continuing
relationship with a peer group and a caring adult.
Sixty-three percent of program participants gradu-
ated from high school, and 42 percent are currently
enrolled in college, versus 42 percent and 16 per-
cent, respectively, of the controls, Program partici-
pants bore fewer children than controls (24 percent
compared to 38 percent of control group members).
In addition, participants were half as likely to receive
As part of The Ford Foundation's continuing support,
food stamps or welfare and average fewer arrests
the program will be tested further in five additional
than controls (19 percent compared to 23 percent).
sites that include approximately 700 participants. A
QOP members are significantly more likely to be in-
key ingredient of this program is the sustained in-
volved in community service, to be hopeful about
volvement of community organizations and residents.
their future, and to consider their life a success than
Given the interest in empowering local communities,
are control group members.
this program offers a working model that has the po-
To students like Jacqueline Jones, participation in
tential to overcome the intergenerational transmis-
the program has made a difference. She said it has
sion of poverty and its negative outcomes.
given her a sense of "respect, trust, friendship, and,
most important, love. It has been a vital part of my life
and education. It helped to enhance my knowledge
and understanding of the world I live in. I got in-
volved in the community by doing community ser-
vices, and helping others as the QOP program had
helped me."
REDUCING RISKS, ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES
57
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Substance
Training in life skills is an essential part of a compre-
sessions in ninth grade. The booster sessions were
hensive approach to prevent adolescents from en-
designed to review and reinforce the material COV-
Abuse
gaging in health-compromising behaviors. Through
ered during the first year of intervention.
life skills, young adolescents can learn to enhance
The main focus of the intervention was on imparting
their competence to resist social influences that re-
Prevention
information and skills for resisting social influences
sult in high-risk behaviors. This prevention strategy
to use drugs and generic personal and social skills
is designed to help young people, particularly in mid-
and Life
for increasing overall competence and promoting the
dle or junior high school, develop basic personal and
development of characteristics associated with de-
social skills and an increased sense of control by
Skills
creased risk of using drugs. In contrast to other pre-
teaching them to apply and practice skills that are
vention programs, only minimal information con-
relevant to the social situations that adolescents
cerning the long-term health consequences of drug
Training
confront. The program objectives of life skills train-
use was provided. Information relevant to adoles-
ing are to:
cents in their daily lives was taught, including the im-
Provide students with the necessary skills to resist
mediate negative consequences of drug use, the de-
social pressures to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol
creasing social acceptability of use, and the actual
excessively, or use marijuana;
prevalence rates among adults and adolescents.
Decrease students' susceptibility to social pressures
Findings from this six-year follow-up study suggest
to use tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs by helping
that drug abuse prevention programs conducted dur-
them develop greater autonomy, self-esteem, and
ing junior high school can produce significant and
confidence;
sustained reductions in tobacco, alcohol, and mari-
juana use if they teach a combination of social re-
Teach students to resist the influence of advertising
sistance skills (including general life skills), are prop-
that promotes addictive substances;
erly implemented, and are followed by at least two
Enable students to cope effectively with anxiety, par-
years of booster sessions.
ticularly anxiety induced by social situations;
Increase awareness of the negative consequences
SOURCES
of substance use, particularly the more immediate
Botvin, G.J., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L, Botvin, E.M., & Diaz, T.
physical and social consequences;
(1995). Long-term follow-up results of a randomized drug abuse
prevention trial in a white middle-class population. Journal of
Correct normative expectations concerning sub-
the American Medical Association, 273:1106-1112.
stance use by providing them with accurate infor-
Hamburg, B.A. (1990). Life skills training: Preventive interven-
mation concerning the actual prevalence rates of to-
tions for young adolescents. Washington, DC: Carnegie Coun-
bacco, alcohol misuse, and marijuana use.
cil on Adolescent Development.
In evaluating the long-term efficacy of a school-
based approach to drug abuse prevention, Gilbert
Botvin and his colleagues found significant reduc-
tions in both drug and polydrug use (tobacco, alco-
hol, marijuana) in a random sample of twelfth-grade
students who had received a life skills intervention
while in the seventh grade. The intervention con-
sisted of fifteen classes taught in seventh grade, ten
booster sessions in eighth grade, and five booster
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Recent research has shown that life skills training can help prevent adolescent problem be-
havior.15 When tasks are clarified and appropriate skills provided, negative attitudes can be
changed and adolescent motivation strengthened to tackle life's problems. To be successful,
however, life skills must become a part of daily life and must be reinforced. Increasingly,
training in life skills is being oriented toward disadvantaged youths in impoverished social
environments, to good effect.¹⁶
COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS FOR INTERRELATED
PROBLEMS
All these approaches-strengthening social support networks, establishing meaningful social
roles for adolescents, creating adult mentoring opportunities, fostering peer-mediated pro-
grams, and developing life skills training-are generic in character. They have the potential to
prevent a wide range of problems in adolescent health and education.
The enduring significance of a comprehensive approach is that it responds directly to the ba-
sic requirements of adolescents as they begin to move toward adulthood. Adults and institu-
tions can address these aspirations, meeting adolescents halfway in seeking fulfillment. The
chapters that follow in Part II review the most promising approaches available by which to-
morrow's institutions can create such generic interventions, building on today's strengths to
offer young adolescents a decent chance in life.
Further Reading
Dryfoos, J. G. (1994). Full-service schools: A revolution in health and social services for chil-
dren, youth, and families. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hamburg, B. A. (1990). Life skills training: Preventive interventions for young adolescents.
Washington, DC: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
Hamburg, D.A. (1992). Today's children: Creating a future for a generation in crisis. New York:
Times Books.
Price, R. H., Cioci, M., Penner, W., & Trautlein, B. (1990). School and community support pro-
grams that enhance adolescent health and education. Washington, DC: Carnegie Council on
Adolescent Development.
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PART II
Preparing Adolescents for a New Century
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WHAT'S COOKING IN NATURE'S KITCHEN
The World
½ cup good times
1/2 сир bad
equal shares work, play
½ cup tithing
pinch of death
I cup love
Simmer violence, prejudice, hate.
Melt into loving hearts.
Summer-Stir the world
Fall-Bake and cool
Winter-Ice with hearts
Enjoy in Spring
MICHELLE MONIZ 12
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CHAPTER FIVE
Reengaging Families with Their
Adolescent Children
Being a parent of an adolescent in today's America is a formidable responsibility. Within our
lifetime, dramatic changes have occurred in the structure of American families and of the work-
place. There are many more single or divorced parents and more two-worker families than ex-
isted a generation ago. Many parents must take two jobs to make ends meet. These changes
have decreased the time parents have available for supervising their children and for instilling
values. With all the dislocations in the global economy, parents are uncertain about their chil-
dren's future. On a more immediate level, both adolescents and their parents report that life is
more difficult and neighborhoods more dangerous than in the past.¹
Many parents see their teenagers drifting into an amorphous, risky peer milieu popularly
termed "the youth culture." This culture is heavily materialistic and derived mainly from the
adult world and the commercial media. It has its own cultural heroes, made up of rock and film
stars and prominent athletes, and its own preoccupations-cars, clothes, being part of the
crowd, being physically attractive. As a result, many adolescents spend little time with their
families. With more money of their own, whether from earnings, an allowance, or illegal ac-
tivity, adolescents do not need to go home even for dinner; they can buy their meals at a fast-
food place.
Often parents become perplexed, even angry, as they feel their authority weakened and their
values challenged. They may be confused about their roles in the lives of their adolescent chil-
dren and lack guidance about how to proceed. They may find very little consensus, even at the
community level, about the values and behavior appropriate for adolescents.
ADOLESCENTS NEED THEIR FAMILIES
Compared to families with young children, families with adolescents are neglected in com-
munity programs and public policies. Little work has been done to strengthen support net-
works for middle-class families during the critical transition from childhood to adulthood. Still
less attention has gone into strengthening networks for families that live in poverty. Although
an industry of books, videos, and experts exists for parents with young children, much less
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information is available to parents with adolescent children. A social consensus holds that knowl-
edge about infant and child development is critical to a child's future. No such consensus yet
exists in defining the knowledge parents should have about the adolescent years or about their
roles during that critical period. To the contrary, many parents mistakenly believe they should
get out of the way when their children reach adolescence, letting them become instant adults!
But this attitude ignores the fact that the transition to adulthood takes place over a period of
years. Young adolescents still have a lot of growing and learning to do; they still need the sup-
portive guidance of their parents and kin. Although adolescents are moving toward indepen-
dence, they still are intimately tied to their families, which are much more important to them
than they usually admit or even understand. This close connection is essential for young ado-
lescents. Strong family relationships can be a potent force to help adolescents deal with the
radically transformed conditions of contemporary life.
A poignant response of young people to questions about why they join gangs is that these
groups become the families they never had. This response is compelling testimony to a funda-
mental human need for close, reliable relationships within a supportive, protective group that
confers respect and identity and recognizes competence. This is what many gangs do, although
often at the price of strict conformity to norms that tend to be antisocial and dangerous.
In survey after survey, young adolescents from all ethnic and economic backgrounds lament
their lack of parental attention and guidance in making educational and career decisions, in
forming adult values, and in assuming adult roles.³ Their responses are supported by fifteen
years of research on families and adolescents,
from midwestern farms undergoing economic
The Experience of Living in a Two-Parent Family
dislocation to African American neighbor-
Is Declining for White, Black, and Hispanic Youth
hoods of concentrated poverty.4
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN 18, BY ETHNIC BACKGROUND
The conclusions drawn from this research
100
are that adolescents develop best when they
White-2 parents
have a supportive family life characterized by
80
warmth and mutual respect; by the serious
Hispanic-2 parents
and sustained interest of their parents in their
Black-2 parents
lives; by parental responsiveness to their
60
changing cognitive and social capacities; by
the articulation of clear standards linked to
discipline and close supervision; by the com-
40
munication of high expectations for achieve-
Black-1 parent
Hispanic-1 parent
ment and ethical behavior; and by demo-
20
cratic, constructive ways of dealing with
White-1 parent
conflict.5 Such a family atmosphere can pro-
vide powerful protection against the risks of
0
1960
1970
1980
1990
engaging in unhealthy practices and anti-
YEAR
social behavior as well as against poor health,
Source: Households, Families, and Children A 30-Year Perspective, by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census, 1992, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
particularly depression.
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Many adults erroneously believe that hostility and conflicts between parents and their teenage
children are inevitable, and that parents should disengage or detach from them in the interest
of fostering adolescents' need for autonomy. Yet families who have good relations with their
adolescents find they can usually negotiate a balance that satisfies the young person's growing
desire for autonomy within the context of interdependence, despite normal intergenerational
tensions.⁶ Continuity and change can coexist in the bonds between adolescents and parents,
along with much shared love and commitment.
Professionals who work with adolescents also have had misconceptions about relationships
between adolescents and their families. A previous generation of studies, which focused on
troubled parent-adolescent relationships, emphasized the alienation of adolescents from fam-
ilies as inevitable. The perspective drawn from these studies overlooks the potential of fami-
lies to promote good health, high educational achievement, and ethical values for future adult
responsibilities. It has discouraged education, health, and youth-development professionals
from seeking ways to strengthen families in their critical role during the second decade of their
children's lives.
STRENGTHENING PARENTS' ROLE DURING THE
CRITICAL TRANSITION OF EARLY ADOLESCENCE
During early adolescence, three approaches-parent involvement in middle grade schools, par-
ent peer support groups, and parental guidance on healthy adolescent development-can be
helpful as parents renegotiate relationships based on the changing needs and capacities of both
parties. These approaches can be incorporated into any number of settings: the first two in
schools, religious institutions, and community and youth organizations; the latter wherever
preventive health-care services are available to adolescents.
These three approaches to supporting parents during their children's transition into adoles-
cence are most appropriate for families who have adequate financial resources. For families ex-
periencing financial hardship or living in high-risk situations, family support approaches must
be expanded to address the economic, social, and cultural factors that constrain the capacities
of these families to carry out their essential protective and guiding functions.⁷
SUSTAINING PARENT INVOLVEMENT INTO THE MIDDLE GRADES
As children become young adolescents, the percentage of parents who are actively involved in
school activities declines. Approximately three-quarters of American parents report high or
moderate involvement in schools when their children are eight to ten years of age. By the time
their children reach age sixteen, however, only 50 percent of parents report such involvement.8
Parents who want their children to do well in school must maintain their close involvement in
their children's education from the elementary through the middle and high school years. Yet
parents who try to remain involved often encounter barriers to their participation as their chil-
dren progress to middle and high school. Existing school practices, including policies and
teacher attitudes, have long accepted the absence and often discouraged the involvement of
parents beyond the elementary school years.
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Although schools that recognize the importance of parental involvement beyond the elemen-
tary school years are relatively rare, their numbers are slowly growing.9 Schools can engage
parents of adolescents in several productive ways. 10 They can:
Organize parent education and support groups to learn about normal changes during adolescence
Exchange information about ways to guide adolescents and help shape a community of shared
values about appropriate behavior
Inform parents about programs and students' progress on a regular basis
Provide specific suggestions for ways in which parents can assist with homework and other
learning activities, including community youth service
Involve parents as volunteers in schools
Include parents in school governance committees
Create partnerships among schools, parents, and key community organizations in joint re-
sponsibility for adolescents' educational achievement and healthy development
Create family resource centers that provide educational programs for parents, including com-
puter literacy, job-employment counseling, English as a second language, health promotion,
and citizenship classes.
Parental Participation in School Activities Declines As Adolescents Enter Middle Grade Schools
PERCENTAGE OF PARENTS INDICATING HIGH OR MEDIUM INVOLVEMENT
se
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
AGE OF CHILD
Source: Running in Place, by N. Zill and C. W. Nord, 1994, Washington, DC: Child Trends. Data from U.S. Department of Educaiton. National Center for Education Statistics, 1993 National
Household Education Survey. Adapted with permission.
"
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If significant progress is to be made in improving the educational performance of teenage stu-
dents, meaningful changes in the attitudes and practices of teachers and principals toward
the involvement of parents will be required. The professional preparation of educators should
include course work and practical experience about ways to foster parental participation in
the schools and parental support for their adolescents' education.
PARENT PEER SUPPORT GROUPS
Parent peer support and education groups, in which participants
share information and experience about handling the transition from
childhood to adolescence, are important means of strengthening
I'd like to design a building rather than
relationships between adolescents and their families. In these
fight. I'd like to be an architect or
groups, parents can learn about normal adolescent development,
how to improve their communication skills, ways to renegotiate the
something like that. I've had a nice life
parent-adolescent relationship, how to set and enforce limits, and
where to find resources in the community. In low-income commu-
SO far, for eleven years, but I wish
nities, these groups also can assist parents in gaining access to health
care, adult education, including literacy classes, and job training and
everybody would pay more attention to
placement.¹¹
kids. That's something we really need.
Peer support groups also can help parents cope with midlife changes.
Midlife can be a difficult time for parents of growing adolescents. Par-
Sometimes grown-ups pay attention,
ents may be struggling with their own marital relationship, issues re-
but not a lot. They're kind of all
lated to aging and work, and the illness and frailty of elderly parents.¹²
Mutual aid groups of this kind can be formed in diverse communities
wrapped up in their jobs and they don't
and reach a large number of families in an efficient way. If they become
really pay attention to little children.
sufficiently widespread, such groups could clarify and strengthen
community norms regarding parent-adolescent relationships and de-
I think it wouldn't be SO violent if
sired behaviors in the adolescent peer group. By stressing prevention
by meeting adolescents' developmental needs, such groups can gen-
people paid attention.
erate positive attitudes and skills (in both adolescents and adults) that
extend beyond the home and family.
RAOUL, 11
PROSPECTIVE GUIDANCE TO PARENTS ON
ADOLESCENT TRANSITIONS
The Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services of the American Medical Association (AMA)
recommend that parents or other caregivers of adolescents receive prospective information and
guidance on early, middle, and late adolescence as part of adolescents' annual health exami-
nations.¹³ Currently, such guidance to parents of infants and young children is accepted health
practice, but it is not widely recognized as a need for parents of adolescents. During these vis-
its, the AMA recommends that parents learn about:
Normal adolescent physical, sexual, and emotional development
The signs and symptoms of disease and emotional distress
REENGAGING FAMILIES WITH THEIR ADOLESCENT CHILDREN
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Ways to promote healthy adolescent adjustment
Ways to prevent potential problems (e.g., how to help adolescents drive responsibly, how to
monitor social and recreational activities, and how to restrict sexual behavior and the use of
tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs).
KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR POLICY REASSESSMENT
Legislation and public policies do not yet recognize the potential of families to make a differ-
ence in their adolescents' health and educational outcomes. To encourage and support par-
ents' and other adults' constructive roles in the lives of adolescents, changes in policies, pro-
grams, and laws are essential.
Schools, cultural, arts, religious, and youth organizations and health-care agencies in the
community should examine the extent to which they involve parents in activities with ado-
lescents and should develop ways to engage parents and adolescents in mutually reward-
ing activities.¹ There may be instances when parents should be explicitly excluded (e.g., ado-
lescent peer support groups), but the reasons for such exclusion should be clear.
Professionals such as teachers, nurses, social workers, physicians, psychologists, youth
development specialists, and others who work with adolescents must be prepared to work
not only with individual adolescents but also with their families.
Employers should extend to parents of young adolescents the workplace policies now
available for those with young children, including flex time, job sharing, telecommuting,
and part-time work with benefits. Such family-friendly workplace policies allow parents to
become more involved in middle and high schools, to serve as volunteers in community orga-
nizations, and to spend more time with their teens.
Community institutions such as business, schools, and youth organizations should be-
come involved in providing after-school programs. After-school programs for elementary-
age children are growing, but those for young adolescents remain scarce. More high-quality,
community-based programs for adolescents are needed during the after-school, weekend, and
vacation hours. 15 Parents' assumption that young adolescents are old enough to be without adult
supervision or planned activities must change to reflect what young adolescents say they need.
Congress should consider extending the child-care tax credit to the early adolescent pe-
riod, ages ten to fourteen. Although such an extension raises complex issues, the value of
such a policy change is clear. Families can benefit from placing their young adolescents in high-
quality after-school programs to the same degree that they now benefit from placing young
children in child-care and early childhood centers and elementary-age children in after-school
programs. The cost savings obtained by keeping in place the current cap on the upper age limit
for child care tax credits should be reevaluated by comparing them to the costs of treating prob-
lems of substance abuse and teen pregnancy, problems that often are the result of inadequate
supervision.
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Characteristics of Supportive Families
Contrary to conventional wisdom, adolescents want
They develop constructive ways of handling
to have a good relationships with their parents. They
conflict. Disagreements are a normal part of family
tend to seek regular contact with them and other
life. As long as conflict occurs within the context of
caring adults. Adolescents also needthese close re-
good parent-adolescent relationships, it is not nec-
lationships. Supportive families are very important in
essarily detrimental. In fact, conflict has an important
enhancing both educational achievement and good
role to play in bringing differences of opinion out into
health. Research has clarified some major charac-
the open so that they can be discussed and resolved.
teristics of families that are effectively supportive.
Constructive conflict resolution helps adolescents
They combine warmth and authoritativeness. Par-
develop good psychosocial and interpersonal skills.
ents should encourage family relationships based on
They seek active involvement with their young
mutual respect and democratic principles, commu-
adolescents beyond education. Most working par-
nicate their high expectations for achievement and
ents complain about not having enough time to spend
ethical behavior, provide firm discipline, and balance
with their adolescents. This lack of time is detrimen-
monitoring and supervision with their adolescents'
tal to both parents and adolescents. Without the su-
desire for independence. They also should acknowl-
pervision of responsible adults, adolescents are vul-
edge and adapt to their adolescents' changing cog-
nerable to negative peer pressure. Changes in
nitive and social capacities.
workplace policies and practices can help forestall
the power of such influences. Effective parents ac-
They get involved in their adolescents' education.
tively seek favorable settings in which to spend mu-
Parents often think they no longer need to be in-
volved with their children's schooling after their chil-
tually enjoyable time with their children.
dren have left elementary school. But research
shows that parents can enhance adolescents' edu-
SOURCE
cation by remaining actively engaged in the school-
Small. S.A. (1990). Preventive programs that support families
ing process and other aspects of their children's
with adolescents. Washington, DC: Carnegie Council on Ado-
lives. Participation in parental support groups may
lescent Development.
help parents share experiences and understand their
growing adolescents.
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American Businesses Invest in Young Adolescents
More parents of young adolescents must find ways to
"WE HAVE FUN BUILDING
balance their work and family responsibilities today
THINGS"
than ever before. As the number of dual-earner and
To help parents find attractive and educational alter-
single-parent families continues to rise, parents who
natives for their young adolescents, members of ABC
work outside the home find few safe, high-quality pro-
funded the development of summer science and
grams to provide structure and adult guidance for
technology (Sci/Tech) camps for ten- to fourteen-
their young adolescents after school and during va-
year-olds, where campers learn about computer
cations and holidays. Finding quality care is even
graphics, solar power, and architecture. Members of
more difficult for parents who work nontraditional
ABC see the camps as an investment in the future and
hours, in workplaces that operate twenty-four hours
as a child-care solution for their employees with
a day. In response to the growing needs of parents,
young adolescents. The camps open early and stay
a number of American corporations have begun to
open late to fit parents' work schedules. Attendance
diversify their dependent benefits programs to sup-
at these camps is not limited to the children of the
port parents of young adolescents.
sponsoring corporations-the parents of 64 percent
of the campers at STAR (Science and Technology Ad-
REACHING OUT TO FAMILIES
venture Researchers) Camp in South Brunswick,
New Jersey, work for other companies. The Sci/Tech
Some major employers have joined forces to provide
camps reach out to girls and to minorities, who are
activities for their employees' young adolescents
traditionally underrepresented in science and math
during the out-of-school hours. The American Busi-
camps. In New Jersey, two new Sci/Tech camps em-
ness Collaboration for Quality Dependent Care (ABC)
phasize hands-on science experience for young ado-
is a coalition formed in 1992 by 137 corporations (ex-
lescents, who are challenged to ask questions, make
panded to 156 companies by the end of 1994), to as-
scientific predictions, and plan for their futures.
sist employees in finding reliable, local care for their
dependents. To address the lack of programs for
At the STAR Camp, sponsored by several ABC partners
young adolescents when schools are not in session,
including AT&T, IBM, and Johnson & Johnson, the ses-
the ABC provided funding for the creation of adven-
sions held at the camp's Liberty Science Center are
ture camps, ropes and challenge courses, and sci-
the highlight of each day. Campers go on field trips to
ence and technology camps.
explore the working world of science. They meet sci-
entists, engineers, and technicians at Mobil Re-
search and Development's Water Toxicology Lab and
other area companies. There, campers are scientists
for a day, wearing lab coats and goggles and prepar-
ing real experiments. Such experiences show young
adolescents that what they learn in the classroom
during the school year and at camp during the sum-
mer does apply to the "real world." According to one
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camper, "STAR Camp is much better than other camps
about thirteen of Marriott's units; in 1995, the service
because you get to play computers and go to more
is expected to be expanded to include seventy-five
field trips than other camps."
more units.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Ken-
BALANCING WORK AND
tucky, operates a twenty-four-hour child develop-
FAMILY LIFE
ment center on site for children whose parents work
round-the-clock shifts. The center arranges for
Other companies, either in addition to or independent
school-age children to be picked up at school and
of ABC, have their own work and family divisions that
dropped off at the center, where they receive assis-
develop programs to help employees balance work
tance with their homework from 4:30 to 6:30, eat din-
and family life. IBM, for example, offers its 150,000 em-
ner, and go to bed at 9:00 on school nights. During
ployees (60 percent of whom are part of a dual-in-
the summer, the center runs a full-day summer
come couple, 30 percent of whom have children who
camp. About 60 percent of the children enrolled in
require supervision, and 5 percent of whom are sin-
the camp are between the ages of ten and thirteen.
gle parents) several Work and Personal Life Balance
Programs. These programs provide flexible leave and
telecommuting options to parents.
THE FUTURE
To develop ways to make flexible schedules available
The companies of ABC are winning praise for their ef-
to parents and to reduce absenteeism and tardiness,
forts to respond to the needs of their employees'
Marriott International, AT&T, Stride Rite, and Hewlett-
families. These innovators also are inspiring other
Packard formed Flex Group. Flex Group members be-
companies to follow their lead. As more and more
lieve that flexible schedules make good business
young adolescents are part of families where both
sense: employees who have schedule flexibility are
parents or guardians work full time outside the home,
more productive and are loyal to their companies.
the availability of flexible work options and quality
out-of-school programs becomes increasingly im-
Marriott International's Work-Life Department has
portant. These companies demonstrate that the ex-
developed alternative working arrangements for
tension of dependent care benefits to parents of
their employees who are parents of young adoles-
young adolescents is a viable way to increase par-
cents. In addition to job sharing, condensed work
ents' productivity.
weeks, and telecommuting, the department offers in-
formational videos and materials on parenting, child
care, and other concerns to help parents balance
work and family demands. Marriott also established
a bilingual and confidential Associate Resource Line
(ARL) pilot service. Staffed by master's-level social
workers, ARL provides twenty-four-hour counseling
and advice to employees about concerns that arise
from balancing work and family. ARL currently serves
REENGAGING FAMILIES WITH THEIR ADDLESCENT CHILDREN
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CONNECTING FAMILIES WITH SUPPORTIVE
COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS
Young adolescents are seeking to build new strengths. Yet these new strengths typically are
constructed on existing foundations. Adolescents want new interdependence with parents and
other relatives, not a rupture in the name of independence. To build this interdependence takes
time, sensitivity, resilience and, above all, the persistence of parents even in the face of provo-
cation or disappointment.
Unfortunately, there are circumstances in both affluent and economically disadvantaged fam-
ilies in which parents are unable or unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities to their children.
Parents may be depressed and lacking in hope; they may be substance abusers who physically
or emotionally neglect or abuse their children. The provision of family-like or -equivalent func-
tions by a wide range of individuals and groups beyond the family is essential for adolescents
to survive these nonsupportive situations.
Although there is no easy substitute for a deeply caring parent, adolescents cannot thrive un-
less some person or group steps in to meet their developmental needs. Family-like functions
can be provided by committed, long-term mentors; sensitive, trustworthy advisors in middle
schools; close relationships with kin in an extended family network; and other stable, mature
adults in youth and community organizations. Parents who are themselves experiencing
difficulties may benefit from family support, including substance abuse treatment and coun-
seling in health and community agencies, including schools. 16 The next four chapters of this
report are devoted to community institutions that support families in their vital functions-
and that at times must substitute for them.
........
Further Reading
Epstein, J. L. (1995). School/ family/ community partnerships: Caring for the children we
share. Phi Delta Kappan 76:701-712.
Feldman, S.S., & Elliot, G.R. (Eds.). (1990). At the threshold: The developing adolescent. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Zill, N., & Nord, C. W. (1994). Running in place: How American families are faring in a chang-
ing economy and an individualistic society. Washington, DC: Child Trends.
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CHAPTER SIX
Educating Young Adolescents for a
Changing World
If it were possible to reach any consensus about high-priority solutions to our society's prob-
lems, a good education throughout the first two decades of life would be a prime candidate.
Every modern nation must develop the talents of its entire population if it is to be economi-
cally vigorous and socially cohesive. Education is a key ingredient in an individual's success
as well: for example, well-educated and healthy young adults are rarely found in our burgeon-
ing prison population.
In contemporary societies, a significant transition occurs during early adolescence when a young
person moves from elementary school to middle grade or junior high school. Often this move
is from a neighborhood school, where the student has spent most of the day in one classroom
with the same teacher and classmates, to a larger school farther from home, with many different
classes and teachers. This transition coincides with a time when most adolescents are experi-
encing profound physical, cognitive, and emotional changes. The juxtaposition of these changes
adds up to a situation in which the capacities of young adolescents to cope are severely tested.¹
A middle grade education designed specifically to meet the developmental needs of young ado-
lescents can provide potent intellectual challenge and social support that both enhance edu-
cational achievement and promote healthy development during adolescence. It can link re-
search on child and adolescent development with research on education in daily practice.
Although education in the middle grades clearly has the potential to make a positive difference
in the futures of students, this level of education was largely ignored in the educational reform
movement of the 1980s. In a landmark report, Turning Points: Preparing Youth for the 21st
Century, published in 1989, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development took a major
step toward filling this serious gap. It reinforced an emerging movement to create develop-
mentally appropriate schools for young adolescents and to strengthen their education through
new linkages among schools, families, communities, and health organizations. Today, with the
support of a major grant-making program of Carnegie Corporation, called the Middle Grade
School State Policy Initiative (MGSSPI), the core recommendations of this report are being ex-
tensively implemented in fifteen states, involving nearly one-hundred schools throughout the
United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
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TURNING POINTS SCHOOLS
In Turning Points, the Council asserted that a volatile mismatch exists between the organiza-
tion and curriculum of middle grade schools (junior, intermediate, or middle schools) and the
intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal needs of young adolescents. It then proposed a set
of high-aspiration but not utopian reforms for the middle grades.
The new middle grade school, the report stated, should be oriented to meet the essential re-
quirements of healthy adolescent development. It must have teachers who are specially pre-
pared to work with young adolescents. It should have curricula that provide the information,
skills, and motivation for adolescents to learn about themselves and their widening world. It
should have a mutual aid ethic among teachers and students, manifest in team teaching, coop-
erative learning, and academically supervised community service. The report's prescriptions
would have applicability to the earlier grades and beyond the middle grade schools as well.
At the heart of Turning Points is a set of eight principles for transforming the education of
young adolescents. The principles were created by integrating current research knowledge
with the experience and judgment of eminent researchers, educators, policymakers, and ad-
vocates for children and youth. The principles are:
CREATE COMMUNITIES FOR LEARNING
Many American middle grade schools are large, impersonal institutions. Opportunities for teach-
ers to develop the stable personal relationships with students that are essential to teaching them
well and to provide guidance during the at-times turbulent period of early adolescence often are
nonexistent. Unacceptably large schools can be brought to human scale by creating schools-
within-schools or "houses" within the school and then dividing these subunits into smaller
"teams" of teachers and students. Such arrangements enable each student to receive a significant
amount of individual attention within a supportive group that each must have to thrive.
TEACH A CORE OF COMMON KNOWLEDGE
Much of learning and the development of solutions to complex problems lies in the ability to
integrate disparate bodies of information. Yet in many middle grade schools, the curriculum
is so fragmented by subject matter that students have virtually no opportunity to make con-
nections among ideas in different disciplines. Even in classes, middle grade students often are
not challenged intellectually, reflecting the persistent misapprehension that young adolescents
generally are incapable of critical or "higher-order" thinking.
A primary task for middle grade educators, especially as part of teaching teams, is to iden-
tify the most important principles and concepts within each academic discipline and to con-
centrate their efforts on integrating these main ideas to create a meaningful interdisciplinary
curriculum. To make such a curriculum possible, teachers must embrace the idea that "less
is more-that is, the current emphasis in the curriculum on coverage of a large quantity of
information must yield to an emphasis on the depth and quality of understanding of a limited
number of major concepts in each subject area.
76
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Creating Powerful Interdisciplinary Curricula
The creation of thoughtful interdisciplinary curricula
Students at Graham and Parks also study acting and
and learning strategies is time consuming and intel-
write plays. The last months of a recent school year
lectually challenging. It requires significant effort by
were spent creating a student-written and -acted play
the middle grade interdisciplinary teaching team.
that highlights the concepts and themes studied
Teachers may be fearful that important concepts
within the interdisciplinary approach. The play was
from their subject of specialization will be lost within
performed for the school, parents, and other middle
an integrated approach or that they will be unable to
school students and educators across the city.
satisfy state and local requirements to cover masses
All students are required to maintain a portfolio con-
of information.
taining draft and finished written work, photographs
Despite these difficulties, many middle schools have
of three-dimensional projects (such as sculptures),
created effective interdisciplinary curriculum, in-
videotapes of all presentations and exhibitions, and
cluding some remarkable schools serving disadvan-
art work. At the end of the year, students assemble
taged students. One example is the Graham and
their portfolios, create a table of contents, and write
Parks School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which
a cover essay explaining their portfolio's contents
focuses on interdisciplinary project learning and
and reflecting on their learning for the year. Students
portfolio assessment. Its humanities program, which
present their portfolios to a panel consisting of one
combines language arts and social studies, builds
or two prominent people from outside the school and
curriculum around concepts that are important in
their teacher. The portfolio and presentation are
students' lives-for example, power and authority,
rated according to a previously agreed upon scale.
individual and group responsibility, and conflict.
Graham and Parks school continues to have the
The school's humanities curriculum is structured
highest scores on state tests and the widely used
around some overarching questions: What is courage?
California Achievement Test of any middle school in
What does it mean to be a hero? Why do individuals
the city. The school also has the largest waiting list
take action to change and improve the world around
of families wishing to enroll their children.
them? To explore these questions, students focused
in-depth on the Holocaust and the civil rights move-
ment, as well as historical and present-day issues in
the local community. The curriculum strongly em-
phasizes primary source material, oral history, jour-
nal writing, process and peer review writing, small-
group and individual project construction, media use,
and other interactive approaches.
EDUCATING YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
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Integrating Science with Health
HUMBIO, an
The weakest link in middle grade school reform has
In our current world, it is virtually impossible to be a
been the lack of appropriate curricula that provide
fully healthy, productive, active citizen without some
the information, skills, and motivation for adolescents
basic understanding of science. Yet students alien-
Interdisciplinary
to learn about themselves and their widening world.
ated from school as adolescents rarely achieve a
One such curriculum development initiative over the
science education higher than the most elementary
Life Sciences
past six years has focused on a life sciences cur-
level. HUMBIO is based on the experience of Stan-
riculum for the middle grades. A life sciences cur-
ford's twenty-five-year-old undergraduate program
Curriculum for the
riculum matched to the needs and interests of young
in human biology. It provides young people with a
adolescents can provide them with essential con-
unique, systematic curriculum that attempts to capture
Middle Grades
cepts in biology and can relate these concepts to
their interest in their own development and allow
problems that students encounter in their daily lives.
them to apply their knowledge of the life sciences to
Study in the life sciences can stimulate the natural
their own health and to the social, behavioral, and
curiosity of young adolescents, who have reason to
family challenges they face as adolescents.
be especially interested in growth and development,
Much of the current middle grades school reform ef-
as they are themselves in the midst of the early ado-
forts rely on interdisciplinary "teaming" of teach-
lescent growth spurt that is one of the most striking
ers-involving science, mathematics, English, and
developmental experiences of the entire life span.
social studies. The HUMBIO curriculum is founded on
They are already asking, "What's happening to my
the premise that interdisciplinary teaching improves
body? How does the human body work anyway?"
the student's understanding of and interest in the sub-
Therefore, it makes sense for them to address
ject. The entire two-year HUMBIO curriculum consists
growth and development, particularly their own, sci-
of twenty-four units, and schools may choose among
entifically.
them. The units begin with "The Changing Body, Re-
The Human Biology Middle Grades Curriculum, de-
production, and Sexuality" and move to "Genetics",
veloped and tested by Stanford University scientists
"The Nervous System", "The Life of Cells", "From
in collaboration with middle grade teachers across
Cells to Organisms: Human Development, The Circu-
the country, integrates the study of ecology, evolu-
latory System", "Breathing", and "Digestion and Nu-
tion, and genetics; physiology, human development
trition". They seek to show what is meant by becom-
(intellectual, psychological, and social); society and
ing an adult, the individual's place in the family, in the
culture; and health and safety. It not only engages
community, and in the biological world.
the average middle grade student in science but also
In using HUMBIO, teachers work cooperatively from
helps simultaneously to promote healthy behavior for
the perspectives of their individual disciplines toward
life. The decision-making component of the curricu-
imparting a central lesson. For example, when a unit
lum connects with life skills training. It teaches skills
in science class deals with the impact of food and
in decision making and the capacity to draw upon in-
drugs on circulation, the physical education teacher
formation carefully, not to jump to conclusions but to
makes the connection between lung function and
be deliberate in considering the meaning of the in-
smoking. Students study the relationships among cir-
formation for one's own life.
culation, breathing, food intake, and drugs. The study
of health includes decisions regarding smoking, an
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analysis of different ways of planning menus, the
riculum units or modules, not a textbook on human
facts behind eating disorders, and ways to reduce
biology. They suggested that the units should contain
stress. One lesson helps students understand how
an abundance of hands-on activities that would al-
drugs affect their bodies. Seventh graders at Egan In-
low students to engage in the process of scientific
termediate School in Los Altos, California, examine
investigation, provide better access to these materi-
the effects of adrenaline, which the body produces
als for lower-achieving students who often get left
when stimulated by cocaine use, on metabolism by
out of more traditional science courses driven by
watching brine shrimp react to a single drop through
long vocabulary lists, and make direct connections
a microscope. Students have an opportunity to dis-
between the science presented and the health and
cuss the ideas demonstrated in the experiment, to ask
well-being of the student.
questions, and to offer solutions. Teachers report that
At the test sites, teachers and students report that
the curriculum makes science more meaningful for all
the activities and their applications to health, social,
students and that the integrated approach helps in-
and environmental issues have been the most suc-
crease girls' comfort with science.
cessful features of the HUMBIO units. The curriculum
In mathematics, students learn the meaning of ra-
does not necessarily replace a life science curricu-
tios, percentages, and probabilities. They may cal-
lum in the middle school, but instead schools may
culate the amount of smoke inhaled by a cigarette
chose the HUMBIO units that fit their particular needs.
smoker, and the amount of second-hand smoke in-
Schools may also choose to use some of the HUMBIO
haled by nonsmokers in a shared work space. They
units for their health requirement. Teachers report
may be asked to figure the actual financial cost to
that the practical applications of the lessons help
an individual who smokes one pack a day from age
students make personal health decisions based on
seventeen to seventy. Throughout all phases of the
scientific knowledge and understand the conse-
unit, students keep journals to describe their obser-
quences of their actions. Addison-Wesley, a pub-
vations and findings. In physical education, students
lisher, will produce the units and their related
examine the effects of their activities on their heart
teacher manuals. The first ten units will be available
beat, pulse, and blood pressure as well as the im-
to schools and for review by state adoption commit-
pact of smoking on lung functioning. At the end of
tees in the spring of 1996. The HUMBIO curriculum
the unit, students plan and cook a nutritionally bal-
demonstrates that science is a field of study in
anced lunch.
which all students can be involved and that students
learn best when their teachers connect what is
English teachers may encourage students to read
learned in school with the real world.
books related to what they have observed in science
class; social studies teachers may deal with the im-
pact of biological and other scientific developments
SOURCE
on society or explore the changing views about hu-
Heller, H.C. (1993). The need for a core, interdisciplinary, life -
man biology at different stages of history. Talking
sciences curriculum in the middle grades. In R. Takanishi (Ed.),
about evolution may involve science, history, and so-
Adolescence in the 1990s: Risk and opportunity (pp. 189-196).
cial studies teachers.
New York: Teachers College Press.
HUMBIO has been thoroughly field-tested at schools
selected for their diversity in student population and
geographic location. HUMBIO teachers have been
trained in three summer institutes at Stanford. From
the beginning, teachers were full partners in the pro-
ject. They favored the development of a series of cur-
EDUCATING YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
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In Turning Points schools, curriculum and instruction combine to stimulate interest in the
sciences, especially in the life sciences, as a way of both sharpening intellectual capacities
and of enabling young people to evaluate potentially high-risk behavior in relation to the
body's functional systems. The life sciences, dealing with living organisms and life processes,
offer a distinct opportunity for young adolescents to cultivate an early affinity for science and
to become motivated to develop healthy practices based on scientific understanding.
Turning Points schools also consider community service or "service learning" to be an inte-
gral part of the core curriculum. As a form of project-based learning, community service pro-
motes critical thinking about real-world problems, while allowing young people to make a val-
ued social contribution, develop key skills for employment, and build self-esteem through solid
accomplishment.
PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL STUDENTS TO SUCCEED
One of the most troubling aspects of middle grade schools-and of American education in gen-
eral-is the inequitable distribution among youth of opportunities to learn. One way in which
this occurs is through "tracking," a system by which students are assigned to a class based on
their past academic achievement. Tracking is almost universal in American middle grade
schools. It was implemented to reduce the heterogeneity of students in a class, thus, in theory,
enabling teachers to adjust the level of instruction to match students' knowledge and skills. In
practice, wide disparities in the quality of instruction and the competence of teachers are com-
mon between the high and low tracks.
Middle grade educators can do a great deal to teach students of diverse ability. One well-re-
searched instructional method is cooperative learning.3 Numerous studies on cooperative
learning demonstrate that in mixed-ability learning groups high achievers deepen their un-
derstanding of material by explaining it to lower achievers who, in turn, benefit by receiving
help as needed from their peers. Cooperative learning has been shown to help students learn
course material faster, retain it longer, and develop critical reasoning power more rapidly than
they would working alone. Cooperative learning also requires students to get to know and to
work with classmates of different ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, which sets the stage
for students to negotiate successfully the requirements of adult work life and of citizenship in
a pluralistic society.
STRENGTHEN TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS
Currently, teachers and principals at all levels of elementary and secondary education, in-
cluding middle schools, are severely limited in their ability to make decisions about their own
practice. They are bound by tradition, by their own educational experiences, and by the
specific rules and regulations of federal, state, and local educational agencies. Yet these same
professionals increasingly are being asked to develop and implement innovations that will
produce high levels of achievement among a much larger proportion of students than is cur-
rently the norm.
:
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States and school districts should give teachers and principals the authority to transform mid-
dle grade schools. Teachers, principals, and other members of the school staff know more
about how to do their jobs than those far removed from the classroom. Teachers especially
need control over the ways they meet curricular goals. Creation of governance committees com-
posed of teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, and representatives from community
organizations is one way to make schools more effective.
PREPARE TEACHERS FOR THE MIDDLE GRADES
Most teachers in middle grade schools are not now specifically educated to teach young ado-
lescents. Although there are a few graduate education programs that prepare middle grade
teachers, most teachers are educated either as elementary or secondary school teachers.
To orient teachers effectively for the middle grades, teacher education programs must prepare
teachers to teach as part of a team, to design and assess meaningful interdisciplinary curricula,
to participate in decisions that promote continuous school improvement, and especially to un-
derstand adolescent development. Teachers' professional education, and that of administra-
tors, must also include specific training in working with students and families of various in-
come, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.
IMPROVE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE THROUGH BETTER HEALTH
AND FITNESS
Middle grade schools often do not have the support of health and social service agencies to ad-
dress young adolescents' physical and mental health. Turning Points calls for the establish-
ment of developmentally appropriate health facilities for young adolescents that are related to
the curriculum and to the health-promotion potential of the school environment. These cen-
ters, based in or near schools, are discussed in chapter seven.
REENGAGE FAMILIES IN THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG ADOLESCENTS
Despite the clearly documented beneficial effects of parental involvement on students' achieve-
ment in school and attitudes toward school, as noted in Chapter Five, parental involvement of
all types declines steadily during the elementary school years.5 By middle grade school, the
home-school connection has been significantly reduced and too often is nonexistent. A key
recommendation of Turning Points is to involve parents in decision making in significant ways.
Particularly in low-income and racial- and ethnic-minority neighborhoods, parents often are
considered part of the problem of educating young adolescents rather than an important po-
tential educational resource.
Parents who are involved in planning the work of the school feel useful, develop confidence in
their relations with school staff, and are more likely to attend school activities, a practice that
signals to their young adolescents the importance of education. In low-income communities,
parents' participation with school staff members on a governance committee can help heal the
schism that often exists between families and schools.
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Schools as Partners with Families and Communities
Schools can become partners with families and com-
SALOME UREÑA MIDDLE
munities in order to strengthen and broaden their ed-
ACADEMIES
ucational work. During the last fifteen years, states
In a collaboration between the New York City school
and communities have been developing programs to
system and the Children's Aid Society, Salome Ureña
improve adolescents' access to health, social, and
Middle Academies, or IS 218, have invited commu-
educational services in or near schools. Whether
nity organizations to provide school-based program-
they are "full-service" schools or simply school-af-
ming for 1,200 students and their families since 1992.
filiated health centers, such programs represent a
The curriculum includes the entire school day-and
powerful attempt to address the scope of adoles-
beyond. During "zero period," for instance, students
cents' needs. Some programs serve students' fami-
can eat breakfast together, dance, and participate in
lies as well. Drawing students and families into a va-
other recreational activities. During the after-school
riety of constructive activities, they can be especially
program, more than 500 students receive tutoring de-
helpful for students who are at risk of failing or drop-
signed to maximize their academic and artistic
ping out.
strengths and interests.
Despite increased state and local funding, these ef-
The school's family resource center, open from 8:30
forts are still precarious. Without secure financing,
a.m. to 8:30 p.m., is a valuable source of information
they frequently face operational, managerial, and
and support for the community. Staffed by parents,
staffing problems. Many are remarkably successful,
social workers, and other volunteers, the center pro-
however. The Salome Ureña Middle Academies in
vides adult education, drug abuse prevention activi-
Washington Heights, New York, for example, grew
ties, and other forms of assistance. Because many of
out of a city school district's partnership with a non-
the neighborhood's families are of Dominican origin,
profit community center and now provides compre-
the school offers an English-as-a-Second Language
hensive services to adolescents and their families.
program, in which four-hundred parents are cur-
The Hanshaw Middle School in Modesto, California,
rently enrolled. They in turn volunteer to teach their
grew into a community center. Although each of these
native tongue to the precinct's police officers. Next
programs takes a different approach, they share a
door to the resource center is a clinic that provides
common vision of community education.
medical care, dental care, and referrals to students.
The clinic will soon include mental health services,
which will be provided by a full-time psychologist
and a part-time psychiatrist.
The Children's Aid Society, which operates the
school, has been inundated with requests for tours
of the school and for information and assistance in
establishing similar schools elsewhere. It has hosted
more than five hundred visitors, and requests for vis-
its now average three per week. To respond to these
PREPARING ADDLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
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requests, a technical assistance and information
clearinghouse has been established at the school to
facilitate partnerships in other communities by con-
necting interested schools with potential local or re-
gional partners.
T
HANSHAW MIDDLE SCHOOL
"Always do your personal best" is the prominently
displayed motto of this community school, where the
emphasis is on individuality, flexibility, responsibility,
and cooperation. Established in 1991, Hanshaw Mid-
dle School aims to meet the needs of the community
as well as provide educational and social opportuni-
ties for the adolescents of California's Stanislaus
County. Adjacent to a recreation center, the school
itself serves as the neighborhood's community cen-
ter. The six buildings on the school's campus house
an auto shop, a home economics lab, a gymnasium
and multipurpose auditorium, laboratories, arts and
crafts rooms, and state-of-the-art music rehearsal
SOURCES
rooms. The school's library is actually a branch of the
local county system.
Dryfoos, J.G. (1994). Full-service schools: A revolution in health
and social services for children, youth, and families. San Fran-
The school also is a resource center for its students'
cisco: Jossey-Bass.
families. Parents can take classes in parenting or
U.S. General Accounting Office (1994). School-based health
computers or study for their high school equivalency
centers can expand access for children (GAO/HEHS-95-35).
degrees. Hispanic parents can receive help commu-
Washington, DC: Author.
nicating with the school's faculty and administrators.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1993). School-linked human
Also on site is a center for primary health and dental
services: A comprehensive strategy for aiding students at risk
care. Established by the Healthy Start Support Ser-
of school failure (GAO/HRD-94-21). Washington, DC: Author.
vices for Children Act of 1991, the center features a
case management team and referral service avail-
able to students and their families.
EDUCATING YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
83
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CONNECT SCHOOLS WITH COMMUNITIES
Frustrated by their inability to stem the high rates of adolescent problems and by the fact that
adolescents most at risk were not making use of available services, social service professionals
and leaders in community organizations in the 1980s began moving their activities to where
young people are-in the schools. "Full-service schools" are major innovations in human ser-
vices whose development has been led by in-
dividual states.⁶ They represent a variety of
Disparities Exist in Dropout Rates
school-based efforts to assist students and
among Ethnic Groups, 1972-1992
their families, going beyond health centers to
PERCENTAGE STATUS DROPOUTS
include comprehensive youth-service pro-
40
grams, community schools, and family re-
35
source centers. Strengthening the academic
Hispanic
environment in conjunction with supporting
30
students and the basic human needs of their
families is the common core of all such efforts.
25
Black
School districts pay for only a few of these
20
programs. Funding comes from outside
sources, primarily states, which contract with
Total
15
one or more community agencies to work in
partnership with the school. Each state has
10
White
designed its own version of school-based ser-
5
vices. In some states, the initiative lies in the
domain of the department of education, and
0
1972
1975
1978
1981
1984
1987
1990
1993
the focus is on preventing dropouts and pro-
YEAR
moting academic achievement. In other
Note: Status rates measure the proportion of the population who have not compared high school
and are not enrolled at one point in time, regurdless of when they dropped out.
states, the department of health or the de-
Source: Dropout Rates in the United States: 1993, by the National Center for Education Statistics,
partment of human services is the lead
U.S. Department of Education, 1994, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
agency, whose goal is to reduce high-risk be-
havior through school-based interventions.
THE MIDDLE GRADE SCHOOL STATE POLICY INITIATIVE
Turning Points marked the beginning of Carnegie Corporation's effort to stimulate nationwide
reform of American middle grade schools by offering a plan of action for transforming them.
In 1990, the Corporation initiated the Middle Grade School State Policy Initiative (MGSSPI), a
program of grants to states (usually the state department of education) to stimulate statewide
changes in middle grade educational policy and practice.⁷ Designed as a "top-down, bottom-
up" comprehensive reform strategy, the initiative promotes widespread implementation of the
Turning Points reform principles through changes in state policies that encourage local schools
to adopt promising practices and fosters the development of schools that serve educationally
disadvantaged young adolescents, an urgent national priority.
The initiative is focused on fifteen states whose work to reform the middle grade educational
policy is producing meaningful results. Most of these states have developed or are actively im-
84
PREPARING ADOLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
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plementing comprehensive middle grade policy statements reflecting Turning Points. These
statements, which have been approved by the state board of education or legislature, guide re-
structuring efforts statewide and, in some states, are among the criteria for state accreditation
of schools, a powerful incentive for change. Several states have established a middle grade unit
within the state education agency where no such unit existed before the initiative. Most of the
states have established or accelerated implementation of teacher certification requirements for
middle grade teachers or made it possible to
earn a special endorsement as a trained mid-
dle grade teacher. State projects have been
Los Angeles Unified School District Dropouts,
actively involved in developing statewide
Grades 6-9, 1992-93
middle grade curriculum and assessment
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL DROPOUTS
frameworks, incorporating a middle grade fo-
70
cus into existing frameworks, and evaluating
60
the new frameworks' usefulness in reforming
classroom practice. Most projects have es-
50
tablished strong relationships with health
and other state agencies outside the educa-
40
tion department to expand and coordinate
the resources available to schools for com-
30
prehensive health programs.
To improve curriculum, instruction, and as-
20
sessment under the MGSSPI,
ployed a variety of sophisticated methods,
10
often involving a multilayered infrastructure
of support. The states have developed, for
0
American
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
example, week-long summer institutes on
Indian
Pacific Islander
interdisciplinary instruction and portfolio-
ETHNIC BACKGROUND
based assessment; on-site, professional de-
Source: Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of Communications, 1995, unpublished data.
velopment seminars facilitated by university
faculty members; formal networks to ex-
change information and resources between schools; systems for identifying, training, and
deploying expert consultants; and many other forms of assistance.
At the local level, the MGSSPI has stimulated improvement in more than one hundred mid-
dle schools in the fifteen states. Since 1993, each state has focused its effort on creating net-
works of four to ten schools serving high concentrations of disadvantaged students. These
schools tend to be the least effective in educating young adolescents because the most inex-
perienced teachers are often assigned to them, teacher and administrator turnover is extra-
ordinarily high, low expectations for student performance prevail, and staff members have
minimal access to professional development experiences that enable them to reach students
who have often been poorly prepared in elementary school.
Educating students well in schools in low-income communities is also especially difficult be-
cause the young people themselves often are caught up in circumstances that make learning
extremely difficult. These young adolescents, more often than more advantaged students, face
EDUCATING YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
85
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Turning
Through its Middle Grade School State Policy Initia-
feel part of a closely knit group of peers; if a student
tive (MGSSPI), Carnegie Corporation of New York is
has a personal problem, he or she feels comfortable
implementing the Turning Points recommendations
Points
in approaching the teacher-advisor for advice.
in nearly one hundred schools and fifteen states na-
A peer mediation program teaches the students how
tion wide. Some schools stand out as having accom-
Schools in
to resolve conflict peacefully. Ten peer mediators per
plished their goals against formidable challenges:
grade are on duty, two per day, every day to help stu-
their communities have few resources; adolescents
Action
dents resolve potentially serious conflicts. The peer
have limited access to health care; or the violence
mediators complete a training session before they
and worsening social circumstances of their com-
begin service. They monitor the hallways with teach-
munities seem too overwhelming to conquer. Two
ers to look out for fights or arguments and then ask
schools, Turtle Mountain Community Middle School
those involved in the dispute if they can intervene.
in Belcourt, North Dakota, and Morningside Middle
They are allowed to leave class to mediate disputes
School in Fort Worth, Texas, have met these chal-
and may use the principal's office as a neutral terri-
lenges and made significant strides toward achiev-
tory. The program has cut down on discipline prob-
ing middle school reform.
lems by enabling students to learn how to solve prob-
lems on their own before they require intervention by
TURTLE MOUNTAIN
a teacher or the principal.
COMMUNITY MIDDLE SCHOOL
Through the BRIDGES program, which links six mid-
Turtle Mountain Community Middle School is located
die schools to University of North Dakota (UND) fac-
on an Indian reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota.
ulty for cooperative development, the teachers at
Ninety-eight percent of Turtle Mountain's 450 stu-
Turtle Mountain can earn ten graduate credits in
dents in grades six through eight are American Indi-
middle grade education free of charge. A university
ans of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indi-
friend, a representative of UND, is present at all
ans. In response to the needs of its students, many
times at the school to act as a liaison between the
of whom come from one-parent families, Turtle
university and the middle school. The university
Mountain has placed a special focus on mentoring
friend brings a knowledge base to the school's
and the development of social competence.
teachers and shares educational developments
with them, connects teachers with other university
One of the longest-standing social support programs
resources; and assesses the effects of the Turning
at Turtle Mountain is the T/A (Teacher-Advisor) pro-
Points recommendations.
gram. Each teacher is assigned a small group of stu-
dents (ten to fifteen in seventh and eight grades;
Teachers also participate in the Quality Council,
twenty in sixth) for which he or she is their mentor,
which is composed of one teacher from each teach-
advisor, and counselor. In daily group meetings that
ing team, student representatives, and parents. The
take the place of a home room period, students learn
Quality Council meets to discuss school policy and
about human development, improve their self-es-
curriculum and to make changes. Block scheduling
teem, and build their public speaking skills. The staff
has allowed teachers to devote more time to plan-
at Turtle Mountain have found that these morning
ning an interdisciplinary curriculum for the students.
sessions focus the students on school and learning
Team teaching, as recommended in Turning Points,
and help them deal with their family problems. The
is facilitated by providing planning time every day for
small group size allows the teacher-advisor to get to
the teachers. The core courses (reading, math, lan-
know his or her students well, and the student can
guage arts, science, and social studies) are taught in
the morning. In the afternoon, students attend their
related arts courses, with the art team teachers, al-
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lowing the core team teachers to meet. During this
Morningside also offers opportunities for the parents
planning time, the team teachers can discuss how to
to get involved in school activities. Twice a year it
integrate their individual specialties into an inter-
sponsors a Health Fair, where parents can be tested
disciplinary program.
for glucose intolerance and high blood pressure and
learn more about promoting their and their children's
health at educational booths. In an effort sponsored
MORNINGSIDE MIDDLE
in part by the Interfaith Alliance, a Practical Parent
SCHOOL
Education (PPE) course is available to parents and
At Morningside Middle School in Fort Worth, Texas,
others responsible for raising the students. Taught by
Principal Odessa Ravin is proud of the progress that
counselors and trained volunteer parents, the PPE
has been made to expand opportunities for her stu-
course is designed to educate the parents about the
dents to learn about the world of work. Ninety-six
basic Turning Points reform objectives of the school:
percent of the school's 650 sixth through eighth
parents are taught what a lesson plan is, what the
graders are African American. Through the district-
school is doing to prepare their children for further
wide Vital Link program, connecting the students to
secondary school education, what systemic reform
the world of work, students learn about career op-
is, and what kind of specialized middle grade train-
portunities by visiting area hospitals, offices, and
ing the teachers at Morningside receive. The PPE
other work sites to talk with the staff and learn how
course is a means for families to become truly in-
school helped them achieve their professional goals.
volved in their children's education.
In a related effort, the Young Doctors Club brings the
Health services and health education are available
most promising students (those with the highest sci-
to the students and to their parents at the school.
ence grades) together with local physicians and
Once a week, the Teddy Bear Clinic, a mobile clinic
other health care professionals; the majority of the
in an equipped van, visits Morningside with a pedi-
1994-95 club members are girls. The students visit a
atrician, a nurse, and other technicians to do rou-
local medical school, where they attend science
tine check-ups. In addition to the clinic, a nurse or
classes and explore the classroom laboratories.
a nurse's assistant is available on campus at all
Additional field trips allow them to talk with young
times in case of illness or medical emergency. A Be-
doctors, many of whom come from similar socio-
cause We Care specialist is on staff to work with
economic backgrounds.
the students to help reduce substance abuse. The
specialist also works with the adolescents in con-
flict resolution exercises. In the 1994-95 school
year, incidences of conflict were 40 percent lower
than the previous year's.
EDUCATING YOUNG ADDLESCENTS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
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violence in and outside the home, poor health and nutrition, drug trafficking and usage, un-
equal access to resources, and other negative influences. If they are nonwhite, they often are
victims of discrimination. Together, these factors place economically disadvantaged youth at
substantial risk of not receiving the education they need to succeed in the future. Yet disad-
vantaged youth are a significant proportion of students in America's public schools. Creating
middle schools that can overcome the risks is the MGSSPI'S highest priority.
Within Turning Points' comprehensive framework, reform efforts in these schools have focused
on two critical areas: (1) the integration of health and education for young adolescents and (2)
the reform of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In the health arena, the majority of these
schools have established or strengthened linkages to health services, both on site in the form
of school-based centers, or "wellness centers," and through ties to health agencies serving ado-
lescents in the community. Many schools have attempted to integrate health education more
firmly into the middle grade curriculum, including efforts in several states to implement the
Stanford University HUMBIO Curriculum.
PROMISING RESULTS OF MIDDLE GRADE REFORM
A national evaluation of the MGSSPI was begun in 1993 under the direction of Robert Felner,
director of the Center for Prevention Research and Development within the University of Illi-
nois' Institute for Governance and Public Affairs. Baseline data were collected in the spring of
1994 from nearly all the schools and now are being analyzed.
Since 1991, Felner has also been studying a group of middle grade schools in Illinois that have
been implementing the Turning Points recommendations. This effort, called Project Initiative
Middle Level (PIML), is being conducted by the Association of Illinois Middle Schools. PIML
began as an initiative separate from the MGSSPI project in Illinois but will merge with it in the
fall of 1995.
As in the national MGSSPI evaluation, data collected for the PIML study are primarily drawn from
surveys of teachers, administrators, and students in the reforming schools. They are asked to
provide information on the extent to which the structures and experiences recommended in
Turning Points actually occur. These implementation data are compared to three outcome
measures: student scores on state-administered achievement tests, teachers' rating of students'
behavior, and students' own ratings of their behavior and attitudes.
Results thus far from the Illinois study show that, in forty-two schools participating in at least
one year of the study since 1991, implementation of the Turning Points recommendations is
associated with significant improvements in students' reading, mathematics, and language arts
achievement. Moreover, teachers' ratings and student self-reports show that, as these propos-
als are implemented, students in these schools are less likely to feel alienated, fearful, or de-
pressed in school and more likely to have high self-esteem. In thirty-one schools for which
there are several years of data, the same pattern of results is found within schools over time.
That is, as schools continue to implement Turning Points recommendations, achievement and
behavior continue to improve.
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These promising findings from the MGSSPI initiative demonstrate that, although most schools
are not now designed specifically to meet the needs of young adolescents, the potential is there
and can be readily tapped. Without a good education, adolescents are unprepared for life; but
with the support of schools redesigned expressly to equip youth for the future, all adolescents
have a better chance at educational and personal success.
........
Further Reading
Council of Chief State School Officers. (1992). Reform in middle grade education: Current sta-
tus, future directions. Washington, DC: Author.
Council of Chief State School Officers. (1992). Turning points: States in action. Washington,
DC: Author.
Lewis, A. C. (1993). Changing the odds: Middle school reform in progress, 1991-1993. New York:
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.
Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents. (1989). Turning points: Preparing American
youth for the 21st century. New York: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
EDUCATING YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FOR A CHANGING WORLD
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CHAPTER SEVEN
.......
Promoting the Health of Adolescents
The continuing decline in the health status of American adolescents is deeply disturbing. Since
1960, the burden of adolescent illness has shifted from the traditional causes of disease toward
the "new morbidities" associated with health-damaging behaviors, such as depression, sui-
cide, alcohol, tobacco and drug use, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and
gun-related homicides.
Early adolescence is characterized by exploration and experimentation, which to some extent
are developmentally appropriate and socially adaptive, even if they involve a certain amount of
risk taking. But carried to extremes, these risky behaviors can impair mental and physical
health. The damage may be near term and vivid, or it can explode in the long term, like a time
bomb set in youth. Examples of near-term damage are sexually transmitted diseases, death or
trauma from violence, and disabling accidents related to alcohol. Delayed consequences in-
clude cancer and cardiovascular disease in adult life, made more likely by high-calorie, high-
fat dietary patterns, inadequate exercise, and heavy smoking. Destructive behaviors may, fur-
thermore, result in constricting life options: a teenage mother who drops out of junior or senior
high school diminishes her prospects for lifetime employment and increases the chances she
will live in poverty, with its attendant risks to her own health and the health of her child.¹
But just as early adolescence is a time when damaging patterns of behavior can begin to take
hold, it also represents an optimal opportunity for the formation of healthy practices, which
have equally near-term and long-term effects. Families, schools, and community organizations
have an obligation, in partnership with health care professionals and organizations, to address
the fundamental needs of young adolescents for information about health risks and foster the
skills and motivation to avoid these risks and adopt healthy practices. Beyond this, they must
create real opportunities for work and a productive adult life.
The health-related perceptions of adolescents can play a major role in motivating them to adopt
healthy behavior.2 Although their health concerns vary according to their gender, ethnicity,
and socioeconomic status and change as they grow older, almost all adolescents are preoccu-
pied with how they look and how they feel about themselves, with their relationships to their
peers, and with educational pressures. Many adolescents are similarly concerned about issues
of substance use, sexuality, nutrition, and exercise. By and large, they show the same tendency
as adults to wishfully minimize the potentially damaging effects of their risky behavior,3 per-
sisting in the belief that "it can't happen to me." As a practical matter, such views should be
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taken into consideration in the design of appropriate supports to adolescents. If such supports
ignore adolescent perceptions and preoccupations, and if they are not user-friendly, they are
not likely to be sought by the very individuals who need them most.
EDUCATION FOR HEALTH IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE:
A ROLE FOR MIDDLE GRADE SCHOOLS
A central theme of the Council's work is the inextricable link between education and health.
Adolescents in poor health have difficulty learning: for example, deficits in vision and hearing
can impair the processing of information; malnutrition causes lethargy; substance abuse de-
stroys attention to instruction. Conversely, young people fully engaged in learning tend to have
good health habits and to be healthy. The relationship between education and health pertains
at every level of development throughout the life span.5
As we have seen, a great many adolescents arrive at middle grade school with inadequate skills
to cope with their great transition to adulthood. Much of what they need goes beyond the tra-
ditional curriculum offered by the public school system-a fact that is increasingly recognized
by education leaders.
SCHOOLS AS HEALTH-PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTS
Middle grade schools can play a crucial role in fostering health among young adolescents.
Through the curriculum, through school policy, and through the clear examples they set of
health-promoting behavior, schools can encourage students to form good health habits and
recognize that education and health are mutually reinforcing. In short, they can provide an en-
vironment in which good health as well as education is pursued and reinforced throughout the
day, including:
The teaching of proper nutrition in the classroom and offering of nutritious food in the cafeteria
Smoke-free buildings and programs to prevent student and staff use of tobacco
Education on the effects of alcohol and illicit drugs on the brain and other organs
Opportunities for exercise for all in the school community, not just varsity competition be-
tween different schools
Emphasis on safety and the prevention of violence, including discouraging drug dealing and
the carrying of weapons in and around schools.
TURNING POINTS REFORMS
Many of Turning Points' recommended reforms are broadly aimed at creating a health-pro-
moting, developmentally appropriate environment in the middle schools. For example, by or-
ganizing smaller units out of large schools, they operate on a human scale. They provide sus-
tained individual attention to students in the context of a supportive group. They foster
cooperation and a mutual aid ethic among teachers and students alike, manifest in interdisci-
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plinary team teaching, cooperative learning, and academically supervised community service.
They stimulate thinking skills in the context of the sciences, especially the life sciences. They
offer life skills training to develop judgment in decision making, healthy interpersonal relations,
nonviolent problem solving, and the ability to use information and opportunities effectively.
THREE PREVENTIVE APPROACHES
Three kinds of programs offered by Turning Points schools have particular relevance for health
promotion in early adolescence. These are a life-sciences curriculum, life skills training, and
social support programs, described in previous chapters in more detail.
A life sciences curriculum. The life sciences tap into the natural curiosity of young adolescents,
who are already intensely interested in the nature of life by virtue of the changes taking places
in their own bodies. The life sciences can tackle growth and development, specifically ad-
dressing adolescent development in the context of a distinctly human biology. The study of
human biology leads naturally to the scientific study of behavior and the ways in which high-
risk behavior, especially in adolescence, bears on health throughout the lifetime.
Life skills training. A strong underpinning of protective knowledge, derived in large part from
the life sciences curriculum, is crucial but by itself is not sufficient. Such information becomes
more effective when combined with training in interpersonal and decision-making skills. Hav-
ing these skills can help students resist pressure from peers or from the media to engage in
high-risk behaviors; increase their self control; acquire ways to reduce stress and anxiety with-
out engaging in dangerous activity; learn how to make friends if they are isolated; and learn
how to avoid violence and assert themselves effectively. Students can acquire these essential
life skills through systematic instruction and practice and through role playing. Calling atten-
tion to unattractive short-term effects, such as nicotine-stained fingers, bad breath, and being
out of control, can be effective in deterring tobacco and alcohol use among adolescents.
Social support programs. Research evidence shows that social supports, revolving around
shared values and goals, can provide powerful leverage in the promotion of health among ado-
lescents and their families. Schools, along with community and health care organizations, can
supplement the family by arranging constructive social support programs that foster health and
education.
These three approaches-the life sciences curriculum, life skills training, and social supports-
linked together constitute powerful facilitators of healthy adolescent development. Such a com-
bination of influences on young adolescents can have a strong bearing on preventing serious
health problems.
TARGETED APPROACHES TO HEALTH PROMOTION
To fulfill their potential for promoting health, schools must make durable linkages with other
institutions. Instilling widespread knowledge and encouraging the development of healthy
lifestyles in youth will require substantial changes in the way the health professions work and
also in the ways they connect with schools, community organizations, and families.
PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS
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Health care providers are generally viewed by adolescents as reliable sources of information
about their health. Effective adolescent health care requires the active involvement of health
professionals who view all clinical encounters with adolescents as opportunities for health pro-
motion. These professionals should take the time necessary to gain the confidence of adoles-
cents, learn to identify adolescents' problems, be willing to ask questions that might uncover
alcohol and other drug abuse or sexual activity, and help them avoid dangerous behavior.
In the absence of a broad perspective on health promotion as exemplified in Turning Points
schools, the most common approach to enhancing adolescents' health has been through cat-
egorical programs that focus on specific risks. Such categorical approaches should be com-
plementary to the generic approach of educating youth for lifelong health. Four of these issues
are selected for brief illustration here: sexuality, preparation for parenthood, violence, and drug
abuse. It is important to note that other issues also deserve attention, such as mental health,
nutrition, physical fitness, and injury prevention.
TOWARD RESPONSIBLE SEXUALITY
Although early adolescence clearly is not a time to become seriously engaged in sexual activity,
adolescents receive conflicting messages about desirable body image and appropriate sexual
behavior, especially from the media and from peers. Consequently, adolescents have a great
need to understand issues related to sexuality, such as the dynamics of intimate relationships,
when to become sexually active, the biological process of conception, and the risks of con-
tracting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection. Proper understanding of all these
issues depends on accurate information being conveyed in sensitive and age-appropriate ways.
Young adolescents obtain their information about sexuality primarily from peers but also from
family, school, television, and movies. Peer information is often inaccurate, and it may be in-
directly communicated. Moreover, adolescents tend to assume erroneously that "everybody
does it," even if this is not the case.
Because they have a greater potential than peers to convey accurate and age-appropriate in-
formation, families and schools are in a better position to encourage health-protective choices
by young adolescents. Those adolescents who rate communication with their parents as poor
are likely to have initiated sex, as well as smoking and drinking, earlier than their peers who
rate communication with their parents as good.⁶ Many parents, however, need help in be-
coming well informed about issues in reproductive health and in learning how to overcome
their embarrassment about talking to their children about sexuality issues.
Adolescents should learn about human sexuality and reproduction early, before they become
sexually active. Programs promoting sexual health should begin not later than early adolescence
in middle grade schools and in youth-serving organizations. Information about preventing the
transmission of the AIDS virus should also be part of health education for young adolescents.
Young adolescents typically do not know, for example, that the incubation period for AIDS can
be ten or more years and that mothers can transmit the virus to their offspring. Interventions
should identify the sexually oriented situations that adolescents may encounter and provide life
skills training on how to avoid the situation or manage it. Schools, families, and the media,
through health-promoting messages and programs, can contribute to this effort.
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Armed with good information and skills, young adolescents must also be motivated to make
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constructive choices regarding their sexuality and to prevent pregnancy-not an easy task given
their inexperience and social milieu. Determining how to bring this about remains a formida-
ble task. A recent Institute of Medicine study concluded that fewer than twenty-five programs
to reduce unintended pregnancy have been carefully evaluated; of these programs, about half
of them were found to be effective in the short term.⁷ This is one of the many indications that
research in this field has not been given adequate priority.
The vast majority of adolescent pregnancies are unintended.8 Any sound educational approach
needs to make it clear that becoming a parent at the right time, when a young person has at-
tained the maturity to raise a family, involves more than information, birth control, and the pre-
vention of unwanted pregnancies. Young people should be taught, and public attitudes should
reinforce, that raising a family brings responsibilities as well as joys, and that much is involved
in being a reliable, competent parent.
PREPARING FOR PARENTHOOD
Another important aspect of healthy development is preparing adolescents for the time when
they form families of their own in adulthood. The fulfillment of each child's potential requires
a huge parental investment of time, energy, thought, caregiving, sensitivity, and money. It re-
quires patience, persistence, understanding, and resilience in coping with adversity. All too
many adolescents become pregnant only to find later that they are extremely ill prepared for
the challenge of raising a child.
Young people moving toward parenthood generally have less experience caring for a child than
their predecessors had. Both father and mother are likely to be in the paid labor force. With
the birth of the baby, they will have to renegotiate their relationship: they will have to decide
how to divide the baby-care chores; what kind of flexibility they can build into their schedules;
how they will handle the housework; what sort of parental leave, if any, each will take; and how
they will balance work and family life.
The 1993 Carnegie Corporation report, Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest
Children, emphasized the importance of preparing adolescents for responsible parenthood.
When people make an informed, thoughtful commitment to have children, they are more likely
to be good parents. Their growing children are more likely to meet life with optimism, trust,
and competence. On the other hand, when people are unprepared for the opportunities and
responsibilities of parenthood, the risks to their children are serious.
The nation needs a substantial expansion of efforts to educate young people about parenthood.
Families are naturally the first source of such education, but schools, places of worship, and
community organizations can also be useful. Community service in child care centers provides
a valuable learning experience for adolescents about what is required to raise young children.
Age-appropriate, culturally sensitive education about parenthood should begin in late ele-
mentary school but no later than early adolescence. It can be a part of a life sciences cur-
riculum or a part of health education. In either case, it must be substantial and meaningful to
adolescents.
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CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Nearly 1 million adolescents between the ages of twelve and nineteen are victims of violent crimes
each year.¹⁰ Yet evidence is emerging that interventions can reduce or prevent young people's
involvement in violence. As with the prevention of adolescent pregnancy, youth violence is not
a simple problem with a single answer. To be effective, prevention requires a comprehensive ap-
proach addressing both individual and social factors.¹¹ It should include generic approaches
that meet essential requirements for healthy adolescent development, through developmentally
appropriate schools, supportive families, and youth and community organizations. A specific
set of interventions that targets youth violence and enhances adolescents' ability to deal with
conflict in nonviolent ways is also necessary. Policy changes, such as implementing stronger
measures to restrict the availability of guns, are urgently needed, especially in light of the grow-
ing propensity of juveniles to use semiautomatic and other guns to commit crimes.¹²
One promising strategy for preventing youth violence is the teaching of conflict resolution (en-
compassing the management of anger and other life skills training) as part of health education
in elementary and middle schools. Research indicates that conflict resolution and mediation
programs can reduce violence; better results, however, are achieved with longer-term, com-
prehensive programs designed to address multiple risk factors.¹ Serious, in-depth conflict-
resolution training over extended periods is increasingly important in a culture saturated with
media and street violence. Supervised practice of conflict-resolution skills also is critical. As-
sertiveness, taught as a social skill, helps young people learn how to resist unwanted pressures
and intimidation, resolve conflicts nonviolently, and make sound decisions about the use of
weapons.
To build resources for the development of such programs, Carnegie Corporation is support-
ing a national network of violence prevention practitioners based at the Education Develop-
ment Center, linked with a national research center on youth violence at the University of Col-
orado. These resources can provide a solid knowledge base and foster evaluative research in
violence prevention. The two centers are joined to Mediascope, an organization addressing
the depiction of violence in movies and on television.
High-risk youth in impoverished communities urgently need social support networks and life
skills training. Both can be created in a wide range of existing settings, not only in schools and
school-related health centers but also in community organizations, including church-related
youth activities and sports programs. They work best if they foster enduring relationships with
adults as well as with helpful peers. This approach can potentially promote constructive al-
ternatives to violent groups by providing a sense of belonging, a source of enjoyable activity, a
perception of opportunity, a site for mentoring, and a chance to prepare for social roles that can
earn respect.
PREVENTING DRUG ABUSE
Drugs are cheaper and more plentiful today than they were a decade ago. Heroin, for exam-
ple, costs less than half its 1981 street price. The United States has the highest addiction rate
in its history;14 courts and jails are bulging with drug-related cases.
"
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Adolescents consider drugs and alcohol less harmful today than they did three years ago, and
they are more accepting of drug use.¹⁵ For many young people, the use of drugs, even the sale
of drugs, constitutes an attractive path to what they perceive as adult status.
Some community-wide preventive interventions have substantially diminished the use "gate-
way" substances (such as tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) in early adolescence while en-
hancing personal and social competence. These efforts have been carried out using rigorous
research designs on a long-term basis.¹ Several preventive programs for young adolescents
have been shown to reduce drug use.¹⁷ The learning of life skills has been usefully applied to
the prevention of cigarette smoking and alcohol and marijuana use. 18 This research shows how
the explicit teaching of these skills can contribute to personal and social competence and pro-
vide constructive alternatives to health-damaging behavior.
Recent studies report that when booster sessions are provided in high school, the preventive
effects of early interventions are sustained through the senior year.¹⁹ Other programs focus on
the prevention of cigarette smoking, which is very important, since, aside from tobacco's "gate-
way" function, many casualties throughout the life span flow from the start of this addiction in
early adolescence. In addition, the very early start of smoking is a slippery slope to other
drugs.21 The results of well-designed, community-wide interventions are encouraging; their
success suggests that social norms on drug use can be changed by systematic, intensive, and
long-term efforts. A dramatic example is the recent decline in smoking reported by African
American adolescents.
Beyond the direct approach to substance abuse, parents, teachers, and health professionals
should understand that many adolescents engage in dangerous behavior because of develop-
mental problems such as low self-esteem, poor performance in school, depression, or inabil-
ity to make careful decisions. This underscores the importance of addressing underlying fac-
tors that lead to high-risk behavior. Using drugs may be a way of feeling mature, courageous,
sophisticated, or otherwise grown up. Disadvantaged youth need to be shown how individu-
als from comparable backgrounds have done well in legitimate ways, in sharp contrast to "suc-
cessful" drug dealers involved in crime and tragedy. The provision of family-augmenting func-
tions by community organizations can be helpful in this context.
STRENGTHENING HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR
ADOLESCENTS
An exhaustive study of adolescent health, conducted by the U.S. Congress Office of Tech-
nology Assessment in 1991, pointed to serious barriers to establishing developmentally ap-
propriate health services for adolescents.25 Current services are particularly lacking in dis-
ease prevention and health-promotion services. A variety of studies and innovations in the
past decade have been undertaken to overcome the barriers and to improve the delivery of
health care services to adolescents.2⁴ These studies show what can be done, but there is a
long way to go.
PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF ADDLESCENTS
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Barriers
An estimated 39.7 million Americans (15.3 percent)
panic doctors; long waiting times at neighborhood
were without health insurance coverage during the
and hospital clinics; and dissatisfaction with physi-
to Health
entire 1993 calendar year.
cian behavior.
As many as one in seven adolescents has no health
The clinical visit provides an opportunity for health
Care
insurance; one in three poor adolescents is not COV-
promotion and disease-prevention interventions. Dur-
ered by Medicaid, and private insurance coverage of
ing this visit, physicians or other practitioners in the
Services for
adolescents is increasingly restricted.
office setting should be able to provide health guid-
ance, including health education, health counseling,
Adolescents are among those least likely to have
and anticipatory guidance. This is especially impor-
Adolescents
health insurance because most adolescents, ages
tant for adolescents with chronic disease and dis-
ten to eighteen, live with parents who are also unin-
ability to maximize their function and ability to cope.
sured. Adolescents whose families are poor or of
Hispanic origin or whose parents have little formal
A critical issue in the provision of health care to ado-
education are most likely to be uninsured. In 1993,
lescents is that there are relatively few health care
despite the existence of programs such as Medicaid
personnel who have training or experience in deal-
and Medicare, 29.3 percent of the poor (11.5 million)
ing with this age group's health problems. Training
had no health insurance of any kind.
programs for physicians do not include information
about and skills to serve adolescents.
Preventive services, such as psychological and sub-
stance abuse counseling, are especially needed dur-
ing adolescence and not covered by many insurance
SOURCES
plans.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (October
1994). Statistical brief (SB/94-28). Health insurance coverage-
To meet adolescents' health care needs, develop-
1993.
mentally appropriate services must be available in a
Klein, J. D., Slap, 6. B., Elster, A. B., & Cohn, S. E. (1993). Ado-
wide range of health care settings, including com-
lescents and access to health care. Bulletin of the New York
munity health centers, school-based and school-
Academy of Medicine, 70, 219-235.
linked health centers, physicians' offices, family
Kronick, R. (1989). Adolescent health insurance status: Analysis
planning clinics, HMOs, and hospitals. Adolescents
of trends in coverage and preliminary estimates of the effects
now depend on multiple sources of care for pre-
of an employer mandate and Medicaid expansion on the unin-
ventive services. For approximately 80 percent of
sured. Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology
school-based clinics, for example, adolescents need
Assessment.
another source for contraceptive health services be-
Lieu, T. A., Newacheck, P. W., & McManus, M.A. (1993). Race,
cause making the full range of contraceptives avail-
ethnicity and access to ambulatory care among U.S. adoles-
able to teens in schools is highly controversial.
cents. American Journal of Public Health, 83:960-965.
There are ethnic and cultural differences in the use
of health care services. If African American and His-
panic youth had income and health insurance COV-
erage equal to that of whites, they would still not
make as many visits to the doctor. Different beliefs
regarding health may influence the use of health
care services; other factors include discrimination
in institutional access or physician behavior; the rel-
atively small numbers of African American and His-
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BROADENING HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE
All adolescents require preventive primary health care and treatment for health problems, yet
they are likely to face barriers to these services. For one in seven American adolescents, health
insurance coverage is simply not available, and for many more it is inadequate. Within the
Medicaid population, only one-third of eligible adolescents are currently covered because of
funding constraints, and this proportion is unlikely to increase in the foreseeable future.25
Health insurance for working families may not be provided by employers or, when provided,
may not include their adolescent children.
Coverage of adolescents is a critical part of the debate over health care reform. As managed
care spreads rapidly throughout the United States, it will be crucial to include explicit provi-
sions for comprehensive coverage of adolescents. This will be especially important to mon-
itor, along with such matters as access, quality, and continuity of care, as states increasingly en-
roll their Medicaid population in managed care plans. Managed care organizations should be
encouraged to contract with school-based health centers serving adolescents. Even when health
coverage is available, adolescents may have inadequate information about the availability of ser-
vices, or they may be concerned that confidentiality will be breached. Too often, health ser-
vices are not user-friendly for adolescents. Some community health and school-based adoles-
cent health centers have demonstrated how these barriers can be overcome.²⁷
DEVELOPING APPROPRIATE HEALTH PERSONNEL AND SCHOOL-
RELATED SERVICES
Currently, there is a dearth of experienced and well-trained health providers who can sensi-
tively treat the health problems of adolescents, with special attention to continuity of care. Of
equal concern is the lack of adequate preparation of the larger number of nonspecialist physi-
cians, nurses, nutritionists, psychologists, and social workers who must work as part of a multi-
disciplinary team to deal effectively with the adolescents they encounter.28
Serious gaps must be filled in service systems for all adolescents, especially those with multiple
health problems, chronic disease, or disability, such as attention deficit disorders. One promis-
ing approach to filling this service gap is by establishing more school-related health facilities ex-
pressly for young adolescents, either at the school or near the school and functionally integrated
with it with respect to both of curriculum and accessibility. Such facilities have demonstrated
their ability to deal with acute medical problems, including mental health. They have strong po-
tential for disease prevention and health promotion.
States and communities, with help from the federal government and private funds, already have
established more than six hundred school-based or school-linked health centers nationwide
since 1980. Local health professionals and institutions work with the schools to provide these
services. National health and education organizations have issued policy statements support-
ing these centers, including the American Medical Association, the Association of School
Nurses, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Education Association, the Na-
tional Association of State Boards of Education, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Public Health Association.
PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS
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In 1995, the National Assembly of School-Based Health Clinics was established. Parents also
are supportive of the centers and of adolescents' use of them. The average annual cost per stu-
dent of these centers is less than $200.30
Students use these services primarily for physical examinations, acute illness, and minor emer-
gencies. Since students often request help with feelings of depression, loneliness, and anxiety,
these centers also should provide appropriate mental health services. There is an important
opportunity here; treatment of depression, for example, can prevent self-medication leading
to substance abuse and addiction.
Until now, most of these centers have operated in high schools. Reproductive health care ac-
counts for less than 20 percent of the services provided there.31 In middle grade schools, an
even lower percentage is expected. Evidence suggests that counseling can delay the initiation
of sexual activity.32 Nevertheless, some young people become sexually active during the mid-
dle grade years. Therefore, it is appropriate for school-based or school-linked centers to pro-
vide family planning information. School-based centers should be open beyond school hours,
have outreach programs and trained staff, and receive community-wide support.
THE PROMISE OF HEALTHIER LIVES
The early adolescent years are increasingly the starting point of an upsurge of health-
compromising behaviors that have lifelong ramifications. Although grim statistics about the
health of adolescents are a continual reminder of the potentially tragic consequences of
choices at this age, early adolescence presents an often overlooked opportunity for health pro-
motion. Properly nurtured, adolescents' interest in their own developing bodies can be a po-
tent force for building healthy lifestyles of enduring significance. The best chance to fulfill
this promise lies in connecting health care professionals with schools, community organiza-
tions, families, and media.
A crucial ingredient in this formula for lifelong health is the guiding and motivating influence
of caring adults. Information and skills are not sufficient to influence the behavior of adolescents
unless they are willing and able to put them to use in the interests of fostering their own health.
To encourage this willingness requires the protection and support of their families, friends,
health professionals trained to work effectively with the adolescent age group, and other adults.
Health promotion assumes that adolescents will have access to primary health care services for
prevention and early intervention. Health policymakers must work with communities and fam-
ilies to find new ways to improve adolescents' access to health care services through stable pri-
mary care providers or through school-linked adolescent health centers that emphasize pre-
ventive services, including dental and mental health care. Schools and communities alike must
become places that enhance healthy behaviors among adolescents and the people around them.
A comprehensive health-promotion strategy, therefore, requires a community-wide commit-
ment not only from adolescents but from the full range of institutions with whom adolescents
are involved. Making this commitment to young adolescents is potentially one of the most pow-
erful means of changing health outcomes for life.
100
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A member of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent
sis suggested that one out of every five adolescents
Development, Michael I. Cohen, chair of the Depart-
has at least one serious health problem. Increasingly,
OTA Study
ment of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of
these problems are behavioral in nature, including
Medicine, served as vice chair of the advisory panel
drug abuse, accidents and injuries, homicides, sui-
on
for the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) study
cides, sexually transmitted diseases, and premature
of adolescent health. In a presentation before the
pregnancy. Research that seeks to understand paths
Adolescent
Carnegie Board of Trustees, he called attention to the
to healthy outcomes in adolescence and contribut-
highlights of the first national study on the health of
ing risk factors-individual, familial, and social-is
Health
American adolescents:
urgently needed for informed, effective prevention
approaches.
Collection of health statistics should be informed by
developmental phases within the adolescent period.
Disease prevention and health promotion are
Researchers have divided the adolescent period
crucial during the adolescent years. Health care
roughly into three phases: early, middle, and late.
agencies and professionals, using current under-
The use of chronological age, given individual vari-
standing about the behaviorally based factors re-
ability at a specific age during adolescence, is not
lated to adolescent health status, must work toward
a good substitute for developmental status. How-
achieving a better balance between treatment of ill-
ever, currently published data make it difficult to or-
ness and health promotion and disease prevention.
ganize information based on these phases and on
A variety of approaches to healthy adolescent de-
adolescence itself. For example, national data are
velopment must be tested. Adolescents are a di-
often reported for "children below the age of eigh-
verse group, and many organizations, including
teen" or "for youth from fifteen to twenty-four." The
health agencies, can foster healthy lifestyles in this
OTA study has focused more attention on the ado-
age group. As a major option, OTA sees special
lescent years, and increasingly health statistics are
promise in school-related health centers, as well as
being reported for adolescents from ten to fourteen
community-based, comprehensive adolescent health
and from fifteen to nineteen years, as indicated in
centers.
this report.
Health professionals must be prepared to work
Collection of health statistics should take into
with adolescents. While adolescent health special-
account important characteristics of diversity
ists are still rare within the health professions, an
within the American adolescent population. Data
even greater problem exists in preparing health pro-
are typically reported by race and ethnicity and by
fessionals-nonspecialist physicians, nurses, psy-
gender. Since the OTA report, and reflecting changes
chologists, and social workers-to work effectively
in the U.S. population, more statistical reporting in-
with the adolescents they encounter.
cludes Hispanic-Latino, American Indian, and Asian
Pacific adolescents. However, information that sep-
Health care reform must take into account the de-
arates race or ethnicity from socioeconomic status
velopmental needs of adolescents. Any reform of
is still rare.
health care financing and provision of services must
include attention to adolescents as a group with
Behavioral science research is crucial to under-
needs separate from young children.
standing the new behavior-linked morbidities of
adolescence. Research on adolescent develop-
ment and health must be a high national science
SOURCE
policy priority. Adolescents have been commonly
U.S. Congess Office of Technology Assessment. (1991). Adoles-
regarded as the healthiest Americans and those in
cent health-Volume I: Summary and policy options. Washington,
least need of health services. However, DTA'S analy-
DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS
101
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An
Depression, suicide, alcohol and drug use, HIV/AIDS
no longer safe to assume that the skills necessary for
and other sexually transmitted diseases, gun-related
succeeding-or even surviving-in a complex soci-
homicides-this is the minefield of deeply disturbing
Integrated
ety are being transmitted. When coupled with social
health problems American adolescents in the 1990s
support networks, such training can help adoles-
have to cross. For young people to grow up healthy,
cents make wise, informed decisions and steer clear
Approach to
an integrated approach is necessary-one that
of high-risk behavior.
takes into account individual responsibility for health
Health
Adolescents need health services, including pre-
as well as society's responsibility to support individ-
ventive health, dental, and mental health care.
uals' decisions to enhance their health.
Many adolescents lack access to the health services
Promotion
Adolescents need information. To develop healthy
they need. One way to rectify this situation is to ex-
habits and avoid risks, adolescents need facts. They
tend insurance coverage-both public and private-
need to know the importance of good nutrition and
to all adolescents. Another way is to establish health
exercise, the harmful consequences of substance
centers in or near schools. Cooperative efforts
abuse, and the responsibilities of sexual involvement.
among education, health, and social service groups
Furthermore, students need the facts early. These
could provide students better access to such ser-
facts should be part of the core curriculum in the
vices. Centers should offer health promotion and dis-
higher elementary school grades and in the middle
ease prevention education, treat or refer students
schools. Life sciences classes can teach students
suffering from injuries and acute and chronic ill-
how their minds and bodies develop and function,
nesses, and arrange for treatment of dental and vi-
what strengthens them, and what harms them.
sion problems. To successfully serve adolescents,
centers must guarantee confidentiality.
Adolescents need critical life skills. To protect
their health and expand their options, adolescents
Adolescents need motivation to protect their health.
need life skills such as problem solving, planning, de-
Providing information, skills, and services is not
cision making, resisting negative influences of peers
enough. To protect their health, adolescents must
and the media, resolving conflict nonviolently, and
have incentives to put what they have learned into
coping with stress. Because of profound changes in
action. The social environment can provide these in-
our nation over the last few decades, however, it is
centives. Adolescents living in poverty are more at
Further Reading
Falco, M. (1992). The making of a drug-free America: Programs that work. New York: Times
Books.
Hechinger, F. M. (1992). Fateful choices: Healthy adolescents for the twenty-first century. New
York: Hill and Wang.
Hendee, W.R. (Ed.). (1991). The health of adolescents: Understanding and facilitating biolog-
ical, behavioral, and social development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Lynch, B. S., & Bonnie, R. J. (Eds.). (1994). Growing up tobacco free: Preventing nicotine ad-
diction in children and youths. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
102
PREPARING ADOLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
risk for engaging in unhealthy behavior because of the
cultural, social, and economic constraints they face.
Adolescents need the support of relatives and other
adults, especially educators and health providers.
Adolescents need close, ongoing contact with car-
ing and competent people whose judgment they
trust. To establish these critical relationships, edu-
cators, mentors, health professionals, and other
adults who work with adolescents should receive
training in adolescent development and develop the
skills needed to counsel young people effectively.
Primary care providers who work with diverse pop-
as gang involvement, alcohol and drug use, and pre-
ulations of adolescents must be culturally sensitive
mature sexual activity. Because the lack of employ-
and able to bridge not only the generation gap but
ment opportunities suitable for young people com-
also cultural differences that may exist.
pounds other problems, connecting adolescents with
the world of work can have a positive effect. Men-
Adolescents need environments that foster healthy
social and economic development. Many adoles-
toring programs, part-time internships during the
cents today live in environments where problems
school year and full-time internships during the sum-
mer, and apprenticeships that take a "learn-while-
ranging from violence to hopelessness adversely af-
you-earn" approach can help adolescents feel com-
fect their health. Neighborhoods in which the adults
are connected by an extensive set of expectations,
petent and useful, improve their economic prospects,
obligations, and social networks are in a better posi-
and provide a sense of a promising future.
tion to control and supervise the activities and be-
havior of children and adolescents. In neighborhoods
SOURCES
with weak social controls and monitoring, adoles-
Millstein, S.G. Petersen, A. C., & Nightingale, E. 0. (Eds.). (1993).
cents are more likely to be affected by peer group
Promoting the health of adolescents: New directions for the
culture and may succumb to high-risk behaviors such
twenty-first century. New York: Oxford University Press.
Millstein, S. G., Petersen, A. C., & Nightingale, E. O. (Eds.). (1993). Promoting the health of
adolescents: New directions for the twenty-first century. New York: Oxford University Press.
Palfrey, J.S. (1994). Community child health: An action plan for today. Westport, CT: Praeger.
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1991). Adolescent health, volumes 1-3. Wash-
ington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Wilson, M. H., Baker, S. P., Teret, S., Shock, S., & Garbarino, J. (1991). Saving children: A
guide to injury prevention. New York: Oxford University Press.
PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS
103
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CHAPTER EIGHT
Strengthening Communities with
Adolescents
The experience of growing up in American communities has changed significantly in recent
decades. For most young adolescents, the feeling of belonging to a community that offers mutual
aid and a sense of common purpose, whether it is found in their families, schools, neighborhoods,
houses of worship, or youth organizations, has been greatly compromised.
Each school day, America's 19 million young adolescents decide how they will spend at least
five of their waking hours when they are not in school.¹ A significant number of the twelve-to-
fourteen-year-olds are home alone for more than two hours each school day.2 On weekends,
holidays, and during the summer months, American youth have even greater amounts of dis-
cretionary time without adult guidance. For them, the out-of-school hours constitute a time of
increased vulnerability for high-risk behavior. Those left on their own or only with peers stand
a significantly greater chance of becoming involved in substance abuse, sexual activity leading
to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and crime and violence than their
peers who are engaged in activities with adult supervision.3
Young adolescents from all economic strata often find themselves alone in communities where
there are few adults to turn to and no safe places to go. Inadequate public transportation sys-
tems and Americans' reliance on the private car limit the ability of young adolescents to travel
to activities in places such as clubs away from home or school. In some communities, the main
place to meet others and socialize is in a shopping mall. Where such malls do not exist, the
streets offer ample opportunities for illegal and often dangerous, violent activities.
Time spent alone is not the crucial contributor to high risk. What adolescents do during that
time, where they do it, and with whom leads to either positive or negative results. The task is to
turn the now-lost opportunities of the out-of-school hours into attractive, growth-promoting
settings. Many youth and community organizations, in partnership with schools and corpo-
rations, are beginning to respond.
105
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TAPPING THE POTENTIAL OF COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATIONS FOR YOUTH
In the critical transition from childhood toward a still-distant adulthood, adolescents have a
lot to learn-not only about new subjects at school but also about people, career opportuni-
ties, places beyond the neighborhood, arts, sciences, and themselves. Families help. Schools
help. But increasingly they are not enough.
More than 17,000 national and local youth organizations now oper-
ate in the United States.⁵ These youth organizations include both
large national organizations and small, independent grassroots orga-
nizations not affiliated with a national structure. Some are private,
I'll be going to middle school next year.
nonprofit agencies whose central mission is to provide opportunities
I'll be in the sixth grade. I come to the
for youth, such as the Boy Scouts, 4-H Clubs, the YMCA, and YWCA.
The potential of these youth organizations can be extended greatly by
community center to play basketball, lift
adult service groups, such as Rotary or Kiwanis Clubs, religious or-
ganizations, minority organizations, sports leagues, arts programs, se-
weights, have other activities and stuff.
nior citizens' groups, museums, and public-sector institutions such as
libraries and parks and recreation departments.
It's fun, 'cause my friends are here and
A Carnegie Council report, A Matter of Time: Risk and Opportunity
it's much better than sitting at home
in the Nonschool Hours, focused attention on how youth-oriented
organizations can play an urgently needed and expanded role in help-
and watching TV all day. It's like a place
ing America's young people prepare for lives as responsible, inquir-
where I can come when I'm bored,
ing, and vigorous adults. The report illustrated ways that these or-
ganizations can extend family- and school-like functions into the
'cause there's always people that
crucial after-school, weekend, and summer hours when neither
schools nor parents are available to provide supervision. Youth or-
can help me whenever I have problems
ganizations can connect young adolescents with reliable adults who
provide social support and guidance while offering young adoles-
or anything. Also I've got somebody here
cents opportunities to be of service to their communities, learn about
that I can depend on. I have my friend
the world of work, earn money, build a sense of worth, and make
durable friendships.
Greg in the other room. He gives
A Matter of Time noted that promising programs already exist, but
me advice, we play basketball together,
they reach all too few of the young people who most need their sup-
port and guidance. Some 29 percent (approximately 5.5 million) of
and he takes me out and stuff.
young adolescents are not served by any of the existing 17,000 youth
organizations.⁶ Many programs for youth operate only an hour or
two a week, which is neither intensive enough nor adequate in time
TERENCE. 11
to meet essential needs for healthy adolescent development. Many
programs, too, are run by well-meaning adults who are untrained in
dealing with young adolescents and their distinctive attributes.
Membership in these groups declines precipitously as children
move into adolescence. When these programs do not address requirements and interest of
developing adolescents, as is often the case, the young people drift away.
PREPARING ADOLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
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Based on its three-year study of youth and commu-
planning. Young adolescents' contributions to the
nity organizations, the Carnegie Council's Task Force
program and their communities should be regularly
Elements
on Youth Development and Community Programs
recognized and publicly rewarded. In many commu-
identified characteristics of community programs
nities, young adolescents' desire to gain meaning-
of Effective
that are responsive to the needs of young adoles-
ful employment skills and experiences can be met
cents. Such programs
through community and service programs and by ca-
Youth
reer awareness and job skills classes.
Are safe and accessible to all youth. They should be
located in safe, easy-to-reach settings that are open
Reach out to families, schools, and other community
Programs
to all youth who seek them out. Programs in school
partners to create stronger community support sys-
facilities during the after-school hours may have an
tems for young adolescents. They can provide link-
advantage of providing such an environment but
ages to schools as 8 way to support the academic
must be year-round operations and open during the
achievement and learning of young adolescents.
evenings, weekends, and vacations to avoid a dan-
Such programs should encourage parental partici-
gerous vacuum. Transportation and child care are of-
pation by creating real opportunities to become in-
ten needed if all adolescents are to have genuine ac-
volved in the life of the school and in improving their
cess to these opportunities.
own education and training.
Tailor their content and methods to the characteris-
Identify their objectives and evaluate their methods
tics, interests, and diversity of young adolescents
and outcomes for young adolescents, staff, and com-
based on a systematic assessment of community
munity impact. Process evaluations enable staff to
needs and existing services. Programs should be en-
adapt and improve what they are doing. Outcome
joyable, culturally relevant, and linked to activities
evaluations can provide information on near-term
that capture adolescents' interests, such as sports
outcomes. However, it must be recognized that im-
and recreation, drama, business skills, the arts, life
portant outcomes, such as employment in the legiti-
skills, and academic enhancement. Programs need
mate workforce, may not be measurable until some
to be flexible enough to respond to adolescents' re-
years later.
quests to integrate new activities, as they are
Advocate vigorously for and with youth to improve
needed and reasonable, into the ongoing program.
opportunities for education and health in their com-
Work with a variety of other community organizations
munities.
and governmental agencies to extend their reach to
Establish strong organizations with a vision of youth
vulnerable adolescents, especially those in resource-
development, led by energetic and committed board
poor neighborhoods. They should offer a wide array
leadership.
of services, including primary health services-sub-
stance abuse prevention, mental health, and family
Strengthen research on community organizations
planning-that facilitate healthy development.
and youth development, giving it a higher priority in
science policy than ever before because of the po-
Strengthen the preparation and the diversity of their
tential importance of these opportunities to prevent
adult leadership. Staff of youth organizations should
casualties in adolescence and beyond.
be knowledgeable about the development of adoles-
cents and prepared to work with them.
SOURCE
Enhance the participation of young adolescents as
resources to building and improving their communi-
Task Force on Youth Development and Community Programs.
(1992). A matter of time: Risk and opportunity in the nonschool
ties. Activities should involve young people in all as-
hours. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.
pects of program development, including day-to-day
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES WITH ADOLESCENTS
107
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Collaborating
Low-income neighborhoods often lack safe places
initiative in 1987. At the heart of the plan was the de-
for young adolescents to congregate and to partici-
cision to expand its efforts in public housing projects.
for Youth
pate in recreational or educational activities. Meet-
Today, with the ongoing support of the U.S. Depart-
ing the needs of adolescents living in these areas is
ment of Housing and Urban Development and several
the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a
key federal agencies and private foundations, 270
Boys & Girls Clubs
national federation of independent local clubs.
clubs are located in housing projects nationwide and
in Public Housing
Opening their doors to all young people, ages six to
in Puerto Rico. They are also the only national youth-
eighteen, clubs offer a wide variety of activities.
serving agency with a major presence in public
Projects
Grouped in six core areas, these include health and
housing. Through this public-private collaboration,
physical education, personal and educational devel-
thousands of young people have a positive alterna-
opment, citizenship and leadership development,
tive to hopelessness and lives frequently filled with
violence.
cultural enrichment, recreation, and outdoor envi-
ronmental education. Through these activities, the
Research conducted over a three-year period in fif-
clubs hope to instill such values as good work habits,
teen public housing projects has shown that these
self-reliance, perseverance, teamwork, and consid-
clubs have a positive impact on parental involvement
eration of others. Club programs are designed to pro-
and school performance, and their presence also en-
vide girls and boys with responsible adult guidance,
courages residents to organize and improve their
encouragement and support that are frequently not
community. The clubs also had positive effects on re-
available at home, in school, or elsewhere in the
ducing drug use, juvenile crime, and the presence of
community.
crack in housing projects compared to housing pro-
Each year, Boys & Girls Clubs serve 2 million young
jects without them. Boys & Girls Clubs in public hous-
people. More than half of these youth come from mi-
ing are significant for two key reasons: They are re-
nority groups, single-parent households, or low-in-
sponsible for bringing about many broad-based and
come families. To reach even more young people in
dramatic social changes, and they provide a self-
need, Boys & Girls Clubs launched an ambitious new
sustaining program of assistance.
When asked what they want from programs, young adolescents say they want secure and sta-
ble relationships with caring peers and adults, safe and attractive places to relax and be with
their friends, and opportunities to develop life skills, contribute to their communities, and feel
competent.⁷ Good youth programs offer precisely what adolescents want: mentoring and coach-
ing relationships; drop-in activities; development of social skills; safe havens; community ser-
vice, and programs that nurture interests and talents, public performance, and recognition.
To expand the reach of good programs, the Council's report urged the development of inno-
vative partnerships that can provide these organizations with financial and other resources. For
example, several federal agencies provide such organizations with funds directed toward their
preventive potential in areas of substance abuse and youth violence.8 With both public and
private funds, these community-based organizations can reach neglected adolescents, who are
likely to benefit a great deal from opportunities to belong to a valued group. These settings
present a powerful alternative to the appeal of youth gangs and other negative influences.
A Matter of Time has contributed to efforts across the country to recreate communities with
youth. Urban parks and recreation groups used the report to argue for more safe, open spaces,
108
PREPARING ADOLESCENTS FOR A NEW CENTURY
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particularly in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.9 Theater and arts groups cited its find-
ings in their requests for increased support of their activities. Federal agencies pointed to the
report when including after-school programs as part of a crime-prevention strategy.¹ National
youth organizations turned to it for guidance in reorganizing their priorities. In several cities,
including San Francisco, Chicago, and Denver, the report was the basis for examining how
youth-serving agencies in both the public and private sectors could better meet the needs of
adolescents in their cities. 11 All of these efforts are the hopeful signs of movement toward what
John Gardner, a member of the task force that issued the report, called "reinventing commu-
nity" to adapt to new social conditions.¹²
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AS AWAYOF
OVERCOMING DISADVANTAGE
Young adolescents from families with very low incomes are likely to live in unsafe neighbor-
hoods and to be unsupervised during the out-of-school hours. Already penalized by economic
disadvantage and the stresses of life in their neighborhoods, they also are the least likely to have
access to enriching youth programs in their neighborhoods.¹⁵ They are at extremely high risk.
They are young people whose lives hang in the balance.
Communities of color are trying to focus their institutions on encouraging young people to
stay in school and pursue education in a determined way even in the face of frustration. Much
can be accomplished by community-based youth organizations to support and extend the ed-
ucational functions of schools. A variety of organizations and institutions can provide long-
term mentors who are like parents, older siblings, and an extended family. Across the country,
examples of such interventions exist.
Some programs are based in churches (such as Project SPIRIT, the initiative of the Congress of
National Black Churches); some are based in community organizations (such as the Boys &
Girls Clubs); others involve youth service (such as Youth L.A. and the Early Adolescent
Helper Program); others are based in minority organizations, including the National Coalition
of Hispanic Health and Human Service Organizations, National Urban League, minority fra-
ternities and sororities, and ASPIRA.¹⁴ National scientific associations, such as the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, are working with churches and other community
organizations to increase young people's interest and active involvement in the sciences.
Through the Association of Science-Technology Centers, science and youth museums
throughout the country are involving adolescents from low-income - communities as docents
and exhibition designers.
Pursuing such efforts typically requires the involvement of neighborhood residents and vol-
unteers who know their communities well. Usually there is need for a highly competent corps
of paid staff working with able and dedicated volunteers and for firm links with relevant pro-
fessionals. Promising models exist, but there is no large-scale system. As worthwhile lines of
innovation emerge, it is crucial to have careful evaluations so that the effects can be broadly un-
derstood. What works for whom under what conditions? Such knowledge can help in scaling
up the best efforts for use where they are most needed.
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES WITH ADOLESCENTS
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RECONNECTING YOUTH TO THEIR COMMUNITIES
Among the most powerful means of enriching young lives is to enlist their energies in improv-
ing their own communities. Young adolescents can and want to contribute to their communi-
ties, and they learn much from such engagement. Aside from experiencing the rewards of ser-
vice to others, they learn skills and develop habits that will serve them well in the world of work.
They learn about the importance of collab-
orative problem solving when teams work
Weekly Afterschool Activities of Eighth Graders
together to achieve group objectives; about
AVERAGE NUMBER OF HOURS PER WEEK
the importance of being prompt, courteous,
30
Television
and cooperative; and about the inevitable ne-
Homework
cessity of patience and persistence in pursu-
Outside Reading
25
ing long-term goals. Under the auspices of
the American Library Association, as one ex-
20
ample, public libraries are addressing ado-
lescents' needs with programs that include
paid employment and volunteer opportuni-
15
ties to work with younger children.
10
When programs encourage young adoles-
cents to participate in community life as
valued resources, they enable young people
5
to become stakeholders in the community's
values, traditions, and accomplishments.
0
Total
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian and
American
Adolescents with such a sense of belonging
Pacific
Indian
ETHNIC BACKGROUND
Islanders
and Native
are more likely to choose positive paths to
Alaskan
achievement. Their self-efficacy grows as they
Source: From A Profile of the American Eigth Grader: NELS:88 Student Descriptive Summary,
by the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 1990, Washington, DC:
see their contributions bear fruit. Adolescents
U.S. Government Printing Office.
often adopt as role models the adult leaders
who help them build their own futures.
To be successful, service learning programs must take into account the interests and talents of
young adolescents and the ways in which they learn. Activities must be carefully planned to offer
meaningful experiences with tangible results so that young adolescents feel a sense of accom-
plishment. Often the most successful programs are ones in which young people participate in all
aspects of program development, including day-to-day planning. In addition, building pride in
solid accomplishments must be part of the core of the program. Young adolescents' contributions
to the program and their communities should be regularly recognized and publicly rewarded.
STRENGTHENING ADULT LEADERS IN COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATIONS
The adult leaders in community organizations often are available to young people at all hours
of the day, labor without adequate compensation, have limited benefits, and go unrecognized
for their contributions to youth and community development. Yet they are society's frontline
workers who breathe life into youth programs.
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Community Service Opportunities
Community service can be a powerful tool for young
school to identify, analyze, and address community
adolescents to learn about important human values
problems. Using oral histories and other activities,
such as compassion, cooperation, tolerance, respect,
the CityYouth curriculum helps teachers and stu-
and faimess. That is one of the reasons Turning Points
dents understand such community issues as health,
recommends that community service be a part of
safety, and crime and provides the skills students
middle schools' core curriculum.
need to address community problems. The CityYouth
curriculum also promotes respect for the racial, eth-
Often called "service learning," community service
nic, and socioeconomic diversity characteristic of
activities can reinforce skills like problem solving and
Los Angeles's student population. The Los Angeles
conflict resolution taught in other parts of the cur-
Unified School District piloted the program in 1992 in
riculum. In fact, the most effective programs inte-
four middle schools, involving about 150 students. To-
grate service learning into the traditional curriculum,
day the program features nine teaching teams who
embedding activities in the study of mathematics,
reach a thousand students.
science, language, art, or social studies in ways that
encourage interdisciplinary integration and team
teaching. Service learning can take place virtually
EARLY ADOLESCENT HELPER
anywhere. At school, students can serve as peer tu-
PROGRAM
tors, teaching assistants, or other kinds of helpers.
The Early Adolescent Helper Program is another ap-
Away from school, they can be child care volunteers
proach to service learning. A program of the National
or environmental workers.
Helpers Network, it has promoted service learning
among young adolescents since 1982. With the dual
CITYYOUTH, L.A.: EDUCATION
goals of raising adolescents' self-esteem and im-
AND COMMUNITY ACTION
proving communities with adolescents' service, the
program views community service as a valuable part
One noteworthy example of service learning is City
of adolescent education. The Helpers Network has
Youth, L.A.: Education and Community Action. Spon-
developed two intergenerational programs. The
sored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the
Learning Helpers Program creates opportunities for
program gives teachers the training and materials to
young adolescents to assist in after-school programs
help their pupils use what they have learned in
for children. Learning Helpers read aloud to children,
supervise their play, and teach them games. The
Partners Program gives adolescents the chance to
work with older people at senior centers and nursing
homes. Other programs focus on environmental is-
sues, neighborhood improvement, and tutoring. In
addition to their community service, students partic-
ipate in weekly seminars designed to stimulate re-
flection on their active involvement in community set-
tings. Led by trained adults, these seminars use
curricula developed by the Network.
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES WITH ADOLESCENTS
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Black Churches Support Youth Development
Through Project SPIRIT
Since 1978, the Congress of National Black Churches
who are recruited into the program and trained in
(CNBC) has worked to build on and strengthen the
providing motivation and support. They then receive
black church's ministry by serving as an organiza-
supplementary tutoring from workbooks and curric-
tional umbrella for the eight major Black American
ular materials. A portion of the afternoon is devoted
religious denominations. Headquartered in Wash-
to the development of African American cultural and
ington, D.C., CNBC represents approximately 19 mil-
ethnic pride and improved self-concepts as well as
lion African Americans in more than 65,000 local
practical living skills through games, skits, songs,
churches.
and role playing real-life experiences. Project SPIRIT
also organizes Saturday programs for parents and
CNBC seeks to harness the historical mission of black
children and provides parent education programs fo-
churches to respond not only to the spiritual but also
cused on child and adolescent development, parent-
to the economic and social needs of the black com-
child communication, discipline, and financial man-
munity. The organization launched its first major na-
agement. The program has served more than two
tional demonstration effort-Project SPIRIT- in 1986.
thousand children with tutorials aimed at strength-
Project SPIRIT, which stands for Strength, Persever-
ening their skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic
ance, Imagination, Responsibility, Integrity, and Tal-
and in building their self-esteem.
ent, aims to instill those very qualities in African
American youth, ages six to twelve. Goals of the pro-
The Pastoral Counseling Training Component of Pro-
ject are to provide constructive after-school activi-
ject SPIRIT provides pastors of participating churches
ties for young people growing up in low-income com-
with a fifteen-session workshop designed to help
munities, to expand their network of relationships
them become more effective in the care, education,
with caring adults, to support academic achieve-
and guidance of African American youth. Because
ment, and to teach practical life skills. The project fo-
this type of training is missing from most seminaries
cuses on three target populations: Children and
and in-service education programs for black minis-
young adolescents, parents, and African American
ters, it is a critical component of Project SPIRIT.
pastors. Project SPIRIT is currently operating in
sixty-five churches in seven states-Arkansas, Cali-
fornia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New York, and Min-
nesota-and in the District of Columbia.
The youth component revolves around daily after-
school programs conducted in church facilities. Pro-
ject SPIRIT generally enrolls young people who are
underachievers, bored with the traditional school
setting, earning low grades, and experiencing disci-
pline problems. For three hours after every school
day, they concentrate on their homework, supervised
by retired or active teachers and other professionals,
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The professional development of adults, both as new and existing staff in youth organizations,
is a continuing concern to the field. Different avenues to expanding opportunities for prepa-
ration for youth work, whether through postsecondary educational institutions or on the job,
are now being explored by resource centers such as the Academy for Educational Develop-
ment's Center for Youth Development and Policy Research. 15 These efforts are likely to en-
hance the effectiveness of programs experienced by young adolescents as well as increase the
recognition of youth-development work as a valued service.
BUILDING YOUTH- ORIENTED COMMUNITIES
Community programs are natural partners with the other key institutions that influence young
lives. These programs extend the school's responsibility for education and facilitate the transi-
tion from school to work into the out-of-school hours. They reinforce the family's responsibil-
ities for teaching enduring values and building character during the hours when parents are not
available. Ideally, these linkages will be not accidental but planned and carefully coordinated;
for example, community programs can create meaningful opportunities for parents and schools
to become involved in fostering and recognizing young people's accomplishments.
Adults in these key institutions can themselves cooperate to become effective advocates for
youth. The voices of young adolescents rarely are heard in the corridors of policy decision
making. Adolescents need powerful and well-informed adult advocates to see that their devel-
opmental requirements are met in consistent and constructive ways.
Neighborhoods and communities in today's global village often are not well organized to pro-
vide a network of support for vulnerable young adolescents. Schools, community organiza-
tions, health care institutions, and families must work together to revive for young people the
experience of belonging to caring communities where all can thrive. Young adolescents, work-
ing with these organizations committed to their future, can turn their out-of-school hours into
the time of their lives.
Further Reading
Connell, J. P., Kubisch, A. C., Schorr, L. B., & Weiss, C. H. (Eds.). (1995). New approaches
to evaluating community initiatives: Concepts, methods and contexts. Washington, DC: The
Aspen Institute.
Task Force on Youth Development and Community Programs. (1992). A matter of time: Risk
and opportunity in the nonschool hours. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.
McLaughlin, M. W., Irby, M. A., & Langman, J. (1994). Urban sanctuaries: Neighborhood or-
ganizations in the lives and futures of inner-city youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Zeldin, S., & Price, L. A. (Eds.). (1995). Creating supportive communities for adolescent de-
velopment: Challenges to scholars [Special issue]. Journal of Adolescent Research, 10 (1).
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES WITH ADOLESCENTS
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CHAPTER NINE
Redirecting the Pervasive Power of Media
The world of the adolescent cannot be understood without considering the profound influence
of the mass media, especially television, but also movies and popular music. Together with the
increasing penetration of cable television and video cassette recorders in American homes,
these electronic conduits for programming and for the marketing of products have become
strong competitors to families, schools, and community institutions in shaping young people's
attitudes and values about acceptable behavior, their perceptions of what kind of society they
live in, their place in that society, and their expectations of the future.
Even greater influences may emerge as the United States develops a high-speed global "in-
formation superhighway," merging signals from telephone, television, high-capacity storage
media such as CD-ROM, and multimedia computers into a single medium capable of transmit-
ting and receiving enormous amounts of information. As the potential-both positive and
negative-of these new media unfold, one fact is clear: cyberspace has the potential to trans-
form education, health care, and many of the vital aspects of life, including the experience of
growing up. Already, the personal computer-the gateway to this superhighway-is becom-
ing commonplace among more advantaged families as an interactive, home-based source of
consumption, entertainment, information, and socializing.
For the near future, however, television's cheaper price, accessibility, and convenience virtu-
ally guarantee its dominion in American homes and much of the world. Adolescents un-
questionably spend a great deal of time watching television: twenty-two hours per week, on
average, and for some individuals as many as sixty.¹ By the time they reach age eighteen, ado-
lescents as a group will have logged more hours in front of the television set than they will
have spent in the classroom.2 During this viewing time, the average child or adolescent will
see about one thousand murders, rapes, or aggravated assaults each year.3 Overall, adoles-
cents from lower-income households watch more television than those from higher-income
households; indeed, young people who have the poorest life chances watch more television
than any adolescent group.
The greatest amount of television viewing takes place among children and young adolescents.
It peaks at around age twelve and declines through the later teen years in response to increas-
ing interest in competing media, such as radio and music, and to the demands of a social life.⁵
The question of what these younger adolescents are learning from these media should, there-
fore, be of deep concern to their families and communities.
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MEDIA'S IMPACT ON ADOLESCENTS
One would have to ignore human learning capacities to suppose that media's saturation of the
cultural environment has no effect on young minds. Producers of the programming and ad-
vertisements for television, radio, and other media certainly believe it is in their power to
influence adolescents, who now represent a $230 billion annual market. It is because television
and radio advertising are such powerful forces in shaping behavior that tobacco and alcohol
commercials, except for wine and beer, have been banned from the air.
Our understanding of mass media's role in shaping adolescents' psychological development
is still incomplete, but certain of its effects on the young have been established during decades
of research. For example, research has shown that passive consumption of commercial televi-
sion can lead to attention deficits, nonreflective thinking, irrational decision making, and con-
fusion between external reality and packaged representations.⁶ One study of the influence of
entertainment television found that frequent viewing of crime shows by adolescents in grades
six through twelve led them to develop an image of a mean world in which people cannot be
trusted. Such an image of social reality was associated with opposition to civil liberties for per-
sons accused of crimes.⁷
Adolescents who spend more than five hours a day sitting in front of the television set are
much more likely to be obese than their counterparts who watch less than one hour.8 The
food products adolescents consume while viewing television are the same as those most ad-
vertised on the screen, notably ones high in sugar, fat, or sodium. On the other hand, in ad-
vertisements for beauty products, messages abound that in order to be accepted, girls must
be thin and pretty. For some girls, the ideal of thinness contributes to the development of
eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. There is, furthermore, considerable evidence
that viewing a great deal of violent content can contribute to aggressive feelings and behav-
ior. 10 Violent content itself is not the only problem. An equally important question is whether
the programming deals with conflict and violence in a responsible manner.¹¹ Are there con-
sequences, such as pain? Who is the aggressor-the hero or the villain? Were other options
explored before the protagonists resorted to violence? Is nonviolent resolution of conflict se-
riously portrayed?
There is arguably an opportunity cost in the amount of time teenagers spend in solitary, pas-
sive television watching. Young people glued to the television set are not participating in so-
cial or cultural events, excursions, or outdoor games; they are not with church, school, or mu-
sical groups. Studies also show a negative association between heavy viewing of entertainment
television and academic achievement, particularly on reading tests.¹² Those who view greater
amounts of television, moreover, are less likely to learn the social skills that are developed
through group membership and physical activity.
Commercial television scarcely touches upon the profound social transformations that have
disrupted family life and worsened economic disparities, and it rarely explores seriously the
ways that ordinary families are coping. Networks consistently avoid subjects that may be of ed-
ucational value to adolescents, such as contraception, because they do not consider these sub-
jects entertaining and because they fear these subjects might offend a segment of their viewers.
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Much of the attention regarding the impact of media on adolescents has focused on television.
Hence, less is known about the impact of different forms of music and their lyrics, although
speculation about their harmful effects is widespread.13 Even less well understood is the cyber-
space experience that a growing number of adolescents are exposed to through the use of per-
sonal computers at home or at school. The influence of what is called "virtual reality" (i.e.,
computers that involve the user in a multisensory experience of a simulated event) is so new
that researchers can only speculate about its effects. The content readily available to adoles-
cents through such media includes sexually explicit materials and those promoting alcohol,
often disguised as infomercials. Video games tend to be exceedingly violent.
MEDIA'S CONSTRUCTIVE POTENTIAL FOR YOUTH
Despite the frequently cited negative influences of media on youth, never have the media had
more potential than they do today to affect positively the lives of young adolescents. Clearly,
television, video cassettes, music videos, video games, and, increasingly, computers provide
interests and pleasures that are novel and attractive to teenagers and contribute to rising ex-
pectations. Even if, as now used, they are often a distraction from school and other learning
opportunities, they can also be powerful tools for teaching a wide range of cognitive and so-
cial skills. They can promote compassionate understanding, nonviolent problem solving, and
decent intergroup relations. They can portray human diversity while highlighting shared hu-
man experience. They can provide models of healthy development in childhood and early ado-
lescence that increase public understanding of what it takes to raise competent youth.
Because personal computers are a growing presence in American homes, the opportunity to
create programs that are educational and attractive is enormous. Health and educational pro-
fessionals should seize this opportunity and collaborate with software designers to develop
interactive programs that are enjoyable and educational and that actively engage participants.
THE ROLE OF REGULATION
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission requires that television networks broadcast
educational children's programming as a condition of license renewal. However, the require-
ments do not delineate how much of this programming must be broadcast, nor do they include
content standards. As part of communications deregulation in the 1980s, television stations
were no longer required to air public service announcements. Today, few stations or networks
make an effort to provide quality children's programming. A coalition of public interest orga-
nizations, including the Center for Media Education, is working toward requiring the networks
to broadcast three hours of children's television per week.
Decades of public debate have finally led American media industries to adopt certain self-regu-
latory strategies that bear mention. Film and television entertainment executives have acted in re-
cent years to avoid glamorizing alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, although the industry's track
record has not been consistent. Some local television stations have decided to limit children's ex-
posure to advertisements for alcoholic beverages. Both the television cable networks and the video
game industry have unveiled rating systems and advisories that will allow parents more control
REDIRECTING THE PERVASIVE POWER OF MEDIA
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over what their children watch.' 14 The Motion Picture Association of America has responded to
public concern by releasing, for the first time, limited explanations of the reasons for its ratings
of individual films. In addition, new technologies are being developed that could enable con-
sumers to block out shows with specific unwanted content, such as violent programming.
Despite three decades of public debate, films, television, and certain forms of music have be-
come increasingly more violent and often demeaning of women and other groups. In the ab-
sence of strong public clamor for change, there may be little that can be accomplished to di-
minish the glamorizing of violence and irresponsible sex on the screens without provoking
cries of censorship from the entertainment industry. However, censorship is a matter of gov-
ernment action, not public pressure by private organizations. Recent surveys have shown that
the public is unhappy with the increase in violent and sexually suggestive content and wants
the industries involved to do more to regulate themselves.¹
Media could do much more voluntarily to promote healthy messages and to model health-
enhancing behavior in their programs and advertising. But there is also much that parents,
schools, and communities can do to educate the young about the nature of this pervasive
influence in their lives. As the number of homes with access to the information superhighway
grows, efforts to regulate the content of electronic networks, such as the Internet, are likely to
increase. By and large, this process is not likely to come from government but rather through
industry self-regulation and vigorous debate in a free society with wide latitude for public crit-
icism of dangerous practices.
INCREASING MEDIA LITERACY FOR THE INFORMATION AGE
Knowledge of media production, and especially of the ways commercial messages are shaped and
used to manipulate audiences, may help protect young adolescents against strong advertising pres-
sures to smoke, drink, have sex, or eat unhealthy foods. 16 Such knowledge also may help counter
the development of social or peer norms that reinforce and maintain unhealthy behavior.
Parents should watch television shows with their children and initiate family discussions about
the messages that are being communicated. Schools would do well to introduce instruction and
activities that contribute to media literacy. Training in media literacy skills can be included in
community and youth development programs during the out-of-school hours. Settings for tele-
vision viewing that both encourage social interactions and imbue teenagers with critical habits
of mind can help them become effective users of technology, restoring personal control.
Media literacy is a required part of the language arts curriculum for grades seven through twelve
in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and Spain. In contrast, teacher education, curricula, and
community centers aimed at fostering media literacy in the United States are in their infancy.
In many American communities, individual teachers are implementing media literacy programs
in their classrooms, but district-level or statewide programs are rare. The State of New Mex-
ico has adopted media literacy as a basic skill and pioneered a comprehensive media literacy
program from kindergarten through grade twelve. North Carolina has included media literacy
in both its English and information skills curricula. Efforts such as these deserve widespread
consideration in schools and community organizations as an essential part of becoming a well-
educated citizen.
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At the threshold of the twenty-first century, media
Advocates for Youth is a Washington, D.C.-based or-
are an ever more pervasive presence in the lives of
ganization that works to increase the opportunities
Media
young adolescents. As heavy users of television, ra-
for youth to make sound decisions about sexuality.
dio, film, and computers, adolescents are aggres-
Advocates for Youth created The Media Project in re-
Literacy:
sively targeted as a profitable consumer market by
sponse to the sexual content in music videos and
advertisers. Their lives are saturated with entertain-
lyrics. Based in Los Angeles, The Media Project pro-
A Basic
ment and advertising. Their capacity to make sense
motes responsible portrayals of sexuality in the en-
of messages from this array of powerful sources of
tertainment media. The Project works with media
Skill in the
influence is essential to their development.
professionals by sponsoring informational events
and offering free consultation services to writers,
Information
MEDIA LITERACY
producers, critics, and others. One of the project's
publications, the annually produced Talking with TV,
Organizations such as Mediascope (discussed in this
outlines the plots of television shows aimed at ado-
Age
chapter) and the Center for Media Literacy have
lescents and suggests ways for adults to engage
been longtime advocates of education for critical
adolescents in honest conversation about these
media literacy. These organizations produce books,
shows.
videos, and lesson plans for parents to teach their
children about the media and for teachers to create
Girls, Inc. developed a four-part curriculum with the
media literacy curricula for their students. The As-
Center for Media Literacy called Girls Re-Cast TV, to
sembly on Media Arts and the Commission on Media,
teach girls to identify and counter gender biases in
both parts of the National Council of Teachers of Eng-
the media. This curriculum is designed to teach girls
ages eleven to fourteen to recognize and understand
lish, have worked to make media literacy part of the
national English curriculum. The efforts of these or-
stereotypes and other messages in the media. Ac-
ganizations have inspired the inclusion of media lit-
cording to Isabel Stewart, executive director of Girls,
Inc., "Female characters of all races, ethnicities, and
eracy education programs both in and out of school.
abilities are still outnumbered by male characters
The Girl Scouts of the USA offer three badges in
three to one in prime time [television] and four to one
media literacy and communication: "Do You Get the
in children's programs; behind the cameras, the num-
Message?," "Basic Audiovisual Production," and
bers are even more discouraging." This program also
"Communication Arts." To earn these badges, scouts
offers the opportunity for girls to become involved in
complete activities in which they learn about com-
local media production and to learn about careers in
puters; producing films and videotapes; analyzing ad-
the media.
vertisements in magazines, newspapers, and televi-
Collectively, the various media are among the most
sion; and critiquing movies and television programs.
These activities include recognizing gender and
pervasive influences in the lives of young adoles-
racial stereotypes in the media.
cents. Media literacy education provides the oppor-
tunity for young adolescents to be active, critical
consumers of media's messages. Together with fam-
ilies, community organizations, and schools, media-
savvy adolescents may shape their own media envi-
ronment in the next century.
REDIRECTING THE PERVASIVE POWER OF MEDIA
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FOSTERING COOPERATIVE CONSULTATIONS WITH THE
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
Efforts to bring together professionals in media, health, education, and adolescent develop-
ment on a regular basis to discuss the responsible depiction of violence and of sexual rela-
tionships have made some headway in the media entertainment industry. These efforts have
led to more responsible depictions, but much more is required. A model for future coopera-
tive efforts is the work of Mediascope and Advocates for Youth, nonprofit organizations that
work with media professionals. Conferences and educational programs provide opportuni-
ties for media leaders and independent experts to cooperate in support of positive adolescent
development.
As a result of such linkages, prosocial television programs such as DeGrassi Junior High and
In the Mix have made serious efforts to address family conflict, emotional and physical abuse,
drug abuse, AIDS, depression, and sexuality. Such successes offer some basis for hope, but the
connections made must be sustained in an ongoing way for many years.
MEDIA AS PART OF COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PROMOTION
CAMPAIGNS
Media have been successfully involved in community-wide health-promotion campaigns to
prevent cardiovascular disease and to reduce the consumption of legal and illegal drugs.¹⁷ Us-
ing a public health approach, these campaigns use television, radio, and print media, supple-
mented by direct interventions in community organizations and schools, to inform target au-
diences about risk-reducing behavior and to support individual efforts to achieve healthier
lifestyles. Interventions range from the broadcast of public service announcements on radio
and television to the distribution of kits on weight loss and smoking cessation.
Research and experience have shown that public service announcements alone have limited
impact on behavioral change.¹⁸ In the context of broader efforts, however, they can be valu-
able in directing viewers or listeners to additional sources of specific information and action.
Media can be used to familiarize audiences with health-enhancing behavior, to promote prod-
ucts and services that foster health, and to encourage audiences to call, write, or participate in
health-promotion programs.
MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF THE INFORMATION
SUPERHIGHWAY
The media and entertainment industries can do much more to capitalize on their potentially
positive influence on the learning, competence, and character of young adolescents. They are
also one of this nation's most potent forces for improving public understanding about the
requirements for positive youth development. They can join families, schools, community
organizations, and health care agencies to enhance knowledge, skills, and health-promoting
behavior in the young and to provide positive role models for future generations of youth who
look to the media for adult images.
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Connecting the Media and Adolescent Development
Professionals
Mediascope, headed by Marcy Kelly, emerged from
For school and university classrooms, Mediascope
a series of seminars and meetings organized by the
has produced "The Kids Are Watching," a short film
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development to dis-
on children's reaction to what they see on television
CUSS the impact of the media on young people. Me-
and in films. Typical of children's comments, Zack, a
diascope's mission is to work with media profession-
twelve-year-old participant in the program, said: "I
als in an effort to reduce violence in television, film,
don'tremember (its name]. It was a really gross movie
music, video games, and other entertainment and
and there's parts in it where they wrap bodies in foil
news presentations. The organization has sponsored
and then light it on fire, you know, and then I got a lot
many informational forums with Hollywood-based or-
of scary things like that, and I get a lot of scary night-
ganizations such as the Writers Guild of America, the
mares." The video also exposes the marketing to chil-
Directors Guild of America, the American Film Insti-
dren of toys inspired by R-rated violent movies. It in-
tute, and the Caucus for Producers, Writers, and Di-
cludes interviews in the Los Angeles Central Juvenile
rectors. These meetings offer creative people in the
Hall, a correction facility, with adolescents who have
industry opportunities to confer with professionals in
committed violent crimes.
adolescent development, the behavioral and social
Mediascope is developing an ethics curriculum on
sciences, health, and violence prevention. Working
violence to be used in courses that train 64,000 film
with a variety of entertainment industries, Medias-
students who hope to become movie makers. In 1992,
cope is also developing voluntary guidelines and rat-
the National Cable Television Association contracted
ings that address violent content.
with Mediascope to serve as an independent moni-
Kelly's approach is to persuade the entertainment in-
tor to analyze and report on the level of violence on
dustry to deal with conflict and violence in a respon-
television. Mediascope, in conjunction with four uni-
sible manner rather than to eliminate conflict from
versities, is monitoring the entire television industry
the screen. She believes that the media can serve as
to assess several issues, including the gratuitous use
a positive influence on human behavior. As exam-
of violence, responsible scheduling, and the use of
ples, she cites television's and the movies' virtual
ratings and advisories. An annual report will be is-
elimination of cigarette smoking on the screen and
sued to give consumers a tool to help them make
the news media's effective presentations on healthy
more informed choices about what they and their
diets and physical exercise.
families watch.
The presidents of the American Psychological Asso-
Mediascope's services and resources are used by
ciation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
screenwriters, journalists, researchers, producers,
American Psychiatric Association, and the Society
critics, educators, media executives, members of
for Adolescent Medicine have enlisted Media-
Congress, professional associations, and students.
scope's aid in sending a letter to 125 board chairs,
chief executive officers, and other entertainment in-
dustry leaders, offering them assistance in reducing
the harmful effects of media-produced violence.
REDIRECTING THE PERVASIVE POWER OF MEDIA
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Promoting the Constructive Potential of the Media
An ever-expanding array of media bombard adoles-
Use the media for comprehensive health promo-
cents with messages that shape adolescent opinion
tion campaigns. Successfully influencing young
and behavior. The power of the media can be used
people's attitudes and behaviors requires a consis-
constructively in the lives of young people. Educa-
tent message from all the social institutions that
tors, families, and others can help enhance the con-
touch young people's lives. Families, schools, health
structive potential of the media in the following ways:
care agencies, community organizations, and the
Encourage socially responsible media program-
media must all work together to promote messages
ming. Three decades of research point to a consis-
that encourage healthy behavior. Community-wide
tent, causal linkage between exposure to violence on
campaigns using public service announcements in
television and aggressive behavior in children and
the television, radio, and print media have success-
adolescents. Violence is not the only issue, however.
fully promoted smoking cessation and physical fit-
The media also shape adolescents' views of every-
ness among adolescents. The entertainment indus-
thing from gender, ethnic, and occupational roles to
try has particular power when it comes to influencing
standards of beauty, family life, and sexuality. Writ-
behavior; movie makers should be persuaded to de-
ers, producers, directors and executives should rec-
pict health-enhancing behavior on the big screen.
ognize how important positive images are and work
Expand opportunities to include young people's
with experts on child and adolescent development so
views in the media and to involve them in media
that such knowledge can be taken into account.
production. Media should increase the number of
Support public efforts to make the media more ado-
young voices in their publications and programs
lescent friendly. American media basically regulate
through the publication and broadcast of editorial
themselves when it comes to their influence on chil-
opinions, news stories, and videos written or pro-
dren and adolescents. Some film and television per-
duced by young adolescents. Some schools have
sonalities, for example, try not to glamorize the use
shown that this can be a useful part of education.
of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Yet much more
is needed. For example, every other Western nation
has stronger regulations than the United States to
foster educational programming for children.
Make media literacy programs a part of school
curricula, of youth and community organization
activities, and of family life. Adolescents absorb a
very large number of media messages every day, yet
many lack the skill to analyze and evaluate those
messages critically. Designed to help young people
identify the media's underlying assumptions about
the world, training in media literacy should cover the
whole spectrum of contemporary media-including
newspapers, magazines, radio, television, videos,
music, computer programs, and electronic games.
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The emergence of a new digital electronic world via the information superhighway provides
unprecedented opportunities to shape policies and practices to ensure that all children and
adolescents have excellent opportunities in the next century. On-line computer and cable ser-
vices already are becoming highly commercialized, and efforts to assure equitable access to in-
formation technology by all young people will be essential in our democratic society.¹⁹ Wide-
spread public education about the positive potential and the negative consequences of
leading-edge communications technologies must be a high priority.
Further Reading
Aufderheide, P. (1992). Media literacy: A report of the national leadership conference on media
literacy. Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute.
Christenson, P. G., & Roberts, D.F. (1990). Popular music in early adolescence. Washington,
DC: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
Flora, J. A. (1990). Strategies for enhancing adolescents' health through music media. Wash-
ington, DC: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
Minow, N. N., & LaMay, C.L. (1995). Abandoned in the wasteland: Children, television, and
the first amendment. New York: Hill and Wang, Inc.
Strasburger, V.C. (1995). Adolescents and the media: Medical and psychological implications.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
REDIRECTING THE PERVASIVE POWER OF MEDIA
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EPILOGUE
Looking to the Future:
Sustaining the Council's Perspective
DAVID A. HAMBURG
About a decade has passed since I proposed to the board and staff of Carnegie Corporation
that we establish a broad-based body to consider the problems of adolescent development.
This report draws that effort to a close. It is appropriate to reflect briefly on some ways in which
the main thrust of the Carnegie Council's work might be carried forward in the years and even
decades ahead. A long-term view is essential because we are necessarily considering difficult,
indeed fundamental, changes in modern society to improve the life chances of young people.
First, let me express my heartfelt gratitude to the members of the Carnegie Council on Ado-
lescent Development; to its executive director, Ruby Takanishi; and to the members of the staff
working group and Council staff. These wonderful people are noted in the acknowledgments,
and they deserve far more recognition than this report gives them. They are authentic leaders
of diverse sectors and have contributed in many ways to the Council's accomplishments.
Let us keep in mind the essence of what the Council has done and why its work is likely to mat-
ter for a long time. At the outset, we made a strategic decision to focus squarely on early ado-
lescence (ages ten to fourteen), a phase of life that is crucially formative for the entire life span
and that has been badly neglected throughout most of the world.¹
Early adolescence is a time of biological transformation and social transition, characterized
by exploratory behavior, including risky behavior that has lifelong consequences. Many dan-
gerous patterns commonly emerge during these years. Initially, adolescents explore these new
possibilities tentatively with the experimental attitude that is typical of adolescence. Before
damaging behavior is firmly established, therefore, there is a unique opportunity to prevent
lifelong casualties.
Today's adolescents have grown up in a situation rather different from that of their parents and
remarkably different from that of their grandparents. The technological world we take for
granted-saturated with airplanes, telephones, radios, movies, television, computers, fax ma-
chines, compact discs and video cassettes-was much simpler a few decades ago. The techno-
logical changes linked to economic opportunities have had a huge impact on communities and
on families. These changes, in turn, have had powerful effects on children and young people.
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Dramatic changes also have occurred in the structure and function of American families in just
a few decades. Although some of these changes represent new opportunities and bring tangi-
ble benefits, others involve serious jeopardy to the well-being of children and adolescents. The
latter are common and serious enough to constitute a major challenge for the entire society.
In light of the new social conditions that have a strong impact on the experience of growing
up, we must find different ways to meet the essential requirements for effective child and ado-
lescent development-not only through the family but also through a set of pivotal institutions
that have significant influence on the ultimate results. This report describes ways in which
these institutions, starting with the family, can do what needs to be done in a world still re-
lentlessly in transformation.
Let us look at what the Council actually did, so that we can consider whether certain functions
ought to be continued in future years, and if so, by whom. The Carnegie Council on Adoles-
cent Development, composed of leaders from various sectors of American society, drew to-
gether the most reliable information about adolescent development, including health, educa-
tion, and the social environment. It tackled serious adolescent problems by seeking preventive
interventions based, to the extent possible, on systematic research and also on careful assess-
ment of creative innovations. Thus, best practices were identified and their improvement
sought in an ongoing way through research and development.
Efforts in this field have long been plagued by professional divisions among health, educa-
tion, and social service systems and by the lack of communication among people engaged in
each of the individual problem domains. Similarly, there is a gap between scholars and those
who run programs for young people. The result is that scholars are deprived of the direct ex-
perience of practitioners, while innovative approaches go unevaluated and their potential util-
ity for other settings remains unknown. Consequently, many local organizations continue to
pursue approaches that are plausible but lack evidence of effectiveness. Finally, there is a gap
between all these people and the general public, especially parents, who in dealing with their
adolescent offspring lack the kind of guidance that is widely available to them concerning
younger children.
There has been no bright spotlight on adolescent development in the policy arena, no broadly
integrative center for taking stock of existing approaches and stimulating new ones, no one in-
stitution where the different sectors of American society come together to pool their efforts in
this field. To fill this gap, the Council established three main objectives: (1) to synthesize ex-
isting reliable information and make it widely available in intelligible form; (2) to extend this
information beyond its present limits by stimulating crucial lines of research and innovation;
and (3) to use reliable information more effectively by connecting the research arena with prac-
titioners, policy makers, and the public.
Toward these ends, the Council stimulated diverse activities: studies; task forces; publications;
local, national, and international meetings; working models; cooperative efforts among grant-
making agencies; and linkage of independent experts with policy makers and the public.
The Council is part of Carnegie Corporation's integrated, life span strategy from conception
through the adolescent years, a strategy that aims to foster every child's chance for productive
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adult life. A 1994 Corporation report, Starting Points, focused on the prenatal period through
age three*; the Council's work highlighted early adolescence from ten to fourteen years of age.
In 1996, the Corporation's Task Force on the Primary Grades will bridge the gap between ages
three to ten with its recommendations for education and healthy development during the mid-
dle childhood years. A common thread woven through all of these activities is meeting the de-
velopmental needs of children and adolescents through potentially supportive institutions such
as families, schools, health agencies, community organizations, and the media.
This major Corporation effort will continue in the years ahead. The main lesson learned from
the Council's experience is the importance of serious, careful examination of the facts, non-
partisan analyses, broad dissemination with involvement of key sectors, and sustained com-
mitment over a period of years.
Are there elements of the Council's work that should be continued by others in the years ahead?
Presumably, some of this work will go on in ways that we cannot now foresee. The reports of
the Council, including this one, are widely available and may well have continuing repercus-
sions. They form a set of to-whom-it-may-concern messages, which should be of particular in-
terest to the pivotal institutions and may set in motion efforts to strengthen these institutions.
WHAT BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT CAN DO
The Council's findings and recommendations challenge other powerful institutions that can
be singularly helpful-business and government, for example. Moreover, this final report and
some of the Council's earlier reports connect with an informed, concerned public that can help
the pivotal institutions do their jobs better.3
The business community can help schools and community organizations for youth in several
ways: directly, by providing money, people, or both to implement recommendations made in
this report;4 indirectly, by using its considerable influence through community leadership on
behalf of youth and through its impact on government at all levels. In addition, it can make its
own policies and practices as family friendly as possible.⁵ Another way that business can have
a powerful influence is by choosing not to support violent or sexual shows with its advertising
dollars. A focal point in the business community for youth development studies also could be
exceedingly helpful. The work of the Committee for Economic Development on younger chil-
dren and on the modern workforce provides a useful model.6
There is a growing consensus in the business and scientific communities that it is urgent to im-
prove education in order for the United States to be able to compete effectively in a world econ-
omy being transformed by technological advances. If so, what is the federal role?
The role of the federal government in protecting the health of the American people is a large
one, ranging from the biomedical and behavioral research of the National Institutes of Health,
to the health services of Medicare and Medicaid, to the disease prevention activities of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention. A modest but highly significant portion of these fed-
eral expenditures focuses on children and youth. Early adolescence, crucial as it is for lifelong
health, has been neglected historically in federal efforts but has recently gained some attention.
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One direct outgrowth of the Council's work, made possible by its Congressional members and
especially the leadership of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, is the creation of an Office of Adoles-
cent Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.⁷
When it comes to education, the federal role has traditionally been small. This fact changed
under the impetus of World War II, again with Sputnik, then with the civil rights movement,
and now is being reconsidered in light of the drastic, technology-driven changes in the world
economy. Somehow, the powerful institutions of American society, such as federal and state
governments and the business community, must address education issues of immense practi-
cal significance. These issues include
The national interest in promoting economic vitality and growth; hence, the need for a work
force with education adequate to the sophistication of contemporary and future technology.8
A workforce composed increasingly of the children of immigrants, poor families, and minori-
ties and the weak performance of the educational system in working with these groups.
Disappointing results for students generally in such areas as mathematics, science, and prob-
lem-solving skills.
Ineffective school structures characterized by rigid and extensive regulations, compartmental-
ization, and top-down management; hence, the need for leadership in judicious deregulation
and for strengthening the teaching profession, which is central to the enterprise.⁹
The growing need-far exceeding previous requirements-to build the understanding of sci-
ence and technology throughout the educational system to prepare children and youth for
a technically based economy and for intelligent participation as citizens in a world full of
complex issues.¹⁰
Serious analytical work and thoughtful national discussion is needed to sort out priorities for
federal and state action. State education policies have neglected adolescence. If there is indeed
a crisis in education and if education is crucial for the future of our economy and democratic
institutions, then we have to determine what must be done and who can do what. In our plu-
ralistic and creative way, we surely can sort out sensible guidelines for state and federal action
as well as constructive roles for other sectors. This activity should not be highly partisan, bit-
terly ideological, or narrow in scope. It should address realistically the problems our young
people face and should formulate practical options. It should recognize the gravity of these
problems and the fact that potentially valuable opportunities do indeed exist to tackle them
and that all sectors, public and private, must find ways to contribute in an open-minded spirit,
looking to the future of our country.
WHAT UNIVERSITIES, SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS. AND
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CAN DO
Universities, scientific institutions, and professional organizations might well pursue specific
functions performed by the Council: illuminating the problems and opportunities of adoles-
cent development, getting the facts straight, fostering objective analysis, and recognizing the
implications for practice, policy, and social action. Let us briefly consider a few examples.
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America's universities are recognized throughout the world as outstanding institutions of truly
global significance in education and research. The attributes that have earned such respect in-
clude: high standards of science and scholarship; free and open inquiry; objective methods of
assessing information, ideas, and people; respect for diversity in people and subject matter;
serious attention to opportunities for young people; broad scope of coverage of subject matter
on an in-depth basis; a premium on the advancement of knowledge; and a sense of social re-
sponsibility.
These strengths can be brought to bear on child and adolescent development-a fundamen-
tal subject if there ever was one. Universities could vigorously stimulate interdisciplinary re-
search and education on these topics; publish periodic syntheses of knowledge-not only for
technical-professional audiences but also for a broader educated public; actively undertake
education beyond the campus in view of the pervasive interest in these problems; link inde-
pendent experts with policy makers in government, with business leaders, with responsible
media or with all.
Universities and scientific academies can mobilize a wide range of talent to address great is-
sues in a sustained and effective way. They can get the complex facts straight and clarify the
most promising options in a way that is credible and intelligible to nonspecialists. Such efforts
can be helpful to open-minded policy makers and also can contribute to the education of a
well- informed public.
To deal effectively with real-world problems requires novel conjunctions of knowledge and tal-
ent. Many facets of a complex problem must be taken into account. The great problems do not
come in packages that fit the traditional disciplines or professions, however excellent they may
be. Organizations such as universities and scientific academies can make a greater contribu-
tion than they have in the past if they can organize effectively to share information, ideas, and
technical abilities widely across traditional barriers of disciplines. The opportunity is clear in
this field where biological, psychological, and social factors interact in shaping adolescent de-
velopment.
There is an ongoing need to clarify gaps in knowledge, priorities, and scientific opportunities
for research-both on fundamental aspects of adolescent development and on the utility of var-
ious interventions intended to prevent damage. From 1990 to 1994, the Council conducted an-
nual symposia on research opportunities in adolescence.¹¹ The first symposium dealt with ba-
sic developmental processes during adolescence and with the influence of various institutions
on that development. The second examined research gaps and scientific opportunities for im-
proving the education and health of adolescents. The third addressed concepts of and ap-
proaches to health promotion in adolescence. The fourth focused on relations among ethnic
groups during childhood and adolescence.
These symposia were remarkably well attended by leaders of both public and private grant-
making organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foun-
dation, and private foundations. They covered a broad spectrum of biomedical, behavioral,
and social science research and have a distinguished track record of accomplishment in many
fields. The Council's symposia evidently had a stimulating effect on their commitment to re-
search in adolescent development. For example, there appeared to be substantial recognition
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that research in this field constitutes a great frontier for public health, because even modest
gains in meeting the essential requirements for healthy adolescent development are likely to be
projected through the lifespan. Such gains for a significant portion of the population would
produce for the public a net benefit of considerable importance. The experience with these re-
search symposia suggests that similar efforts undertaken by scientific organizations such as the
National Academy of Sciences could do much to foster intellectual vitality and sustained com-
mitment to research on adolescence, including the main factors that influence learning and
healthy development.
Professional organizations are composed of large numbers of respected and dedicated people
who can have a strong impact on adolescent development. There have been encouraging signs
of interest by these organizations in recent years, facilitated by the Council's work and in some
cases by grants from Carnegie Corporation. For example, the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards has given a high priority to developing sophisticated assessment proce-
dures for teachers who work in early adolescent education. This effort is likely to inspire teach-
ers and could in due course greatly strengthen the capability of middle grade schools. 12 Sim-
ilarly, the American Medical Association (AMA) undertook a remarkable initiative on adolescent
health, one that has been sustained over a period of years.¹³ The AMA'S effort has produced im-
portant publications, one of which is summarized in this report. It has held a variety of meet-
ings and has had a constructive effect not only on medicine but also to some extent on other
health professions.
It is not difficult to imagine other efforts similar to these two. For instance, educational orga-
nizations could pursue the recommendations of Turning Points on a systematic basis and also
foster links between schools and other useful entities: community organizations, along the lines
suggested by A Matter of Time; organizations of the health sector, to pursue the recommenda-
tions of the health chapter; and scientific organizations, to strengthen science education. In
the same vein, other health professional organizations could follow up on the American Med-
ical Association's initiative, especially to build links with middle grade schools but also to build
links with the media for health promotion. Such activities could provide vital foci of innova-
tion in many communities.¹⁴
MOBILIZING COMMUNITIES FOR YOUTH
At a Carnegie Corporation meeting in 1994, John Gardner discussed American renewal and
made this suggestion:
Let us persuade our fellow Americans that they-as citizens- have to move with energy and discipline to
solve their problems, bringing to bear all the dynamism that the American people are capable of when they
put their hearts into something. Let us tell people that there is hope. Let us get the word out about the good
grass-roots problem solving that is going on. Let us tell them that there is hard, hard work ahead if we are to
put our country back on a good track-and there is a role for everyone. Let us tell them that there are innu-
merable ways in which they can help build community, help the young and the old, help reduce the tensions
that lead to conflict.15
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In this spirit, a number of attractive possibilities arise. If there is a concerted effort across differ-
ent sectors, it would be possible to mobilize communities to support adolescents and their fam-
ilies. With a combination of informed leadership and vigorous grass roots organizing, it would
be possible to focus the attention of most communities on the needs of adolescents and their
families by initiating a community-based strategic planning process. We could create commu-
nity councils for youth, with active participation of relevant professionals, business and media
leaders, local organizations, and adolescents themselves. Such councils would carefully assess
local needs, formulate useful interventions, and inform the entire community about problems
and opportunities. Participation of local media would be important.
Governments at local, state, and federal levels could remove the obstacles faced by communi-
ties in their attempts to provide more effective services and otherwise open up opportunities
for healthy, constructive adolescent development. Mechanisms could be established at the state
level to formulate comprehensive policy and program plans that focus on the second decade
of life and to help communities translate these plans into action.
As a practical matter, it will be necessary to achieve cooperation among several institutions in
a particular community. The mix might well differ from one community to another. Schools,
universities, clinics, social service agencies, the media, churches, business, community orga-
nizations, government at various levels, and professional organizations-all could be highly
constructive in cooperative efforts for youth development.
Any such combination of institutions could serve several valuable functions. They could
Clarify the nature of child and adolescent problems
Stimulate interest and hope in the possibility of useful interventions
Help families meet their fundamental responsibilities
Facilitate the delivery of appropriate services
Provide resources-not only money but also people, organization, and technical skills
Organize a steady flow of reliable and up-to-date information about what works and for whom
in fostering adolescent development
The past decade has seen the rapid growth of links between schools and the nation's colleges
and universities, business organizations, and a great variety of community organizations. Such
partnerships are situations of mutual benefit for the schools and the cooperating organiza-
tions, but they are not sufficiently extensive. They do show what can be done by pooling
strengths.
Crucial components exist all across the country and in other nations as well. We can learn how
to put these components together in ways that provide adolescents with the full range of de-
velopmental opportunities permitted by today's knowledge and emerging research findings.
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EXEMPLARY COALITIONS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
A variety of innovations involving cooperation among various sectors of American society have
arisen in recent years to address adolescent needs in education, health, and the social envi-
ronment. Here are a few examples at different levels of organization: state, county, and city.
WHAT STATES CAN DO
Turning Points marked the beginning of Carnegie Corporation's effort to stimulate nationwide
reform of American middle grade schools. The report offered a plan of action for transform-
ing middle grade schools into learning environments suited to the needs of young adolescents
and equal to the challenges of a rapidly changing world. To date, approximately 86,000 copies
of the full report and 185,000 copies of the abridged version have been distributed.
In 1990, Carnegie Corporation initiated the Middle Grade School State Policy Initiative
(MGSSPI), a program of grants to states to stimulate statewide changes in middle grade educa-
tional policy and practice. The MGSSPI is a useful example of what states can accomplish in co-
operation with the private sector. The states' work to reform middle grade education has pro-
duced impressive results. Fifteen states currently receiving Corporation support are actively
implementing comprehensive middle grade policies reflecting Turning Points. Schools in sev-
eral states report impressive gains in student achievement over the past few years. The states
have employed a variety of sophisticated methods to assist schools. The Corporation has
funded two research studies that together serve as an evaluation of the MGSSPI, and the results
of the evaluation are encouraging. In general, the more extensive the implementation, the bet-
ter the results. State policies and practices can indeed make a constructive difference.
WHAT COUNTIES CAN DO
A county initiative in North Carolina, called Smart Start, rallies local energy on behalf of chil-
dren.¹⁶ Although Smart Start does not deal with adolescents, it demonstrates how such an effort
can be effectively organized at the county level. It aims to provide high-quality child care, health
care, and other critical services to every child in the state under the age of six. Guided by the
North Carolina Partnership for Children, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established by
the legislature, Smart Start allocates money to selected counties that have achieved a manda-
tory first step: bringing together a broad range of individuals in the interest of children.
Collaboration is key. The bylaws of the Partnership designate nineteen community members
who must serve on local boards, including the superintendent of schools, two business lead-
ers, two members of low-income families with preschool children, the president of a local com-
munity college, one representative of the religious community, a Head Start representative, and
the director of the local health department. The local partnerships have the freedom to create
plans that will serve the specific needs of their community. State investment has been substantial
and the level of cooperation across sectors has been impressive. Similar efforts could be made
on behalf of youth, organized by counties in collaboration with state governments and the pri-
vate sector.
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WHAT CITIES CAN DO
Effective antidrug coalitions draw on the strength of powerful local businesses, churches, uni-
versities, and foundations. Kansas City's Metropolitan Task Force on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
builds on the success of its comprehensive community prevention program, which engages the
city's schools, media, and civic leadership. This program, called STAR, provides financial and
technical support for the task force.¹⁷ STAR works with local residents to discourage drinking
and drug use among young people; it conducts training sessions for parents, community lead-
ers, and concerned citizens. These groups explore their own attitudes toward drugs and study
ways in which individuals can make a contribution to preventing substance abuse in the com-
munity.
Community coalitions channel citizens' concerns into efforts that require active participation,
connecting people to one another and to their communities in new ways. These activities gen-
erate intense energy as coalition members discover they can have an impact on important and
difficult problems. This sense of mission and efficacy is critically important in overcoming the
hopelessness and apathy that often inhibit communities.
The Kansas City coalition shows the value of strong participation by a critical mass of local
leadership-a foundation, academic and business organizations, and civic and religious groups.
Although involvement of local governments is useful, these coalitions are largely volunteer
efforts. They depend on the commitment of their members and the leadership of a few highly
dedicated individuals. Sustaining that commitment over years is a crucial task. Coalitions of-
ten respond by creating a small professional staff to organize long-term efforts. Fundamentally,
these efforts must engage different sectors of the community in a common cause, led largely by
respected volunteers who care deeply about the future of their community. What has happened
in Kansas City suggests the potential of community coalitions for youth.
A more recent effort has been undertaken in Chicago, where in 1993 the mayor appointed a
group of twenty community, corporate, academic, and civic leaders and young people to the
Mayor's Youth Development Task Force. Over a year's time, the task force gathered informa-
tion from diverse perspectives: community organizations, religious leaders, corporate leaders,
youth experts, and young people themselves. The task force decided to concentrate on the op-
portunities available to school-age children during non school hours in the spirit of the Coun-
cil's report, A Matter of Time.
The task force called for rewriting the social contract with youth, spelling out clear roles and
responsibilities for various sectors: community groups and religious organizations; businesses
and foundations; local, state, and federal agencies; parents; and young people themselves. In
its "Chicago for Youth" report, the task force proposed "Blueprints for Change."18 The report
was followed by the creation of a Chicago for Youth office to promote coordinated neighbor-
hood efforts on behalf of youth and families. Funds were provided to create a strong infra-
structure for youth development. Ongoing support and commitment by city government, busi-
ness, and community organizations will be critical to the success of this citywide youth
development approach.
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These illustrations are merely suggestive of what might be done. Similar efforts have recently
been undertaken in different parts of the United States and in other countries as well. Such in-
novations require monitoring, assessment, learning from experience, and upgrading in the
years to come. Participants in these efforts can profit from the Carnegie Council's experience
of intersectoral collaboration for youth. New Council-like bodies may spring up to stimulate
and guide such efforts.
WHAT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CAN DO
The Council's work has elicited interest in a variety of countries. The Council has cooperated
with international organizations to create forums in which leaders from many fields could fo-
cus on early adolescence, clarifying the urgency of the problems, the likelihood of exacerba-
tion in the midst of drastic ongoing social and economic changes that powerfully affect fami-
lies and communities, and opportunities for fostering healthy adolescent development and
preventing damage.¹⁹ International organizations involved have included the Johann Jacobs
Foundation,20 the World Health Organization, and UNICEF.
The distribution of this report, additional grants made by Carnegie, and ongoing activities of
the Council members and staff will continue to have stimulating effects on many people in many
places. As the importance of adolescence is increasingly understood, many people will collect
new data, see new opportunities, and have better ideas. Perhaps the most significant contri-
bution of the Council in the long run will be to set in motion an ongoing, far-flung process of
building on its work and of moving far beyond it.
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
The United States is suffering heavy casualties during childhood and adolescence- in edu-
cational failure, poor health, and very high-risk behavior. Generally, these casualty rates are
considerably higher than those of other technically advanced democracies, although similar
problems exist in many countries. Given the heavy and growing burdens of disease, disabil-
ity, ignorance, incompetence, hatred, and violence, the Council has mobilized a wide range
of research evidence and carefully assessed innovations to determine what could be done to
reduce the casualties and thereby improve the whole society. In this report, we describe and
illustrate a substantial set of experiences, opportunities, and services that could make a large
difference in the lives of today's youth-changing the odds favorably for a healthy and pro-
ductive adult life.
To do so, we have had to make judicious use of existing evidence while wishing that a more
extensive base of scientific evidence had been available. Clearly, the low priority in science pol-
icy for research on adolescent development has been a costly mistake. If the nation had given
this work a priority commensurate with the gravity of the problems and the scope of the op-
portunities inherent in adolescent development, we could stand on firmer ground and reach
higher in our aspirations.
Still, there is no reason to let the perfect become the enemy of the good. The central question
is whether we can do better than we are doing now. The social costs of severely damaging con-
134
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UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
ditions that shatter lives in adolescence are terrible not only in their impact on individuals but
also in effects that damage the entire society-the costs of disease and disability, ignorance and
incompetence, crime and violence, alienation and hatred. These distorted lives are like a virus
that knows no boundaries, that cannot be contained unless prevented in the first place. Look-
ing back over the range of evidence and experience presented in this report, there is abundant
reason to believe that we can do better to provide conditions in which adolescents can grow
up healthy and vigorous, inquiring and problem solving, decent and constructive.
What will it cost? A constructive sequence of developmental opportunities based on scientific
evidence, professional experience, and democratic, humane values will indeed require sub-
stantial investment by parents and many others. The first and most crucial investment goes be-
yond economics: it deals with decent human relationships that are the essence of human adapt-
ability. This profound investment calls for adults to give personal attention, energy, and care
to children and adolescents to provide dependable attachment, protection, guidance, stimu-
lation, nurturance, and ways of coping with adversity. To a large extent, these are family in-
vestments, both personal and economic. But it takes a social support system, a village, a com-
munity to raise children effectively and to successfully foster the adolescent's transition from
childhood to adulthood. So there will necessarily be expenditures by institutions and indi-
viduals beyond the family if we are to provide good life chances for all our youth.
The expenditures required for optimal child and adolescent development are not all added ex-
penses but can be achieved to a considerable extent by wiser use of existing funds. Large
amounts of money are now spent for these purposes. Much of this current spending could re-
sult in improved outcomes if redirected by the approaches described in this report. For ex-
ample, improving poorly functioning school systems by reducing inflated administrative struc-
tures often would cost less than we are now spending. Some new investment certainly will be
required, the cost of which must largely be determined on a case-by-case, place-by-place ba-
sis. Yet the total economic and social costs associated with present youth-related casualties
probably could be greatly reduced. These costs have many facets: economic inefficiency, loss
of productivity, lack of skill, high health care costs, growing prison costs, a badly ripped social
fabric, and a great deal of human suffering. One way or another, we pay heavily. Preventing the
damage now occurring would have a powerful social and economic impact.
These vital investments in prevention have to be viewed as a responsibility of the entire soci-
ety. It is the task not only of the federal government but also of other levels of government; not
only of business but of labor; not only of the public sector but of the private sector, both non-
profit and for profit. We are all in this great leaking boat together.
Wise investment in human and social capital is the most fundamental and productive invest-
ment any society can make. The vitality of any society and the prospects for its future depend
in the long run on the quality of its people, on their knowledge, skill, and opportunities, as well
as on the decency of their human and social relations.
In an era when there is much well-founded concern about losing a vital sense of community,
these initiatives on behalf of all our children can have profound collateral benefits of building
solidarity, mutual aid, civility, and a reasonable basis for hope. What can bring us together bet-
ter than our children? If there is any mission more important, I wonder what it could be.
EPILOGUE
135
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NOTES
CHAPTER ONE
10. Hamburg, D.A. (1992). Today's children: Creating
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the odds: High-risk children from birth to adulthood.
CHAPTER TWO
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An Emerging View
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CHAPTER FIVE
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CHAPTER SEVEN
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18. lbid.
19. Ibid.
140
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20. Lynch, B. S., & Bonnie, R. J. (Eds.). (1994). Grow-
32. Brooks-Gunn, J., & Paikoff, R.L. (1993). "Sex is a
ing up tobacco free: Preventing nicotine addiction in
gamble, kissing is a game": Adolescent sexuality
children and youths. Washington, DC: National
and health promotion. In S.G. Millstein, A.C. Pe-
Academy Press.
tersen, & E. O. Nightingale (Eds.), Promoting the
21. Kandel, D., & Yamaguchi, K. (1993). From beer to
health of adolescents: New directions for the twenty-
crack: Developmental patterns of drug involvement.
first century (pp. 180-208). New York: Oxford Uni-
American Journal of Public Health, 83, 851-855.
versity Press.
22. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Moore, K. A., Sugland, B. W., Blumenthal, C.,
(1994). Preventing tobacco use among young people:
Glei, D., & Snyder, N. (1995). Adolescent pregnancy
A report of the surgeon general. Washington, DC:
prevention programs: Interventions and evalua-
U.S. Government Printing Office.
tions. Washington, DC: Child Trends, Inc.
23. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment,
Brown, S. S., & Eisenberg, L. (Eds.). (1995). The
1991.
best intentions: Unintended pregnancy and the well-
24. Ibid.
being of children and families. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press.
25. Kronick, R. (1989). Adolescent health insurance sta-
tus: Analyses of trends in coverage and preliminary
estimates of the effects of an employer mandate and
CHAPTER EIGHT
medicaid expansion on the uninsured. Background
Strengthening Communities with Adolescents
paper, prepared for U.S. Congress, Office of Tech-
nology Assessment. Washington, DC: U.S. Gov-
1. Timmer, S. G., Eccles, J., & O'Brien, I. (1985). How
ernment Printing Office.
children use time. In F. T. Juster, & F. B. Stafford
(Eds.), Time, goods and well-being. Ann Arbor: Uni-
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment,
versity of Michigan, Institute for Social Research.
1991.
26. Fox, H. B., & McManus, M. A. (1995). Medicaid
Medrich, E. A., & Marzke, C. (1991). Young ado-
managed care: A briefing book on issues for chil-
lescents and discretionary time use: The nature of life
dren and adolescents. In M. R. Solloway & P. P.
outside school. Unpublished manuscript prepared
Budetti (Eds.), Child health supervision: Analytical
for the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Develop-
ment, Washington, DC.
studies in the financing, delivery, and cost-effective-
ness of preventive and health promotion services for
2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educa-
infants, children, and adolescents (pp. 136-168). Ar-
tional Research and Improvement, National Center
lington, VA: National Center for Education in Ma-
for Educational Statistics. (1990). A profile of the
ternal and Child Health.
American eighth grader: NELS: 88 Student descrip-
tive summary Washington, DC: U.S. Government
27. U.S. General Accounting Office. (1994). Health
Printing Office.
care: School-based health centers can expand access
for children. GAO-HEHS-95-35. Washington, DC:
3. Richardson, J. L., Dwyer, K., Hansen, W.B., Dent,
Author.
C., Johnson, C. A., Sussman, S. Y., Brannon, B.,
28. National Institute of Nursing Research. (1993).
& Flag, B. (1989). Substance use among eighth-
grade students who take care of themselves after
Health promotion for older children and adolescents:
school. Pediatrics, 84 (3), 556-566.
A report of the NINR priority expert panel on health
promotion. NIH Publication No. 93-2420. Washing-
4. Oldenburg, R. (1994). The great good place. New
ton, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human
York: Shooting Star, pp. 262-283.
Services.
5. Erickson, J. B. (1991). 1992-1993 Directory of Amer-
29. Faigel, H. C., Sznajderman, S., Tishby, O., Turel,
ican youth organizations (4th ed.). Minneapolis:
M., & Pinus, U. (19950. Attention deficit disorder
Free Spirit Publishing.
during adolescence: A review. Journal of Adolescent
6. U.S. Department of Education, 1990, pp. 50-54.
Health, 16, 174-184.
7. Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
30. U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994.
(1992). A matter of time: Risk and opportunity in the
31. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment,
nonschool hours. Washington, DC: Author.
1991, p. 45.
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8. Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
world, small screen: The role of television in Ameri-
(1994). Consultation on afterschool programs. Wash-
can society. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska
ington, DC: Author.
Press.
9. Monks, V. (1994). Giving young people something
4. Ibid.
to say yes to, Land and people. The Trust for Public
5. Christenson, P. G., & Roberts, D. F. (1990). Popu-
Land Annual Report, 6, 14-19.
lar music in early adolescence. Washington, DC:
10. Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development,
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
1994.
Strasburger, 1995.
11. Mayor's Youth Development Task Force. (1994).
6. Keating, D. P. (1990). Adolescent thinking. In S.S.
Chicago for youth: Blueprints for change. Chicago:
Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold:
Author.
The developing adolescent (pp. 54-89). Cambridge,
12. Gardner, J. W. (1992). Reinventing community.
MA: Harvard University Press.
New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.
7. Torney-Purta, J. (1990). Youth in relation to social
13. U.S. Department of Education, 1990.
institutions. In S.S. Feldman, & G. R. Elliott (Eds.),
14. Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development,
At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp.
1994.
457-477). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
15. Improved training for youth workers at the commu-
nity level is the focus of a series of efforts being un-
8. Dietz, W.H., & Gortmaker, S. L. (1985). Do we fat-
dertaken by the Academy for Educational Develop-
ten our children at the television set? Obesity and
ment's (AED) Center for Youth Development and
television viewing in children and adolescents. Pe-
Policy Research. Funded by the DeWitt Wallace-
diatrics, 75, 807-812.
Reader's Digest Fund, AED is assessing the feasibility
9. Brooks-Gunn, J., & Reiter, E. O. (1990). The role of
of a staff development initiative to improve training
pubertal processes. In S.S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott,
for youth workers at the community level by gener-
(Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp.
ating models and defining the characteristics and
16-53). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
benefits of effective coordinated community-based
10. Strasburger, 1995; Huston et al., 1992.
training strategies; creating tools and processes that
give communities the capacity to assess their readi-
11. See "Connecting the Media and Adolescent Devel-
ness and resources for building coordinated training
opment Professionals," in this chapter.
strategies; creating a national organization or struc-
12. Huston et al., 1992.
ture that has the capacity to coordinate or deliver in-
13. Christenson & Roberts, 1990.
formation and technical assistance to communities
and to champion the idea of community-based staff
14. Bash, A. (1995 July 10). V-chip: Vital part of vio-
lence debate. USA Today, P. 3D.
training; and creating short-term and long-term plans
for increasing community capacity. In another effort,
15. Lacayo, R. (1995 June 12). Violent reaction. Time,
which is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice,
145(24), 24-30.
AED is developing a professional training curriculum
16. Hobbs, R. (1994). Teaching media literacy-Yo! Are
program for youth workers in community-based
you hip to this? Media Studies Journal, 8 (4), 135-145.
agencies serving high- risk youth.
17. Roberts, D. F., & Maccoby, E. E. (1985). Effects of
mass communication. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson
CHAPTER NINE
(Eds.), Handbook of social psychology, volume 2 (pp.
539-598). New York: Random House.
Redirecting the Pervasive Power of Media
Bauman, K. E., LaPrelle, J., Brown, J. D., Koch, G.G.,
1. Strasburger, V.C. (1995). Adolescents and the me-
& Padgett, C.S. (1991). The influence of three mass
dia: Medical and psychological impact. Newbury
media campaigns on variables related to adolescent
Park, CA: Sage.
cigarette smoking: Results of a field experiment.
2. Ibid.
American Journal of Public Health, 81 (5), 597-604.
3. Huston, A. C., Donnerstein, E., Fairchild, H., Fesh-
Flora, J. A., Maibach, E.W., & Maccoby, N. (1989).
bach, N. D., Katz, P. A., Murray, J. P., Rubinstein,
The role of media across four levels of health promo-
E. A., Wilcox, B. L., & Zuckerman, D. (1992). Big
tion intervention. Annual Review of Public Health, 10,
181-201.
142
NOTES
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UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
DeJong, W., & Winsten, J. A. (1990). The use of
7. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser-
mass media in substance abuse prevention. Health
vices recently created the Office of Adolescent
Affairs, 9, 30-46.
Health. Congress passed legislation that enabled
18. Flora, J. A. (1990). Strategies for enhancing adoles-
the establishment of this office in October 1992.
its'health through music media. Washington, DC:
8. Marshall, R., & Tucker, M. (1992). Thinking for a
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
living: Education and the wealth of nations. New
19. The Center for Media Education has launched the
York: Basic Books.
Children and the Information Superhighway Pro-
9. Snowden, C. (1993). Preparing teachers for the de-
ject, which will link academic researchers with
mands of the twenty-first century: Professional de-
policy makers to develop "a solid intellectual base
velopment and the NBPTS vision. Detroit: National
for policymaking." In addition, the Project will cre-
Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
ate a Children's Media Policy Network to monitor
10. American Association for the Advancement of Sci-
the development of information superhighway pol-
ence. (1989). Science for all Americans: A project
icy and will produce a quarterly publication, the
2061 report on literacy goals in science, mathemat-
Children's Media Policy Bulletin, which will also be
ics, and technology. Washington, DC: Author.
published on line.
11. See Appendix C.
12. Snowden, 1993.
EPILOGUE
13. In 1987, the American Medical Association estab-
Looking to the Future: Sustaining the Council's
lished the National Coalition on Adolescent Health
Perspective
to bring together 35 organizations from various dis-
1. Carnegie Corporation of New York. (1990). Ado-
ciplines concerned with adolescent health. The
lescence: Path to a productive life or a diminished
coalition is comprised of representatives from the
future? Carnegie Quarterly, 35 (1,2).
health professions, private foundations, public
health associations, and federal agencies that di-
Hamburg, D. A. (1989). Early Adolescence: A Crit-
rectly affect adolescent health policy. The Coalition
ical Time for Interventions in Education and
has sponsored compendia on adolescent health re-
Health. Presidential Essay. New York: Carnegie
lating to three topics: tobacco, alcohol, and other
Corporation of New York.
drugs; confidential health services; and violence, in-
Hamburg, D. A. (1986). Preparing for Life: The
jury, and abuse.
Critical Transition of Adolescence. Presidential Es-
14. The National Commission on the Role of the
say. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.
School and the Community in Improving Adoles-
2. Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Chil-
cent Health. (1990). Code blue: Uniting for health-
dren. (1994). Starting points: Meeting the needs of
ier youth. Alexandria, VA: National Association of
our youngest children. New York: Carnegie Corpo-
State Boards of Education.
ration of New York.
15. Gardner, J. (1994). American renewal. New York:
3. See Appendix B.
Carnegie Corporation of New York.
4. Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents.
16. Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Chil-
(1989). Turning points: Preparing American youth
dren, 1994, p. 95.
for the twenty-first century. Washington, DC:
17. Falco, M. (1992). The making of a drug-free Amer-
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
ica: Programs that work. New York: Times Books.
5. The American Business Collaboration for Quality
18. Chicago Mayor's Youth Development Task Force.
Dependent Care is a consortium of corporations
(1994). Chicago for youth: Blueprints for change.
that work together to find suitable alternatives for
Chicago: Author.
employees who care for children or elderly parents.
See "American Businesses Invest in Young Ado-
19. Takanishi, R., & Hamburg, D.A. (Eds.). (in press).
lescents," in chapter five, for more details.
Preparing young adolescents for the 21st century:
Challenges facing Europe and the United States.
6. Committee for Economic Development. (1991). The
New York: Cambridge University Press.
unfinished agenda: A new vision for child develop-
ment and education. New York: Author.
20. Johann Jacobs Foundation. (1995). Annual Report,
1995. Zurich: Author.
NOTES
143
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development is able to leave a rich legacy, it will be due in large measure
to the many people who have made a long-term commitment to enhancing the life chances of American adoles-
cents. These individuals have made substantial contributions to the Council's work during the nine years of its
existence. In so doing, they have fulfilled the aim of this intersectoral body: to make connections across disci-
plinary and professional boundaries for the benefit of all young people. It is no easy task to accord each of them
the recognition they so well deserve.
We deeply appreciate the efforts of the extraordinary twenty-six members of the Council whose biographical
sketches can be found in Appendix D. None of the Council's major reports nor their impact over the years could
have been achieved without each of these members. From the outset of this experiment, they have guided all of
the Council's initiatives, offered strategic advice on emerging issues that required the Council's involvement,
and provided steady leadership in designing and bringing projects to successful fruition.
Some Council members assumed key responsibilities as chairs of its task forces and working groups. David
Hornbeck was the chair of the Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents, bringing his continuing passion
for education reform to the effort. Billie Tisch co-chaired the Task Force on Youth Development and Commu-
nity Programs, with Carnegie Corporation Trustee and honorary Council member, James Comer. It was she
who had the foresight to urge the Council to focus on the then-unrecognized potential of voluntary, community,
and youth organizations in adolescents' lives.
Michael I. Cohen, a leader in the development of adolescent medicine, served as the vice-chair of the Adoles-
cent Health Advisory Panel, which guided a joint project of the Council and the U.S. Congress Office of Tech-
nology Assessment (OTA) that resulted in the first national, comprehensive report on adolescent health. Sena-
tors Daniel K. Inouye and Nancy Landon Kassebaum, both members of the Council, and a bipartisan group
from both houses of Congress had the foresight to initiate the request for this study.
Fred M. Hechinger, the dean of American education writers, produced the Council's publication, Fateful
Choices, aimed at reaching a general audience about crucial opportunities to promote the health of adolescents.
Beatrix A. Hamburg chaired a working group on life skills training during adolescence, which resulted in a ma-
jor analytical resource on the subject. Eleanor E. Maccoby chaired the Science Policy Working Group, which
brought together researchers and federal science administrators to discuss research gaps and opportunities. We
are deeply grateful to these members of the Council for their important contributions. We are also thankful to
Richard Price, who chaired the Council's Working Group on Social Support Networks.
To sustain the work of the Council between its meetings, a staff working group within the Corporation met on
a monthly basis. Over the years, the core group included Vivien Stewart and Elena O. Nightingale, who retired
from the Corporation in December 1994. As the major initiatives of the Council changed, the working group
also changed to include Susan G. Millstein, an associate director of the Council from 1987 to 1990, and Jane
Quinn, project director for the Task Force on Youth Development and Community Programs from 1990 to 1993.
From 1994 to 1995, Susan V. Smith joined the working group. We thank our colleagues for their insights and
dedication in translating the Council's wise counsel into specific activities.
The special contributions of Vivien Stewart and Elena Nightingale in supporting the Council's efforts through
the Corporation's grant making program should be recognized. Under their leadership, follow-up and other
grants were made in research syntheses, middle schools reform, adolescent health, substance abuse, and youth
violence. Gloria Primm Brown also handled grants related to adolescent health and youth violence, as well as
those related to youth organizations and the media.
The Council sponsored two volumes that synthesized research in key areas. Both informed the adolescent health
research and promotion initiatives of the National Institutes of Health. Shirley Feldman and Glen Elliott edited
At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent on normal adolescent development. Susan G. Millstein, Anne Petersen,
144
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and Elena Nightingale co-edited Promoting the Health of Adolescents: New Directions for the twenty-first Cen-
tury. We are grateful to these editors and to the authors of the chapters for their contributions to identifying re-
search opportunities and stimulating research funding on adolescent development and health. Martha Zaslow
was a valued consultant who produced cogent overviews for the Council's research symposia. Their contribu-
tions are likely to keep adolescent health and development on the science policy agenda for years to come.
Several members of Carnegie Corporation staff contributed substantial time, energy, and wisdom to the work
of the Council and its concluding report. Avery Russell brought her remarkable editorial and writing talents to
bear on the earlier versions of the report, as did members of the staff working group. Anthony W. Jackson, who
served as the Council's project director for the Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents and now heads
the Corporation's grant making program to stimulate implementation of Turning Points recommendations, wrote
most of the chapter on schools.
Staff of the Carnegie Council were responsible for the program descriptions and charts and graphs of the re-
port. Allyn Mortimer was irreplacable in researching and drafting the descriptions of programs and supervising
the development of charts and graphs. It was her energy, attention to all of the details of producing a report, and
good humor that kept the Council staff in good spirits throughout. Timothy McGourthy researched and pro-
duced the computer-generated graphics for these materials, while being responsible for the administrative sup-
port that is essential for the production of a report to flow smoothly. Jenifer Hartnett was the manuscript man-
ager, research assistant, and proofreader. Elliott Milhollin provided office support to all of us. Katharine Beckman
secured photographs for the report and as with all previous Council reports was the liaison with the designers
during the production process. We are exceedingly grateful to each of the Council staff for their devotion to see-
ing that every aspect of the report's production was seriously addressed and consistent with high standards.
As in all our Council activities, Carnegie Corporation staff were helpful in maintaining communications with
the New York office. We are especially grateful to Jeanne D'Onofrio, Annette Dyer, and Bernadette Michel for
forming a human web of support.
We thank the reviewers of several drafts of the report: the members of the Carnegie Council plus Gloria Primm
Brown, James Comer, Joy Dryfoos, Delbert Elliott, Mathea Falco, Susan G. Millstein, Kathryn Montgomery,
Elena Nightingale, and Jane Quinn. We appreciate very much the generosity of their time and advice that made
this report more accurate and well informed.
Special thanks go to Lynne Constantine and Suzanne Scott of Community Scribes for their careful editing of
the manuscript under tight timelines. They came through with professional aplomb. As with all of the Coun-
cil's major reports, Marc Meadows of Meadows Design Office, produced a lively and imaginative design under
rigorous deadlines.
The concluding report of the Council was released at a national meeting in Washington, D.C. Julia C. Chill
served as conference coordinator for this final convening of the Council, attending to all the details that are re-
quired for a successful meeting.
The Council on Adolescent Development has been a nearly decade long activity. Change and continuity in key
staff, listed on page 166, naturally occurred. Allyn Mortimer and Katharine Beckman were there when we first
opened the Council's offices in Washington in October 1986. They are the trustees of the Council's history. We
owe both of them an enormous debt for their commitment, integrity, and behind-the-scenes activity over the
years. They are truly the glue that has held the Council's operation together.
Throughout the life of the Council, our families have been an ever constant source of loving support. David
would not have met his responsibilities without the unfailing encouragement of Betty, Eric, and Peggy. Ruby
thanks Louis L. Knowles and Marika Takanishi Knowles, who became an adolescent during the Council's life,
for reminding her about what really counts in all of life's great transitions.
D.A.H.
New York, New York
R.T.
Washington, D.C.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
145
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UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
APPENDIX A
TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION OF YOUNG ADOLESCENTS
CHAIR
Renee R. Jenkins
Roberta Simmons*
Titles and affiliations
David W. Hornbeck
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Professor of Psychiatry
reflect dates of service
Of Counsel, Hogan and Hartson
Director of Adolescent Medicine
and Sociology
as Task Force members.
Washington, D.C.
Howard University School
University of Pittsburgh
of Medicine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Washington, D.C.
Marshall S. Smith
MEMBERS
Nancy L. Kassebaum
Dean
Bill Clinton
United States Senator
School of Education
Kansas
Governor
Stanford University
State of Arkansas
Stanford, California
Hernan LaFontaine
Little Rock, Arkansas
Superintendent of Schools
Admiral James D. Watkins**
James P. Comer
Hartford, Connecticut
U.S. Navy, Retired
Maurice Falk Professor of
Deborah W. Meier
Washington, D.C.
Child Psychiatry
Principal
Yale University
Central Park East Secondary
Child Study Center
School
*Deceased, 1993.
New Haven, Connecticut
New York, New York
**Served as a member of the
Alonzo A. Crim
Amado M. Padilla
Task Force until his designation
Benjamin E. Mays Chair of
Professor
by President Bush as Secretary
Urban Educational
School of Education
of Energy on January 26, 1989.
Leadership
Stanford University
Department of Educational
Stanford, California
Administration
Georgia State University
Anne C. Petersen
Atlanta, Georgia
Dean
College of Health and Human
Jacquelynne Eccles
Development
Professor
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Psychology
State College, Pennsylvania
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Jane Quinn
Director of Program Services
Lawrence W. Green
Girls Clubs of America
Vice President
New York, New York
Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation
Mary Budd Rowe
Menlo Park, California
Professor
College of Education
Fred M. Hechinger
University of Florida
President
Gainesville, Florida
New York Times Company
Foundation, Inc.
New York, New York
147
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UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
TASK FORCE ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
CO-CHAIRS
William H. Gray III
Karen Johnson Pittman
President
Director
James P. Comer
Maurice Falk Professor of
United Negro College Fund
Center for Youth Development
New York, New York
and Policy Research
Child Psychiatry
Academy for Educational
Yale University
C. Anne Harvey
Development
Child Study Center
Director of the Programs
Washington, D.C.
New Haven, Connecticut
Division
American Association of
Hugh B. Price
Wilma S. Tisch
Retired Persons
Vice President
Chairman of the Board
Washington, D.C.
The Rockefeller Foundation
WNYC Foundation
New York, New York
Member of the Executive
Thomas J. Harvey
Committee
President
Stephanie G. Robinson
United Way of New York City
Catholic Charities U.S.A.
Assistant to the Superintendent
New York, New York
Alexandria, Virginia
for Funding-Development
and Special Initiatives
Leah Cox Hoopfer
Kansas City School District
MEMBERS
Program Director
Kansas City, Missouri
Extension, Children, Youth,
Raymond G. Chambers
and Family Programs
Timothy Sandos
Chairman
Michigan State University
At-Large Representative
Amelior Foundation
East Lansing, Michigan
Denver City Council
Morristown, New Jersey
Denver, Colorado
David S. Liederman
Philip Coltoff
Executive Director
Christen G. Smith
Executive Director
Child Welfare League of America
Executive Director
The Children's Aid Society
Washington, D.C.
American Association for
New York, New York
Leisure and Recreation
Dagmar E. McGill
Reston, Virginia
Jane L. Delgado
Deputy National Executive
President and CEO
Director
Kenneth B. Smith
National Coalition of Hispanic
Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of
President
Health and Human Services
America
Chicago Theological Seminary
Organizations (COSSMHO)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Chicago, Illinois
Washington, D.C.
Milbrey W. McLaughlin
Judith Torney-Purta
Joy G. Dryfoos
Director, Center for Research
Professor of Human
Independent Researcher
on the Context of Secondary
Development
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
School Teaching
University of Maryland
Stanford University
College Park, Maryland
Judith B. Erickson
Stanford, California
Director of Research Services
Jo Uehara
Indiana Youth Institute
Thomas W. Payzant
Assistant Executive Director for
Indianapolis, Indiana
Superintendent
Member Association Services
San Diego City Schools
YWCA of the U.S.A.
John W. Gardner
San Diego, California
New York, New York
Miriam and Peter Hass
Centennial Professor of
Federico Peña
Roberta Van Der Voort
Public Service
President and CEO
Executive Director
Stanford University
Peña Investment Advisors
United Way of King County
Stanford, California
Denver, Colorado
Seattle, Washington
148
APPENDIX A
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
WORKING GROUP ON LIFE SKILLS TRAINING
CHAIR
Thomas Cook
Joan Schine
Titles and affiliations
Professor
Early Adolescent Helper
Beatrix A. Hamburg
reflect dates of service
Center for Urban Affairs
Program
as Task Force members.
Professor of Psychiatry and
Pediatrics
Northwestern University
National Helpers Network, Inc.
Evanston, Illinois
New York, New York
Director of the Division of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry
Martin Covington
Robert Selman
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Professor of Psychology
Professor
New York, New York
University of California,
Harvard University
Berkeley
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Berkeley, California
MEMBERS
Roger Weissberg
Baruch Fischhoff
Associate Professor
Gilbert Botvin
Professor
Department of Psychology
Associate Professor
Department of Social and
Yale University
Cornell University Medical
Decision Sciences
New Haven, Connecticut
Center
Carnegie-Mellon University
Renee Wilson-Brewer
New York, New York
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Senior Project Director
James P. Connell
Jane Quinn
Center for Health Promotion
Associate Professor in Education
Project Director
and Education
and Psychology
Carnegie Council on Adolescent
Education Development
University of Rochester
Development
Center, Inc.
Rochester, New York
Washington, D.C.
Newton, Massachusetts
WORKING GROUP ON SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORKS
CHAIR
Beatrix A. Hamburg
David Olds
Professor of Psychiatry and
General Pediatrics and
Richard H. Price
Pediatrics
Adolescent Medicine
Professor of Psychology
Director of the Division of Child
University of Rochester
Director
and Adolescent Psychiatry
Rochester, New York
Michigan Prevention Research
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Center
Karen Rook
New York, New York
Institute for Social Research
Program in Social Ecology
University of Michigan
Kenneth Heller
University of California, Irvine
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Psychological Clinic
Irvine, California
Department of Psychology
Robert Selman
Indiana University
MEMBERS
Bloomington, Indiana
Judge Baker Guidance Center
Harvard University
Vanella Crawford
Judith Musick
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Congress of National Black
Department of Education and
Churches
Social Policy
Washington, D.C.
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
APPENDIX A
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ADVISORY BOARD FOR PROMOTING THE HEALTH OF
ADOLESCENTS
Albert Bandura
Denise V. Kandel
Frederick C. Robbins
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychiatry
University Professor
Stanford University
Columbia University
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Stanford, California
New York, New York
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Michael I. Cohen
Lorraine V. Klerman
Chairman
School of Public Health
Robert Selman
Department of Pediatrics
University of Alabama
Judge Baker Guidance Center
Montefiore Medical Center
Birmingham, Alabama
Harvard University
Albert Einstein College of
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Medicine
Julius B. Richmond
Bronx, New York
Division of Health, Policy,
Research, and Education
Richard Jessor
Harvard University
Institute of Behavioral Science
Cambridge, Massachusetts
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
I.......
150
APPENDIX A
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APPENDIX B
PUBLICATIONS
REPORTS
WORKING PAPERS
These pupers are no
A matter of time: Risk and opportunity in the
Consultation on afterschool programs
longer available from
nonschool hours
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. (1994).
the offices at Carnegie
Task Force on Youth Development and Community
Council. To receive "
Programs. (1992). Washington, DC: Carnegie Coun-
Schooling for the middle years: Developments in eight
copy. please contact the
cil on Adolescent Development. Abridged version
european countries
Educational Resources
and executive summary available free from the Carnegie
D. Hirsch. (1994).
Information Center
Council on Adolescent Development.
Promoting adolescent health: Third symposium on re-
at 1-800-143-3712
Fateful choices: Healthy youth for the 21st century
search opportunities in adolescence
F. M. Hechinger. (1992). New York, NY: Hill and
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. (1993).
Wang. Executive summary available free of charge
Depression in adolescence: Current knowledge, research
from the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Develop-
directions, and implications for programs and policy
ment.
A. C. Petersen, B. E. Compas, and J. Brooks-Gunn.
Turning points: Preparing american youth for the 21st
(1992).*
century
Violence prevention for young adolescents: The state of
Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents.
the art of program evaluation
(1989). Washington, DC: Carnegie Council on Ado-
S. Cohen and R. Wilson-Brewer. (1991).*
lescent Development. Abridged version available free
from of Carnegie Council on Adolescent Develop-
Violence prevention for young adolescents: A survey of
ment.
the state of the art
R. Wilson-Brewer, S. Cohen, L. O'Donnell, and I.F.
Goodman. (1991).*
BOOKS
Adolescent health care decision making: The law and
Adolescence in the 1990s: Risk and opportunity
public policy
R. Takanishi (Ed.). (1993). New York, NY: Teachers
J. Gittler, M. Quigley-Rick, and M.J. Saks. (1991).
College Press.
Life-skills training: preventive interventions for young
Promoting the health of adolescents: New directions for
adolescents
the twenty-first century
B. A. Hamburg. (1990).*
S.G. Millstein, A. C. Petersen, and E.O. Nightingale
Popular music in early adolescence
(Eds.). (1993). New York, NY: Oxford University
P.G. Christenson and D.F. Roberts. (1990).
Press. Executive Summary available free from the
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
Preventive programs that support families with
adolescents
At the threshold: The developing adolescent
S.A. Small. (1990).
S.S. Feldman and G. R. Elliott (Eds.). (1990). Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Risk taking in adolescence: A decision-making
perspective
L. Furby and R. Beyth-Marom. (1990).
School and Community Support Programs that
Enhance Adolescent Health and Education
R. H. Price, M. Cioci, W. Penner, and B. Trautlein.
(1990).
151
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Strategies for enhancing adolescents' health through
Overview of youth recreation programs in the United
music media
States
J. A. Flora. (1990).
C. Smith.
Teaching decision making to adolescents: A critical
Overview of youth sports programs in the United States
review
V. Seefeldt, M. Ewing, and S. Walk.
R. Beyth-Marom, B. Fischhoff, M. Jacobs, and L.
Furby. (1989).
Professional development of youthworkers (Summary
report of the May 1991 Consultation)
Adolescent rolelessness in modern society
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
E.O. Nightingale and L. Wolverton. (1988).
The quiet revolution: Elder service and youth develop-
The potential of school-linked centers to promote ado-
ment in an aging society
lescent health and development
M. Freedman, A. C. Harvey, and C. Ventura-Merkel.
S. G. Millstein. (1988).
Racial, ethnic, and cultural differences in youth devel-
Preventing abuse of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco by ado-
opment programs
lescents
L. A. Camino.
M. Falco. (1988).*
A rationale for enhancing the role of the non-school vol-
Issues in adolescent health: An overview
untary sector in youth development
K. Hein. (1988).
K. Pittman and M. Wright.
AIDS in adolescence: A rationale for concern
A synthesis of the research on, and a descriptive over-
K. Hein. (1988).
view of Protestant, Catholic, and Fewish religious youth
programs in the United States
K. C. Dean.
COMMISSIONED PAPERS
What young adolescents want and need from out-of-
Adult Service Clubs and Their Programs for Youth
school programs: A focus report
A. K. Fitzgerald and A. M. Collins.
S. W. Morris & Company.
Building supportive communities for youth: Local ap-
Young adolescents and discretionary time use: The
Report WGTT commis-
proaches to enhancing youth development
nature of life outside school
sioned by the Carnegic
R. O'Brien, K. Pittman, and M. Cahill.
E. Medrich.
Task Force on Youth
Development and
Community-based youth services in international
Community Programs
perspective
OCCASIONAL PAPERS
and CITY available
M. Sherraden.
only by calling the
Adolescent health: Safeguarding a generation at risk
Educational Resources
Evaluation of youth development programs (Summary
F. M. Hechinger. Based on a speech delivered at the
Information Center
report of the January 1992 Consultation)
conference "Crossroads: Critical Choices for the De-
at 1-500-443-3742
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.
velopment of Healthy Adolescents," in Washington,
Funding patterns of non-profit organizations that pro-
DC, April 12-14, 1992, sponsored by Carnegie Cor-
vide youth development services: An exploratory study
poration of New York and the Carnegie Council on
L.W.Stern.
Adolescent Development.
Gender issues in youth development programs
Business and adolescent health: How to succeed by
H.J. Nicholson.
really trying
J.A. Califano. Based on a speech delivered at the con-
ference "Crossroads: Critical Choices for the Devel-
opment of Healthy Adolescents," Washington, DC,
April 12-14, 1992, sponsored by Carnegie Corpora-
tion of New York and the Carnegie Council on Ado-
lescent Development.
152
APPENDIX B
EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 AM, OCTOBER 12, 1995
UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
Reinventing community
JOURNAL ARTICLES AND
J. W. Gardner. Based on a speech delivered at the con-
COLLABORATIVE WORKS
ference "A Matter of Time: Risk and Opportunity in
the Nonschool Hours," Washington, DC, December
"Promoting the Healthy Development of Adoles-
10-11, 1992, sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of
cents." S. G. Millstein, E.O. Nightingale, A. C. Pe-
New York and the Carnegie Council on Adolescent
tersen, A. M. Mortimer, and D.A. Hamburg. (1993).
Development.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 269
(11):1413-1415.
The case for comprehensive upgrading of American
education
"Crucial Opportunities for Adolescent Health." D. A.
O. B. Butler. Based on a speech delivered at the con-
Hamburg. (1993). Journal of Adolescent Health, 14,
ference "Turning Points: Education in America in
495-498.
the 21st Century," Washington, DC, June 20, 1989.
"The Urban Poverty Crisis: An Agenda for Children
The education crisis and the future of our economy
and Youth." D. A. Hamburg. (1993). The Western
R. Marshall. Based on a speech delivered at the con-
Journal of Medicine, 159, 692-697.
ference "Turning Points: Education in America in
"The Role of Social Support and Social Networks in
the 21st Century," Washington, DC, June 20, 1989.
Improving the Health of Adolescents." D. A. Ham-
burg, E.O. Nightingale, and A. M. Mortimer. (1991).
In W.R. Hendee (Ed.), The Health of Adolescents, pp.
ESSAYS BY DAVID A. HAMBURG,
526-542. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
PRESIDENT, CARNEGIE
"Preparing for Life: The Critical Transition of Ado-
CORPORATION OF NEW YORK
lescence." D.A. Hamburg and R. Takanishi. (1989).
Children of urban poverty: Approaches to a critical
American Psychologist, 44 (5), 825-827.
american problem
"Facilitating the Transitions of Adolescence." D.A.
Reprinted from the 1992 Annual Report of Carnegie
Hamburg, E.O. Nightingale, and R. Takanishi. (1987).
Corporation of New York.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 257
Early adolescence: A critical time for interventions in
(24):3405-3406.
education and health
WITH THE U.S. CONGRESS OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY
Reprinted from the 1989 Annual Report of Carnegie
ASSESSMENT (1991):
Corporation of New York.
Adolescent health-Volume 1: Summary and policy op-
Preparing for life: The critical transition of adolescence
tions. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Reprinted from the 1986 Annual Report of Carnegie
Office.
Corporation of New York.
Adolescent health-Volume 2: Background and the effec-
tiveness of selected prevention and treatment services.
CARNEGIE QUARTERLIES
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Saving Youth from Violence, Winter 1994
Adolescent health-Volume 3: crosscutting issues in the
delivery of related services. Washington, DC: U.S.
Turning points revisited: A new deal for adolescents,
Government Printing Office.
Spring 1993.
Adolescent health: A generation at risk, Fall 1992.
Adolescence: Path to a productive life or a diminished
future? Winter/Spring 1990.
APPENDIX B
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UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
APPENDIX C
MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
SYMPOSIA ON RESEARCH
MEDIA LINKAGES: COUNCIL-
OPPORTUNITIES IN ADOLESCENCE
SPONSORED SPEAKERS AND
FOURTH SYMPOSIUM
THEIR TOPICS
The Development of Interethnic Group Relations
Louis Butler, California Tomorrow
During Childhood and Adolescence, September 1994
Changing Populations, Emerging Audiences
Cosponsor: Women in Film/Film Festival
THIRD SYMPOSIUM
Promoting Adolescent Health, June 1993
Peter Christenson, Lewis and Clark College
Children, Teens, and Popular Music
SECOND SYMPOSIUM
Cosponsor: Billboard magazine
Opportunities in the Health and Education of Ado-
lescents, November 1991
James Comer, Yale University Medical School
Education
FIRST SYMPOSIUM
Cosponsors: Education 1st! and the National Council
Opportunities in Adolescent Development, October
for Families and Television
1990
Delbert Elliott, Institute of Behavioral Science,
University of Colorado
MEETINGS IN CONJUNCTION
Adolescent Violence and the Media
Cosponsor: Caucus for Producers, Writers, and
WITH JOHANN JACOBS
Directors
FOUNDATION, SWITZERLAND
David Hayes-Bautista, Chicano Studies Research
Frontiers in Education: Schools as Health-Promoting
Center, University of California at Los Angeles
Environments, February 1995, Geneva, Switzerland
Voices from the Front Lines: Behind the School House
Door
Frontiers in the Education of Young Adolescents, No-
vember 1994, Marbach Castle, Germany
Cosponsor: National Council on Families and
Television
Changing Audience Demographics
MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL
Cosponsor: Education 1st!
ON ADOLESCENT
Richard Louv, San Diego Union
DEVELOPMENT
The World of Today's Adolescent
Cosponsor: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Ninth Council Meeting, October 13, 1995
Eighth Council Meeting, June 24-25, 1993
Eleanor Maccoby, Department of Psychology,
Stanford University
Seventh Council Meeting, November 14-15, 1991
Parenting and Co-Parenting before and after Divorce
Sixth Council Meeting, October 15-16, 1990
Cosponsor: National Council on Families and
Television
Fifth Council Meeting, October 12-13, 1989
Fourth Council Meeting, September 29-30, 1988
Ray Marshall, Departments of Economics and Public
Policy, University of Texas at Austin
Third Council Meeting, February 1-2, 1988
The Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Families,
Second Council Meeting, June 29-30, 1987
Education, and Society
First Council Meeting, January 11-12, 1987
Cosponsor: Show Coalition
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Deborah W. Meier, Central Park East Secondary
COUNCIL WORKSHOPS
School
Assessing Promising Prevention Interventions: Life
Turning Points
Cosponsor: National Council on Families and
Skills Training Working Group, May 1988, July 1988,
March 1989
Television
Assessing Promising Prevention Interventions: Social
Rosemary Lee Potter, middle school teacher and
author of Positive Use of Commercial TV for Kids
Support Networks Working Group, June 1988, No-
vember 1988, February 1989
Television, the Accidental Educator
Cosponsor: Education 1st!
Supporting Families with Adolescents, September
1988
Donald Roberts, Stanford University, author of
Popular Music in Early Adolescence
Consultation on Health Services and Health Promo-
Violence and the Media
tion in Middle Grade Schools, June 1988
Cosponsor: American Film Institute
Popular Music in Early Adolescence
Consultation on School-Linked Adolescent Health
Cosponsor: Billboard Magazine
Centers, November 1987
Children, Teens, and Popular Music
Creating New Television Programs for and about Ado-
Cosponsor: Recording Industry Association of America
lescents, June 1987
Laurence Steinberg, Center for Research in Human
Youth at Risk in the Middle Schools, May 1987
Development and Education, Temple University
Conflict and Harmony in the Parent-Teen Relationship
Consultation on Adolescent Violence, May 1987
Cosponsor: National Council on Families and
Toward Healthy Adolescent Development: The Po-
Television
tential of Effective Interventions, April 1987
Renee Wilson-Brewer, Violence Prevention Project,
Working with the Media to Promote Healthy Adoles-
Education Development Center
cent Development, April 1987
Violence and the Media
Cosponsor: American Film Institute
Adolescent Violence and the Media
Cosponsor: Caucus for Producers, Writers, and
Directors
Linda Wong, California Tomorrow
Minority Education
Cosponsor: National Council on Families and
Television
APPENDIX C
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APPENDIX D
BIOGRAPHIES OF MEMBERS THE COUNCIL
H. Keith H. Brodie
H. Keith H. Brodie is president emeritus of Duke University, where he is the James B. Duke Professor of Psy-
chiatry and Behavioral Sciences, professor of law, and professor of experimental psychology. Before these po-
sitions, he was acting provost and chancellor. Dr. Brodie also served as chief of the psychiatry service at Duke
University Hospital and as chairman of the university's department of psychiatry. Before his tenure at Duke, he
was assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Stanford University. Among Dr. Brodie's numerous
honors and awards is the 1994 William C. Menninger Memorial Award from the American College of Physi-
cians. He has been president and secretary of the American Psychiatric Association and was an associate editor
of the American Journal of Psychiatry. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences-Institute of Med-
icine, where he has chaired a number of committees. Dr. Brodie is a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
as well as of the Royal Society of Medicine. His most recent publication is AIDS and Behavior: An Integrated Ap-
proach (1994), which he edited with J.D. Auerbach and C. Wypijewska. Dr. Brodie earned an A.B. from Prince-
ton University and an M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Michael 1. Cohen
Michael I. Cohen, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Montefiore
Medical Center in New York City, was instrumental in the development of adolescent medicine as a medical spe-
ciality. Among his numerous honors are the Society for Adolescent Medicine Award for Outstanding Achieve-
ment and the Montefiore Medical Center Staff and Alumni Association Distinguished Physician Award. The
author of more than one hundred publications, he holds membership in a number of professional societies, in-
cluding the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; the Eastern Society for Pediatric Research,
where he served on the Executive Council; and the National Academy of Sciences-Institute of Medicine. Dr.
Cohen's work has focused on the health needs of adolescents. He served as vice-chair of the advisory panel for
the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment's landmark study of adolescent health in 1991. He has held
lectureships at several universities, including the University of Colorado and Cornell University Medical Col-
lege. He is a board member for many nonprofit agencies and has served on the editorial and publication advi-
sory boards of a variety of professional publications. Dr. Cohen earned his B.A. and M.D. from Columbia Uni-
versity and was a postdoctoral fellow at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Alonzo A. Crim
Alonzo A. Crim is a professor in the department of education and special assistant to the president on college
and school partnerships at Spelman College. He was the Benjamin E. Mays Professor of Urban Educational
Leadership in the department of educational administration at Georgia State University. As superintendent of
the predominantly black and low-income public schools of Atlanta, Georgia, for fifteen years, Dr. Crim intro-
duced many innovative programs that resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of students completing high
school and continuing to postsecondary education. One of these innovations was a districtwide requirement of
community service for a high school diploma. A widely published educator, Dr. Crim began his career as a
seventh- and eighth-grade science and mathematics teacher and later served as a principal and district superin-
tendent in Chicago and superintendent of the Compton, California, Unified School District. His numerous hon-
ors and awards include honorary doctorate degrees from Princeton, Harvard, Tuskegee, and Columbia Uni-
versities. Dr. Crim earned a B.A. in sociology from Roosevelt College in Chicago, an M.A. in educational
administration from the University of Chicago, and an Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Michael S. Dukakis
Michael S. Dukakis, former governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a visiting distinguished pro-
fessor in the political science department at Northeastern University in Boston. Governor Dukakis served for
two years in the United States Army, spent in part with the support group to the UN delegation to the Military
Armistice Commission in Munsan, Korea. He began his political career as an elected town meeting member in
Brookline, Massachusetts. Elected chairman of the town's Democratic organization in 1960, he soon won a seat
in the legislature and served four terms. Winning the Massachusetts gubernatorial election in 1974, he served
one term in office but was defeated in the 1978 state Democratic primary. Governor Dukakis won election again
in 1982 and was reelected to an unprecedented third four-year term in 1986. In 1986, his colleagues in the Na-
tional Governors' Association voted him the most effective governor in the nation. In 1988, Governor Dukakis
won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidency but was defeated in the general election by George
Bush. Since 1991, he has taught courses in the American presidency, public management, health care reform,
public policy, and state and local government at Northeastern University. Governor Dukakis earned a B.A. from
Swarthmore College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
William H. Gray, III
William H. Gray III is president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). As head
of America's oldest black higher education assistance organization, Mr. Gray has led the UNCF to new fund-
raising records. Mr. Gray served in the U.S. Congress from 1978 until 1991. The first African American to chair
the House Budget Committee, he was a leading advocate for strengthening America's educational systems. As
chairman of the Democratic Caucus and later as majority whip, he was the highest ranking African American
ever to serve in Congress. For more than twenty years, Mr. Gray has been pastor of the five thousand member
Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He has been a faculty member and professor of history and reli-
gion at St. Peter's College, Jersey City State College, Montclair State College, Eastern Baptist Theological Sem-
inary, and Temple University. He earned his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, a master's degree in di-
vinity from Drew Theological Seminary, and a master's degree in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.
He also has been awarded more than fifty honorary degrees from American colleges and universities.
Beatrix A. Hamburg
Beatrix A. Hamburg is president of the William T. Grant Foundation and professor of psychiatry and pediatrics
at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where she was director of the division of child and adolescent psychi-
atry. Her prior professorial appointments were in the psychiatry departments at the Stanford University School
of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hamburg has researched normal adolescence, adolescent psycho-
pathology, and endocrine-behavior interactions. She is noted for her work on peer counseling, studies of dia-
betic children and adolescents, and studies of the health and mental health status of minority populations. Ac-
tive in public policy and public service in areas that affect children and youth, she is a member of the Public
Health Council of the New York State Department of Health and of the New York Governor's Task Force on
Life and the Law. She is also a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council for the National Insti-
tute of Mental Health and of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Hamburg earned
a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine.
David A. Hamburg
David A. Hamburg has been president of Carnegie Corporation of New York since 1983. Formerly, he served
as president of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been a member of the
President's Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology since its formation in 1994. For a decade, Dr.
Hamburg was on the Advisory Committee on Medical Research of the World Health Organization. He was a
trustee and vice chairman of the board of Stanford University, and was a member of the board of The Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, where he was also deputy chairman. He serves on the boards of The Rockefeller
University; The Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York; The American Museum of Natural History; and The
Johann Jacobs Foundation, Zurich. Dr. Hamburg is the author of Today's Children: Creating a Future for a
Generation in Crisis (1992). He is chairman of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, founder of
the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government, and co-chairman of the Carnegie Com-
APPENDIX 0
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mission on Preventing Deadly Conflict. Dr. Hamburg's professorial appointments have included chairman-
ship of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, Stanford's Reed-Hodg-
son Professor of Human Biology, and John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy at Harvard University.
Dr. Hamburg earned his A.B. and M.D. degrees from Indiana University.
David E. Hayes-Bautista
David E. Hayes-Bautista is the director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health at the University of Cali-
fornia at Los Angeles, where he is also a professor in the School of Medicine. Dr. Hayes-Bautista began his ca-
reer directing La Clínica de la Raza in Oakland, California. Since then, he has been affiliated with numerous
public and private organizations that promote public health, including the American Public Health Associa-
tion's Task Force on Latin American Health Workers, the National Center for Health Services Research, and
the State of California's Tobacco Education Oversight Committee. Dr. Hayes-Bautista has written numerous
articles and books on Latino health policy, demographics, and inner-city youth and co-authored The Burden of
Support, which examines the role of Latino youth in an aging society. Dr. Hayes-Bautista has received several
awards, among them the Hispanic Business Magazine Hispanic Influential Award, the Chicanos for Creative
Medicine Humanitarian Award, and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Chicano/Latino Medical As-
sociation of California. He earned a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.A. and Ph.D.,
both in medical sociology, from the University of California's San Francisco Medical Center.
Fred M. Hechinger
Fred M. Hechinger is senior adviser at Carnegie Corporation of New York. As a reporter, columnist, editor, au-
thor, and foundation executive, he has devoted much of his career to issues of education and policies affecting
children and society. Mr. Hechinger began his career with The New York Times as education editor, later be-
coming deputy editor of the editorial page. He became president of The New York Times Company Founda-
tion and of The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, and he began writing a weekly column, "About Edu-
cation." Mr. Hechinger has authored or co-authored with his wife, Grace, a number of books about American
education and youth, including A Better Start and Growing Up in America. He is a former education editor of
Parents' Magazine and also a former president of the Education Writers Association, from which he has received
a number of awards for his writing. Mr. Hechinger received the George Polk Memorial Award, and he holds the
British Empire Medal. He joined the staff of Carnegie Corporation after serving on the Corporation's board for
six years. Mr. Hechinger attended New York University and City College of New York, from which he was grad-
uated magna cum laude. He undertook graduate studies at the University of London.
David W. Hornbeck
David W. Hornbeck is the superintendent of schools for the school district of Philadelphia. Mr. Hornbeck
chaired the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development's Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents.
He has since worked with several jurisdictions nationwide as an education advisor to develop school restruc-
turing processes. As a partner with Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C., Mr. Hornbeck worked with private,
nonprofit, and government institutions interested in educational restructuring, including the State of Kentucky,
whose reform legislation he designed. From 1976 to 1988, Mr. Hornbeck was the state superintendent of schools
for Maryland. He also has served as deputy counsel to the Governor of Pennsylvania, and as the Executive deputy
secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the advisory boards and
on the boards of directors of several organizations devoted to improving education, among them the National
Center on Education and the Economy, the Pew Forum on Education Reform, and the Southern Education
Foundation. He is chairman of the Children's Defense Fund board of directors. Mr. Hornbeck earned a B.A.
and an LL.D. from Austin College, a Diploma in Theology from Oxford University, a B.D. from Union Theo-
logical Seminary, and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Daniel K. Inouye
Daniel K. Inouye is the fifth-ranking member of the United States Senate. As a senator, he has championed im-
proved education for all youth and better health care for all Americans. From 1989 to 1994, Senator Inouye was
the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs and is a leader in advancing the rights of Indian people in the
151
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UNCORRECTED PAGE PROOFS
United States including American Indians and Native Hawaiians. Currently, he is the Committee's vice chair-
man. He also is a member of the Senate committees on Appropriations; Commerce, Science, and Transporta-
tion; and Rules and Administration; and of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. In World War II, Sen-
ator Inouye served in the all-Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team, the most highly
decorated unit of its size in that war. He was discharged an army captain, with a Distinguished Service Cross,
Bronze Star, Purple Heart with cluster, and twelve other medals and citations. He began his career as deputy
public prosecutor for the City and County of Honolulu. In 1954, he was elected to the Territorial House of Rep-
resentatives, where he served two consecutive terms, and, in 1958, he was elected to the Territorial Senate. Sen-
ator Inouye became Hawaii's first Congressman in 1959, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives. He served in the House until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1962. Senator Inouye earned a B.A. from
the University of Hawaii and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.
James M. Jeffords
James M. Jeffords, a Republican Senator from Vermont, is the chairman of the Education, Arts, and the Hu-
manities Subcommittee of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Senator Jeffords was first elected
to Congress in 1975 as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was a member of the Agricul-
ture Committee and the ranking Republican member on the Education and Labor Committee. Elected to the
Senate in 1989, he sits on a number of Senate Committees including Labor and Human Resources, Appropri-
ations, and Energy and Natural Resource. He has devoted his public life to education, health, and environmental
issues. Senator Jeffords served on active duty with the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1959, retiring from the U.S. Naval
Reserve as a captain in 1990. He was president of the Young Lawyers Section of the Vermont Bar Association
from 1966 to 1968. He received his B.S in international affairs from Yale University in 1956 and his LL.B. from
Harvard Law School in 1962.
Richard Jessor
Richard Jessor has been a member of the faculty at the University of Colorado-Boulder for the past forty-three
years. He is a professor in the department of psychology and the director of the Institute of Behavioral Science.
For the past seven years, Dr. Jessor has directed the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful
Adolescent Development among Youth in High-Risk Settings. His areas of research include adolescent and
young adult development, the social psychology of problem behavior, and psychosocial aspects of poverty. Dr.
Jessor has been consultant to numerous organizations, including the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Academy of Sciences, Health and Welfare
(Canada), and the World Health Organization. He served on the National Research Council Committee on Child
Development Research and Public Policy and on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on High-Risk Youth.
Dr. Jessor has authored or edited more than one hundred publications, including seven books. His most recent
book is Ethnography and Human Development: Context and Meaning in Social Inquiry (forthcoming), edited
with A. Colby and R.A. Shweder. Dr. Jessor earned his B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Columbia Uni-
versity, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Ohio State University.
Helene L. Kaplan
Helene L. Kaplan is Of Counsel to the firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. She has practiced law
for more than twenty-five years. Mrs. Kaplan has served in the not-for-profit sector as counsel or trustee of
many scientific, arts, charitable and educational institutions and foundations, including The American Mu-
seum of Natural History; The Committee for Economic Development; The Commonwealth Fund; Carnegie
Corporation of New York; The J. Paul Getty Trust; The Mount Sinai Hospital, Medical School, and Medical
Center; and Barnard College, where she was chairman of the board. She also served as chairman of the Board
of Trustees of Carnegie Corporation of New York. She was a member of the U.S. Secretary of State's Advisory
Committee on South Africa, and she served on New York Governor Mario Cuomo's Task Force on Life and
the Law, which was concerned with the legal and ethical implications of advances in medical technology. Mrs.
Kaplan is a director of Chemical Banking Corporation and Chemical Bank, The May Department Stores Com-
pany, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Mobil Corporation, and NYNEX Corporation. She is a fellow of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Mrs. Ka-
plan earned her A.B. from Barnard College and a J.D. from New York University.
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Nancy Landon Kassebaum
Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a Republican Senator from Kansas, is the chairman of the Committee on Labor and
Human Resources. She also is a member of the committees on Foreign Relations and Indian Affairs. The daugh-
ter of Alfred M. Landon, governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the Republican presidential nominee in 1936,
she was introduced to politics at an early age. While raising her four children on a farm in Maize, Kansas, Sen-
ator Kassebaum was a member of the Maize School Board, Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, and the
Kansas Committee for the Humanities. In 1975, she accepted a position in Washington as an aide to Republi-
can Senator James Pearson of Kansas. In 1978, she was elected to the seat opened upon Senator Pearson's re-
tirement. Respected as a coalition builder, Senator Kassebaum is serving her third term in the U.S. Senate. An
advocate of fiscal responsibility, she is known as a social moderate with strong interests in education and health
care. She has also focused her efforts on international affairs, including foreign aid programs and African issues.
Senator Kassebaum earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in diplomatic
history from the University of Michigan.
Thomas H. Kean
Thomas H. Kean is president of Drew University and former governor of the State of New Jersey. As univer-
sity president, he has stressed the primacy of teaching for all faculty, the creative use of technology in the lib-
eral arts, and the growing importance of international education. He created new awards and scholarships for
faculty and students. As governor, he instituted a federally replicated welfare reform program and more than
thirty education reforms. Governor Kean delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Republican National Con-
vention. He served on the President's Education Policy Advisory Committee under George Bush and as chair
of the Education Commission of the States and the National Governors' Association's Task Force on Teach-
ing. Governor Kean is chairman of Educate America and former chairman of the National Environmental Ed-
ucation and Training Foundation. He is on the board of a number of organizations, including Carnegie Cor-
poration of New York, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and United Health Care Corporation. His most
recent book is The Politics of Inclusion, published by The Free Press. Governor Kean earned a B.A. from
Princeton University and an M.A. from Columbia University Teachers College and holds honorary degrees
from twenty-five colleges and universities.
Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel, a thirty-one-year veteran of ABC News, is anchor of "Nightline," television's first late-night network
news program. As anchor of "Nightline," he is the principal on-air reporter and interviewer. Mr. Koppel also is
the program's managing editor. In its fifteen year on the air, "Nightline" remains an innovation in broadcast
news. Mr. Koppel also has worked as a foreign and domestic correspondent and as bureau chief for ABC News.
He has won every major broadcasting award, including twenty-three Emmy Awards, five George Foster Peabody
Awards, eight duPont-Columbia Awards, nine Overseas Press Club Awards, two George Polk Awards, and two
Sigma Delta Chi Awards, the highest honor bestowed for public service by the Society of Professional Journal-
ists. He recently received the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism by the Joan Shorenstein
Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. He has received fifteen honorary
degrees. Mr. Koppel co-authored the bestseller In the National Interest with Marvin Kalb, formerly of CBS News.
Mr. Koppel earned a B.A. from Syracuse University and an M.A. in mass communications research and politi-
cal science from Stanford University.
Hernan LaFontaine
Hernan LaFontaine is professor of administration and supervision in the educational leadership department of
the Graduate School of Education at Southern Connecticut State University. As a former science teacher and
principal in the New York City schools and later as the head of the Office of Bilingual Education at the New
York City Board of Education, Mr. LaFontaine was instrumental in establishing bilingual education in the city.
In 1979, Mr. LaFontaine assumed the post of superintendent of schools for the Hartford public school system,
where he led major efforts to improve the conditions of the school system. As superintendent, he sought to im-
prove standardized achievement test scores, institute a citywide standardized curriculum, and establish a com-
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prehensive computer-based education program. He actively consulted with parents, community, and business
through groups he established early in his tenure, such as the Parents Association President's group and the
School/Business Collaborative. Mr. LaFontaine has served as a consultant on bilingual education to the federal
Office of Education, the New York Department of Education, and many school systems. He has taught as an ad-
junct professor at Fordham and New York Universities and has lectured widely throughout the United States.
Mr. LaFontaine earned B.S. and M.A. degrees from City College of New York and a Professional Diploma in
Education Administration from Fordham University.
Eleanor E. Maccoby
Eleanor E. Maccoby is Barbara Kimball Browning Professor of Psychology Emerita at Stanford University, where
she has been on the faculty since 1958. Her primary field of interest is the development of children's social be-
havior, particularly as it relates to family functioning and child-rearing methods. She is the co-author (with R.H.
Mnookin) of Dividing the Child: The Social and Legal Dilemmas of Custody, for which she was awarded the
William J. Goode Award from the American Sociological Association in 1993, and is the author of Social De-
velopment: Psychological Growth and the Parent-Child Relationship, in addition to numerous articles and mono-
graphs. Dr. Maccoby is the recipient of several distinguished awards in her field, among them the American Psy-
chological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution and the Kurt Lewin Memorial Award
from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. A pioneer in the psychology of sex differences,
Dr. Maccoby was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993. She has been a member of the Institute
of Medicine since 1977 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1974. Dr. Maccoby earned a
B.S. from the University of Washington, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned an M.A. and
Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan.
Ray Marshall
Ray Marshall is the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs at the Lyn-
don B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. The author or co-author of more
than thirty books and monographs and 175 articles, Dr. Marshall has done extensive research on the economics
of education, minority business development programs, school-to-work transitions, workplace learning systems,
and private pension reform, among other topics. Dr. Marshall, who was U.S. Secretary of Labor under Presi-
dent Jimmy Carter, has received several distinguished honors, among them the Sullivan Distinguished Service
Award, the Sydney Hillman Book Award (for Thinking for a Living), and the Lewis-Murray-Reuther Social
Justice Award from the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Department. Dr. Marshall was a Fulbright Research Profes-
sor in Finland and has been a fellow at The Rockefeller Foundation, Harvard University, and the Ford Founda-
tion. He was Wayne Morse Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Oregon. Dr. Marshall earned a
B.A. in economics and business administration from Millsaps College, an M.A. in economics from Louisiana
State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Julius B. Richmond
Julius B. Richmond is John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy Emeritus in the division for health policy
research and education at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Richmond directed Head Start in the program's early
years. As Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Surgeon
General of the United States Public Health Service during the Carter administration, he directed the publica-
tion of "Healthy People: The Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention." Dr.
Richmond has served as chair of the pediatrics department and dean of the medical school at the State Univer-
sity of New York at Syracuse. He also was a professor of child psychiatry and human development at Harvard
Medical School and became the director of the Judge Baker Guidance Center and chief of psychiatry at Chil-
dren's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Richmond's published work spans pediatrics, child health, child development,
and public health policy. He has received several distinguished awards, including the Aldrich Award of the Amer-
ican Academy of Pediatrics, the Howland Award of the American Pediatric Society, the Gustave Lienhard Award
of the Institute of Medicine, and the Sedgwick Medal of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Richmond
earned an M.S. and an M.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Frederick C. Robbins
Frederick C. Robbins, university professor emeritus at Case Western Reserve University and dean emeritus of
the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, currently is the director of the Center for Adolescent
Health at Case Western. With Dr. John Enders and Dr. Thomas Weller, Dr. Robbins received the 1954 Nobel
Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the development of techniques for the growth of poliovirus in cultures of
nonnervous tissue. Dr. Robbins was director of the department of pediatric and contagious diseases at Cleve-
land City Hospital. During World War II, he served as the U.S. Army's chief of the virus and rickettsial disease
section of the Fifteenth General Medical Laboratory. Dr. Robbins is a charter member of the Technology As-
sessment Advisory Committee of the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment and was president of the Institute
of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He currently serves on the Board of International Health of
the Institute of Medicine and co-chairs the Vaccine Action Program between the United States and India. He
received the Abraham Flexner Award for Medical Education from the Association of American Medical Col-
leges. Dr. Robbins earned a B.A. from the University of Missouri, completed a two-year program at the Uni-
versity of Missouri School of Medicine, and earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Kenneth B. Smith
Kenneth B. Smith is president and associate professor of ministry at the Chicago Theological Seminary and
an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. Reverend Smith was a senior minister at the Church of
the Good Shepherd in Chicago for sixteen years before he assumed the presidency at the seminary. During his
tenure at the Church of the Good Shepherd, the congregation initiated programs in preschool education, af-
ter-school care and recreation, nutritional and recreation programs for retired persons, and a program for ado-
lescents with special needs. Reverend Smith currently serves on several local and national voluntary boards
and committees, including the board of trustees of National Youth Advocates and the United Way of Chicago.
From 1980 to 1981, he was president of the Chicago Board of Education. Among numerous awards, he has re-
ceived the Educational Award from Operation PUSH and the Humanitarian Award from the Plano Chicago De-
velopment Center. His publications include the Lenten Book of Meditation and The United Church of Christ-
Issues in Its Quest for Denominational Identity, edited with Dorothy C. Bass. Reverend Smith earned a B.A.
from Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia, and a Bachelor of Divinity from Bethany Theological
Seminary in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Wilma S. Tisch
Wilma S. Tisch, a civic leader, is chairman emeritus of the board of WNYC (New York Public Broadcasting). She
is a trustee of the United Way of New York City, as well as a member of its executive committee. She is vice pres-
ident of the Jewish Communal Fund; trustee of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York; member
of the Council of Advisors, Hunter College School of Social Work; a trustee of Carnegie Corporation of New
York; and a member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Ms. Tisch was president of the Fed-
eration of Jewish Philanthropies of New York and was vice president of the Council of Jewish Federations. She
also is a former trustee of Blythedale Children's Hospital. In 1993, she was a member of the Mayor's Transition
Advisory Council, New York City. Ms. Tisch received the Louis D. Marshall Medal from the Jewish Theolog-
ical Seminary and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Skidmore College and from the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine of the City University of New York. Brandeis University named her Milender Fellow in 1981.
Born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ms. Tisch earned a B.S. from Skidmore College.
P. Roy Vagelos
P. Roy Vagelos is chairman of the board of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and former chairman of the board
and chief executive officer of Merck & Company, Inc. An authority on lipids and enzymes, Dr. Vagelos began
his career as a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, where he became head of the section on compar-
ative biology. He joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and became chairman of
the department of biological chemistry of the school of medicine. He later served as director of the university's
division of biology and biomedical sciences. Dr. Vagelos held several research and business positions in twenty
years at Merck & Company, Inc. The author of more than one hundred scientific papers, Dr. Vagelos received
the Enzyme Chemistry Award of the American Chemical Society. He is a member of the National Academy of
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Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He is chair-
man of the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and a trustee of The Danforth Foundation. Dr.
Vagelos earned an A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and an
M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.
James D. Watkins
James D. Watkins, retired admiral of the U.S. Navy, is president of the board of governors of the Joint Oceano-
graphic Institutions (JOI) Inc. He is founder and president of the board of governors of Consortium for Oceano-
graphic Research and Education (CORE). Under President George Bush, Admiral Watkins served as Secretary
of Energy. He has worked throughout his career to improve the education of young people, especially in math-
ematics and science. Admiral Watkins served as chairman of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, En-
gineering, and Technology's Committee on Education and Human Resources, which produced the first federal
government-wide strategic plan for mathematics and science education programs. Admiral Watkins served as
chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS) Epidemic under Pres-
ident Ronald Reagan. His naval career was capped by his assignment as Chief of Naval Operations. His military
decorations include several Distinguished Service and Legion of Merit medals and the Bronze Star. Admiral
Watkins is member of the Knights of Malta, an international order of leading Catholic laymen dedicated to hu-
manitarian service and a trustee of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Admiral Watkins is a graduate of the U.S.
Naval Academy, earned an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Post-Graduate School, and is a
graduate of the reactor engineering course at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
William Julius Wilson
William Julius Wilson is the Lucy Flower University Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and the director
of the Center for the Study of Urban Inequality at the University of Chicago. Professor Wilson is noted for his
work on urban poverty and issues of race. He is author of Power, Racism, and Privilege: Race Relations in The-
oretical and Sociohistorical Perspectives; The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American In-
stitutions, and The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy. A MacArthur Prize
Fellow, Professor Wilson is a past fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stan-
ford University. He is past president of the Consortium of Social Science Associations and of the American So-
ciological Association. Professor Wilson is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences,
American Philosophical Society, and National Academy of Social Insurance. Among many awards and honorary
degrees, he received the Burton Gordon Feldman Award, given for outstanding contributions in the field of pub-
lic policy from the Brandeis University Gordon Public Policy Center. Professor Wilson earned a B.A. from
Wilberforce University, an M.A. from Bowling Green State University, and a Ph.D. in sociology/anthropology
from Washington State University.
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APPENDIX E
INDEX OF PROGRAMS CITED IN THE REPORT
Advocates for Youth
ASPIRA Association, Inc.
Center for Media Education
1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
1112 16th Street, N.W., Suite 340
1511 K Street, N.W., Suite 518
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
Washington, DC 20005
Washington, DC 20005-3516
Contact: Ronald Blackburn-
Contact: Kathryn C.
Contact: Mary Pruitt Clark,
Moreno, National Executive
Montgomery, President
President
Director
Telephone: (202) 628-2620
Telephone: (202) 347-5700
Telephone: (202) 835-3600
Fax: (202) 628-2554
Fax: (202) 347-2263
Fax: (202) 223-1253
Page 117
Pages 119, 120
Page 109
Center for Media Literacy
Advocates for Youth Media
Association of Science-
1962 South Shenandoah
Project
Technology Centers (ASTC)
Los Angeles, CA 90034
3733 Motor Avenue, Suite 204
Youth Alive! Initiative
Contact: Elizabeth Thoman,
Los Angeles, CA 90034
1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Executive Director
Contact: Jennifer Daves,
Suite 500
Telephone: (800) 226-9494
Director
Washington, DC 20005-3516
Fax: (310) 559-9396
Telephone: (310) 559-5700
Contact: DeAnna B. Beane,
Page 119
Fax: (310) 559-5784
Project Director
Page 119
Telephone: (202) 783-7200
Center for Youth Development
Fax: (202) 783-7207
and Policy Research
American Business
Page 109
Academy for Educational
Collaboration for Quality
Development
Dependent Care
Boy Scouts of America
1255 23rd Street, N.W., Suite 400
c/o Work/Family Directions
1325 West Walnut Hill Lane
Washington, DC 20037
93° Commonwealth Ave., West
P.O. Box 152079
Contact: Richard Murphy, Vice
Boston, MA 02215-1274
Irving, TX 75015-2079
President, AED, and Director,
Contact: Mary Kay Leonard,
Contact: Jere Ratcliffe, Chief
CYDPR
Vice President
Scout Executive
Telephone: (202) 884-8000
Telephone: (617) 278-4000
Telephone: (214) 580-2000
Fax: (202) 884-8404
Fax: (617) 566-2806
Fax: (214) 580-2502
Page 113
Pages 70, 71
Page 106
Center for the Study and
American Library Association
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Prevention of Violence
Young Adult Services Division
(Programs in Public Housing
Institute of Behavioral Science
50 East Huron Street
Projects)
University of Colorado at Boulder
Chicago, IL 60611
1230 West Peachtree Street, N.W.
910 28th Street, Frontage Road
Contact: Linda Waddle, Deputy
Atlanta, GA 30309
Campus Box 422
Executive Director
Contact: Judith Carter, Senior
Boulder, CO 80309-8479
Telephone: 1-800-545-2433,
Vice President
Contact: Laura Ross Greiner,
extension 439°
Telephone: (404) 815-5758
Project Coordinator
Fax: (312) 664-7459
Fax: (404) 815-5789
Telephone: (303) 492-1032
Page 110
Pages 108, 109
Fax: (303) 449-8479
Page 96
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Children's Aid Society
Stanford University
National Urban League
105 East 22nd Street
Stanford, CA 94305
500 East 62nd Street
New York, NY 10010
Contact: H. Craig Heller
New York, NY 10021
Contact: Philip Coltoff,
Telephone: (415) 723-1509
Contact: Hugh B. Price,
Executive Director
Fax: (415) 725-5356
President and CEO
Telephone: (212) 949-4917
Pages 78, 79
Telephone: (212) 310-9000
Fax: (212) 460-5941
Fax: (212) 755-2140
Page 82
MediaScope
Page 109
12711 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 250
City Youth
Studio City, CA 91604
Quantum Opportunity
Constitutional Rights
Contact: Marcy Kelly, President
Program
Foundation
Telephone: (818) 508-2080
1415 North Broad Street
601 South Kingsley Drive
Fax: (818) 508-2088
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Pages 119, 120, 121
Contact: Debbie Scott, Office of
Contact: Eleanor Kim, Associate
National Helpers Network, Inc.
National Literacy Programs
Director
Telephone: (215) 236-4500
Telephone: (213) 487-5590
(Early Adolescent Helper
Fax: (215) 236-7480
Fax: (213) 386-0459
Program)
Pages 56, 57
Pages 109, III
245 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1705
New York, NY 10016-8728
School-Based Youth Services
The Congress of National
Contact: Alice L. Halsted,
Program
Black Churches, Inc. /
President
New Jersey Department of
Project SPIRIT
Telephone: (212) 679-2482
Human Services
1225 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 75°
Fax: (212) 679-7461
222 South Warren Street
Washington, DC 20005-3914
Pages 109, 111
Trenton, NJ 08625-0700
Contact: B.J. Long, Acting
Contact: Edward Tetelman,
Project Director
National Coalition of Hispanic
Health and Human Service
Director, Office of Legal and
Telephone: (202) 371-1091
Regulatory Affairs
Fax: (202) 371-0908
Organizations (COSSMHO)
Telephone: (609) 292-1617
Pages 109, 112
1501 16th Street, N.W.
Fax: (609) 984-7380
Washington, DC 20036
Girl Scouts of the USA
Pages 51, 52
Contact: Jane L. Delgado,
420 Fifth Avenue
President and Chief Executive
YMCA of the USA
New York, NY 10018-2202
Officer
101 North Wacker Drive
Contact: Mary Rose Main,
Telephone: (202) 387-5000
14th Floor
National Executive Director
Fax: (202) 797-4353
Chicago, IL 60606-7386
Telephone: (212) 852-8000
Page 109
Contact: David Mercer, National
Fax: (212) 852-6517
Executive Director
Page 119
National 4-H Council
7100 Connecticut Avenue
Telephone: (312) 977-0031
Girls Incorporated
Fax: (312) 977-9063
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Page 106
30 East 33rd Street
Contact: Richard Sauer,
New York, NY 10016
President
YWCA of the USA
Contact: Isabel Carter Stewart,
Telephone: (301) 962-2820
726 Broadway
National Executive Director
Fax: (301) 961-2894
New York, NY 10003
Telephone: (212) 689-3700
Page 106
Contact: Prema Mathai-Davis,
Fax: (212) 683-1253
National Executive Director
National Network of Violence
Page 119
Prevention Practitioners
Telephone: (212) 614-2821
Human Biology Middle Grades
Fax: (212) 979-6829
Education Development Center
Life Science Curriculum
Page 106
55 Chapel Street
HUMBIO Curriculum
Newton, MA 02160
Program in Human Biology
Contact: Gwendolyn J.
Department of Biological
Dilworth, Project Coordinator
Sciences
Telephone: (617) 969-7100
Building 80-2160
Fax: (617) 244-3436
Page 96
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CARNEGIE COUNCIL ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
STAFF
Ruby Takanishi
Julia C. Chill
Wanda M. Ellison
Executive Director
Program/Administrative
Administrative Assistant
Assistant
Allyn M. Mortimer
Jenifer Hartnett
Program Associate
Timothy J. McGourthy
Staff Assistant
Program/Administrative
Katharine Beckman
Assistant
Elliott Milhollin
Office Administrator
Office Clerk
FORMER STAFF
Winnie Bayard
Anthony W. Jackson
Jane Quinn
Project Assistant, 1990-93
Project Director
Project Director
Task Force on Education of
Task Force on Youth
Bronna Clark
Young Adolescents,
Administrative Secretary,
Development and Community
1987-90
Programs, 1990-93
1986-89
Susan G. Millstein
Linda L. Schoff
Annette Dyer
Associate Director, 1987-90
Administrative Assistant,
Program/Administrative
Assistant, 1991-94
1988-91
Elena O. Nightingale
Senior Advisor to the Council,
Andrea Solarz
1986-94
Program Associate, 1988-90
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CREDITS
PHOTOGRAPHS
Page 1: Boy plays on a swing,
Danny Lyon © 1988, Magnum
Photos.
This section to be completed.
QUOTES AND POEMS
Page 16, part I opener: From
Voices from the future: Our
children tell us about violence in
America, by Children's Express,
edited by Susan Goodwillie,
1993, New York: Crown
Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by
permission.
This section to be completed.
UNCORRECTED PAGE PRO
The world's blind, neglecting its land.
The human race has turned on itself,
destruction's loud
but the world's deaf!
Change can be found if it's truly being
searched for; we as one need to communicate,
guide our youth,
because what we do today is setting the
path for our children!
GEORGE T., 17
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