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

(∆) Profile of Durham teen filmmaker - 17-year-old Kelley Katzenmeyer received her first camera as part of a club at her elementary school, now she attends NC School of the Arts and is one 143 teens selected to participate in the Young Arts festival in Miami.“Because I love filmmaking,” she said when asked why she applied to YoungArts. “It’s just a form of communication that you don’t necessarily need words for. … There are some films that we could both watch together and still understand what was happening without needing to speak the same language.” (Herald Sun)

Auditioning for the NYC high schools of the arts - 24 high schools require auditions.“We see a combination of kids who heard that Alicia Keys went here and want to be like her and then we will see kids who live, eat, sleep and breathe performing,” said Chuck Vasallo, an assistant principal of Professional Performing Arts High School. “Every application represents a person with a dream, and it’s in our hands if they’re accepted. If not, your life might go in another direction. That’s something we take very seriously. It’s a little scary, even for us.” (photo by Michael Agins)

Review of MTV show ‘Teen Mom” – Teen Mom picks up where 16 and Pregnant left off: the series follows the same young women featured on the latter, demonstrating how the pain of childbirth is nothing compared to the difficultie of young motherhood. VIDEO (Jezebel)

Should students be protected by 4th Amendment? – Police are conducting random searches at a violence-plagued high school in Detroit.  Should this be allowed? (Time Magazine)

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)

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

The girl who called 911 – While dozens of teens videotaped and laughed at a 15-year-old girl getting gang raped outside a homecoming dance, 18-year-old Margarita Vargas was the only one to call the police.”I’m like ‘We should call the cops because that’s the right thing to do.’ I didn’t think about it twice,” she said. “I think people are scared, especially in a community like this where ‘snitching’ is a big thing to people.” (CBS)

Texas district bans skinny pants – School said skinny pants are a disruption to class. “We’re going to home schooling,” the boy’s mother, Cindy Pope, said Wednesday. “He can learn more without the distraction of what to wear.” (Dallas News)

Review of New Moon - Better than the first with superior special effects and better dialogue than in the book. (Chicago Tribune)

Students arrested in tuition protests – 52 students were arrested at the University of California Davis after they refused to vacate an administration building in protest of the state’s 32% tuition increase for all state colleges.”We’re fired up. Can’t take it no more,” students chanted as they marched and waved signs at UCLA. “Education only for the rich,” one sign read. (CNN)

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

NYC teacher suspended for assigning ‘Guts’ – The popular teacher did not allow the graphic story about masterbation to leave the classroom but his students babbled about the lesson, leading to the teacher’s reassignment and subsequent protest. “We’re not little kids. We are in high school,” said 15-year-old junior Omar Caminero. “It’s not like we’ve never read anything like that — we have.” (NY Post)

Documentary features teen entrepreneurs – Film follows several low-income teens who are among the 25,000 that enter the national teen entrepreneur contest.“I think every kid needs to have a mentor or an adult (supporting them) in some way, shape or fashion,” Mazzio said. “They are all remarkable kids, all they need is a little bit of water and they are going to flourish.” (Boston Herald)

(∆) NCCU to march in 2011 Rose Bowl -”This puts our name and our presence before millions of people,” said Chancellor Charlie Nelms. “It’s a terrific recruiting tool, reaching so many students who are thinking about college. It also speaks directly to those who are interested in music. And it will attract donors to get involved with the university.” The band now needs to raise $400,000. (Herald-Sun)

Precious in the ‘Age of Obama’ – Black reviewer says black audiences need to see this realistic movie about a low-income girl who will probably never leave the ghetto. ‘Precious is a fully realized character but also a metaphor representing blacks at our lowest psychological ebb, a place we’ve always feared because we know it has the potential to swallow us whole.’ (Salon)