David E. Rogers - Adolescents At Risk

Medical and Social Perspectives

Cornell University Medical College Seventh Conference on Health Policy EDITED BY David E. Rogers and Eli Ginzberg

First published 1992 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2021 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

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Copyright 1992 by Cornell University Medical College

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cornell University Medical College Conference on Health Policy (7th: 1991: New York, N.Y.) Adolescents at risk: medical and social perspectives / Cornell University Medical College Seventh Conference on Health Policy; edited by David E. Rogers and Eli Ginzberg. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. TeenagersUnited StatesCongresses. 2. Socially handicapped teenagersUnited StatesCongresses. 3. TeenagersMental health hygieneUnited StatesCongresses. 4. TeenagersMental health United StatesCongresses. 5. Adolescent psychologyUnited StatesCongresses. I. Rogers, David E. (David Elliott), 1926- II. Ginzberg, Eli. 1911- . III. Title. [DNLM: 1. Alcoholismin adolescencecongresses. 2. Risk Factorscongresses. 3. Sex Behaviorin adolescencecongresses. 4. Substance Abusein adolescencecongresses. 5. Violencein adolescencecongresses. WS 462 C814a 1991] HQ796.C8195 1992 305.23'5'0973dc20 DNLM/DLC for Library of Congress 91-30506 CIP

ISBN13: 978-0-3670-1672-2 (hbk)

ISBN13: 978-0-3671-6659-5 (pbk)

DOI: 10.4324/9780429046582

At the Sixth Cornell Conference on Health Policy, held in 1990,1 and a group of leaders in the field spent an intense two days examining how we might improve the life chances of America's newborns. At that conference it was unanimously agreed that this nation was not doing right by too many of its Although these recommendations have received significant attention, there has, alas, been too little action. Clearly America is in the midst of a period in which it seems to have dreadful trouble in addressing the pressing human social problems that we see all about us.

At the 1991 conference we examined the difficulties facing another age groupour teenagers. We focused on the hazards encountered by young people trying to negotiate the adolescence years en route to adulthood. Some of their problems are depressingly similar to those facing younger children. However, in contrast to infants, these youngsters are much more visible. They cause much more disruption to the world of adults, and teenage crime, violence, pregnancy, and drug use are very much in the public eye.

The chapters in this volume show us that too many of our teenagers are not becoming responsible adults. It is a worrisome and unsettling message. What should be a wondrous age of self-discovery and growth the teenage yearsis no longer what it has been cracked up to be for a significant number of America's youth.

This volume documents the magnitude of the problem and the kinds of circumstances that put adolescents at hazard of failing. Reliable evidence is presented that potential future troubles can often be predicted. Clearly, we actually have the knowledge base available to permit the development of programs that might halt or slow the present waste of that future human capital. It is our hope that the chapters in this book can make the serious and expanding nature of adolescent dysfunction better known and lead more adults to recognize that we are ignoring some flagrant warning signals and squandering a very precious and potentially self-renewing assetour youth.