Tough Change: Growing Up on Your Own in America

Street kids, on the run and living in the shadows, account for some of the millions of adolescents who in the last decade have ""disappeared.'' Why they leave home, what the quality of their fugitive lives is, and how they can be reclaimed are considered in this survey conducted between 1982 and 1985 by Lefkowitz, professor of journalism at Columbia University. The pecarious life of poor adolescents presents enormous social and economic problems on a national scale, Lefkowitz demonstrates in his examination of inner-city schools, detention centers and rehabilitation programs. Holding accountable both average adults and institutions, he emphasizes that there are solutions, citing examples of individual teachers, on-the-job training of youths and other forms of positive outreach. This study should be of interest to legislators. (January)