2/01/10 – Teen news

Beyonce top winner at Grammy’s – But she shared the spotlight withTaylor Swift, the poised 20-year-old country-pop singer, who was crowned a new superstar with four wins, including the top prize, album of the year, for “Fearless.” Story (NY Times), Videos (People), Photos (LA Times) and Red Carpet (MSNBC).

TN teen expelled for Facebook posting - A popular basketball star at Nashville’s most prestigious high school was expelled during his senior year for posting on his Facebook his frustration about the basketball coach: “I’ma kill em all. I’ma bust this (expletive) up from the inside like nobody’s ever done before.” Taylor said he regrets the posts and has since written a letter of apology to his coach. He says the posts were taken out of context and that he never intended to hurt anyone. He has no history of school violence and has never been in a fight or suspended before this incident, documents related to his expulsion show. School officials said they can’t take any chances. (USA Today)

Teen paparazzi documentary shown at Sundance – LA based celebrity photographers like Pap earn between $800 to $3000 a week for shooting celebrities while the average salary of professional photojournalists is under $30,000 per year. This story also links to longer pieces on the typical life of a paparrazzi photographer (Gawker)

Program shows struggle of teen obesity - Long profile of a Chicago teen struggling to follow the regiment of a healthy eating and diet plan, but at least Paris Woods is trying.  One-third of American teens are considered obese.  ”The beauty of it all, that all of us learned from it, is the importance of our health, that we’re in control,” she said. (N&O)

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

Student’s patriotic photo refused – New Hampshire high school student had his yearbook photo rejected because he broke the rules by posing in a hat (military) and with a prop (the flag). The mother wants to know why a Muslim student can pose in her ‘religious scarf’ but her son can’t show pride for his country.  (Concord Monitor)

Why do students drop-out? – This editorial by a student cites uncaring parents, conflicts with teachers, and lack of motivation as the three main reasons. (LJ World)

Lack of exercise not to blame for teen obesity? – New study finds that today’s teen are just as active as they were two decades ago but are now much more obese.  The most likely culprit? Teenagers’ unhealthy diet. (MSNBC)

Student suspended for Bengals haircut – Ohio school suspended student for ‘distracting haircut,’ a B surrounded by tiger stripes. His father says his son just wants to show pride in the 6-2 Bengals. (NBC Sports)

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

Some parents oppose Obama’s speech to schools - Obama’s speech, which will be streamed live on the web into schools, will urge students to work hard and stay in school. Conservatives accuse Obama of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideals.  Schools feel they are in a no-win situation: either disrespect the president or open themselves to criticism from conservative groups. (NY Times)

Are teen pregnancy shows good? – Do these shows, especially on MTV, present the challenges of teen pregnancy or turn them into celebrities? (Baltimore Sun)

Chris Brown fans react to apology vs. Reaction of domestic abuse experts – “We support him” vs. unacceptable and contemptible. (MTV)

Family history linked to acne in teens – Teens are more likely to have moderate to severe acne if their parent had problems with acne, especially the mother. There was also evidence that eating greasy foods leads to more severe acne. (Reuters)

Anti-obesity pills for teens causing worry – More teens taking anti-obesity pills but they are proving not to be effective in teens who don’t change their diet.  (Sky News)

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)

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

(∆) 1 black dress, 365 days – As part of the theuniformproject.org, fashionista Sheena Matheiken is wearing the same black dress every day for one year to raise money for education in India.  (N&O)

(∆) Teens gain acceptance at weight-loss camp – A study compares the quality of life of obese children to that of children on chemotherapy. Foster kid Shantale ate food for comfort. “Kids made fun of me. They call me the Big Fat Gorilla and the Big Black Ape,” she said.In the first two weeks of camp, Shantale lost 15 pounds. What she gained, though, was far more significant. Unconditional love from people who understood her. (N&O) photo by Ted Richardson

Gay student sued teachers over slurs – A school district in Minnesota agreed to pay a high school junior $25,000 for experiencing teacher comments like his “fence swings both ways,” “he enjoys wearing women’s clothes,” and after doing a report on Ben Franklin, that he has a “thing for older men.”  (Star Tribune)

Tony Danza to be teacher in reality show? – Officials in the city of Philadelphia are debating whether to let Tony Danza teach a 10th grade English class for a reality show called “Teach.” “My goal is to really be a good teacher,” Danza said. “If we can be really real about it and really honest about it and put the kids first and really show what a teacher goes through, it might be something that is a positive.” (AP)

Brooklyn teen wins $1 million lottery – Waqas Mazhar, “”I just don’t know yet what I’m going to do with the money. I just know I want to help my family and I want to stay living with them.” (NY Daily News)

(∆) Some NCCU students housed in hotel – Enrolling 1,400 students more than last year, NCCU has partnered with Durham Millennium Hotel to house students.  (MY NC)

Movie review of Bandslam – According to the News and Observer, not good.

(∆) S.E. Raleigh grad sets Jr. world record – Racing in front of his parents, Wayne Davis ran the 110 meter hurdles in 13.08 seconds to win the Junior Pan Am Championship in Port of Spain, Trinidad. (News and Observer)

1 in 5 teens share prescriptions – Can lead to unforeseen drug interactions. For example, a teen who’s taking the acne medication Accutane — which has been linked to birth defects — may give some to a friend who is pregnant but doesn’t yet realize it, the researchers said. (USA Today)

Publisher to rent textbooks -Cengage Learning announced that it would begin renting textbooks to college students at 40-70% of the sale cost. With college textbooks often costing more than $100 apiece, students spend an average of $700 to $1,100 a year, representing one of their biggest expenses after tuition and room and board. (NY Times) photo by Katy Datdorff