Connect for Kids is all about making things happen for children—and about celebrating the people who put kids first. For this Fifth Anniversary edition, we thought we would revisit the subjects of some of our stories, and see where they are today.

For school-aged children and families who want to understand more about how one community reflected the historic changes in the national racial climate between 1940 and the 1990s, the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County has created a multi-media portrait of a place in the grip of history.

Are teens today more violent and less reverent than ever before? Not according to Errol Lincoln Uys' book, Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression. In this review, Grace Palladino tells the stories of "box car boys and girls" who searched for jobs and adventure during the Great Depression, before anyone ever heard of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

Many adults today believe that teens are "different" today, and that they have rejected traditional American values. Learn why and whether this is accurate in these remarks by Susan Nall Bales at the White House Conference on Teenagers.

Exploring the life of a New England girl and boy from different backgrounds, historian Robert Bremner reflects on 19th century family life and its portrayal in literature of that time period.

School financing and reform are hot topics today, as are vouchers to use public money for private school choices. A historian offers a brief but fascinating history of public education in the United States.

Historian Kriste Lindemeyer traces the early days of the Children's Bureau—the beginning of government protection of America's children.

The annual statistical report of federal agencies shows that America's children are better off today than in recent years, and there has been a 40 percent drop in juvenile crime. But much remains to be done.