John was the kind of teenager who’d drive 100 miles per hour without a seatbelt and jump into a pool from the second story of a building. What his parents said no to, he’d do ten times harder.

“I didn’t think I’d live past 21,” says John, who asked us not to use his real name. “I had alcohol poisoning at 15, I was in a coma one stage away from death.”

Adults always say people my age think we’re immortal, and that’s why we take crazy risks. But for John, who’s now 25, it was the opposite.

Ever seen a condom key chain?

Last summer, I went to an overnight program at UC Berkeley for high school seniors from all over the state. We stayed in the dorms and at night we went to each other’s room to talk and hang out. On the last night, eight girls came to my room and noticed my condom key chain.

“Wow, is that a condom?” one girl asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Does your school pass out these things?” another asked.

Students at Roosevelt High in downtown Los Angeles slipped into blue jeans to educate their peers about sexual violence as part of Wednesday’s worldwide commemoration of Denim Day. Among the supporters joining the students was the actress Calista Flockhart, who serves as the spokesperson for Peace Over Violence. The group organized the event in L.A.

Youth Radio’s Summer Sewell was also there to photograph the tabling students and their decorated denims. (See her gallery of photos in the right-hand column.)

Five years ago, when Quincy Mosby was 14, his mother told him she was HIV positive. Even as his mom copes with her illness and tries to embrace life, Quincy says that sometimes, all he can see is her death.

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In his State of the Union address last week, President Bush called for more funds for the nation’s schools to teach abstinence. Read more...