3/2/2010 Teen News: (∆) local and national

(∆)H.S. JROTC finding new success – 100 schools are on the waiting list to add JROTC programs, which supporters say is a leadership training program rather than an Army recruiting mechanism.  95-99% of JROTC members graduate on time and 30-50% of members nationally join the military after graduation. “It has really taught me how to be a better person,” said Chad May, 15, a sophomore. “My grades have improved drastically since joining.” (N&O)

Cheerleader fined $27K for file sharing – A federal court decided that Whitney Harper couldn’t use her ignorance of the law as a defense for file sharing 37 songs with her friends in high school.  “I knew I was listening to music. I didn’t have an understanding of file sharing,” she said. “Harper cannot rely on her purported legal naivety [sic] to defeat the … bar to her innocent infringer defense,” the New Orleans-based appeals court ruled unanimously, 3-0. (WIRED)

(∆)Teen archer hopes for Olympics - 13-year -old Miles Heyman, who has won several state and national archery contests for his age group, enjoys the discipline and social aspects of the sport.  “There’s more drive for perfection in archery than any other sport I’ve tried,” he said. “He understands that luck is not part of the equation,” Kristoff said. “The top archers exhibit type-B personalities. They’re analytical, they’re process driven.” (N&O)

Times’ story on Wake County schools – The New York Times summarizes the recent controversy over the diversity plan in Wake County schools. Across the country, research shows that students of all races and backgrounds perform better in diverse schools, said Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Diversified schools typically have higher graduation rates, more college acceptances and fewer students in the criminal justice system.  But the new board members cite other statistics: a countywide graduation rate that has fallen over the past five years, rising suspensions and a widening performance gap between poor and wealthy students. (NYT)

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

JROTC ‘more than just a class’ - Enrollment is up in JROTC programs where students say they are receiving the discipline, structure and support they need while critics argue that these teens are merely being brainwashed.“The pride that these students display when you go in the schools who are in these programs is just amazing. You read it on their face. They walk with a certain confidence,”  researcher Gene Bottoms says. (USA Today)

Students in trouble for 9/11 shirts – A Michigan high school confiscated the hooded sweatshirts of 15 Arab-American students from the class of 2011 students that depicted the school mascot flying into the number 11 with the slogan “You can’t bring us down.” “What took place here today was an inappropriate, distasteful act,” said David Mustonen, a spokesman for Dearborn schools. “(It was) totally inappropriate, totally disrespectful, and they just were not thinking.” Or is all the furor just because these kids are Arab-American?  (WDIV)

Review of ‘Youth in Revolt’ – An original take on the standard teen seeking to lose virginity plot line. “There is a primal fascination with sex at that age that remains constant through generations,” director Miguel Arteta says. “And I think all of these types of movies, regardless of relative shock value, play on the same core concept of how one deals with that new and irrepressible urge.” (LA Times)

Sex abuse rampant at 13 juvenile centers - A government report states that 1 in 3 youths at 13 juvenile detention facilities were the victims of some type of sexual victimization. “Many of these are already the most vulnerable and traumatized youth from all of our communities and they’re placed for custody because they’re considered to be a danger,”Linda McFarlene said. “If sexually abused in those very institutions that are supposed to help them prepare for life in the community, then it’s just an incredible travesty.” (AP)

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

(∆) Raleigh Charter tops high school list – Raleigh Charter School was the only triangle school to finish in the US News’ annual ranking of the top 100 American high schools.  Next came Athens Drive High in Raleigh, Cary High, Green Hope High in Cary, Jordan-Matthews High in Siler City and Sanderson High in Raleigh, which were among the 461 schools nationally to receive “silver medal” recognition. (N&O)

Teen fashion blogger faces backlash – 13-year-old Tavi Gevinson’s fashion blog ‘Style Rookie’ has been featured in the New York Times Fashion Magazine and led to a column in Harpar’s Bazaar.  Now however, her older competitors are beginning to challenge and criticize her work.  “Will she end up on morning shows? Yes she will,” Blume says. “I don’t think she’s a fashion sage, I think she’s a novelty and I think she’s going to be used as a marketing device as a novelty.” Slowey doubts she writes her own work at all. “She’s either a tween savant or she’s got a Tavi team,” notes the editor. (Jezebel)

New Moon director aids woman accused of piracy - Chris Weitz has come to the defense of a Chicago woman facing felony charges for illegally videotaping part of New Moon.  The woman claims she was videotaping her sister’s birthday party inside the theater. “There is, needless to say, a difference between trying to protect the copyright of a film and making an unfair example of someone who clearly seems not to have any intentions towards video piracy,” Weitz wrote. (Chicago Sun Times)

Military children suffer through deployments - A new study by the RAND Corporation shows that military children suffer a higher rate of anxiety than the larger population and that their difficulties increase in proportion to the length of the deployment. The study found that girls tended to have more problems than boys during reintegration, and that older children struggled more during and after deployments than younger children. (NYTimes)

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

(∆) Best friend remembers fallen soldier – Sam Rosenthal on Pfc. Morris Walker, who died in Afghanistan:“What people should know about Mo is who he was as far as how he made other people feel when they were around him. He was just a joy. I think that he epitomized cool….He passed away in the middle of war where the last world he knew was a horrible place where horrible things were going on away from his family and everyone that he loved. That’s no way to go.” (Independent)

Why teens don’t Tweet – Kristen Nagy, an 18-year-old from Sparta, N.J., sends and receives 500 text messages a day. But she never uses Twitter. “I just think it’s weird and I don’t feel like everyone needs to know what I’m doing every second of my life,” she said. Largest growth in social media is adults, not teens.  (NY Times) photo by Tim Shaffer

Profile of teen environmental activist – 15-year-old Otana Jakpor of California speaks regularly about her air quality experiments at EPA hearing and environmental conferences. When then 13-year-old Otana stepped forward, the audience expected an “adolescent” presentation, Dimitri Stanich, a board spokesman, said. But within minutes, Otana, dressed in her signature black suit, had breezed through a PowerPoint presentation of the only data shown that day directly linking the machines to decreased lung function. (LA Times) photo by Kirk McCoy

Chris Brown sentenced to 5 years probation - Judge also ordered him to stay away from Rihana, even if meeting was consenual. (MTV)

Teen lit full of plus-size characters – Overweight kids as heros part of growing movement for heavy teens to accept their bodies, as long as they are in good health. Titles include “Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies” and “This Book Isn’t Fat, It’s Fabulous” and don’t require main character to lose weight as part of feel-good ending. (AP) photo by Rich Shultz

(∆) Editorial opposes teen curfew in Clayton – A curfew suggests that a town has a crime problem. Not crime, which every community has. But a crime problem, which only undesirable places have. Undesirable for families and the businesses that cater to them. The Record argues that the community should solve this problem, not the government. (Garner Clayton Record)

(∆) How Triangle schools are handling swine flu – Beginning of school year could trigger outbreak, health officials encourage students to get flu shots which may make you less susceptible to swine flu. “The idea is that if kids are healthy and are trying to bolster their immunity to seasonal influenza, hopefully they will be healthier to be able to withstand other types of influenza,” said Stephanie Willis, the district health coordinator for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. (N&O) photo by Shawn Rocco

Teens arrested for racist graffiti – One of the students responsible for the KKK vandalism was black. (Washington Post)