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Skriven 2007-04-12 23:31:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0704122) for Thu, 2007 Apr 12
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Fact Sheet: A Commitment to Helping America's Youth
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For Immediate Release OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY April 12, 2007

Fact Sheet: A Commitment to Helping America's Youth


ÿÿÿÿÿ Helping America's Youth

Calling Our Nation to Action: Care, Connect, Commit

Helping Youth Reach Their Full Potential. In his 2005 State of the Union
Address, President Bush announced a broad effort to engage all Americans in
helping young people become healthy adults. He asked Mrs. Laura Bush to
lead this important effort, which became known as the Helping America's
Youth initiative. Helping America's Youth is a nationwide effort to raise
awareness about the challenges facing our youth, particularly at-risk boys,
and to motivate caring adults to connect with youth in three key areas:
family, school, and community.

Caring Adults Are The Key
  þ Young People Need to be Surrounded by Caring Adults. President and Mrs.
    Bush believe parents and family are the first and most important
    influence in every child's life, providing a foundation of love and
    support. By becoming actively involved in the lives of young people in
    their community, grandparents, teachers, mentors, clergy members,
    neighbors, coaches, and other community members can support parents and
    help youth become community assets, making better choices that lead to
    healthier, more successful lives. Research has shown that supportive
    relationships are crucial to an adolescent's well_being. Boys, in
    particular, need caring adults in their lives because they are at
    greater risk than girls for illiteracy, dropping out of school,
    substance-abuse problems, violence, juvenile arrest, developing
    learning disabilities, and early death caused by violent behavior. As
    boys grow older, risky behaviors, such as alcohol and drug abuse,
    become more prevalent and gang involvement increases. Visit
    ww.helpingamericasyouth.gov for more information.
  þ You can be a caring adult in the life of a child by following the 3
    C's:
    Care: take an interest, show concern, reach out to youth
    Connect: establish a rapport, provide guidance and support
    Commit: pledge yourself, invest yourself over time

Partnerships that Connect Families, Schools and Communities. The President
and Mrs. Bush believe that caring adults are most effective when they are
part of a community effort. Community partnerships bring together
individuals such as teachers, mentors, parents, clergy members, police
officers, social service providers and others that can have a positive
impact on a child's life. The challenges facing young people are best
addressed by connecting people throughout the community and coordinating
resources to support youth.

A Guide to Making Community Connections

The Community Guide to Helping America's Youthhelps caring adults connect
with the youth in their families, schools and communities. It encourages
Americans to make an even bigger difference by forming partnerships to
implement programs that have been proven to help youth. This web-based
guide is available at www.helpingamericasyouth.gov.
  þ The Community Guide includes examples of how individuals can >Get
    Connected_ with youth in families, schools and communities.
  þ The Community Guide includes a Community Assessment Guide that offers
    communities a step-by-step approach for learning more about their
    community, including where youth-related problems occur, which youth
    and families are most affected by those problems, and what local
    resources and assets the community can use to address those problems.
  þ The Community Guide includes a Community Resource Inventory with which
    localities can use to identify and track partners and programs that are
    already at work in their community.
  þ The Community Guide includes a Program Tool that provides information
    about promising and proven effective interventions to prevent
    adolescent risky behaviors and promote positive youth development.

The Community Guide to Helping America's Youth Reflects the Most Up-to-Date
Research on Youth Development and Effective Programs. A coalition of
experts from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice,
Education, Agriculture, Labor, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development; the
Office of National Drug Control Policy; and the Corporation for National
and Community Service developed the guide.

Regional Conferences To Bring Communities Together

Helping America's Youth Regional Conferences Throughout the Country. On
October 27, 2005, Mrs. Bush convened The White House Conference on Helping
America's Youth at Howard University in Washington, DC. More than 500
parents, civic leaders, faith-based and community service providers,
foundations, educators, researchers, and experts in child development
gathered for this National conference to discuss the challenges facing
America's youth and to share best practices shown to be successful in
overcoming those challenges.

Building upon the success of the October 2005 White House Conference on
Helping America's Youth, Mrs. Bush has begun working with state and local
partners to host regional conferences throughout the United States. The
first regional conference took place in Indianapolis (June 2006), the
second in Denver (August of 2006) and the third in Nashville, April 11-12,
2007. The regional conferences help to increase public awareness and
encourage adults to connect with youth in their communities.

Background: America's Youth Are At Risk

Young Americans In Many Communities Are At Risk. While research indicates
that an increasing number of American children are on the path to success,
too many young people still face persistent challenges that hold them back
from reaching their full potential. Research has shown that youth are less
likely to engage in risky behaviors when they are connected to parents,
family, school, community, and places of worship. Risky behaviors,
including illegal drug and tobacco use, violence, and early sexual
activity, are among the top causes of disease and early death among youth.
Statistics show:
  þ Boys often begin to fall behind girls in reading and writing
    achievement in elementary school, and boys often show signs of
    behavioral problems early in life. Poor academic achievement is related
    to higher rates of school dropout and juvenile delinquency.
  þ Statistics show boys are at greater risk than girls for developing
    learning disabilities, illiteracy, dropping out of school,
    substance-abuse problems, violence, juvenile arrest, and early death
    caused by violent behavior. As boys grow older, risky behaviors, such
    as alcohol and drug abuse, become more prevalent and gang involvement
    increases.
  þ Students who have difficulty learning to read will have a greater
    chance of school failure and behavior problems such as aggression.
  þ In 2000, there were an estimated 19 million new cases of (sexually
    transmitted diseases (STD) among Americans. Approximately half of all
    new STD infections occur in teens and young adults (ages 15-24) each
    year.
  þ Injury and violence are the leading cause of death among youth aged
    5-19; motor vehicle crashes account for approximately 40% of all teen
    deaths; and almost one-quarter of young drivers (aged 15 to 20)
    involved in fatal crashes had been drinking alcohol.

Sources for the above statistics can be found on Facts AboutAmerica's Youth
at www.helpingamericasyouth.gov

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