NEW YORK — A New York City middle school student has been arrested for doodling on her desk with a marker.

Twelve-year-old Alexa Gonzalez scribbled "Lex was here 2/1/10" on her desk Monday. She also wrote "I love my friends Abby and Faith." The girl says the doodles could have been erased, according to the Daily News.

Moraima Tamacho says her daughter was released several hours after she was taken in handcuffs to a police station.

Education department spokesman David Cantor said the incident shouldn't have happened, and that common sense should prevail.

For the complete story, please visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584933,00.html » Read More

Everybody goes online, everybody has a cell phone, and kids hate blogging and Twitter, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

The findings show that the Internet isn't just prevalent in our lives, it is our lives. Ninety-three percent of teens ages 12 to 17 go online, 75% of them own a cell phone, and 66% say they text. In fact, 58% of 12-year-olds now have mobiles, compared to 18% just five years ago. Sixty-two percent use the Internet to access information on news and politics, and some teens are even using the Internet as a guardian: 17% say they go online to research information about drug use, sexual health, and other topics that are awkward to talk about with real people.

Social networking is up to 73% of "wired" teens, or those who use the Internet often, compared to the 55% of teens who used the sites just three years ago. However, blogging is down, with only 14% of wired teens saying they blog, compared to 28% three years ago. Commenting on blogs is also down to 52%, from 76% in 2006. And while Twitter may be hot with the older crowd, only 8% of teens ages 12 to 17 say they use the microblogging service. The highest percentage of teens on Twitter is 13% of high school girls ages 14 to 17, but compared to the one-third of adults ages 18 to 29 who update or read a microblogging service, the numbers are low.

For the full article, visit http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/zachary-wilson/and-how/pew-survey-finds-increase-social-media-internet-time-decrese-blogging-te » Read More

BUFFALO — St. Gerard's was where her grandparents and parents were married, where she was baptized and wore the white dress, shoes and veil of First Communion. Years later, she can still hear the three great bells, still see the ceiling fresco of Mary crowned Queen of Heaven. Sharon Wilbur took those memories of St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church with her when she moved decades ago to suburban Atlanta, where such a church exists only in pictures. Now, two years after it closed, her old church could be following her south.

Instead of building a neoclassical church, Wilbur's growing parish wants to buy classical-style St. Gerard's, take it apart and ship it 900 miles from Buffalo's depopulated east side to Norcross, Ga., for reassembly at Mary Our Queen parish. The parish has the endorsement of the Catholic archdiocese of Atlanta, the diocese of Buffalo and St. Gerard's former parishioners. All it needs is an additional $10 million.

Transplanting an 800-seat, century-old basilica would be an exceptional solution to an increasingly common problem: what to do about the growing inventory of closed churches across the Northeast and Midwest.

In recent decades, thousands of American churches — no one, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has exact numbers — have closed. Some have been bought by other congregations. Others have found new lives as performance spaces, catering halls, art galleries, restaurants, homes and, in Cincinnati, an Urban Outfitters retail store. But a range of factors — including the unusual size and shape of churches, and restrictions sellers often impose on their reuse (no alcohol sales, no astrology, etc.) — limit the number that find an afterlife.

For the full article, visit http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-02-03-closing-churches_N.htm » Read More

Sex education classes that focus on encouraging children to remain abstinent can persuade a significant proportion to delay sexual activity, researchers reported Monday in a landmark study that could have major implications for U.S. efforts to protect young people against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Only about a third of sixth- and seventh-graders who completed an abstinence-focused program started having sex within the next two years, researchers found. Nearly half of the students who attended other classes, including ones that combined information about abstinence and contraception, became sexually active.

The findings are the first clear evidence that an abstinence program could work.

"I think we've written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence," said John B. Jemmott III, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who led the federally funded study. "Our study shows this could be one approach that could be used."

The research, published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, comes amid intense debate over how to reduce sexual activity, pregnancies, births and sexually transmitted diseases among children and teenagers. After falling for more than a decade, the numbers of births, pregnancies and STDs among U.S. teens have begun increasing.

For the full article, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102628.html?hpid=topnews » Read More

If you thought only men engage in fist fights, you'd be wrong.

CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson reported there aren't any statistics yet, but experts say there's a growing problem with teenage girls letting disputes with one another turn violent.

Increasingly, Johnson reported, girl fights are being recorded and posted on the Internet, which can make the problem even worse.

A video popped up on YouTube more than a week ago that showed two teenage girls in a violent fist fight -- with two adults allegedly watching -- and another minor videotaping the entire thing. The fight took place in Baton Rouge, La.

Days later, in Lowell, Mass., local authorities discovered similar videos online.

Gerry Leone, the district attorney of Middlesex, Mass., told CBS News, "We found three different videos posted to YouTube, and it was female-on-female violence, where young females were fighting in a very violent way, and being exhorted to do so by friends who were both boys and girls."

Leone says local educators report about 80 percent of school fights are now girl against girl, a trend he says is fueled, in part, by the Internet.

For the full article at CBSNews, visit http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/02/earlyshow/main6165570.shtml » Read More

By Aisha Sultan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/25/2010

Emily Tedford, 13, is having dinner with her parents at a Brazilian restaurant, and 20 of her closest friends know she has ordered the grilled pineapple and banana.

It’s just one of hundreds of text messages she’ll send tonight.

Emily, an A student in St. Charles, sends nearly 20,000 texts a month, as she has for the last two years since she got her phone. She is one of the übertexters, with the phone pad chronically attached to her thumbs.

Her parents, Paul and Rebecca Tedford, aren’t too concerned. They periodically monitor the texts on her phone to make sure it’s typical teenage chatter. If they find something inappropriate (such as when she posted questionable song lyrics on Facebook), they make her remove the post and issue a public apology. (They even had her write a report about the origin of said lyrics.) Of course, they subscribe to an unlimited texting phone plan.

They figure that even while sending more than 600 texts a day, Emily still keeps up with school, plays the drums and runs track. She clearly has plenty of friends, and a few of them also rack up more than 15,000 texts a month.

For the full article, visit http://gtrconsulting.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/can-texting-by-teens-reach-a-danger-level/ » Read More

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- A computerized scale can help overweight kids lose weight by showing them how rapidly they eat, researchers have found.

The scale, known as the Mandometer device, was developed at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. It provides real-time feedback to show people their eating rate during mealtimes and compares their actual rate to an ideal rate. The goal is to teach people who are overweight how to eat more slowly and, in doing so, to eat less.

Researchers in the United Kingdom tested the device by randomly assigning 106 obese youths, 9 to 17 years old, to either a group that used the device or a group that did not use it. All participants were encouraged to exercise at least 60 minutes a day and eat a balanced diet.

After 12 months, those who were using the device had a lower body fat score and lower body mass index (a measurement of weight in relation to height) compared with those who were not using the device. Users of the device also consumed smaller portion sizes and ate more slowly than the others. A follow-up six months later showed that the improvements had been maintained, according to a report on the study, published online Jan. 6 in BMJ.

"Mandometer therapy, focusing on eating speed and meal size, seems to be a useful addition to the rather sparse options available for treating adolescent obesity effectively without recourse to pharmacotherapy," the researchers wrote. They acknowledged that the therapy requires more study but said that "retraining eating behavior and reinforcing feelings of satiety … does seem to improve weight loss in obese adolescents."

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more on weight loss and dieting at - http://health.nih.gov/topic/WeightLossDieting » Read More

For generations, people have been making New Year's resolutions on the first day of the year, and studies show that close to 80 percent of those well-intended folks give up by Valentine's Day. Children also make resolutions and some have a few suggestions for their mom and dad.

"I try to get along with my brothers and be a happy little family and to like, eat healthy," says 13-year-old Abbey. "Stop eating the cocoa puffs and the kool-aid, you know, just do that. And it never works."

The problem with New Year's resolutions is that they almost never work.

"I had the basic, typical diet, lose weight, dieting thing, but that never stuck," says Jessye, 15.

"The longest one I ever had was probably a month," says William, 16, who has what may be the most common and most commonly unsuccessful resolution, "Start working out more. I wrestle, so I actually really need to start doing it."

Angelique, 13, has the same resolution year after year, with little success. "I've got one older sister and two younger sisters and we do not get along at all," she says. "So every year I always try to get nice to them and just be kinder, but it never ends up working out."

We all start the year with such good intentions. But there is a long downhill road paved with good intentions. Even so, most people feel they should at least make an effort.

For the full article, visit http://www.connectwithkids.com/tipsheet/2009/470_dec30/thisweek/091230_resolve.shtml » Read More

FLORIDA 51, CINCINNATI 24

At Friday night's Sugar Bowl, Tim Tebow had his own webcam and a bible on his side, which may be why his performance was the sweetest in the game's history.

Tebow threw for a career-high 482 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for another 51 yards and a score. With his No. 5 team, the Florida Gators, Tebow decimated No. 4 Cincinnati Bearcats 51-24.

"This has been the best four years of my life," Tebow said. "We wanted to end it on a good note."

That's an understatement - Tebow finished with 533 total yards, which is more than anyone in the history of the Bowl Championship Series. Texas' Vince Young had previously set the record with 467 yards in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.

Tebow, who is known for touting bible verses during football games, tore through the Louisiana Superdome with "Ephesians 2: 8-10" printed beneath his eyes. The reference suggests that, despite his team's win, Tebow will not be boasting anytime soon.

The King James Version (KJV) of Ephesians 2:8-10 reads: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Read the full article at: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2010/01/02/2010-01-02_tim_tebow_cam_florida_gator_ends_sugar_bowl_2010_on_biblical_note_with_ephesians.html#ixzz0bufqcP7d » Read More

Nearly one-sixth of teens who own cell phones have received nude or nearly nude images via text message from someone they know, according to a new survey on "sexting" from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The national telephone survey confirms parent and teacher worries that young people are using cell phones to send out and receive sexually explicit images of themselves and of romantic partners.

The 800-person survey, released Tuesday by the nonprofit research group, found 15 percent of cell-phone-owning teens ages 12 to 17 had received nude or nearly nude photos by phone. Four percent of the teens said they had sent out sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves.

Older teens were more likely to send sexual images through text messages than younger teens. Four percent of 12-year-olds reported sending sexually suggestive images by text message, while 8 percent of 17-year-olds reported texting nude or partially nude photos.

The Pew survey suggests teens who pay their own cell phone bills and who have unlimited text messaging plans are more likely to engage in sexting than those who use phones owned by their parents or have restrictions placed on how frequently they can text.

For the full article from CNN, visit » Read More