BC-MCT-KIDS-BJT — wire, youth, lifestyle (1150 words)
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
MCT KIDS & TEENS ELEMENTS Budget for Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009
Kids and Teens Elements is a premium package of stories and visuals for young readers, ages 5 to 18.
THE BIG STORIES
Teens get ‘hooked’ on volunteering
TEENS-VOLUNTEERYEAR:ID—What could you do with five hours a month? You might be surprised.
For a start, you could build a compost area at a garden for refugees, collect blankets and towels for animals at the Idaho Humane Society, and pick up trash at a park after an all-women run and walk event.
A group of Boise teens learned this year that they could do all these and more — in just a few hours each month.
750 by Chereen Langrill. MOVED
What’s the real story behind ‘sexting’?
TEENS-RISKYTEXTING:MCT—Mom and Dad are afraid. Very, very afraid.
One in five kids have used their cell phone to send sexy or nude photos of themselves, according to an online poll by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), a trend analyst firm in Chicago.
The results became national news and adults dubbed it "sexting." Newspaper and television headlines asked worried parents, "Is your teen sexting?"
No one asked: “Is this a real trend or adults just totally freaked out?”
700 by Emilie Le Beau. MOVED
KIDS-RISKYTEXTING-TIPS:MCT—Making smart decisions on the Internet
400 by Emilie Le Beau. MOVED
NEWS AND CURRENT EVENTS
A driving force: Chatting with GM’s vice president for design
KIDS-TIMEFORKIDS:MCT—Edward T. Welburn, the vice president of global design at General Motors, has spent 35 years creating cars. He says he has been “crazy about cars” since he was a kid. These days, he’s charged up about electric cars. “The Chevrolet Volt is the most significant car GM has done in the last 50 years,” he says.
Time For Kids kid reporter Jair Massie talked to Welburn about his exciting career in the automobile industry.
750 by Jair Massie. MOVED
Adventures in the Malaysian jungle
TEENS-SEMESTERATSEA:MCT—The Cameron Highlands are the highest elevated lands in Malaysia. Discovered by British surveyor William Cameron in the late 1800s, the Highlands are still prowled by tigers and remote, indigenous Malaysians live off the land. Miles of jungle and tea plantations give the air a floral fragrance. We stayed in the tourist town of Tanah Rata, at a shanty hostel called Daniel’s Lodge. There we experienced a bit of the local flavor, sampling food and taking other trekker stories. The first night, in the makeshift bar constructed out of bamboo and corrugated metal, a local appeared and offered to take us into the jungle.
1200 by Brad Revare. MOVED
It’s time to redefine feminism
TEENS-FEMINISM:AC—Society would like us to believe that feminism is outdated and unnecessary, that it's a historical movement that should stay in the textbooks and out of the news. By defining feminism in this manner, however, its potential is limited. Instead, let's throw out our preconceptions of feminism and create our own definition of it.
Modern society has so many conflicting messages of what it means to be a woman. Is it the lady, the politician, the hot tomboy, the working mom? Girls, our generation has the potential to make feminism our own as successfully as we have with music, fashion and even language. We've always let individuality dictate our tastes before, so why not let it re-create feminism?
600 by Denile Ault. MOVED
Teens pick the best, worst of 2008
TEENS-YEAREND:CC—What a momentous year it's been—we totally pwn3d it. Take the elections. We got all wrapped up in Obama and McCain. We campaigned for our causes.
2008 was full of highs and lows. The lows included an ailing economy, a slew of revolting reality TV shows and a few annoying overplayed songs — including the appropriately named "Low."
To remember the best and worst of '08, we collaborated on a list of Top 5s.
1050 . MOVED
CRAFTS, SNACKS AND PROJECTS
Snowed in? Try this indoor football game
KIDS-WALLFOOTBALL:MCT—Bring the thrill of the gridiron to your living room wall with this pigskin version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
250 . MOVED
COOL STUFF
A girl-power adventure series … that even boys like
KIDS-KIKISTRIKE:MCT—Nobody messes with the mysterious Kiki Strike, the short, smart and impeccably dressed heroine of this action-packed book series. With the cunning of Catwoman and the detective skills of Nancy Drew, she takes on New York City's bad guys with flair—and a little help from a ragtag team of Girl Scout dropouts called the Irregulars
200 by Kris Bordessa. MOVED
Video-game review: ‘Shaun White Snowboarding’
TEENS-GAMEREVIEW:MCT—The story of "Shaun White Snowboarding" is a tale of two fun, distinct games that, if joined together, likely would have formed something better than either attempt on its own.
550 by Billy O’Keefe . MOVED
REGULAR COLUMNS
KIDS-ALMANAC:MCT—Wacky facts from World Almanac for Kids
150 . MOVED
TEENS-ASKUS:MCT—Why is my hair thinning?
400 . MOVED
KIDS-BRAINYYAK:MCT—Brainy-Yak question
100 . MOVED
TEENS-DEARBABS:MCT—Advice for navigating the college admissions process, from the experts at CampusCompare.com: College search or job hunt?
550 . MOVED
TEENS-HOTLINK:MCT—Web site review will not move.
TEENS-HYPE:MCT—Daring ’do; light and sweet
400 by Sally Dadisman. MOVED
KIDS-KIDSCOUNSEL:MCT—Advice for kids from the tween Web site Miss O and Friends moves alternate weeks.
TEENS-SAYWHAT:MCT—Notable quotables
250 . MOVED
TEENS-TEENREVIEW:FR—‘Human Comedy’ examines life’s meaning
500 by Alex Tavlian. MOVED
KIDS-YUKS:MCT—Mini ha-has
100 . MOVED
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Questions? Suggestions? Contact Kids & Teens editor Becky Sher at (202) 383-6022 or bsher@mctinfoservices.com.
CONTENT FOR YOUNG READERS
Kids & Teens Elements is a weekly package of stories, photos and illustrations for readers ages 5 to 18. Text moves Thursdays on AP and is also posted on MCT Direct (www.mctdirect.com/kidsele/live.htm) and on NewsCom (www.newscom.com). All photos and illustrations are available on MCT Direct and on NewsCom. Archive material is available on MCT Direct.
MCT also offers a weekly paginated pages for young readers. KidNews, for kids ages 8 to 13, posts Thursdays as a full-page color broadsheet.
All of MCT’s offerings for young readers are available at http://www.mctdirect.com/onepages/kids.htm.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can subscribe to the KIDS & TEENS ELEMENTS package or purchase the items a la carte on MCT Direct at www.mctdirect.com.
To subscribe, please call Rick DeChantal at Tribune Media Services at (800) 245-6536 or rdechantal@tribune.com. Outside the United States, call Tribune Media Services International at +1-213-237-7987 or e-mail tmsi@tribune.com.
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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Not for publication or retransmission without permission of MCT.
