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

 Teen lottery winner already broke – Callie Rogers won $3 million at 16, now she is in-debt. “My life is a shambles and hopefully now it has all gone I can find some happiness. It’s brought me nothing but unhappiness. It’s ruined my life. I’ve just wanted to make people happy by spending money on them. But it hasn’t made me happy. It just made me anxious that people are only after me for my money.”  (Gawker)

(∆) Advice column by Duke student to freshman - You don’t have to add everybody to Facebook, you don’t have to buy every Duke T-shirt ever made, don’t go to just frats, no pizza after midnight. (Duke Chronicle)  

 

 New Iphone ap offers free texting – TextPlus pays texting bill to AT&T in exchange for showing ads to users.  Will this business plan work? “Advertisers have lately been scratching their heads about how to reach teens,” the CEO said. “Text is the way they want to be reached.” (NYTimes)

 

 Schools officially ban sexting – Argument over whether ban is necessary, and whether students should be punished by the schools or face criminal charges?  According to a study, one in five teens has texted or posted a nude or semi-nude photo of themselves. (Dallas Morning News) 

 Attorney helps change life of Jena 6 teen – Jesse Ray Beard always found himself in trouble in Jena but has flourished at the elite Canterbury School in Connecticut. “I didn’t change the way I act. I didn’t do nothing different. It was just that I was at Canterbury instead of Jena,” he said. “It was like Jena was out to get me — and not just me, but other people, too.” (CNN)

 Teens’ ideas to change high school – Among the 30 recommendations: Make class sizes smaller, have teachers offer weekly office hours for students, and provide mediation alternatives rather than just suspending students.“Some 80 percent stated that they did not have interesting classes,” said co-author Janelle Perez, 17, a junior at Jones College Prep. “They said current offerings were irrelevant to their lives and that there aren’t enough vocational courses. I think teachers and administration assume they’re offering interesting classes and students are engaged. Not true.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

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

Teen heads to law school – Feature on 19-year-old Kate McLaughlin who skipped six grades, entered community college at 12, graduated from UC San Diego at 17,and will now be attending Northwestern Law School. McLauhglin says her path has been difficult because she is constantly bored in school and has trouble relating with her peers. McLaughlin is not sure yet what she wants to do with her law degree, but hopes it will help her to be more effective in lobbying for the social causes she feels passionately about – feminism, combatting racism, equal rights for gays and lesbians, and international humanitarianism. Also here is a blog posting about her in the NY Times. (OC Register) photo by Mark Rightmire

Teens buying good grades at summer school – Students from public schools are paying to attend private schools in the summer to obtain an easy A, a trend known as ‘buying a credit.’“There was only seven people in the class, the teachers focus on you, and basically, there was no way I could do bad,” said Sean Donoahue, 17, who paid $2,000 for a 20-day course in Grade 12 English.”That’s what sold me, was that I couldn’t get a bad mark in summer school. There was no way I’d get below an 80.”

Tobacco sales to minors at all-time low – The national rate of tobacco sales to minors for fiscal 2008 was 9.9%, down from 40.1% in 1997. (USA Today)

(∆) Teen musician taught self on Guitar Hero – 13-year-old Matt Plourde of Garner mastered every song but one on Guitar Hero, then parlayed his interest into real music. He opens for the Towne Players Teens’ musical “Seussical Jr.” this weekend at the Garner Historic Auditorium. (Garner Citizen)

(∆) Chatham Co. H.S. students to get laptops – Thanks to a $800,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, every student at Northwood High, Chatham Central and SAGE Academy will get to take home lap tops.  There is no cost to families unless the lap top is completely broken. (MyNC)

Teens’ counterfeit bills still hitting NC – Union County sheriffs arrested two teens last month for creating hundreds of fake hundreds, but their work is still in circulation, still fooling business owners.  They bleached five dollar bills, then reprinted them as hundreds so that the original paper was still marked as real when checked by a decoder pen.  (NBC Washington)

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

Teens losing sleep to electronics – “Before technology, we went to sleep when the sun went down,” says Dr. Myrza Perez,a specialist in sleep disorders. “Now with all these distractions, teenagers alone in their rooms stay up to extremely late hours on their cell phones and computers. Their parents have no idea.” Sleep deprivation leads to daytime problems such as headaches, lack of concentration and hyperactive behavior often misconstrued as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (Detroit Free Press) photo by Lezlie Sterling

Profile of YouTube student stars – Seventh graders at Ron Clark Academy became an overnight sensation during the presidential election when their YouTube performance of “You Can Vote However You Like” catapulted them to online stardom. Successful charter school, where fifth graders are taught 8th grade curriculum, is financed in part by Oprah and Delta. (CNN) photo by Edward Roda

(∆) Home/private schoolers start football team – The Titans serve all counties in the Piedmont area of NC. (Fuquay-Varina Independent)

Study: Girls prefer BFF, boys favor groups – A new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of children offers at least one explanation for some common tween social behaviors: girls are hardwired to care about one-on-one relationships with their BFFs (best friends forever), while the brains of boys are more attuned to group dynamics and competition with other boys. (Time) photo by wjzo.com

Study: The Myth of the Math Gender Gap – According to new data, the researchers say, that gender gap has become a myth — a finding they hope will help shift the very real gender gap in math, science and technology professions, which are currently dominated by men. (Time) photo by Tim Pannell

Webter’s Dictionary adds new words – Frenemy, vlog, webisode, green-collar, reggaeton, etc.  (AP)

Tuesday News (local)

Enloe High Senior starts “Backtalk” – A support group for teens with scoliosis. “I do feel like I’m making a difference,” Mara Howard-Williams said. “A couple of members are about to have surgery and have questions about recovery time — how long it will be before they sit, walk, run or ride a bike. And some have questions about bracing that I can’t answer, but other members of the group can.” (S.W.WakeNews)

School uniforms? – Westover High School in Fayetteville is considering student uniforms.  In a recent survey, 78% of students oppose the plans while 89% of staff favor the rule.  (News 14)

School fights posted on Youtube – Parents and students at Nash Central Middle School complain, that in some classes, out-of-control students are in control. (WRAL)

More NC students attending private schools – 98,500 private school students, compared to 1.4 million public school students.  Wake County has second highest total in state. (N&O)