Introduction

At the Sixth Cornell Conference on Health Policy, held in 1990,1 and a group of leaders in the field spent an intense two days examining how one might improve the life chances of America's newborns. At the 1991 conference the difficulties facing another age group—the teenagers are examined. This chapter focuses on the hazards encountered by young people trying to negotiate the adolescence years en route to adulthood. Some of their problems are depressingly similar to those facing younger children. However, in contrast to infants, these youngsters are much more visible. They cause much more disruption to the world of adults, and teenage crime, violence, pregnancy, and drug use are very much in the public eye. What should be a wondrous age of self-discovery and growth—the teenage years—is no longer what it has been cracked up to be for a significant number of America's youth.