youth

Since the beginning of the 2011 Arab Spring, observers have been examining the various underlying factors that may have helped fuel revolution and unrest across North Africa and the Middle East. One of the factors frequently cited is the unusually high rate of youth unemployment throughout the region.

According to U.S. government research on drug abuse, the number of people seeking treatment for painkiller addiction increased 400% from 1998 to 2008, and fatalities from prescription and illegal drug abuse now outnumber vehicle-related deaths in 17 states. Increases in certain crimes are also linked with prescription drug abuse, including theft, home invasions and assaults.

Hearing loss in the United States has been shown to be on the rise — a 2008 survey found that 35 million Americans suffer from the partial or complete loss of the ability to hear. While some of this is due to the  aging of the baby boomer generation, hearing loss among younger Americans has also increased.

Approximately half a million children in the United States enter foster care every year, and as many as 800,000 children have some contact with the system in some way. The system is intended to protect the most vulnerable in society and to ensure that all children have access to educational and social opportunities.

Over the past 50 years, American children have been growing up in increasingly diversified family structures. As divorce, remarriage, cohabitation and other such events have refashioned home life, studies have found that transitions for children can have negative educational consequences.

Migrants often have different reasons for coming to the United States. Two common motivations are their educational and employment aspirations for their children. The dutiful, hard-working child of immigrants has become a kind of cultural type in America, but research suggests the reality for such children is more complex.

Sexual minority youths — those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure of their sexuality — remain underrepresented in the academic data on youth issues. Such information is crucial for schools and education systems, in particular, as they look to design and improve outreach and intervention programs to address the health needs of this population.

During the 2008 presidential election season, young people ages 18 to 34 in the United States were avid consumers of online civic and political information: 37% received news relating to the election via social networking sites, and 41% found candidate- and election-related materials on the Web. However, such online engagement has not translated necessarily into increased participation in offline activities such as voting or connecting with local civic organizations.