Search

For thousands of years, Jewish people typically married within the faith because they sought a common cultural identity. In the United States, however, where Jews make up less than 2 percent of the overall population, assimilation has been more common. According to the journal "USA Today," nearly a quarter of the U.S. households are made up of couples in mixed marriages. Of all the major religions in the United States, Judaism has experienced the biggest decline in practitioners as a result of intermarriage. In the coming years, devoted Jews hope that the younger generations will show a renewed interest in the history, culture, and traditions of the Jewish faith.

As Muslim Americans, Muslim girls have learned they must use ingenuity to adapt to American ways and yet still be loyal to their Islamic upbringing. The U.S. State Department reports that Muslim Americans, who number some 6 million, are members of the fastest-growing religious group in the country, and it predicts that by 2010 there will be more Muslims than Jews in the United States. Many Muslim Americans, particularly teenagers, find sharp contrasts between what Islamic law permits them to do and what is regarded as acceptable behavior in American society. Typically, Muslim Americans have to make certain exceptions to the Sharia. Following the terrorist acts of 2001, as news organizations started reporting acts of prejudice against Muslim Americans, the country's Catholics, Jews, and other groups who have been the victims of hate could only wonder how such reports could come as a shock to anyone.

The United States, like many other countries, has a history of cheating. Teenage cheaters often have modeled their behaviors after adults. Americans haven't always found exemplary models in their political leaders, who have sometimes resorted to cheating themselves. In 2000, the journal "Newsweek" asked some teenagers to photograph what was important in their lives. Some of the teens used the opportunity to reflect on the pressure they felt to do well in school. One common way that students cheat is through plagiarizing. Many high schools have well-established plagiarism policies and educate their students about the do's and don'ts of writing academic research papers.

In 1859, scientist Charles Darwin introduced the world to his theory of evolution with the publication of "The Origin of Species." The majority of creationists are fundamental Christians. The creationists' believes in a literal translation of the Bible. Some people have even linked teaching evolution in school to an overall decline in public morality. The U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay observed a link between the 1999 Columbine school shootings and the decline of modern culture, which in his estimation includes the teaching of evolution in schools. Unlike creationists, intelligent design proponents acknowledge that the world is billions of years old, but they still assert that God or some other intelligent force designed it.

In 1998, the journal "USA Weekend," got a surprising answer when it asked young people to rank the most important influences in their lives. Religion ranked second, behind parents but ahead of friends, peers, entertainers, teachers, and others. Two years later, a Gallup Youth Survey found that 94 percent of teenage respondents believed in God. Gallup researchers also found that more teenagers were worshipping than adults. Another Gallup survey, conducted between January and February 2003, found that teens most likely to volunteer are those who perform at an above-average level in school and have parents who are college graduates.

The article focuses on incident of the killing of young students by their teenage classmates at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Many studies show that today an overwhelming majority of teenagers believe in God and that they worship regularly. The Gallup Organization Inc., an international polling firm, has long been interested in the religious practices of young people. Over the years, the organization has posed many questions to teenagers about religion and values through the Gallup Youth Survey, a long-term study that gauges young people's attitudes and beliefs.

In 1980, a Washington, D.C., based punk band called Minor Threat made its reputation not by exhorting its fans to get high or drunk, but by admonishing them to stay away from drugs and alcohol. One of the group's most popular songs was "I've Got the Straight Edge." Front man Ian MacKaye wrote the song's lyrics. In the 1990's, straight-edgers developed a violent reputation for confronting young people who did not agree with their ideas about substance abuse. About a quarter of children with alcoholic parents will grow up to be alcoholics or drug abusers, according to the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Jeffrey Blume studies political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After observing the heavy drinking lifestyle of some of his fellow students, he wonders why they profess to be academically involved at all. Blume maintains that young people should learn how to drink while in high school and under the watchful eyes of their parents before they come to college and totally lose control. A 1991 study by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimated that students spent $5.5 billion annually on alcohol. Binge drinking is more popular with college-age sports fans than non-sports fans, according to a 2002 survey by the Harvard School of Public Health.

According to a Gallup Youth Survey conducted in 2000, 5 percent of teenagers admit to having driven a car after consuming alcohol. The first laws against drunken driving coincided with the advent of the first automobiles. Proving someone's level of intoxication became a simple matter when Dr. Robert Borkenstein, a member of the Indiana State Police, invented the Breathalyzer machine in the 1950's. Under the law, teenagers who are stopped for drunken driving are treated differently than adults. One organization that helped elevate the public consciousness about drinking and driving is MADD, which stands for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The U.S. Department of Justice reports a strong link between alcohol and crhymes committed by young people. Crhyme is but one unintended consequence of many involving underage drinking. Teens who drink may also find themselves coping with alcohol dependence, pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual violence, depression, and suicidal thoughts. A 1989 report on teenage suicide prepared by the U.S. Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration tracked cases involving young suicide victims over a period of 10 years and concluded that youths who abused drugs and alcohol were up to eight times more likely to kill themselves than youths who didn't drink or take drugs.

Many teenagers feel pressured to drink because their friends drink. In 2003, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism issued a report concluding that based on their findings; the most reliable predictor of a youth's drinking behavior is the drinking behavior of his or her friends. In a 2003 Gallup Youth Survey, 42 percent of teenagers aged 16 and 17 reported using alcohol. The media can be another potentially negative influence, as each day teenagers are inundated with images and sounds that encourage alcohol use. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth maintains that the voluntary guidelines used by alcohol manufacturers are not strong enough to protect young people from exposure to inappropriate advertising.

Perhaps the most common thread among teenagers who drink is a lack of information about how to drink responsibly and in moderation. A combination of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon may sound fairly harmless, but those are the chemical building blocks that make up ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, the type of alcohol found in beer, wine, and liquor. Drinking does more than induce a temporary warm and happy feeling. It also affects the stomach, liver, kidneys, and brain in adverse ways. Buying and possessing alcohol is a crhyme in every state in the United States for people who are under 21.

Just four years before Barbara and Jenna Bush were busted for underage drinking, their father U.S. President George W. Bush and at the time the governor of Texas signed a tough "three-strikes" state law specifically intended to crack down on young drinkers. The National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence estimates that 87 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol. The Gallup Organization Inc., a national polling firm, set up the survey as a long-term project to gauge trends among young people. Alcohol poisoning and other alcohol-related injuries claim lives of more than 1,400 college students each year, according to an April 2002 study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Several decades ago, the Gallup Organization Inc. and other research groups chronicled the drug experimentation, rebelliousness, and sexual freedom of the baby boom generation, whose members were born in the years between 1946 and 1964. Researchers have found that today's teens are much more traditional than their parents were in their attitudes and their personal habits. Gallup research also shows that teens think their generation will be more tolerant of differing lifestyles, races, and sexual orientations and grow up to enjoy a world that is less polluted, more peaceful, and more caring. According to the Barna Research Group, teenagers began feeling more satisfied in the mid-1990's, abandoning the slacker image that characterized members of Generation X, who reached adolescence in the 1980's.

The court case Abington v. Schempp became one of several landmark rulings and a precedent for future rulings regarding the separation of church and state. The Equal Access Act passed in 1984, states that the prayers are permissible, as long as they are not disruptive to other students. While a series of court cases have fleshed out what is and what is not acceptable to enforce regarding religious expression, violations occasionally still occur. In January 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind federal education act, which affected the country's 90,000 public schools. With schools caught in the balance between granting freedoms of religious expression and maintaining the separation of church and state, it is likely that conflicts will continue to arise in the decades ahead.

The article lists several Web sites related to Muslims that appeared in the book "Teens, Religion, & Values."

The article lists several books for references that appeared in the book "Teens, Religion, & Values."

The article presents a glossary of terms used in the book "Teens & Alcohol."

This section presents information on the Foreign Policy Research Institute and authors Harvey Sicherman and Gail Snyder. The Institute's Middle East Program focuses on Gulf security, monitors the Arab-Israeli peace process, and sponsors an annual conference for teachers on the Middle East, plus periodic briefings on key developments in the region.

This section presents information on Web sites about Sudan, including the official Web site of Sudan's embassy in Washington and Sudan's foreign ministry Web site.

This section presents a list of books about Sudan, including The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan, by Winston Churchill and A History of the Sudan from the Coming of Islam to the Present Day, by M.W. Daley and P.M. Holt.

This section presents a glossary of terms used in a book about Sudan.

The chapter describes the relationship of Sudan with other countries. Although Sudan has agreed to support international conventions to end terrorism, the country remains on a U.S. list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Sudanese law allows any Muslim to enter the country without a visa. Under that law, in 1991 the Saudi Arabian-born terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was allowed into the country, where he set up training camps for his Afghan resistance fighters known as mujahideen. In recent decades, the foreign policies of Sudan and the U.S. have been at opposite ends of the spectrum. In addition to Sudan's support of terrorists, it has also supported regimes in Iran, Iraq, and Libya that have been strongly opposed by the U.S. at times in the 1980s and 1990s. The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Sudan in 1996, after Sudan was linked to an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Sudan has been making friendly overtures to its neighbors. Sudan and Ethiopia, for example, have reached agreements to buy and sell electricity, link their countries by railroad, and build an oil pipeline. Sudan recently ended a decade of rocky relations with Tunisia when that country sent its foreign minister, Mustapha Othman Ismail, to Sudan for a visit.