4/14/10 Teen News: Local(∆) and National

(∆)Sanderson H.S. hosts Alive at 25 event – A staged auto wreck, the grim reaper and speeches by parents of children caused in car crashes are all part of an assembly to encourage safer driving among teens.  Erin Smothers and two friends, all seniors, said they remember attending the first Alive at 25 as freshmen. They were impressed.”It was so realistic, it was kind of scary,” Smothers said.”This is one assembly people will talk about after,” said Rachel Clark, a senior. (N&O)

(∆)Profile of Phoenix Alternative H.S. - Daily Tar Heel editorial argues for the necessity of alternative high schools such as Pheonix Alternative in Chapel Hill, which has 43 students. Some students get sidetracked. Others have obligations that take them away from their studies. But regardless, all students deserve an opportunity to reach their potential. What makes Phoenix Academy — and others like it — work so well is its small size. Teachers are able to tailor to the specific needs of their students. (Daily Tar Heel)

(∆)Brother, sister help Shaw win – Lolia Kienka followed her older brother from Nigeria to Shaw, where both are the top-ranked tennis players on undefeated teams.  It’s a seriousness instilled by their father, Godwin Kienka, a self-taught tennis player who placed tennis balls in his children’s cribs. From the time they learned to walk, they swung rackets in the air. ”Their dad is like a tennis fanatic,” said Shaw coach Sunday Enitan, who is also from Nigeria. He brought the siblings to the university following their junior careers in Africa. (N&O)

2/22/10 Teen News: Local(∆) and National

Lawsuit: School spied on students with webcams – Parents of a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia are suing the school district for possible using the webcams of school issued computers to spy on students outside of school.  The Robbinses said they learned of the alleged webcam images when Lindy Matsko, an assistant principal at Harriton High School, told their son that school officials thought he had engaged in improper behavior at home. “(Matsko) cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in minor plaintiff’s personal laptop issued by the school district,” the suit states. (MSNBC)

(∆)High Point native skates in Olympics – Once a superstar roller skater in High Point, Heather Richardson didn’t switch to ice skating until high school and is now in the Olympics three years later.  “Here’s a girl that’s come out of nowhere, we couldn’t be more proud of her because she’s worked so hard,” said her uncle.”Anybody can say that, but for her, you had that little spark. You knew she’d do it because she has that drive and determination.” (MYNC)

(∆) Keeping track of teen drivers – A new program in Raleigh places decals on the cars of teen drivers that allows other drivers to call a number and report unsafe teen driving.  ”It’s not a tattle-tale program. It’s more of a preventative measure,” said Teen Road Angel co-founder Sherrie Holland, of Apex. “We are hoping that because teens have this on their vehicles that they are making better decisions when they’re driving, because they know they can be reported.” (WRAL)

H.S. student makes H.S. ap –  A West Virginia high school student developed and implemented an Iphone ap specifically for his high school, the first ap of this kind nationally. Dobson said he never programmed on a Mac before the iPhone project, and personally uses the Google Droid phone instead of the popular Apple version. But he said programming for the iPhone was much easier than other coding projects he’s done in the past. (Charleston Daily Mail)

2/8/10 Teen news: local(∆) and national

(∆)H.S. senior raises awareness of NC driving law – Spurred by the driving death of her classmate, West Johnston High School senior Victoria Creese has initiated a scholarship program that calls attention to the NC law that prohibits young drivers from having more than one passenger under the age of 21.  “Students don’t need to be dying on the roads,” Creese said. (N&O)

(∆)Shortage of men on college campuses – The New York Times focused on UNC to illustrate the dating problems on college campuses where females are 57% of the student body. “My parents think there is something wrong with me because I don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t hang out with a lot of guys,” said Ms. Andrew. “There are no guys.”(NYT)

(∆)A Day in the Life - A Duke newspaper columnist describes her typical Monday, beginning at 8:45 a.m. and ending at 2:50 a.m. 10:06 p.m.: Snap to! To-do list: 50 pages for English due tomorrow and 17 questions spread out over 30 pages for Spanish due tomorrow. Not going to be collected, so make maximum minimal effort. (Duke Chronicle)

R.S. interviews Wayne before prison – Lil’ Wayne gives his last interview before beginning 12 months in prison on a 2007 gun charge.  Link to 2008 story in Rolling Stone:Wayne’s rhymes are as varied as his moods, ranging from quick-tongued braggadocio about girls, cash and guns to gut-wrenching expressions of personal pain. He’s a compulsively listenable dude who will sometimes sing (badly) and rhyme in French; a five-foot-six-inch bundle of energy spitting left-field references — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bill Laimbeer, tooth fairies — and consistently great punch lines: “My spot remain, like a bleach stain, or cranberry/It’s murder she wrote, like Angela Lansbury. Also, XXL story on the search for the next Lil Wayne. (Rolling Stone, XXL)

Monday’s teen news – Local(∆) and national

School bans jelly bracelets used in sex game – A middle school in Colorado e-mailed parents to not let their children wear rubber jelly bracelets, which school administrators say are being used in a sex game called “Snap.”  The bracelets supposedly indicate what level of sexual experience a girl desires or already had.  Most girls at the school argue that the bracelets are just fashion items.  (NY Times)

School board debates use of novel “Speak” – By author Laurie Halse Anderson, “Speak” centers around a teen girl who was raped and then considers suicide.  Some on California say the book is too dark for young teens and that parents should be the ones to introduce such literature. Supporters say the book will interest teens in a way that classic literature does not.  (LA Times)

Brooklyn cartoonist offers new sex ed - Through her auto-biographical comics, Martina Fugazzotto tries to teach teens about sex in a funny, realistic way.”Sex education in schools is so negative it’s all about doom, beware and sex will bring pain, danger, disease, pregnancy and death. No one ever tells you, it’s normal and natural, it’s ok for you to enjoy it,” she said.  This article also interviews her about how she became a comic. (NY Daily News)

(∆) Knightdale teens honor friends with blood drive – After three Wake County teens died in auto wrecks over the past two weeks,Hunter Crowder organized a blood drive to give “the community a sense of helping, because you know everybody at this time wants to do something but they don’t know how.” (My NC)

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)