At Risk Youth

In December 2009, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) issued its most recent “Monitoring the Future” report on substance abuse among young people. Amid some disappointing results, some good news did emerge:

• Cigarette smoking is at its lowest point in the history of the survey on all measures among students in grades 8, 10, and 12.
• Between 2004 and 2009, a drop in past-year use of methamphetamine was reported for all grades, and lifetime use dropped significantly among 8th-graders.
• Among 10th- and 12th-graders, 5-year declines were reported for past-year use of amphetamines and cocaine.
• From 2004 to 2009, decreases were observed in lifetime, past-year, past-month, and binge use of alcohol across the three grades surveyed.
• Attitudes toward substance abuse, often seen as harbingers of change in use, showed many favorable changes.

The findings listed above were posted on the NIDA website, www.drugabuse.gov.

About 3,500 teenagers ages 15 to 19 years old (approximately nine every week) die in automobile accidents every year, according to new statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Car crashes remain the number one cause of death for teenagers. Boys die in car crashes at twice the rate of girls, but some experts think that may be changing because new studies show that girls are becoming more aggressive.

Most states are requiring tougher standards for driver’s licenses, such as more time in behind the wheel training, limiting the number of passengers in a teenagers’ cars, and not allowing teenagers to drive at night.

For the past year, MSNBC’s “Elkhart Project” has been providing viewers and readers with a personal look at the impact of the economic downturn as experienced by the citizens of Elkhart, Indiana.

In the project’s latest article, MSNBC reporter Kari Huus wrote about the challenges facing 19-year-old Nate Howell and his pregnant girlfriend, 17-year-old Samantha Keith:

Now, facing parenthood, he and Samantha are in a tough spot — one that tends to come with a high price. Research shows that people who have children in their teens are less likely to get a high school diploma or go on to college. They tend to earn less in the working world, and children born to these teens struggle to keep up with their peers. For many, beating back poverty becomes the overriding concern.

“The data is overwhelming that teen pregnancy has a negative impact on education and employment,” says James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit. “While that is a problem during any economic cycle, it becomes even more of a negative during a recession.”

After declining for 15 years, the teen pregnancy rate is now on the rise in the United States, which has by far the highest rate in the industrialized world.

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual teenagers are less likely to bully other children but two or three times more likely to be the victims of bullying, according to a new study from Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Elise Berlan and her colleagues studied the relationship between sexual orientation and bullying by using data from the Growing Up Today Study of more than 7,500 adolescents.

“Students, parents, schools, and community organizations can work to create environments that are supportive and accepting of all students, regardless of their sexual orientation,” said Dr. Berlan, a professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

The study appeared in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

A series of new studies done within the past year showed that good things happen when parents set limits on their teenagers’ behavior, according to a report in USA Today.

• For example, the average teen spends seven hours 38 minutes in front of television and computer screens. However, teens whose parents set limits on Internet and TV watching spend three hours less. Teens whose parents set limits for bed time sleep more hours.
• Teens whose parents set limits on driving are more likely to wear seat belts and less likely to get into accidents.
• They are also less likely to drink, text, or talk on cell phones when they drive.
• They are more likely to delay sex, get better grades, and avoid cigarette smoking.

“The reality is that teenagers care deeply what their parents think,” said Kenneth Ginsburg, author of the driving study and a specialist in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. “The challenge for parents is to get across boundaries in a way that does not feel controlling.”