ABSTRACT
There are many problems that plague our inner city youth today. Students in large cities are twice more likely to leave school before graduating than non-urban youth (Schwartz, 1998). Reasons given for dropping out include failing or getting poor grades, not getting along with teachers and other authorities, little or no family support, drug and alcohol problems, and teen pregnancy. The overall national public high school graduation rate for the class of 2003 was 70%. The graduation rate for White students was 78%, compared with 55% for AfricanAmerican students, and 53% for Hispanic students (Green & Winters, 2006). In 2001, 46% of high school students reported ever having had sexual intercourse. Black high school students were more likely than Hispanic and White students to have ever had sex-61% of Black students, 48% of Hispanics, and 43% of Whites (Motivational Educational Entertainment, 2007).
