The video warning on the recently released DVD of the iconic TV show’s first few seasons reads: “These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grownups and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” Say what? 

Abortion rates have hit a 34-year low, but experts disagree on the reasons why. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research organization, reported that in 2005 the abortion rate dipped to 19.4 per 1,000 women, its lowest level since 1974. And the rate of U.S. abortions has been dropping steadily since 1981. But is it because of increased access to birth control?

Why? Just slightly less than two decades ago, the biggest population bulge in the history of America—the baby boomers—were having kids. Now those kids are in junior high school and high school. This spring will see the most ever high-school graduates in U.S. history (3.32 million); next year it’ll jump to 3.33 million. The result? A glut of college applications. 

At 15, Samantha Walker was lured into prostitution on the streets of Toledo, Ohio, then taken against her will to Atlanta. What makes her story different from thousands of others is that she testified against one of the men who paid for sex with her, helping to send him to prison. But at 18, just weeks after the trial, she took an overdose of prescription drugs for depression and died.

For Stephanie Endicott and Marcus Smallegan, first-year students at George Washington University, announcing to the world on Facebook that they had found love in a college dorm was a no-brainer. “It was important for me to share this with my friends since I’m so far away,” says Endicott, who’s 3,000 miles from her home in Maple Valley, Washington. Her new boyfriend is happy, since the last relationship he posted on Facebook ended with his girlfriend moving out of state and breaking up with him via a text message on his cell phone.

The translation of the Bible into English marked the birth of religious fundamentalism in medieval times, as well as the persecution that often comes with radical adherence in any era, according to a new book, Burning to Read: English Fundamentalism and Its Reformation Opponents.

Many parents wish their kids would spend less time at the computer playing games and messaging and more time on homework, sports, or family activities. One university professor, however, has come up with a combined solution that would use educational role-playing video games in the classroom.

Researchers are encouraged by results of a pilot test of a one-of-a-kind program aimed at preventing HIV infection among runaway adolescents, chiefly by concentrating on troubled teenagers’ strengths, not weaknesses.
Strengths-Based Case Management was originally developed for adults with severe mental illness or drug abuse.

The FBI, Justice Department, and the U.S. attorney’s office are discussing possible civil rights violations revolving around a racially charged schoolyard beating. The case involves the assault of a white student, Justin Barker, at Jena High School by six black schoolmates.

Rap’s critics have been complaining for years, only to watch the music become even more profane—and more popular. But four months after outrage over radio host Don Imus’ sexist and racial comments—when he called the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos” on his broadcast—there’s been intense scrutiny of rap’s negative lyrical imagery.