The use of licit and illicit drugs by American young people has been a source of major policy and public health concerns for the United States since the mid-1960s. The use of these substances is a leading cause of eventual disease and death in the population, but it also contributes in important ways to mortality and morbidity during adolescence. …

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the reasons why girls and young women smoke, drink and use drugs, and what increases or lowers their risk of substance abuse. It demonstrates that certain key risk factors for substance abuse are unique to girls and young women and pose a greater threat to them than to boys and young men. This…

The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) Act of 1986 provides funding to school districts to supplement local efforts to eliminate violence as well as drug and alcohol use by their students. In 1996-97, the Austin Independent School District (Texas) (AISD) received $622,692 from the SDFSC grant, with supplemental funds later bringing…

Adolescent drug use in the United States remains higher than that of any other industrialized country. To explore this problem, demographic and psychosocial variables from a survey of 346 pre- and early adolescents were used to predict membership in clusters of students with varying substance use attitudes and expectancies. Cluster analysis…

This monograph discusses how to protect adolescents by addressing health behaviors. Data come from the Add Health Survey, a comprehensive school-based study of adolescents' health-related behaviors. Secondary students answered surveys about their lives, health, friendships, self-esteem, and expectations for the future. School administrators…

This report by the Council of Economic Advisers analyzes key trends in teen behavior, and investigates the role of parents' involvement in their teenagers' lives. The report uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a study of a nationally representative sample of seventh through twelfth graders, to examine the…

This brief describes multiple risk students and maps their links to settings such as the workplace, church, or the health care system. A secondary goal of the brief is to show that although high-risk students have contact with many social institutions, opportunities for interventions are being missed. Data from the 1995 National Longitudinal…

Study data indicate that secondary school students lacking the presence of both parents exhibit higher risk health behaviors than do students with both parents. Variables such as smoking behavior, blood pressure levels, and weight gain and loss were studied. (CJ)

Discusses the legal aspects of nine common student issues: smoking in the public schools, student responsibilities; freedom of speech; hair and dress codes; student marriage and pregnancy; patriotic observances; sex education controversy; and Title IX, ending sex discrimination. (JMF)

A description is given of a chemically-oriented curriculum on "Smoking and Cigarette Smoke" for science and nonscience oriented high school students. Laboratory activity is emphasized. (SA)

Analysis of responses of 16,262 high school students surveyed in the 1997 National School-Based Youth Risk Survey indicated that Hispanic males and Black females engaged more frequently in risky behaviors than did their same-sex peers in other racial groups. Patterns of involvement in risky behavior differed across racial/ethnic groups. (Author/SV)

The health of urban America, particularly that of minority citizens who live in urban America, is so poor in comparison to that of the rest of our nation's citizens that it constitutes a national disgrace and an embarrassment. (Author/MW)

Three methods of estimating tobacco products experimentation were examined in 13 junior high and 6 high schools. The methods were aggregated students' self-reports of tobacco experimentation, school personnel prevalence estimates of student tobacco experimentation, and school outdoor refuse evidence. The school personnel method proved the most…

Presents background information and teaching suggestions for a unit on tobacco reform in United States history. Asks students to compare anti-tobacco sentiment of 1920s with that of today. Unit revolves around a anti-cigarette letter, included, written to President Hoover in 1929. (LS)

The harmful effects of smoking tobacco are discussed. Instructions, lists of materials, and discussion questions for three activities to investigate these effects are provided. A glossary of tobacco-use terms is given. (CW)