2/03/10 Teen news

Study: Abstinence-only education delays sex – Only 1/3 of middle-school students who attended an abstinence-only education class had sex within 24 months versus half of students assigned to a general health class that taught safer sex. “This new study is game-changing,” said Sarah Brown of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, in a statement. “For the first time, there is strong evidence that an abstinence-only intervention can help very young teens delay sex and reduce their recent sexual activity as well. Importantly, the study also shows that this particular abstinence-only program did not reduce condom use among the young teens who did have sex.” (NYT)

The appeal of MTV’s ‘Teen Mom’ – MTV’s popular show replaces Hills at the top of the line-up. “This show really hits people hard. In ‘Juno’ or ‘The Secret Life of An American Teenager,’ things are kind of glossed over and they don’t really show the hardships,” said Bookout, who recently split up with Edwards. “On ‘Teen Mom,’ there are girls from different parts of the country with different backgrounds. On every other MTV show, like ‘The Hills’ and ‘The City’ and ‘The Real World,’ it’s just for entertainment. Our show is really educational and good for audiences who want to get a different mindset on teen pregnancy.” (LA Times)

Hip-Hop’s obsession with “Clockwork Orange” – From Three6Mafia to Eminem, Stanley Kubrick’s 1972 masterpiece looms large. Before Em was a household name, he was beefing with fellow talented honkey Cage. In an effort to embarrass the NY rapper, Shady posed on the cover of Stress magazine dressed as the lead character Alex from Clockwork, Cage’s alias at the time. He also opened his verse on D12’sDevils Night with this line, “Lock your doors, drop to the floors, get your shotguns drawn—here comes another Clockwork Orange.”(XXL)

“If These Halls Could Talk” - An editorial by Garner High School student Sarah Gibson on the stresses of high school. The second stress during this time of year is exams. Teenagers all over the county are dreading them as much as I am. No one, not even the teachers, likes these exams. Even for classes like dance, the final exams are difficult and challenging. (Garner Citizen)

Survey: Wake parents like school calendar – Only 28% of parents responded, 81% said they were satisfied with their children’s school calendar.  100 school district employees to be laid off. (N&O)

1/26/10 Teen News

L.A. pulls dictionary from elementary schools – At least one parent complained about the explicit definitions provided for sexual terms.“I think it’s absurd that we will remove dictionaries from our library especially because these dictionaries are the same ones we use in our spelling bees,” the school board president said. “I think we are approaching censorship with this. If they ban this book, they better clean house and go through all of them. What’s good for one is good for all. I think we will open a big can of worms if these books are banned. It’s the dictionary after all, c’mon.” (LA Times)

Tyra hosts plus-sized teen model search – The contest is for girls between the ages of 13 and 19 between 5’9″ and 6’1″. “Plus-sized tends to have a negative connotation and I want young girls to realize that what’s considered plus-sized is the average American woman. That woman is healthy, fit and beautiful. Adolescence is such an impressionable time in a young woman’s life, and I hope this contest helps teen girls discover their own beauty from the inside out.” (People Magazine)

Teen pregnancy, abortion rate rise – For the first time in a decade, the teen pregnancy rate rose to 7% and critics debate whether abstinence-only education is to blame. “The issue here is clearly that we have a lot of teenagers who are having sex, but they aren’t careful enough at contraception to avoid pregnancy,” says Sarah Brown, executive director of the nonprofit National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. (USA Today)

This is your face on meth – A California sheriff is trying to prevent kids from trying meth by using image altering software to show how their faces would change after years of meth use.“You’re young. You’re vibrant. You have great-looking skin. Your hair is there, your teeth are there,” Allman says. “The software … morphs it into causing the physiological effects that meth causes — the open scabs, the droopy skin, the hair loss.” (NPR)

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

Pregnant girl fights to stay on team – Outside the Lines video about a Texas teen volleyball player who was removed from the team after she became pregnant, but was then later reinstated after her family fought the dismissal.  Video. (ESPN)

Sexting common among teens – According to a recent poll, 25 of teens have been involved in sexting in some form. “Sometimes they think of it as a joke; they have a laugh about it,” Bogle said. “In some cases, it’s seen as flirtation. They’re thinking of it as something far less serious and aren’t thinking of it as consequences down the road or who can get hold of this information. They’re also not thinking about worst-case scenarios that parents might worry about.” (N&O)

Bullying over sexting leads to suicide – 13-year-old Hope Witsell sent a topless photo to a boy in hopes of attracting his interest.  Instead, the photo ended up all over school which led to incessant bullying and eventually suicide. (MSNBC)

Parents hope son inspires more black organ donors – 17-year-old Brandon Spight decided to be an organ donor and after his death, his organs have helped save the lives of only five people.  Only an estimated 30% of blacks are organ donors. (Mercury News)

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

(∆)Chapel Hill Halloween to restrict outsiders – Calling it Homegrown Halloween, the town of Chapel Hill is blocking off roads and parking to prevent outsiders from coming to Franklin Street.“This is a local event,” Mayor Kevin Foy said. “If you can walk to Halloween, you’re invited. If you can’t, don’t come.” Last year’s Halloween crowd was 35,000, down from 80,000 the year before.  Officials claim one reason they want to limit attendance is because of the swine flu. (Daily Tar Heel)

White woman wins HBCU beauty pageant - Columnist asks if outrage is justified at Hampton University, where a white woman won the university’s beauty pageant.  The columnist wonders why there was not similar outrage when a white student for the first time won valedictorian at Morehouse College last year. Also, why the hell are colleges and universities even HOSTING these events? (News One)

1 in 7 girls at Chicago h.s. is pregnant – 115 students at Robeson High are pregnant.  School officials and students say the number is so high because of absentee fathers, lack of communication and support in the home, and desire for public assistance. A non-profit is opening a day care across the street. (CBS 2)