Second-language teachers dealing with teenagers face a task of imparting communicative language skills to learners who think and speak in terms of a language of their own making. It is important that these teachers familiarize themselves with teen language in order to make their teaching relevant by making their classrooms more responsive to their…

Argues that out-of-school factors have enormous, perhaps decisive, influence on student achievement and examines the role ethnicity, parents, peers, and culture play in student attitudes and academic performance. Findings are presented based on survey data gathered from 20,000 high school students over a 3-year period. (GR)

Uses data from the National Youth Survey to assess the effects of individual students' perceptions of teacher disapproval on self-reported delinquency. Results indicate that the perceptions of teacher disapproval are associated with subsequent delinquency. This relationship was significant when controlling for prior delinquency, thus weakening the…

Origins and persistent reasons for college sorority and fraternity hazing, particularly in black organizations, are examined, including desire for domination, links to childhood abuse, and homoeroticism. The influences of tradition, peer pressure, the need to belong, and desire for solidarity are also considered. Reviews recent research on the…

Discusses conflicts among girls in a camp setting and how camp counselors can promote positive changes. Examines conflicting female roles in today's society and girls' reactions. Suggests addressing social dysphoria among girls through outdoor-challenge activities led by credible adult female role models. Includes counseling tips. (SV)

Adolescents are frequently admonished to be socially assertive in order to confront negative interpersonal peer influences. Since the advent of HIV/AIDS in human social chemistry, the admonition has become more critical than ever. But the warning is often proffered in the misguided presumption that social assertiveness is the all-required…

Each month, "Curriculum Review" offers teachers mutual support, the sharing of ideas, and words of encouragement to help them face challenges in the classroom. The April 2004 issue of "Curriculum Review" contains the following articles: (1) "We Hear from Readers"; (2) "What They're Saying"; (3) "Technology Update"; (4) "Use Class Web Site to Host…

Teachers and peers have a unique impact on Latino students' math and science perceptions and performance. (Contains 4 figures and 3 notes.)

This paper explores the relationships among adolescent leisure activities, peer behavior, and substance use. We suggest that peer group interaction can have a differential effect on adolescent deviant behavior depending on the type of leisure pattern adolescents engage in. We analyze data from a representative national sample of Icelandic…

This article utilizes data from a two-year study of Latino urban high school students to understand more about the role of peers in college choice and access. Findings suggest that peers can support college goals.

Peer group supervision has had little attention in the research literature, although it is a common form of supervision utilised by psychologists in practice. The development and implementation of a structured peer supervision group (PSG) with nine trainee psychologists, within the training setting of university-based services, is described in…

Young African Americans face several critical issues such as dire economic circumstances, peer pressure, random violence, and feelings of alienation from the cultural mainstream in America. Black popular culture for these youth creates a value system born out of these same issues. This analysis will address the influence of Black popular culture…

This study sought to identify the college environments and experiences associated with changes in sex-atypical career aspirations among men and women. A sample of 17,637 students attending baccalaureate institutions across the country was surveyed upon college entry and again 4 years later. The findings revealed that aspects of the college…

The goal of this study was to examine both the direct and indirect relations of parent and peer attachment with self-esteem and to examine the potential mediating roles of empathy and social behaviour. 246 college students ("Mage" = 18.6 years, s.d. = 1.61) completed self-report measures of parent and peer attachment, empathy, social behaviour,…

The dominant theories about the development of antisocial behaviour during adolescence are based almost entirely on research conducted with mainstream, white, middle-class adolescents. The present study addresses this significant gap in the literature by examining whether the same model of family and peer influence on antisocial behaviour is…