Text 3 the life of youth in the usa

What is it like to be a young person in the United States?

At 18 years of age young people in the United States can take on most of the rights and the responsibilities of adulthood. Before this occurs, however, the American teenager goes through the period of adolescence.

Many teenagers are making positive, important contributions to their communities, schools and society. Millions of young people in the United States are preparing for the future in exciting ways. Many teenagers are studying for college entrance exams or working at part-time jobs after school and on the weekends. Thousands of young people are volunteering at hospitals, helping the handicapped, taking care of the elderly, exhibiting projects at science fairs or programming computers. Many help clean up the natural environment.

Schools provide American students with much more than academic education. Students learn about the world through various school-related activities developing their talents and skills. More than 80 percent of all youths participate in student activities, such as sports, student newspapers, clubs for photography, stamp collecting, natural sciences, drama clubs, debate teams, choral groups and bands.

What are the favorite sports of American young people? They prefer football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, tennis, soccer, boxing, hockey, track and golf.

During their leisure time students like watching television. They also listen to music on the radio and tape players. The average American teenager listens to music on the radio about three hours every day. Without a doubt, rock-and-roll music is the favorite of teenagers in the United States.

America's young people are mostly hardworking. Many have after-school jobs. Nine out of 10 teenagers either have a job or would like one.

Child labor laws set restrictions on the types of work that youths under 16 years old can do. Many youths work part-time on weekends or after school at fast-food restaurants, babysit for neighbors, hold delivery jobs or work in stores. Later, when they go to college, many youths continue to work part-time at a variety of jobs to help paying their expenses.

Many youths are involved in community service organizations. Some are active in church and religious group activities. Numerous youth organizations give young people a chance to develop and broaden their interests, and to gain experience in working with others.

Among these groups are the Boy Scouts, which serve more than four million boys. This organization is for training boys in various useful skills such as lighting a fire, and for developing their character. Scouts traditionally carry a penknife, and their motto is “Be Prepared”.

There are also Girl Scouts, with nearly three million girls aged six to 17 years old, and the Boys' and Girls' Cubs of America, with over one million participants. They learn about citizenship, crafts, arts, camping and other outdoor activities.

American scouts learn about their country and what makes a good citizen. They participate in flag ceremonies at the Scout meetings and at other meetings at school. Scouts practise leadership skills. All Scouts will get a chance to serve as a leader or in some other position of responsibility.

Scouts’ favorite activity is camping. They pitch their own tents and cook their own food. They cook hamburgers and hot dogs over a campfire. Scouts go hiking and see different animals and birds, plants and trees. They also go fishing. They learn safety rules and first aid to help people when they are hurt. Scouts do crafts such as making neckerchief slides and play fun games.

Scouts also help their community. Every year they have a Scouting for Food drive where they collect canned food from their neighbors to give to those who need it. Scouts also clean up trash and litter in parks and school grounds in their neighborhood.

These and other groups are guided by adults who volunteer their services. Civic, cultural and religious groups also sponsor special programs for young people.

In farm areas boys and girls learn to work together in agriculture, home-making and other activities through more than 150 thousand clubs which have more than 4 million members. In these clubs youths compete for prizes in raising farm animals and growing crops.

For several weeks during the summer vacation, about 5 million school age children go to camps where they get plenty of recreational activity and learn various arts and crafts, and sometimes even computer skills. There are more than 10,000 camps operated by private citizens and organizations. College students often work as counsellors at these camps. The camps sponsored by the Red Cross teach swimming, boating and life-saving. Among the summer camps are music camps, hiking and backpacking camps, tennis camps, and camps with farms and ranches.

There are camps for inner-city children. They have special summer programs from sports and crafts to concert and dances. Quite often, however, American high school and college students do not take any vacation at all. If they can find a summer job, they will work.

Most schools and colleges have some form of student government with elections to choose class representatives. These elected officers speak for their fellow students at student council meetings with teachers and school officials. They also organize social activities and take part in such community projects as raising money for public welfare.

To some observers, teens today may seem spoiled (undisciplined and egocentric) compared to those of earlier times. The reality, however, is different. Peer pressure, changing family conditions, mobility of families and unemployment are just a few reasons why some young people may try to escape reality by turning to alcohol or drugs. However, most young people in the United States do not have problems with drinking, drug abuse, teen pregnancies or juvenile delinquency. Drug use (marijuana and, cocaine are the most commonly used drugs) has decreased among young people in the United States within the last years, though alcohol abuse has increased.

New programs to help troubled youths are created every year. For example, the city of New York and the Rheedlen Foundation provide an after-school program at a junior high school to help keep teens from becoming juvenile delinquents. Young people can go after school and talk with peer counsellors (people of their own age), receive academic tutoring or take part in athletic and social activities. One New York community's library offers weekday evening workshops in dance, art, music and theater. They also sponsor social events, such as theater productions, in which young people can participate.

Most American youths look forward to their future with hope and optimism. Teenagers place a high priority on education and careers. While filled with high hopes about the years before them; today's students are not laboring under any misconceptions about what they must do to realize their aspirations. They admit that hard work lies ahead and claim they are willing to make the sacrifices needed to reach their goals.

American youths are concerned about problems confronting both their own communities and the world around them: drug abuse, AIDS and environmental problems.

Young people in the United States are also concerned with global issues such as nuclear war and world hunger.