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Teenagers
With Teen Obesity, Inactivity Is Only Part of the Problem
I panic every time I see another "exercise doesn't work!" story — until I read between the lines and learn once again that exercise is a good thing. On the heels of its conversation-starting cover story on the exercise "myth," Time is tackling a new study of teen obesity that claims inactivity is only partly to blame for heavier kids.
Stranger than Fiction: School Used Lap Dance Therapy
When you think of activities to help the emotional growth of teens with behavior troubles or special learning needs, lap dances would probably be the last thing you'd think of.
But that's exactly what the staff at Mount Bachelor Academy came up with, and they forced students to undergo lap dance therapy as a part of their "emotional growth" curriculum. The boarding school was shutdown after students accused the staff of employing this dubious therapy, and a seven-month state investigation has just confirmed the allegations.
More Teens Getting Pregnant; Who They Are May Surprise You
We often hear media stories about teenagers from poor and single-parent homes getting pregnant.
Research conducted for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, however, concludes that only 28 percent of people who reported giving birth or fathering children as teens lived in families with incomes below the federal poverty line, and only 30 percent said they were living with a single parent.
Although teens from poor families headed by single mothers are disproportionately likely to become teen mothers, "teen pregnancy is not limited to a particular racial group or socio-economic status or a particular family structure," says Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign.
Teenage Girls Support Alleged Richmond Rapist on MySpace
The news about the gang rape of a teenage girl in Richmond, CA, outside a homecoming dance while others watched and did nothing continues to get crazier.
A seventh suspect (the oldest so far at age 21) was arrested today, but even as details about the horrific crime continue to come out, one of the youngest accused rapists, who is 15, seems to have unlikely supporters: teenage girls on his MySpace page.
It's not clear if they think he's innocent, but they hope he's freed and that anyone who "snitched" on him gets theirs.
Clash of Cultures Puts Latina Teens in Danger of Suicide
According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, one out of seven Latina teenagers attempts suicide.
Psychologist Dr. Luis Zayas of Washington University, who has spent the last 25 years studying Latina teens, believes that this rate is so high because of the teens' troubled relationships with their mothers.
Teen Quits High School Rather Than Stop Cross-Dressing
16-year-old Jonathan Escobar of Kennesaw, GA, was told by his high school to dress "more manly," so the teen who expressed himself by donning wigs and wearing makeup decided to drop out rather than put up with the dictates.
I think Jonathan looks like an eccentric Hitchcock heroine, and I don't see how this is any different from a teen dressing up goth or emo. (Would they get away with telling a butch girl to dress more feminine?) What do you think about the school's claim that he was causing a commotion with his looks — are they being too conservative about gender?
More Kids Are Coming Out in Middle School
The middle-school version of ourselves probably had a blurry idea of the adults we would become, but some kids are proving that we knew a lot more about our identities than we thought. With no doubt about who they are attracted to, more and more kids are coming out as gay or bisexual before they make it to high school.
An article in this weekend's New York Times Magazine examines the trend and reveals that many of these kid are coming out before they've ever dated or kissed anyone of either sex.
Were There Mean Girls at Your High School?
Tina Fey captured the essence of high school girl-on-girl cruelty when she wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls. In the movie, Lindsay Lohan's character Cady describes how the queen of mean Regina George ruled her minion Gretchen, in addition to the whole school:
The meaner Regina was to her, the more Gretchen tried to win Regina back. She knew it was better to be in the plastics, hating life, than to not be in at all.
Teen Suspended For Telling Muslim-American to Take Off Hijab
Heather Lawrence, a 16-year-old from Spring Hill, FL, may want to rethink what it means to be a patriotic American.
A junior ROTC member who wants to enlist in the Army next Summer, Lawrence was recently suspended for chastising a fellow student in the halls who was wearing a hijab, saying, “Take that thing off your head and act like you're proud to be an American." She first took offense at the girl when she noticed that she didn’t stand for the pledge of allegiance.
Say What? Why Teen Wants a Boob Job
"The things I don't like about my body are my breasts. . .
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