Offers a collection of activities for every month of the year, including a photography contest and a "Love Stinks Chocolate Fest" for February.

Record numbers of teens are applying to selective universities and the competition to gain entrance into college is tougher than ever before. The Best Summer Programs for Teens 2014-2015 helps teenagers find the coolest, most exciting, and most fulfilling summer programs across the United States. College-planning expert Sandra L. Berger provides students and parents with advice on using summer opportunities to help gain entrance into selective universities, and guidance on researching, choosing, applying for, and making the most out of summer programs. Students will be able to peruse the updated directory of more than 200 of the best summer opportunities in the areas of academic enrichment; fine arts; internships and paid positions; leadership and service; math, science, computer science, and technology; and study abroad or international travel, to find the program that fits them best.

Arlene Weisz and Beverly Black interview practitioners from more than fifty dating violence and sexual assault programs across the United States to provide a unique resource for effective teen dating violence prevention. Enhancing existing research with the shared wisdom of the nation's prevention community, Weisz and Black describe program goals and content, recruitment strategies, membership, structure, and community involvement in practitioners' own words. Their comprehensive approach reveals the core techniques that should be a part of any successful prevention program, including theoretical consistency, which contributes to sound content development, and peer education and youth leadership, which empower participants and keep programs relevant. Weisz and Black show that multisession programs are most useful in preventing violence and assault, because they enable participants to learn new behaviors and change entrenched attitudes. Combining single- and mixed-gender sessions, as well as steering discussions away from the assignment of blame, also yield positive results. The authors demonstrate that productive education remains sensitive to differences in culture and sexual orientation and includes experiential exercises and role-playing. Manuals help in guiding educators and improving evaluation, but they should also allow adolescents to direct the discussion. Good programs regularly address teachers and parents. Ultimately, though, Weisz and Black find that the ideal program retains prevention educators long after the apprentice stage, encouraging self-evaluation and new interventions based on the wisdom that experience brings.

Do government-sponsored youth employment programs actually help? Between 1978 and 1981, the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) funded extensive programs designed to aid disadvantaged youth. The Committee on Youth Employment Programs examined the voluminous research performed by YEDPA and produced a comprehensive report and evaluation of the YEDPA efforts to assist the underprivileged. Beginning with YEDPA's inception and effective lifespan, this report goes on to analyze the data it generated, evaluate its accuracy, and draw conclusions about which YEDPA programs were effective, which were not, and why. A discussion of YEDPA strategies and their perceived value concludes the volume.

After-school programs, scout groups, community service activities, religious youth groups, and other community-based activities have long been thought to play a key role in the lives of adolescents. But what do we know about the role of such programs for today's adolescents? How can we ensure that programs are designed to successfully meet young people's developmental needs and help them become healthy, happy, and productive adults? Community Programs to Promote Youth Development explores these questions, focusing on essential elements of adolescent well-being and healthy development. It offers recommendations for policy, practice, and research to ensure that programs are well designed to meet young people's developmental needs. The book also discusses the features of programs that can contribute to a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. It examines what we know about the current landscape of youth development programs for America's youth, as well as how these programs are meeting their diverse needs. Recognizing the importance of adolescence as a period of transition to adulthood, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development offers authoritative guidance to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and other key stakeholders on the role of youth development programs to promote the healthy development and well-being of the nation's youth.