Expectant and parenting youth involved in systems of care represent a unique intersection of developmental needs as adolescents, emerging adults, parents, and young people who come into contact with child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or other human services systems. Addressing these parallel roles and respective developmental needs is necessary…

Two teacher educators offer several activities for youth to examine representations of adolescence by writing poetry, studying social media, and analyzing young adult literature through a youth lens.

Although peer relations are recognized as a fundamental developmental context, they have been rarely studied as a means of understanding the effects of socioeconomic status and inequality. In this paper, we show how and why peer relations provide a unique and powerful opportunity to assess the differential risks and resources available in the peer…

Poor mental health in childhood and adolescence has a significant impact on both physical and mental health throughout life. However, growing evidence suggests that current levels of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) care are insufficient to meet the needs of many children and adolescents in the United States as evidenced by increasing…

"The Successful Middle School" builds upon many decades of commitment to the middle school concept. The fifth edition of AMLE's landmark position paper amplifies the importance of responding both to young adolescents' developmental needs and to their social identities. The edition's release amidst a global pandemic and increasing…

Self-regulation is a set of skills that a person develops to manage their thoughts and feelings to support tasks such as setting goals, solving problems, and making decisions. Adults can support the development of youth's self-regulation skills through a process called co-regulation. Co-regulation integrates three key types of support from adults:…

This Program and Practice article provides a comprehensive overview of a university-school mentoring program specifically designed to address the school-to-prison pipeline by supporting youth in a disciplinary alternative school setting. The purpose of this article is to offer a detailed description of the program's structure, components, and…

For students with significant behavior problems, difficulties with executive function (EF) and associated self-regulation are not uncommon, and middle school is a crucial period when students are at greater risk for escalating behaviors that have long-term impacts (e.g., school dropout, incarceration; Kauffman & Landrum, 2018). Therefore, in…

For students with significant behavior problems, difficulties with executive function (EF) and associated self-regulation are not uncommon, and middle school is a crucial period when students are at greater risk for escalating behaviors that have long-term impacts (e.g., school dropout, incarceration; Kauffman & Landrum, 2018). Therefore, in…

The Barr Foundation's Engage New England (ENE) initiative was an effort to catalyze high school innovation by developing exemplary schools that support the success of students who are off track to graduate. Grounded in the tenets of positive youth development, the ENE initiative provided grants and technical assistance to support new or redesigned…

Too many rules restrict teenagers' freedoms and development. How can schools straddle the line between providing safety and harmony for students, but also giving them room to make their own mistakes and assert independence? Benson looks at the problem of too many rules, and how it not only harms students, but also interpersonal relationships…

New developments in the field of youth studies are calling for a reorientation of discourses of adolescence away from developmental tropes of transition, crisis, and dysfunction, and towards a more fluid sociocultural framework. Meg Rosoff's acclaimed novel "How I Live Now" (2004) achieves a balance that transcends the pitfalls of…

Adolescence is a period of heightened emotionality. If the adolescents cannot perceive, understand, regulate and function with their emotions it will leave indelible marks on their behaviour and personality. During adolescence (age 12 to 18 yrs), the transition from childhood to adulthood is most important. Children are becoming more independent,…

Adolescence is a period of growing focus on social interactions and relationships. The peer context is one of the most significant developmental contexts in this transitional period and positive peer experiences contribute positively to adolescent well-being. Although negative peer influence on antisocial behaviour has received much attention, we…

Youth Thrive believes that all young people should be valued, loved, and supported to reach their goals. To achieve this, Youth Thrive works with youth-serving systems and its partners to change policies, programs, and practices so that they build on what we know about adolescent development, value young people's perspectives, and give youth…