2/26/10 High School Newspaper Stories

Jerk, jerk, jerk – Durham Riverside article explores the origins of Jerkin’ and the popularity of Northern Durham dance group The Rejerks.  “We jerk because it expresses who we are. And, we stand out in teen society, without any negative connotation.  Many people respect us for our videos and popularity we receive,” Brandon Cook of Rejerks said.  ”Many people want to join our group, but what they should really do is create their own, individual group.  Jerkin’ crews are like families.” (Pirate’s Hook)

“Why we love bad t.v.” – East Chapel Hill High School column explores the bliss of sinking into a couch and watching truly awful television.  ”I’ll be the first to admit it, loud and proud: I thoroughly relish watching girls tear each other’s weaves off. I love the catty confession room remarks that accompany each minor tiff. I take sides. I have strong opinions on which contestant Flava Flav, Bret Michaels, Tiffany New York Pollard, and Ray J should have picked as their lifelong soul mate. I just appreciate good television.”  (ECHO Observer)

Mac or P.C. – Athens Drive High School article compares the pros and cons of Mac vs. P.C. in terms of buying a computer for college.  “PCs aren’t just good because they’re usually cheaper, though that is a plus. They’re easier to program than Macs. There’s a reason so many people like them,” said Holmes. “Macs are universally accessible; anyone can use one. They’re easy to understand.” (Athens Oracle)

Is daily cosmetic use bad? – Broughton High School article reveals the hidden health dangers of using cosmetics on your face on a daily basis.  Even products marked “all-natural” and “organic” are not always safe and may contain these hazardous ingredients. Recent studies have revealed troubling amounts of lead in lipstick and hair dyes, mercury in mascara, and a seemingly never ending list of chemicals in a variety of other products. (Hi-Times)

2/9/10 Teen news: local(∆) and national

(∆)NCSSM senior is finalist in Intel Search – Lanair Lett is the only NC student to reach the final round of the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search and has already won a $30,000 scholarship from the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.  “Lanair’s a very hard worker,” said Jeffery Tessem, a post-doctoral fellow at Duke who supervised Lett’s summer research. “I think that’s one of his best qualities. He’s extremely smart, I don’t want to take away from his intelligence, but I think he shows a high level of dedication that you don’t always see in people his age group.” (Durham Herald)

(∆)Parents sue over CHHS player’s death – The family of Chapel Hill High School football player Atlas Fraley is suing Orange County for alleged negligence in not providing proper care that could have saved the life of the 17-year-old. “Atlas was only 17 years old when he called 911 desperately trying to get the emergency medical care that he needed,” Donald Strickland, the lawyer for the Fraley family, said on Saturday. “He got an EMS worker to his house, but he received no medical care and was left home alone to die alone.” (N&O)

(∆)Raleigh ad company wins Doritos contest – 5 Point Productions earned $650,000 for their 30-second ‘Underdog’ Superbowl ad, the second time this company of young producers has won this contest.  MSNBC also lists their best and worst Superbowl commercials.  (WRAL)

LA student sent home for Colts jersey - A Louisiana high school student who moved from Indiana three years ago was sent home for wearing a Colts jersey on a day the principal encouraged students to wear Saints jerseys.  “If they tell other students to support their team, why can’t I support mine?” Brandon Frost, 17, told The Associated Press. “I thought I remember him saying, ‘If you like Indiana so much, why don’t you go back?”‘ (CBS Evening News)

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)

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)

Tuesday’s Teen News

Gang violence plagues Indian reservations - Indian youth are increasing joining reservation gangs, leading to an increase in violence, crime and fear on the reservations. Even as they seek to bolster policing, Pine Ridge leaders see their best long-term hope for fighting gangs in cultural revival.“We’re trying to give an identity back to our youth,” said Melvyn Young Bear, the tribe’s appointed cultural liaison. “They’re into the subculture of African-Americans and Latinos. But they are Lakota, and they have a lot to be proud of.” (NYT)

Taylor Lautner can’t save SNL – He was full of energy and ready for anything, but ‘the writing was terrible.’ I know it’s a decades-old tradition to bitch about the quality of SNL, but this season seems to be bad in the worst kind of way, and ultimately, it has been completely forgettable. Videos. (Jezebel)

New teen drug use survey released – Use of marijuana and hallucinogens are way down, but officials are worried about increasing numbers of teens who don’t disapprove of drug use.University of Michigan researcher Lloyd Johnston, who oversees the annual survey, said there was “serious softening” in the perceived risks of LSD, inhalants and the party drug Ecstasy — a sign that “a new generation of kids are interested . . . in rediscovering these drugs, because they don’t understand why they shouldn’t be using them.” (LA Times)

Queens teacher punched ‘Jersey Shore’s’ Snooki – In a clip constantly aired by MTV, main character Snooki is punched in the face at a bar by a man who turns out to be a NJ gym teacher.It’s not the first time the short-lived show endured controversy. Various Italian-American organizations have complained about the show’s portrayal of Italians and the use of the word “guido.” As a result, pizza chain Dominos has pulled their ads from the show. VIDEO(NJ.Com)