Gun control is a complicated issue in the United States. It’s illegal to sell firearms to anyone under the age of 18 or to anyone who has a criminal record, mental disability, or dishonorable military discharge. However, none of these restrictions are foolproof in preventing gun violence. Last week, several…
U.S. Students Rise Up Against Gun Violence
Last Wednesday, fourteen students, two coaches, and one teacher were killed during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. More than a dozen others were wounded while trying to escape or protect their classmates. The Parkland students, who had practiced lockdown drills, barricaded themselves inside classrooms…
Vaping Isn’t the “Healthier” Choice for Teens
You may have heard that vaping is a less harmful alternative to smoking, and it might seem more appealing than cigarettes. But while e-cigarettes can help adults who want to quit smoking, they can have the opposite effect on teens and young adults. Recent studies suggest that young people who…
Fight Back Against the Flu
Health authorities around the world are reporting a record high number of influenza cases. The H3N2 strain, also known as the “Aussie flu,” caused a severe outbreak in Australia and spread to other countries, hitting especially hard in Europe and North America. How can you fight the flu? Doctors recommend…
Snapchat Leads to Felony Charges for Minnesota Teen
A fourteen-year-old girl used Snapchat to send a revealing photo to a boy she had a crush on. He took a screenshot of her Snap and sent it to other people without her permission. Now she’s facing criminal charges for distributing obscene material. If she’s convicted, she faces up to…
Happy New Year!
Many people use the New Year as an opportunity to think about the future and make changes in their life. The two most common resolutions are usually saving money and getting more exercise, but research shows that only about 8 percent of people are successful at making consistent changes. Instead…
Teen Smoking Drops to Historic Low, but Marijuana Use and Vaping Remain Popular
During the past several years, studies have shown that teens are trading cigarettes for marijuana and vaporisers. The latest Monitoring the Future survey, which tracks teen drug use, found that marijuana use among 10th and 12th graders has increased significantly for the first time in seven years. The authors of…
Refugee Students Give Back by Helping Others in Need
A group of teens in Fargo, North Dakota, have created the state’s first student-run food pantry to help adults and children in their community. The teens partnered with a local program called the Legacy Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit that was developed by Fargo teenagers in 2011. They named their project…
Police Believe Missing Teen is a Victim of Human Trafficking
Nineteen-year-old Corinna Slusser was last seen in Queens, where she had been living with a 32-year-old man. Police now suspect that the man is part of a human trafficking ring, and Corinna’s family fears that she has been kidnapped and moved out of New York City. Human trafficking may sound…
“I just wanted an emoji of me.”
Rayouf Alhumedhi, a 15-year-old Saudi girl, was creating a group chat with her friends and realized that she couldn’t find an emoji of a woman wearing a hijab (the headscarf worn by some Muslim women). Alhumedhi tried contacting Apple, but soon took matters into her own hands. She created an…