Wednesday teen news – local(∆) and national

Video of ‘choking game’ alarms parents – Teens make themselves hyperventilate until they are not receiving oxygen in the brain, leading the person to experience a high and pass out.  82 people have already died from this ‘game.’ (Hartford Courant)

 

10 best jobs for college students – These jobs are flexible and look good on the resume: on-campus IT support, on-campus career services, lab assistant, etc. (US News)

 

20 teens watch girl gang-raped – Outside a homecoming dance in California, up to 20 teens watched or participated in the 2 hour assault of the 15-year-old girl who passed-out after drinking hard alcohol.  The first person to call the cop was another teen at a party who overheard two assailants talking about it.  The police said they are unable to charge the witnesses who watched the attack but did nothing.

(∆) HBCU’s protesting gangsta rap – Black students protesting colleges who invite and pay rappers who promote violence and degrade women.  NC A&T, for example, was able to pressure their school from sponsoring a scheduled Gucci Mane concert. “Where are all the people endorsing this” he asks. “The majority of the people understand where we are coming from.” (Herald Sun)

Friday’s teen news – local(∆) and national

 Study finds high rate of prison for dropouts – In era where demand for low-skill workers is declining, 1 in 10 dropouts will be in prison at any one time as compared to 1 in 35 for high school graduates. For black dropouts, the likelihood of imprisonment is 1 in 4. “We’re trying to show what it means to be a dropout in the 21st century United States,” said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern, who headed a team of researchers that prepared the report. “It’s one of the country’s costliest problems. The unemployment, the incarceration rates — it’s scary.” (NY Times) 

 Teen out of school for cross dressing – A new student at a Georgia high school left after 3 days when the principal told him he could no longer wear feminine clothes, including skinny jeans, vintage shirts, a wig and make-up. Officials say his outfits have led to fights.“I don’t consider myself a cross-dresser,” he said. “This is just who I am.” (UPI)

 H.S. to test students for alcohol - Foxborough officials will administrate breathalizers at extracurricular events and during the school day, if there is ever a suspicion of a student drinking alcohol. “A Breathalyzer just becomes a clean way of following through. And if we’re wrong? We will apologize,’’ an official said. “I have four kids, and as a parent I would be more comfortable knowing this option is available.’’ (Bosotn Globe)

 FBI director: Terrorist recruitment of US youth a real danger – Specifically young Muslims, regardless of where they live. ( Boston Herald)

 

 

  Chicago teens: No choice but to fight - At a public meeting hosted by Jesse Jackson about the street killing at Fenger, a teen said, “I ain’t got no other choice but to fight,” an exasperated William Jenkins told Rev. Jackson.  “They’ve got brick, bottles and stuff and you telling us to run? Where are we going to run to?  Where are we going to go running again? There ain’t nowhere to go!” Students said that school officials and police have done nothing to address the ongoing conflicts that erupt everyday. (WBBM)

Thursday’s teen news – local(∆) and national

Coming out as gay in middle school – New York Times magazine has a lengthy profile of middle school students who have and have not come out to their families and friends.  Their experiences range from acceptance and happiness to bullying and suicide. (NY Times)

School bans hooded sweatshirts – Students in Kansas were hiding cell phones in kangaroo front pocket and texting without looking as they have the keyboard memorized. “We had them in our pockets and they’d vibrated. So then we’d take it out and bring it to the side and type, and we could memorize our keyboards, because most of us have full keyboards.” (KWCH)

(∆) Teens’ donks grab attention – In addition to the rims and the custom interiors, decked-out cars are now featuring paint jobs with unpaid advertising for candy products. “Sugar Daddies. Mr. Goodbar. Nerds. It’s wanting to be different, standing out,” said Hopkins, 21, a student at St. Augustine’s College. “People have always been hooking up cars, buying hot paint jobs. This is taking it to the next level. It’s all about the attention you want.” (N&O) photo by Travis Long

Study promotes importance of family dinners - A new report by Columbia University concludes that teens who do not eat with their families three times a week are twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana, one and a half times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to try drugs as compared to children who eat with their families five times a week. “Having dinner as a family is one of the easiest ways to create routine opportunities for parental engagement and communication, two keys to raising drug-free children.” (Join Together)

Interview with teens from 16&Pregnant - People Magazine interviews young couple who gave up their baby for adoption, against their parents’ wishes, on the MTV reality show.’We were in Ohio a couple days ago and a girl came up to me and she was shaking. She came up to me and she just started crying and she’s like, “You’re a role model to me.” We get that a lot.’ (People)

Tuesday’s teen news – local(∆) and national

Coach faces felony charges in death – Kentucky high school coach charged with reckless homicide after a player died during sprints at the end of practice.  The coach denied water to players until after sprints.  Coaches groups have raised $90,000 for his defense fund.”I think every coach in the nation should be behind this guy, because this could be any one of them,” Daugherty said. (Sports Illustrated)

College Republicans compiling list of liberal professors – University of Toledo Republicans claim they are not making the list to bash liberal professors, but rather to alert conservative students as to which professors will have a bias against them.  (Fox News)

Pledge, hijab confrontation leads to suspension – 16-year-old Heather Lawrence was suspended five days for bullying after demanding that a Muslim girl stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and to “take that thing off your head and act like you’re proud to be an American.” Although acknowledging his daughter should not have said the last part, her father did add, “”You have someone in the States who is able to enjoy our educational and health care systems, yet it’s okay for them to be disrespectful, and it’s not okay for my daughter to speak her mind.  That’s her First Amendment right. That’s her freedom of speech.” (St. Petersburg Times)

52-year-old man arrested for posing as h.s. student – Chris Schildt’s elaborate ruse was foiled on the first day when teachers suspected he was older than he claimed.  Authorities say he was trying to gather material to write a book, Schildt says he was trying to show the security flaws in a school. (The CT. Day)

Colleges upset about beer fan cans – SMU is one of many colleges upset that Bud Light beer cans in college colors undermines their efforts to curb underage drinking. (US News)

Pro tennis requires alternative education – Travel and practice schedule is such that very few top-level youth tennis players are able to attend a traditional school. (NY Times)

Converted Muslim teen fears for her safety – Ohio girl who ran away from her family to a Christian church in Orlando claims her old mosque has terrorist ties.  Teen met Orlando church through Facebook prayer group. (AP)

Wednesday’s teen news – local(∆) and national

(∆) Profile of ‘historic’ Broughton High – Why did Obama choose Broughton as the location for his health care forum? It is a school where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. declared that segregation was un-Christian; the same school was cited by onetime Sen. Jesse Helms as an example of the failure of integration. And Broughton is where many of North Carolina’s governors sent their children to be educated. (News and Observer)

Marketers pay valedictorian to plug movie - Hoping to create a viral buzz about the movie I Love You Beth Cooper, the Intelligence group paid Kenya Mejia $1,800 to close her valedictory speech by saying, “I love you Jake Minor.” But the clip only generated 2,000 hits, the movie bombed, and education officials are angry. (Wall Street Journal)

(∆) Lil’ Wayne prepares for Raleigh concert - Behind-the-scenes look as he prepares for his national tour, which comes to Walnut Creek on Saturday. (MTV)

Penn State top party college – Davidson College has the best professors, all according to a student survey conducted by Princeton review. (Bloomberg)

(∆) Becoming a Tar Heel - NYC freshman writes about her first year on campus at UNC and her new love for basketball.

(∆) Learning about America at Duke – Student shares his impressions of America during his first year at Duke. ‘Hugging a person from the opposite sex is so natural for any American that it almost embarrassed me when I wasn’t able to respond likewise when a couple of girls I hardly knew offered me a hug as a casual greeting.’ (NY Times)

Study: Peer program helps reduce teen crashes -Fatal crashes involving teenage drivers have declined faster in Texas than in other comparable areas, likely because the state’s graduated driver’s license law is boosted by peer education programs, according to a study released Monday.Teenagers don’t always listen to adults,’ 17-year-old Alberto Torres said, “but we do listen to each other.” (Houston Chronicle)

Charges dropped for altered evidence – Prosecutors had to dismiss burglary charges against a Maryland teen when defense attorneys pointed out that the written confession had been changed by a police detective to correct the address of the apartment where the crime took place. Although it appears to have been an honest mistake, David Gray, a law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, said prosecutors made “absolutely the correct” decision in dropping the burglary charges. (Washington Post)

H.S. student sues over chemistry burns – Family sues chemistry teacher for $25,000 in negligence after daughter received chemical burns in class. Commenters on the article defend teacher, ridicule girl. (Redding.com)

Interview with Taylor Momsen – 16-year-old star of Gossip Girl is launching a singing career. (Teen Vogue)