Conducted four focus group interviews with parents of high school students. Results indicated low levels of awareness of extent of teenage drinking; low levels of parental control over teenage drinking; feelings of detachment from other parents; considerable receptivity to receiving training in substance abuse issues; and feelings of resistance to…

Discusses the extent to which violence can be accurately predicted, suggesting interventions, control, and remediation. The educator's role in reducing violence includes dealing with the school, parents, media, and community. Educators need conflict resolution skills for defusing aggression and establishing better relations. (SM)

Measurement of obesity among 364 adults with mental retardation indicated that rates of obesity were significantly higher among females than males; subjects with severe mental retardation had the lowest overall rates of obesity; and residents of a state-operated institution had lower obesity rates than group home, family, and Intermediate Care…

Factors that could be used to improve campaigns to have adolescents prevent friends from driving while intoxicated were studied in a survey of 260 adolescents aged 16 to 18 years. Adolescents tend to have difficulty making judgments of drunkenness and in confronting friends. Implications for educational prevention efforts are discussed. (SLD)

Assessed effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral school-based primary prevention psychological program designed to improve eighth-grade students' (n=237) distress-coping and prepare them as gatekeepers with regard to self-destructive behavior of peers. Program had positive effect on attitudes, emotions, knowledge, and awareness of distress coping…

This paper addresses the preparation of teachers to work with students who are both handicapped and at greater than average risk for dropping out of school. The paper describes teacher training program components including teacher/mentor skills training, academic and vocational skills training, interpersonal skills training, and parent involvement…

Past child abuse prevention efforts have focused on services, advocacy, public education, and public involvement, and accomplishments have been made in public awareness, prevention policies, services, and abuse incidence. Making progress in the next decade will involve doing more of the same as well as developing new and different approaches. (JDD)

Presents drinking and driving project focusing on friends and peers of high risk teenage drivers using modeling, positive peer pressure, and assertive skills training. Program includes schoolwide assembly and classroom development of strategies to prevent friends from drinking and driving. Evaluation survey results indicated that majority of…

"Success for All" is described as a program in which instructional services are relentlessly applied until all children with disabilities succeed. The program's goal is to prevent learning deficits from developing in the first place and to intervene early and intensively when they do occur. Costs of the program are briefly discussed.…

According to an Oregon longitudinal study, the single best predictor of adolescent criminal behavior is a long-established pattern of early school antisocial behavior. The most promising intervention programs feature a strong family component and direct intervention procedures simultaneously applied to the student's school behavior. A sidebar…

Describes programs of Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Development Services, a private nonprofit agency that provides preventive health care services to families in Chemung County, New York. The Infant Registry program registers, tracks, and screens the health and development of children from birth until the child starts school. (LP)

Discusses the problem of violence and its effects on children. Elaborates on two major goals of the National Association for the Education of Young Children: to decrease violence in children's lives by advocating for public policies and actions at the national level, and to commit the early childhood profession to helping children cope with…

Reviews conditions in the environment that put the children of Hispanic migrant workers at risk for developing physical and cognitive disabilities. These include inadequate environmental protection, poor housing, and lack of access to health care and community resources. Strategies to facilitate positive change for farm worker families and…

A university professor describes the relationship he experienced with his daughter, and her relationship with the man who murdered her and then committed suicide. A special-education professor reacts by discussing prevention and intervention as the keys to survival. The father states that he plans to use this tragedy to help troubled youth. (MKA)

Details important lessons learned while attempting research and evaluation efforts in a school-based drop-out prevention program. The challenges of working with school systems, lessons about training, timing, and research as a developmental process are discussed. (Author/EMK)