Gene Stephens

Gene Stephens contends in the following viewpoint that a variety of factors are responsible for the risks teens face. He maintains that today’s teens are at risk due to a combination of social problems—including teenage pregnancy, the growing number of single-parent families, poverty, and child abuse—as well as individual problems such as truancy, substance abuse, and feelings of hopelessness. In order to help teens at risk, Stephens advocates the implementation of community-based youth programs. Stephens is a professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How does Stephens define “at risk” teens"

2. In the author’s opinion, how does teen pregnancy place youths at risk"

3. What are the eight characteristics of Stephens’s plan...