Being a teen-ager is difficult, but when Children's Express talked with members of Indiana Youth Group (a support group for gay youths), we learned that problems of isolation and their search for identity are compounded when a kid is gay. Adolescent homosexuals attempt suicide at a higher rate than their heterosexual counterparts. Young lesbians are two to three times more likely to attempt s

CHILDREN'S EXPRESS Some kids spend their weekend evenings out with their friends. Terry spends his weekends answering calls for the Indiana Youth Group hot line for gay and lesbian youth. "A lot of people who call (the hot line) are terrified of the fact that they might be gay" which is exactly what Terry, 19, a peer counselor for the hot line, went through when he was 16: "I didn't know wher

Parents and concerned adults have long worried about rap music's effects on children, with its sexual and sometimes violent imagery and lyrics. Now, one study of teen girls has linked large amounts of rap video viewing to risky or violent behavior. Last year, researchers from Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported on a study involving 522 black females enr

Gender discrimination can start innocently, as when grade-school boys yell, "Boys rule, girls drool," on the playground. It can be more insidious, too. Ann DeVilbiss remembers when her little brother became very upset after spotting a woman driving a truck. "He's like, 'Why is she driving that truck? Only men are truck drivers!' " That's one of the reasons Ann joined SAGE -- Student Advocates of G

E ven though the U.S. teen pregnancy rate has dropped in the past decade, more than 2,700 teenage girls still get pregnant every day, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization specializing in reproductive health research. The PEERS Project hopes to further reduce those numbers. Locally founded in 1994, the project, which stands for Peers Educating and Encouraging Respons

I n 1997, The Indianapolis Star interviewed Roxanne Ratcliff, a 19-year-old who had already had three pregnancies. The 14-part series traced Roxanne's turbulent adolescence, from nonconsensual sex at age 13, to an abortion at 14, to the births of two children by age 18 -- Devon, who is being raised by Roxanne's parents, and another boy who was put up for adoption. Y-Press read about Roxanne's expe

Two faith-based programs use different philosophies to educate young people about relationships and sex. Our Whole Lives: Sexuality and Our Faith uses a comprehensive approach that starts in kindergarten. A Promise to Keep emphasizes pre-marital abstinence and relies on peer mentors and role models.