Parents and driving teens should check out the county driving simulators and county traffic safety programs, particularly the "Save Your Face, Click It or Ticket" program designed to educate teens to use seat belts. In fact, police are cracking down on texting while driving. Besides being a dangerous activity to perform while driving, it's againt the law. New studies show that drivers overestimate their ability to multitask behind the wheel.

Try your hand at the "Gauging Your Distraction" game as featured in a series of articles,  Driven to Distraction, in the Technology Section of the New York Times Web site. This game measures how your reaction time is affected by external distractions. Regardless of your results, bottom line is that you should not text when driving.

Parents should think twice about allowing their teens to tan in tanning beds. International cancer experts have confirmed what Westchester County government concluded in 2006: the use of tanning beds causes cancer. Parents need to talk to their teens about the potential dangers now, because while the skin cancer concern applies to people of all ages, those under 30 are most at risk. 

Whether it’s fighting childhood obesity, promoting video game ratings, encouraging young people not to drink or smoke, or keeping kids safe, Westchester County has programs these tackle issues through education and prevention or enforcement.

Fit Kids, an anti-obesity program, works with schools to help encourage young people to eat healthier and get more physical activity. Other programs deal with preventing youth violence and gangs, Internet safety, the dangers of steroids and stopping sexual abusers. The county, though the Office of Stop-DWI, has a comprehensive campaign to deter underage drinking, binge drinking and distracted driving. Programs in the Department of Health focus on a variety of health and lifestyle issues including anti-smoking.

Rx For Success: Dare to be a Doctor is a program targeted to motivated minority and disadvantaged students in middle and high school who are interested in pursuing careers in the medical field. Students interested in future workshops or information sessions should submit their e-mail address in order to receive notifications.

For young people at risk, Westchester County’s Youth Bureau has programs to help raise self-esteem and provide enrichment and academic support. We also piggyback on New York state efforts to educate parents and kids on such problems as video game addiction. Recent studies show that the effects of violent video games adversely affect children's behavior.

Parents and students alike need to understand the different college financing options available. View video segments from the April 2008 college loan conference.

And for everyone, the county has many programs at the county's parks.