Over the past few decades, a number of well-known writers such as Robert Coles, Alex Kotlowitz, and Allan Bloom have weighed in on the lives of young people, often generating meaningful dialogues (and controversy) along the way. This recent 45-page report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press may spark such conversations as well, for it offers a portrait of the so-called...

Conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (see the February 9, 1999 Scout Report for Social Sciences), this new national survey of 15- to 17-year-olds examines their knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and behavior in relation to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Despite national estimates claiming that about one in four teenagers contracts an STD every year, most teens underestimate...