Mental Health | Violence and Injury Prevention | Youth Development |
State Choices to Promote Healthy Behaviors
Promotion, Prevention, and Early Intervention
- Require injury and violence prevention and safety taught in schools [2006]2
Law and Legislation
- Require helmets for all motorcycle and low-power cycle (LPC) riders 17 and younger [2010]3
- Require bicycle helmets on riders 17 and younger [2010]3
- Ban all cell phone use for adolescent novice drivers [2010]3
- Ban texting while driving for adolescent novice drivers [2010]4
- Stalking statutes explicitly address cyberstalking, including third party harassment [2006]5
State Choices to Promote Quality
Promotion, Prevention, and Early Intervention
- Require school curricula to address dating violence [2010]6
Workforce Development
- Provide funding for staff development or offered staff development on violence and injury prevention and safety to health education teachers [2006]7
Law and Legislature
- Have laws that protect students from bullying and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression [2010]8
- Have graduated driver licensing system [2010]9
- Require learner's entry age at 16 [2010]9
- Require learner's holding period at least 6 months [2010]9
- Require practice driving certification at least 30 hours [2010]9
- Require night driving restriction at 9 or 10pm [2010]9
- Restrict underage passengers to 1 or 2 [2010]9
- Require that restrictions last until age 18 [2010]9
- Have domestic violence protection laws for adolescents that received a score of B or higher from Break the Cycle [2009]10
- Allow victims of domestic violence who are dating their abuser to apply for a civil domestic violence protection or restraining order [2009]10
- Have protection laws that do not exclude same-sex couples, explicitly or by stated intent [2009]11
- Allow minors to petition for protection orders [2009]12
- Allow victims to petition for restraining order against a minor [2009]12
Data Notes and Sources
Last Updated: June 1, 2011
These state profiles are part of the Improving the Odds for Adolescents project, which is supported by a generous grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies. Contact us with questions or to update your state profile.
- Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2009. Accessed Nov. 8, 2010, from www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, State-Level School Health Policies and Practices. A State-by-State Summary from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006. Table 1.5. Accessed July 29, 2010, from www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/SHPPS/2006/summaries/pdf/State_Level_Summaries_SHPPS2006.pdf.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, State-Level School Health Policies and Practices. A State-by-State Summary from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006. Table 1.6. Accessed July 29, 2010, from www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/SHPPS/2006/summaries/pdf/State_Level_Summaries_SHPPS2006.pdf. - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute. 2010. Current US Motorcycle and Bicycle Helmet Laws website. Accessed Apr.16, 2010, from www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx.
- Governors Highway Safety Association: The States' Voice on Highway Safety. 2010. Cell Phone and Texting Laws website. Accessed Apr. 16, 2010, from www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html.
- Explicit "cyberstalking" statute specifically deals with some aspects of cyberstalking.
Goodno, Naomi H. 2006. Cyberstalking, a New Crime: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Current State and Federal Laws, Berkeley Electronic Press Legal Series, Paper 1689. Accessed June 22, 2010, from Law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7936&context=expresso. - Break the Cycle: Empowering Youth to End Domestic Violence. 2009 and 2010 State Law Report Cards: A National Survey of Teen Dating Violence Laws. Accessed May 27, 2010, from www.breakthecycle.org/system/files/pdf/2010-Dating-Violence-State-Law-Report-Card-Full-Report.pdf.
State School Healthy Policy Database: Injury and Violence Prevention. 2010. National Association of State Boards of Education. Accessed February 18, 2010 from nasbe.org/healthy_schools/hs/bytopics.php?topicid=1170&catExpand=acdnbtm_catA. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State-Level School Health Policies and Practices: A State-by-State Summary from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006. Table 1.14. Accessed Mar. 5, 2010, from www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/SHPPS/2006/summaries/pdf/State_Level_Summaries_SHPPS2006.pdf.
- States With Safe Schools Laws. Gay, Lesbian and Sraight Education Network website. Accessed May 26, 2010, from www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/2344.html?state=media&type=media.
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute. Licensing Ages and Graduated Licensing Systems: Summary of all US Graduated Driver Licensing Laws. 2010. Accessed May 27, 2010, from www.iihs.org/laws/pdf/us_licensing_systems.pdf
- Break the Cycle: Empowering Youth to End Domestic Violence. 2009 and 2010 State Law Report Cards: A National Survey of Teen Dating Violence Laws. Accessed May 27, 2010, from www.breakthecycle.org/system/files/pdf/2010-Dating-Violence-State-Law-Report-Card-Full-Report.pdf.
- Specifically offer protection only to opposite-sex couples.
Break the Cycle: Empowering Youth to End Domestic Violence. 2009 and 2010 State Law Report Cards: A National Survey of Teen Dating Violence Laws. Accessed May 27, 2010, from www.breakthecycle.org/system/files/pdf/2010-Dating-Violence-State-Law-Report-Card-Full-Report.pdf. - Data not available.
Many states do not explicitly specify.
Break the Cycle: Empowering Youth to End Domestic Violence. 2009 and 2010 State Law Report Cards: A National Survey of Teen Dating Violence Laws. Accessed May 27, 2010, from www.breakthecycle.org/system/files/pdf/2010-Dating-Violence-State-Law-Report-Card-Full-Report.pdf.