1. One of the main reasons we need to be concerned about at-risk youth is that if we don't try to help these students, they will frankly become a drain on society. When they drop out of school, they increase their risk of becoming addicted to drugs, unemployed, judged, and ending up in prison, and they increase their risk of teenage pregnancy. Additionally, they will need social services such as welfare and health care, which are already overtaxed at present. We discussed in class that states like California use reading scores to anticipate how many new prisons they will need to build rather than reinvesting that money into educating these at-risk students.2. Five key indicators for at-risk youth are:a. Minority, racial or ethnicb. Living in a poor householdc. Living in a single-parent home. Having a poorly educated mother. Have training in a language other than English3. Alcohol: 50% of students drank alcohol one or more days during the previous month according to our text. I'm not sure what that means, did they take a sip of their parents drink, did they drink a whole glass, did they eat an alcohol based dessert or sauce, or half Are these children Catholic (Blood of Christ at communion)? I believe 17% have driven after drinking (again, you can use some of the same arguments as above), but I think most teens are reckless at this age and simply can't consider the repercussions of their actions. The scary thing now is that kids are doing crazy things to their bodies to get “drunk.” Who thinks about shooting vodka through their eyeball or anus? Kids now take shots in their eyes to get drunk quickly. Unfortunately, this leads to deterioration of children's eyesight. Drugs: Again, I think a... middle of paper ...... the text makes a good point about the need to eliminate the negative influences of a traditional school. When there are negative outside influences such as drugs, gangs, etc., it can be difficult for at-risk students to make the right choice. Additionally, negative influences from teachers can discourage students in traditional schools. With this in mind, we must demonstrate flexibility towards students at risk. As we discussed in class, these students all come from different backgrounds and situations, and they have something that sets them apart from the at-risk student next to them. For them to succeed, we must have an environment that meets their needs. There must be flexible schedules to meet the needs of the students coming to the program. If we try to put them all in one box, we won't achieve much success with our students..