Of the 33 million adolescents in the United States, almost 10 million are at risk of failing to become responsible adults. They attend schools that do not serve their needs, lack the support of caring adults, and, as a result, are alienated from mainstream society. African-American and Hispanic children, increasingly segregated in disadvantaged neighborhoods, are particularly vulnerable.
In Adolescence: Growing Up in America Today, a follow-up to Joy Dryfoos's landmark volume, Adolescents at Risk (OUP, 1991), Joy Dryfoos and Carol Barkin take a close look at the lives of young people, identify some of their problems, and present solutions based on state-of-the-art prevention and treatment strategies. They examine important issues in adolescents' lives--sex, violence, drugs, health, mental health, and education. Reviewing successful prevention programs and policy studies, Dryfoos and Barkin demonstrate that we know what to do to prevent high-risk behaviors: young people need to establish relationships with adults; parents need to be involved in their children's lives; and programs need to be comprehensive, sensitive to cultural differences, and staffed by highly trained personnel.
Dryfoos and Barkin argue that turning our backs on adolescents will lead to disturbing consequences: the achievement gap will grow, outcomes will worsen, school systems will struggle with the growing disparities, and we as a nation will fall behind the rest of the world in our capacity to educate our youth. If, however, we decide that we want a better quality of life for our children, we will insure that every young person has access to an excellent education. Schools, youth workers, and parents cannotalone provide a better quality of life for our adolescents, but each must play a major role, and all must work together. Providing a roadmap for the development and implementation of sound policies for American teenagers in the twenty-first century, this volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of our nation's youth.

A community school differs from other public schools in important ways: it is generally open most of the time, governed by a partnership between the school system and a community agency, and offers a broad array of health and social services. It often has an extended day before and after school, features parent involvement programs, and works for community enrichment. How should such a school be structured? How can its success be measured? Community Schools in Action: Lessons from a Decade of Practice presents the Children's Aid Society's (CAS) approach to creating community schools for the 21st century. CAS began this work more than a decade ago and today operates thirteen such schools in three low-income areas of New York City. Through a technical assistance center operated by CAS, hundreds of other schools across the country and the world are adapting this model. Based on their own experiences working with community schools, the contributors to the volume supply invaluable information about the selected program components. They describe how and why CAS started its community school initiative and explain how CAS community schools are organized, integrated with the school system, sustained, and evaluated. The book also includes several contributions from experts outside of CAS: a city superintendent, an architect, and the director of the Coalition for Community Schools. Co-editors Joy Dryfoos, an authority on community schools, and Jane Quinn, CAS's Assistant Executive Director of Community Schools, have teamed up with freelance writer Carol Barkin to provide commentary linking the various components together. For those interested in transforming their schools into effective child- and family-centered institutions, this book provides a detailed road map. For those concerned with educational and social policy, the book offers a unique example of research-based action that has significant implications for our society.

"During the summer before he went to college, he was obnoxious; he said, 'There's a reason I'm acting this way; it will make it easier for you to have me leave.'"

"When she was packing to leave, she was completely preoccupied with how many sheets and towels to take. I was thinking, 'My kid is leaving home forever, and life is taken up with minutiae.'"

It's an emotional rollercoaster, a combination of missing him and feeling happy and excited for him."

You've taught them how to do their laundry, brought them a year's supply of toothpaste and shampoo, and lectured them on the do's and dont's of life beyond your home. The time has come for your child to leave for college -- but are you prepared to say goodbye?

Written by a mother who survived the perils of packing her own child off to school, When Your Kid Goes to College provides supportive, reassuring, and helpful tips for handling this inevitable but difficult separation.

Comprehensive and accessible, this practical guide includes info on:

• Teaching your child how to live on his own, from balancing a checkbook to dealing with a roomate.

• The difference between financial and emotioanl dependence -- and how to keep them separate.

• Helping your spouse, younger children, and even pets deal with the transition when your child leaves -- and when she returns.

• How to fill -- and even enjoy -- the hole that your child's absence leaves.

Saying goodbye isn't the end of the world; it's the beginning of an exciting new one for your child-and you!

In a conversational, interspersed with letters from fictional columnist K.T. ("Knows The") Answers, the authors offer advice on subjects of concern to middle graders.

Taking care of other people's children is a job many young people enjoy doing and do well. It's a big responsibility, too. Today's babysitters need skills and awareness that past generations didn't dream of. This comprehensive handbook offers sensible, timely, upbeat advice on practical matters from changing a diaper to answering the phone, and on such sensitive issues as dealing with a parent who may be intoxicated and babysitting for children with chronic illnesses. Suggestions for games and activities indoors and out, meals, bathtime, and bedtime address the specific needs of infants, toddlers, and older children. Appendixes discuss minor mishaps and emergencies, how to tell which is which, and what to do in every case. All health and safety information has been reviewed by health-care professionals. Designed to go along in pocket or purse, with checklists for at-a-glance reference, "The New Complete Babysitter's Handbook" contains everything a great babysitter needs to know in a handy take-along size. Every babysitter and parent should have this book as a constant companion.