Focus Area News Post Archives - Page 3 of 14

Promoting Safe Driving in Teens with Plan My Ride: Training Young Drivers on Driving Essentials

Elizabeth Porter2024-04-11T14:28:47+00:00

April 11, 2024, Durham, NC – April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which provides an important opportunity to spread awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and strategies to prevent it. Distractions can come in various forms for drivers, including using a mobile device, eating or drinking, talking to passengers, or fidgeting with a navigation device or radio while driving. Distracted driving can significantly increase the chance of vehicle crashes as well as death or injury for drivers and passengers. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that approximately 3,000 people die in crashes involving distracted driving [...]

Promoting Safe Driving in Teens with Plan My Ride: Training Young Drivers on Driving EssentialsElizabeth Porter2024-04-11T14:28:47+00:00

DigiKnowIt News is Expanded to Help Recruit Adolescents into Pediatric Clinical Trials

Elizabeth Porter2024-04-11T13:59:32+00:00

April 11, 2024, Durham, NC – iRT is pleased to announce the release of a new version of DigiKnowIt News. Pediatric researchers across the nation are struggling to recruit an adequate number of children and adolescents into pediatric clinical trials and other types of research projects. Until recently, DigiKnowIt News included information designed to educate children about clinical trials but did not have activities and content that were appealing to teens. DigiKnowIt News is one of the first interactive, educational web-based software applications designed with the specific goal of helping researchers recruit more children and adolescents to participate in pediatric clinical [...]

DigiKnowIt News is Expanded to Help Recruit Adolescents into Pediatric Clinical TrialsElizabeth Porter2024-04-11T13:59:32+00:00

Recent Research Supporting STEM Mentoring for Traditionally Underrepresented Youth

Elizabeth Porter2024-03-27T20:59:28+00:00

March 27, 2024, Durham, NC - Recent research indicates that opportunities for students to explore their interests in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are growing. The Afterschool Alliance’s 2021 America After 3PM Special Report states that among approximately 31,000 randomly selected parents of school-aged children in the United States, 39% reported that their child’s school offered a technology- or engineering-related afterschool program in 2020. This was a significant increase compared to findings from 2014 surveys which indicated that only 30% of schools offered engineering and technology learning opportunities in afterschool programs. Science-related afterschool programs increased from 46% in 2014 to [...]

Recent Research Supporting STEM Mentoring for Traditionally Underrepresented YouthElizabeth Porter2024-03-27T20:59:28+00:00

Customize Mentoring Trainings to Reflect Your Program

Elizabeth Porter2024-03-27T20:56:32+00:00

March 27, 2024, Durham, NC - When offering training to mentors, mentees, and parents/caregivers of mentees involved your mentoring program, you likely want to be sure that the trainings you offer not only provide essential information participants need for a successful mentoring relationship but also reflect your program’s specific mission, policies, practices, and branding. Mentoring Central, a division of iRT, offers options to customize any of our mentoring training courses, so you can elevate your program participants’ training experiences and achieve your program’s goals. Mentoring Central’s team of mentoring subject matter experts, highly-skilled web applications developers, and talented multimedia and instructional [...]

Customize Mentoring Trainings to Reflect Your ProgramElizabeth Porter2024-03-27T20:56:32+00:00

New Version of Plan My Ride Available Now

Elizabeth Porter2024-03-15T16:39:30+00:00

March 13, 2024, Durham, NC – iRT is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the Plan My Ride program. Plan My Ride is an interactive, multimedia, eLearning program developed with and for young drivers to teach safe driving skills to prevent distracted and impaired driving. Unlike other safe driving educational programs, Plan My Ride uses a science-backed and theory-driven approach to change behavior by teaching concrete, practical strategies to avoid impaired and distracted driving, and providing opportunities for young drivers to practice the skills learned in 360-degree virtual scenarios. The updated version of Plan My Ride contains [...]

New Version of Plan My Ride Available NowElizabeth Porter2024-03-15T16:39:30+00:00

The State of Substance Use Among Adolescents in the United States

Elizabeth Porter2024-04-22T17:34:38+00:00

March 06, 2024, Durham, NC – As decades of research has shown, trends in adolescent substance use in the United States are constantly evolving. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently published an updated report on findings from the Monitoring the Future research study to share information about recent trends in adolescent substance use. Monitoring the Future is an ongoing research study aimed at examining the drug use related behaviors, attitudes, and values of American adolescents and adults. Since 1975, approximately 50,000 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students are surveyed each year [...]

The State of Substance Use Among Adolescents in the United StatesElizabeth Porter2024-04-22T17:34:38+00:00

iRT Research Scientist Presents on Innovative Solution to Preventing the Problem of Impaired Driving Among Young People

Elizabeth Porter2024-02-22T19:29:00+00:00

February 22, 2024, Durham, NC – iRT Research Scientist Dr. Rebecca Stelter presented at SAMHSA’s 20th Prevention Day gathering last month to discuss the problem and prevention of substance use and impaired driving among youth. SAMHSA’s Prevention Day gathering is the largest annual, national event dedicated to advancing substance misuse prevention. Each year, substance use prevention professionals, researchers, and advocates gather to share current developments and discuss future research and innovations in substance misuse prevention. This year’s gathering took place in conjunction with CADCA’s National Leadership Forum in National Harbor, Maryland. Dr. Stelter led a session entitled Sober Lives, Safer Roads: [...]

iRT Research Scientist Presents on Innovative Solution to Preventing the Problem of Impaired Driving Among Young PeopleElizabeth Porter2024-02-22T19:29:00+00:00

Recent Research Findings on the Previous Sex Education Experiences of Community College Students

Elizabeth Porter2024-02-21T14:38:12+00:00

February 21, 2024, Durham, NC – Though community college students make up nearly half of all U.S. undergraduate students, they are often overlooked by sexual and relationship health research. The limited amount of research on this population may make it difficult for community colleges to make evidence-based decisions about the types of resources and support they should provide to their students to promote their sexual health. Without accessible resources to learn about and manage their health, community college students may be at risk for unhealthy sexual and relationship behaviors. To address these gaps in research, iRT has been conducting the Community [...]

Recent Research Findings on the Previous Sex Education Experiences of Community College StudentsElizabeth Porter2024-02-21T14:38:12+00:00

iRT President Presents at the 2024 National Mentoring Summit

Elizabeth Porter2024-02-21T15:16:51+00:00

February 13, 2024, Durham, NC – iRT President Dr. Janis Kupersmidt co-led a workshop at the 14th annual National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC, last month to discuss the need for additional training for mentors who are serving youth impacted by substance misuse. MENTOR hosts mentoring professionals and advocates from across the nation each year during the National Mentoring Summit to share best practices, reflect on recent research and developments, and discuss future directions related to mentoring. iRT’s mentoring experts have been attendees, presenters, and/or exhibitors at the Mentoring Summit every year since the first annual meeting. Continuing our support for [...]

iRT President Presents at the 2024 National Mentoring SummitElizabeth Porter2024-02-21T15:16:51+00:00

Offering Comprehensive Sex Education with Media Aware – High School

Elizabeth Porter2024-02-07T16:08:32+00:00

February 07, 2024, Durham, NC – To address the need for comprehensive sex education for adolescents in the United States, iRT developed Media Aware – High School, a self-paced, web-based, multimedia course designed to provide high school students with medically-accurate information on a variety of sexual health topics. Through a series of four multi-part lessons, students receive information on foundational sex education topics, including STI prevention and testing, sexual assault, consent, and birth control methods, as well as relevant, inclusive topics that are often left out of school-based sex education, including how substance use affects sexual decisions and behavior; gender role [...]

Offering Comprehensive Sex Education with Media Aware – High SchoolElizabeth Porter2024-02-07T16:08:32+00:00