Youth Today

Ask a Youth Worker: When Was the Last Time You Felt Like You Made a Difference?

Youth Today asked attendees of the National Black Child Development Institute’s annual conference earlier this year about the a recent time they...

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Talking to a Doctor About Substance Use

Making sure doctors are trained in prevention and treatment is critical. Assuring that addiction is addressed in routine medical practice will help...

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New Opportunities to Support Youth Employment

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 was the first reform of the public workforce system in 15 years. Now, Regional...

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Foster Mom Reflects on Family Unification, Separation

My daughter called yesterday with some exciting news. She has decided to go back to school to be a social worker. I...

Attention Child Savers: Your Double Standards Are Showing

A horrific act of child abuse can be exploited as easily as a horrific act of terrorism. And when a child known...

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First-generation College Students from Poverty Have Many Hurdles

I have helped many young people with financial support for college, both personally and through my company. This year I am funding...

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The Missing Component in Sex Education: Healthy Relationship Education

In the past several decades, the United States has seen a significant drop in the adolescent pregnancy rate: from 116.9 pregnancies per...

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Community Programs Are Safe Haven for Foster Children

I go to the local Boys and Girls Club every Monday afternoon to pick up Amanda (children’s names have been changed) for...

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Trauma-informed Groups Serve Clients Better

We’re entering a remarkable age of a new understanding about why we behave the way we do and how to change those...

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Letting Our Youth Take the Lead

Everyone wants our youth to succeed academically — perhaps none more so than those of us who have dedicated our lives to...

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When a clock is only a clock: Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline

Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed captured the attention of the public in September when he was arrested during his first weeks at MacArthur High...

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The Race Our School and Students Didn’t Win: Aging-out of Adolescence

The year before we opened our charter school in St. Louis, another one had closed. It was a school for dropouts, ages...

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The Secret Behind Youth Justice Reform: Youth

We sometimes skip class, talk back to teachers and experiment with marijuana. I was shocked to learn that in some areas of...

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Use Student-First Language to Stop Bullying Behavior

October was bullying prevention month and there were programs all over the country to highlight bullying as an ongoing issue in schools.

‘Disturbing Schools’ Law and School Resource Officers Criminalize Teens

The video of a school resource officer violently slamming an African-American teenage girl to the floor and then dragging her across the...

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Support for LGBTQ Youth Can Reduce Drugs and Alcohol Abuse

The evidence is clear and alarming: Teens who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBTQ) are more likely to use drugs...

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The Test of Time: Finding a Way to Stay Clean for My Daughter

We just got back from feeding Harlow at the hospital, and we were hanging out in the motor home. I was getting...

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What Does Hair Have to Do With Reading and Writing?

We need to use youth’s culture as the central focus in planning after-school programs. This might include incorporating African-American youth’s linguistic resource,...