Response of African-American adolescents in North Carolina to gun carrying by school mates.

This study examined adolescents' perceptions concerning the presence of guns in their school and the adolescents' emotional and behavioral responses associated with these perceptions. Survey data from 376 African-American sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students of a low-income area of a North Carolina city were studied. Twenty-eight percent of adolescents reported that other students brought guns to school, 36% felt afraid that someone would hurt or attack them while at school, 15% avoided school (or places in school) because of fear that a student would hurt or attack them, and 20% carried weapons to school for self-protection.

Opportunities for older children and adolescents with disabilities through the Supplemental Security Income Program.

The revitalization of the Supplemental Security Income Program for low-income children with disabilities has important implications for state Title V programs for children with special health care needs. Historically, this program has focused primarily on recipients under the age of 7. The files of children between the ages of 7 and 16 referred to Children's Special Health Services, North Carolina's Title V children with special health care needs program from July to August 1991 were analyzed to determine whether there was documentation that children in this age group were receiving recommended services.

Aggression and fighting behavior among African-American adolescents: individual and family factors.

Objectives: This study examined the extent to which individual and family factors are associated with aggression and fighting behavior among African-American middle school adolescents.

Methods: Four hundred thirty-six African-American boys and girls from two middle schools in a predominantly low-income North Carolina school system were surveyed and their school records examined. Information was collected concerning students' aggression levels, school fighting behavior, school suspensions for fighting, attitudes toward violence, perceptions of their families' attitudes toward violence, weapon-carrying behavior, and sociodemographics.