While all youth are negatively affected by these age-related restrictions, some youth face additional barriers posed by prejudice and discrimination. For example, lack of health insurance among the working poor can prevent teens from these families from receiving urgently needed care, such as contraception, STD testing and treatment, or HIV testing and treatment. Teens who experience prejudice and discrimination may develop less self-esteem and have fewer resources and skills to meet the challenges that all teens face. During adolescence, teens experience a variety of physical, social, cognitive, and emotional changes. Mass media, policy debates, and community programs often present a problem-focused image of young people.
Advertising builds the image of the sexy, carefree teen.
For example, researchers attribute much of the eating disorders and severe dieting in young women to mass media messages that create cultural pressure for women to be thin. Assess the Needs and Assets of Youth in the Community 10 Understanding the connections between different forms of oppression and adolescent sexual and reproductive health is the first step in building effective programs. The next step requires an examination of community programs and services. Assess the health status of youth and the accessibility of services. Assess the extent to which substance use, teen birth and abortion, HIV and STD infections, and school failure and dropout disproportionately affect specific populations of youth.