PLUS: Facebook beats Google, and Davy Crockett beats ’em both.
Apprenticeships: Back to the Future? — In an effort to provide direction to rudderless youth, the state of Wisconsin is utilizing a time-honored career avenue: Apprenticeships. Apprenticeships haven’t been in vogue for nearly 100 years, but Wisconsin’s Youth Apprentice Program shows they still have lots of validity. Geared toward helping students not bound for college, the program ties youth with companies, mostly in manufacturing, that provide real world, on-the-job training. Students who complete the program can earn credits toward a high school diploma and certificates of occupational proficiency—keys to getting a job after graduation. And apprenticeships help businesses, too, by helping students understand the importance of punctuality, teamwork … and that some of the stuff they learned in high school has practical application in the real world. We’ve created a very black hole for people coming into these (high school level_ jobs,” says Dawn Tabat of Generac, one of the businesses participating in the Youth Apprentice Program. “There was nobody representing manufacturing in high school. No one really understands how to prepare students for the school-to-work transition.” (USA Today)
Sorry, Google — During the week of March 13, Facebook officially supplanted Google as the Internet’s most popular destination, according to the research firm Hitwise. About 7.07 percent of all Web users meandered to Facebook during their online wanderings, compared to 7.03 percent who went to Google. Both sites are still growing. But while Google’s traffic has grown by 9 percent over the last 12 months, Facebook has nearly tripled its audience—up 185 percent compared to March of 2009. (DigitalBeat)
All Up In Your Facebook — Facebook has made it easier for people to connect with each other. But who knew that so many would use it to fight? James Gower and Ashley Andrews, both 22, are due to get married. But instead of working out their premarital problems behind closed doors, they vent on Facebook so their friends can chime in—becoming, in essence, pre-marriage refs. “My friends have a biased opinion of her, and her friends have a biased opinion of me,” says Gower. Talking issues out on Facebook is “a way to get your side of the story out there to everybody. That way, they don’t just hear her side.” “A lot of people aren’t with us if we have a fight at home,” adds Andrews. This way, “All our friends can kind of comment on it.” (The New York Times)
Stats: Safest States for Teen Drivers*
1. District of Colombia 84.99
2. California 76.54
3. Colorado 76.42
4. Maryland 75.76
5. Illinois 75.10
6. New Jersey 75.08
7. Oregon 72.45
8. Minnesota 72.09
9. Utah 71.94
10. Washington 71.17
U.S. News created its scores based on an algomation using a number of different factors, including the percentage of teens who have drivers’ licenses, number of teen traffic deaths, safety laws and miles typically driven. Washington, D.C., might be so high on the list because not many D.C. residents need to drive. Source: U.S. News & World Report
Speedy Delivery — Cisco has announced that it’s developed a new Internet routing system, called the CRS-3, that is far faster than anything we’ve used previously. How fast? The network is capable of streaming every movie ever made, anywhere, in less than four minutes. “That’s right,” writes Time magazine’s Erik Heinrich, “the whole universe of films digested in less time than it takes to boil an egg.” (Time)
Who’s bigger than the Beatles or Facebook? — Davy Crockett, that’s who! Fess Parker, who portrayed Crockett, the American frontiersman, on a Disney TV series in the 1950s, was a big star who helped sell millions of coonskin caps and other Crockett merchandise to children across America. Bonus point of you can sing the show’s popular theme song. (NY Times)
More Youth Culture Updates:
Selling ‘Sexts’
Violent Games Increase Aggression — Some
Drug Use Link to Lack of Sleep
Young Adults Not In Church
Teen Boys Lie About Sex
