“WEB ONLY: YOUTH CULTURE UPDATE-SEPT/OCT TRENDS….”

TEEN BLOG WATCH IS ON
In a move drawing national attention, the Lake County, Illinois, Community High School District has put in place rules that hold students accountable for what they post on blogs and social networking web sites.

Students participating in extrracurricular activities, including athletic teams, fine arts groups and school clubs, will have to sign a pledge agreeign that evidence of “illegal or inappropriate” behavior posted on the internet could be grounds for disciplinary action. About 80 percent of the district’s 3,200 student participate in one or more covered activities.

School officials say the changes are part of an effort to get the district community more knowledgeable about the growing Internet blog phenomenon and more aware of the pitfalls of such sites as MySpace.com.

Some parents and others in the community contend the new code will reinforce that students are accountable for the information they post online. But others argue that monitoring students’ online postings is an invasion of privacy. and that the school district is overstepping its bounds. School officials will monitor web sites when they get a tip something posted should be investigated.

Civil liberties groups express concern the school is taking over the role of parents in overseeing what their kids post on a computer, and also questioning the control of student behavior outside of school classes or activities.

Unless, or until, there is a legal challenge the new code endorsement will be required by the district.
Chicago Tribune, May 23

SCHOOLS VOTE ‘NO’ TO READING BAN
The battle over books came to a heated end in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights and the freedom of expression won out. The issue centered on what is appropriate reading assignments for high school students versus censorship.

One interesting argument point: Many of the students would be eligible to join the military as they complete the high school year and be sent to fight for freedom across the world – a freedom of reading they were denied in school.

Conservative groups and parents, along with one new member of the seven member school board, rallied for the ban of eight books, citing sexually explicit excerpts from the texts to bestiality, as inappropriate.

Books on the list include: The Awakening, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Freakonomics, How Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Fallen Angels, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View, Slaughterhouse-Five and Beloved.

There was a heated debate with over 1,000 parents attending the board meeting than ran until the small hours of the morning. In the end, the school board voted 6 to 1 to approve the district’s reading list, and there will be no ban. Concerned parents can bring the issue to individual teachers and get alternate reading assignments for their kids.
CBS2 News, Chicago, May 26

DECLINE IN SMOKING BY TEENS LEVELS OFF
The decline in teen smoking in the U.S. since the late 1990s appears to have stopped, health officials report.

A new survey showed smoking among high school students held steady at about 1 in 4 teenagers between 20033 and 2005. Two other recent reports found teen smoking has apparently plateaued since 2002.

“We were making good progress and now it looks like we’re not,” said Dr. Corinne Husten, acting director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the Cetners for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Associated Press, June 10

MORE AMERICANS SHOW THEIR COLORS
Be it for rebellion’s or artistic expression’s sake, tattooing and body piercing are hotter than ever with young people.

How hot? “Really nowadays, the people who don’t have them are becoming the unique ones,” said Chris Keaton, a tattoo artist and co-owner of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum. Nearly one in three in the 18 to 29 age group have a piercing on their body and many started it as teenagers.

The trend is not without problems. Nearly one in four people reported medical problems, including skin infections. Among those with mouth piercings, an equal proportion reported chipped or broken teeth. The industry is regulated by state and local officials, but not federal agencies, and there is no such thing as an industry approved tattoo pigment or ink.
Associated Press, June 12

BUZZ OFF, ADULTS: MOSQUITO IS TEENS’ CELL SECRETZ
In that old battle between kids and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon on the cell phone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.

In settings where cell phone use is forbidden – in class, for example – it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species.

The technology relies on the fact most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds. Developed in Britain, it has only recently spread to America – by Internet, of course.

David Herzka, a Roslyn High School freshman on Long Island, New York, uploaded a version of the high-pitched sound into his cell and made it for his friends.

How, David was asked, did he think this new device would alter the balance of power between adults and teenagers? Or did he suppose it was a passing fad?

“Well, probably it is,” said David, who added after a moment’s thought, “And if not, I guess schools will just have to hire a lot of young teachers.”
New York Times, June 15

FAMILIES ARE EATING TOGETHER MORE OFTEN
The statistics are clear: kids who dine with the folks are healthier, happier and better students, which is why a dying tradition is coming back.

• 55 % of 12 year olds surveyed say they have dinner with a parent every night, vs. 26% of 17-year-olds. • 37% of teens said the TV is on during meals; it’s 56% for families that seldom eat together. • 54% of Hispanic teens say they eat with a parent most nights, vs. 40% of blacks, and 39% of whites.

The trend doesn’t mean we are eating better: Domino’s alone delivers a million pizzas on an average day. And sipped with 18% of all home dinners, sodas may have replaced white bread as your main calorie source; a 12-oz. can has 10 teaspoons of sugar.

The family meals aren’t necessarily a sign of good conversation: kids fidget and daydream, parents stew over the remains of the day. Yet for all that, there is something about a shared meal – not some holiday blowout, not once in awhile but regularly, reliably –that anchors a family even on nights when the food is fast and the talk cheap and everyone else has someplace else they’d rather be. When things are calmer and there is some measure of good communication at home there is a power in the habit that causes social scientists to say the event acts as a kind of vaccine, protecting kids from all manner of harm.

“If it were just about food, we would squirt it into their mouths with a tube,” says Robin Fox, an anthropologist who teaches at Rutgers University in New Jersey, about the mysterious ways family dinner engraves our souls. “A meal is about civilizing children. It’s about teaching them to be a member of their culture.”
Time, June 12

CLASS RANKING OUTDATED?
SOME SCHOOLS SAY YES
At the end of 2007 academic year, the well respected senior classes at Naperville, Illlinois, high schools will no longer have their class rankings listed on their transcripts.

Principals of the affected schools became concerned elite colleges might overlook high achieving students simply because they do not rank at the top of their class. The high schools want colleges and universities to look at who our students are, way beyond a simple number.

“You can’t rank anything based on a single indicator,” explained Naperville North Principal Ross Truemper. “If that was the case, we would buy only one kind of automobile, we’d only buy the same kind of house, we’d only buy one type of gasoline.”

Among those disagreeing is student Junior Brett Lullo, a competitive swimmer whose grade point average of 4.48 placed him 20th out of a class of 800. He insisted his accomplishments did not come easy. During swim season, Lullo’s days stretch from before 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. “It’s kind of a detriment they are getting rid of it. I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at,” the 17-year-old said.

Naperville is not the first school district to decide class rankings have outlined their usefulness, but it will join the minority of public high schools nationwide when it eliminates them.
Chicago Tribune, June 19

TO QUOTE:
Why is it that the vast majority of our own churched kids (65%) either believe or suspects that there is “no way to tell which religion is true?” Because your kids and mine have been influenced to believe that Christianity can’t be exclusively true. You see, in our young people’s minds, no one has the right to assert that one religion is better than another. . . .That is why 63% of our kids don’t believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God. That seems to them too exclusive and intolerant. . . .
Josh McDowell,
The Last Christian Generation