"Quality after-school programs at high schools or in the community are viewed as the best way to decrease teen crime, increase safety and reduce teen pregnancy. Some of the better programs teach job skills and community service. Yet, middle and high school students now experience the greatest unmet need for after-school programs."

Labels: delinquents, juvenile crime, stress

"When the facilitator asks, 'How many of you have friends,' the young men respond with silence - a deafening silence for this energetic group. Some look down, some look bewildered..."

Labels: friends, gangs, parental_involvement

Labels: car_crashes, death, driving

"Delegate Norm Conway is sponsoring the bill. As an educator for 39 years, he says it's important to help troubled teens make a positive transition. 'They're out of their own families in many instances. You're hoping for the best possible transition and incentives that say hey if you're willing to do your part there are some opportunities out there for you.'"

Labels: college, education, grants

"The teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of the girls studied; Chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and genital herpes, 2 percent."

Labels: risky_behaviors, sex, sexually transmitted_diseases

"Lead researcher Leslie MacRae, of the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, told CTV Calgary that youths were mostly committing crimes between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m...Calgary Community & Neighborhood Services' Chris Branch said Tuesday that the study is a real message to parents and to the community that something needs to be done during those critical hours."

Labels: delinquents, juvenile_crime

"[Tustin parent Silvana] Difilippo was shocked when officers showed her gadgets that they have confiscated. There was a Pepsi bottle that twists open in the center to hide alcohol in the middle section. To the side was a CD case with a scale to weigh drugs."

Labels: awareness, risky_behaviors, trends

"The investigators work with patrol officers, corrections officials, other law enforcement and citizens to identify gang members and prevent them from committing crime... Their goal is to concentrate on the law enforcement side of the gang problem, depending on the community to report criminal activity, and reach out to troubled youths."

Labels: criminals, gangs, juvenile_crime

"These findings should be encouraging for families with a teen who has been struggling with depression for some time," Dr. Brent said. "Even if a first attempt at treatment is unsuccessful, persistence will pay off."

Labels: depression, therapy, treatment_programs

"About 55 percent of those who switched to either type of medication and added CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy] responded, while 41 percent of those who switched to another medication alone responded."

Labels: depression, therapy, treatment_programs

"The addict's brain is malfunctioning, as surely as the pancreas in someone with diabetes. In both cases, 'lifestyle choices' may be a contributing factor, but no one regards that as a reason to withhold insulin from a diabetic. 'We are making unprecedented advances in understanding the biology of addiction,' says David Rosenblum, a public-health professor and addiction expert at Boston University."

Labels: addictions, treatment_programs, vaccine

Labels: smoking, trauma, violence

"Idaho launched the campaign in January. It includes TV ads, radio ads and billboard spots across the state. 'This is not a pretty drug,' [Executive Director Megan Ronk] says. 'This is not something we can sugar coat.'"

Labels: media, meth, prevention

"My first point to this stepmom was that the girl is a child and, by definition, needs therapy and parental input in making such important decisions. Teenagers operate on emotion; the logical centers of their brains are disconnected and re-forming, so they have little ability to think abstractly..."

Labels: pregnancy, therapy, trauma

"[Yvonne] Santiago said stars like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse, who have publicly gone in and out of rehabilitation for addiction, make it seem as if drugs and alcohol are less serious problems than they really are. 'I think it makes kids think, "OK, if I do drugs and get messed up, then I can just go to rehab like Britney, and be all better, hooray,"' she said."

Labels: influences, media, role_models

"...conference leaders took note of the temptations and challenges teens face - especially black male teens - to stay on the right path. Peer pressure, lack of confidence and low expectations among them."

Labels: challenges, choices, dropouts