The mere act of living in today's society is dangerous to the health and well-being of children and adolescents. The concept of the socially toxic environment is offered as a parallel to the environmental movement's analysis of physical toxicity. Social life is more risky than it was just 40 years ago, and the level of social and cultural poison…

This document addresses the difficulties of urban education, particularly relating to inner cities that contain immigrant and minority students, and argues that schools contribute to the problems of today's urban youth and that schools must do a better job of educating students. It recognizes that schools are burdened by the urban environment but…

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations held a public hearing to examine the effects of poverty on the hundreds of thousands of low income Blacks and Latinos under the age of 18 residing in Los Angeles County (California). The Commission's findings, recommendations, and concerns are presented. The following findings are presented: (1)…

The crisis of dropping out among Latino high school students points directly to the important role that teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and community groups can play in creating for each student a vision of the future that includes postsecondary education. The Five Cities High School Dropout Study, which documents the effect of key…

The New York City Board of Education formed the Latino Commission on Educational Reform to examine issues of concern to Latino children who comprise an increasing segment of the students in the public school system. An interim report was submitted on the dropout rate, curriculum and instruction, support services, parent and community empowerment,…