Youth Radio - Best Of
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My Dad's Perspective On Violence In My Neighborhood
By Jaylyn Burns Ive been thinking a lot about the violence that is happening in my neighborhood and Oakland as a whole. It seems that I hear about more people dying everyday and the perpetrators are becoming more bold with their violence. There seem to be no boundaries-- people are getting shot in their own homes. A few weeks ago my own father was almost killed in front of our house when he was caught in the middle of a gun fight on his way to the store. The fact that he wasnt the target but...
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Holding A Job And Maintaining A High School Education
This piece was produced byAcces Sacramento.By Che VangHiram Johnson Student, age 18No complaining, no whining, and no excuses, is a motto Hiram w. Johnson High Schools JROTC instructor, Sergeant Rost, always tells his students to follow. Many high school students think that school is hard enough for them, but that is not the case when they are employed and have to go to school at the same time. According to a school wide survey, roughly 30% of high school students are employed and are still...
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Sending Messages: Voices From Juvenile Detention
As many stories as there are about juvenile detention centers, it's rare to actually hear from the young people who currently live in them. Sending Messages, a podcast produced by Spy Hop, is changing that. Since 2012, Spy Hop has worked with youth in secure-care facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah to create half-an-hour-long shows on themes ranging from loyalty to childhood. Each episode is a variety of interviews, stories, and poetry. We've posted one of their episodes titled, When I Get...
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Schools In L.A. Ban "Willful Defiance" Suspensions
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) made headlines this week by prohibiting schools from suspending students for willful defiance. If you aren't following every twist and turn of the debate in Calif. over school discipline, you might be thinking, what's the big deal? After all, we're talking about one tiny line-item in the CA education code. Lets break it down. If a teacher or administrator wants to suspend a student from school, they need to cite a reason for the suspension, such as...
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Review: The Revolutionary Optimists
By Joi Morgan I recently saw a screening of the documentary film, The Revolutionary Optimists. The movie was made by local filmmaker Nicole Newnham. The film was about a group of children that called themselves the Dakabuko (Daredevils), who grew up in the slums of Kolkata, India. Throughout the film the kids step out of their comfort zone to change their community. They fight against poverty and the traditional norms of their culture. The films overall message is to not let your fate...
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LA Times Op-Ed: Standards Needed for Solitary Confinement
In California, solitary confinement as a juvenile could mean being put away for a couple of hours, a couple of days, or even weeks. Thats because, according to an editorial published by the Los Angeles Editorial Board this weekend, there is no standard definition of how confinement is practiced in detention centers.Solitary confinement, sometimes called temporary isolation is a widely used technique to protect violent or disruptive inmates from each other and from staff. But without a...
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Pregnancy Prevention Via Text?
By: Chantelle WilliamsEver wonder what its like to own a giggling, spitting, peeing bundle of joy? Well now you can use your phone to find out.DoSomething.Org has launched a campaign that uses text messages as a way to educate young people about what its like to be a parent. The way it works is that you enter your cell phone number or a friends, to the website. Then you receive periodic text messages representing a virtual baby. Youll get texts for one day, and the parents will receive about...
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New Drinking Laws Prompt Civic Action By College Students
This story originally aired on Minnesota Public Radio. College students in central Minnesota are learning a few life lessons on how government works. The subject at hand -- three new ordinances designed to control underage drinking in the city of St. Joseph. Students were caught off guard by the new rules and now they're getting more active in city lawmaking. Will Moore, a graduating senior at St. John's University, has the latest installment in our Young Reporters series. By Will Moore St....
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Covering Pop Hits On YouTube Is Starting To Pay...
A version of this story aired on NPR's Morning Edition. By Noah Nelson, Turnstyle News The online video sharing site YouTube is this generation's MTV. Artists like Gotye and Psy have found mainstream success when their videos go viral. Yet the site is dominated by amateurs covering other peoples songs -- from toddlers chirping The Beatles to teens tackling Led Zeppelin. Between those two extremes is an alternative universe of aspiring professional musicians who use their versions of cover...
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Youth Radio Podcast: A High School's Hard Lesson
Today, on the Youth Radio podcast, high school students in Oakland team up with the citys safety agencies to set up an elaborate staged drunk driving accident on the high schools campus. But when a violent death is staged to teach a lesson, can it do more harm than good to teenagers? Adobe Flash Player is not installed. Please download and install it to listen to audio. AudioPlayer.embed("-Youth-Radio-Podcast:-A-High-Schools-Hard-Lesson", {soundFile:...
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Youth Radio Asks: What Traits Came Straight From Mom?
In preparation for Mother's Day, we asked young people what traits they picked up from their moms over the years -- intentionally, or unintentionally. Sophie Varon: Im emotional like my mom and I never buy anything at full price. Sunday Simon: My mom and I have the same handwriting. We both write super fast so no one can understand it. Senay Alkebu-Lan: My human compassion. I care about people like my mom does. Jahlil Jackson: I get my smile from my mom. Shes my best friend. Donisha Dansby:...
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Minneapolis Teen Bucks Family's Trend Of Teen Pregnancy
Originally aired on Minnesota Public Radio.Preserving customs is important in many families and many parents encourage their children to carry on established traditions. But not all traditions need to be repeated. In this installment of MPR's Young Reporters Series, Jasmyn Taylor tells us how she's bucking the trend in her family -- by not becoming a teenage mother. By Jasmyn Taylor Going back at least three generations, nearly every woman in my family was a teen mother. My grandmother,...
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Partnering Up With Your Parents To Launch A Business?
It looks like moving home to your parents house after college may not be a dead-end. It may even jump-start your career. You just have to put up with your dad... being your boss.Youth unemployment is dismal around the world (except in Germany) and predicted to flat-line before it goes down. Its highest for young people in Spain and Greece, where over 50 percent of young people are unemployed.In America, college grads, frustrated with the labor market, are starting franchises in partnership...
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Statutory Rape Laws: For Better Or For Worse?
By Chantell Williams There is plenty of gray area surrounding statutory rape, as is evident in the case of Torrington, Connecticut, where two 18-year-old football players are being prosecuted for having consensual sex with two 13-year-old girls. In this interview with Professor Frank Zimring of UC Berkeley's Law School, Youth Radios Chantell Williams explores the confusion around statutory rape policies. Listen to the story here: Adobe Flash Player is not installed. Please download and...
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Shine: Stories Of Bay Area Young People And Mental Health
Shine is a documentary film that follows three young adults as they work to overcome mental health challenges like depression and PTSD.It was created by Peers Envisioning and Engaging in Recovery Services (PEERS)-- an Oakland-based non-profit focused on mental health advocacy.Check out the condensed version of the film below, and watch the whole thing here.
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TED Talks Education: Tonight On PBS
Truthfully, what happens is, as children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads. And slightly to one side, said Sir Ken Robinson in his 2006 TED Talk about how American education kills creativity. The talk garnered over 16 million views online.Tonight, Robinson will join Bill Gates, Rita Pierson, Geoffrey Canada and other thought leaders as part of TEDs television debut -- an hour-long special about ideas in education. TED Talks...
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The High Price Of Teen Work: Teens pitch in to boost...
This piece was originally published on Boyle Heights Beat.By Jennifer LamA typical school night for most teens may be made up of sports practice, dinner, homework and maybe a study session. But school nights dont look like this for 16-year-old Theodore Roosevelt High School student Guadalupe Castro. Ever since he was ten, hes had a job cleaning floors and scrubbing toilets as a janitor working night shifts.After a long day at school, tennis and marching band practice, Castro gets home at...
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Teens Meeting Online: A Safety Guide For Long Beach Youth
This piece was originally published on Voicewaves.By VoiceWaves Youth Reporters Deonna Anderson Nayobi Maldonado-OchoaThe first time Long Beach City College student Ben Fernandez met up with someone that he met online, he lost his virginity.We met at his place and we went to his basement, Fernandez said. I was scared that he was going to kill me.While Bens story is jarring, many young people today are increasingly using social media and online sites as a primary means to meet and date. There...
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Jobstacles - Cutting And Styling For A Living
By Chaz Hubbard, Denise Tejada and Jenny BolarioWhenHeather Collins graduated from high school, she tried out a couple of different jobs, but she always kind of dreampt of working as a hair stylist. Then, when the economy slumped, Collins pursued that dream. Even when the economy is doing bad, said Collins, people still want to look and feel good about themselves. Find out how what she loves about cutting hair, and how she broke into the field.
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Youth Radio Podcast: Immigration (Continued)
Today on the Youth Radio podcast, a growing project at the University of California at Berkeley helping undocumented students apply for legal status. Also a group of fourth graders are getting a crash course in immigration reform, after their classmate was deported.
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Young Immigrants Torn: Helping Themselves, Worried For...
(Photo:Student Carlos Hernandez-Martinez in the Dream Resource Center, part of the Undocumented Student Program at UC Berkeley. Credit: Luis Flores / YOUTHRADIO.)Originally aired on KALW-FM and Stitcher Radio.By Luis FloresTucked away in the student center at University of California Berkeley, the Undocumented Student Program is designed to be a national model. It makes college possible for students without legal status. Meng So runs the program. He's totally passionate about the work, and...
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Gap Widens Between Young Democrats And Young Republicans
Millennials in the U.S. are more politically divided than they have ever been in the past, according to a newly released study from the Harvard Institute of Politics. Views on the President Numbers show that the overall approval rate of Mr. Obama for 18 - 29 year-olds hasnt changed much in the past year. But according to the study, the gap between Democrats and Republicans who approve of the President has widened. Eighty-five percent of 18 - 29 year-old Democrats approve of Obamas job...
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Live Chat: Connecting Youth to Job Pathways
By Lauren BenichouNearly 200 young people from all over the country converged online this week to talk about youth access to jobs, or the lack thereof. In the US, teen employment is near historic lows, yet companies report jobs going unfilled because they cant find qualified workers. Thursdays live chat was hosted by the New Options Project Youth Advisers and joined by career counselors and administrators from youth programs, responding to many thoughtful questions and comments from...
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Jobstacles - Ten Year Path To Tesla And a Job Making...
By Chaz Hubbard, Denise Tejada and Jenny BolarioWhat's the path to that dream job? How does one job lead to another? Youth Radio finds out in our seriesJobstacles. Joel Melero has always been into automobiles, from detailing to fixing engines, but even he was surprised that his passion for cars led him to a career on the assembly line at one of the nation's leading electric car manufacturers, Tesla Motors. Melero says that it took him 10 years to figure out what he wanted to do. If you want...
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Youth Radio Podcast: Is the Suspension Method Failing...
This week on the Youth Radio podcast, a study from Johns Hopkins University may show that a common method for reforming students is really holding them back. Youth Radio reporter Robyn Gee discusses that study, and her profile of a teacher who did everything she could to keep her elementary school students from being kicked out.
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Placing More Value On Creating Technology Instead of...
The Following aired on KQED-FM. By. Christina SoIm going to pick on you a lot. That was the first thing my supervisor Kurt said to me when I joined the App Lab. Its a department at Youth Radio that teaches young people how to write computer code. Kurt explained that as a female who was interested in programming, I would be treated as a unique specimen in the male-dominated world of tech. He said he not only wanted me to be able to handle the pressure, but to be better than the competition. I...
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Labeled And Lost: A Teacher's Reflection
By Wesley PepperI once spent a week in a special ed classroom as a student. I loved it because I was finally in a class with my best friend (who had been labeled special ed because his English wasnt perfect yet.)Even he said, You dont belong here. He was right. It was a clerical error, and administrators soon realized they needed to move me, and before I knew it I was back in classes full of students I had been around for my whole academic career. Nap time was over.But my friend didnt belong...
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Turns Out Everyone Has Had A Bad First Day
First days on the job are the worst. NPR published a blog post today about a news anchor whose first (and last) day was marred by his potty mouth. I wont repeat exactly what he said, you can watch the video for that below. One of the best things about NPRs blog post is the comment stream. People wrote in about all sorts of terrible mishaps on day one of a new job. Ive grabbed some of the best stories and pasted them below. Have you had any bad first days that top these? Nanette Nelson an...
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Young, Black and Addicted to Fast Food
This piece was originally published on Richmond Pulse.By Sean ShaversEditors Note: A recent study from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) shows that American youth are still eating too much fast food, and that the young adult African American population is of particular concern when it comes to obesity rates. The author of the following commentary, Sean Shavers, 21, lives in West Oakland.Now obesity isnt an issue for me Im slim. But eating fast food has always been a part of my life. At an...
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Charter Schools Vs. Public Schools
The following aired on KCBS. By: Nick MillerMy dad thought that putting me in a small charter school would reduce my distractions and help me concentrate. And it did. But by the time I leave school each day, my energy level is low and my morale is even lower. Everyday when I enter my first period class, I see the policies and rules sign plastered on my teacher's door. No excuses when you're late, and profanity results in a an automatic suspension. I do agree that these rules serve a purpose....
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Chess changed my life
The following aired on KCBS. By:Chris Alsobrook Archie, he had a lot of wisdom. Most days he could be found reading or playing chess.I used to hit him up to play, but hed tell me, you probably know how to play chess, but you dont play chess, and he was right. Lesson one -- look at chess as a metaphor for life. Archie told me to think of all the people around me as chess pieces, and I am the king, the one piece that needs to be left standing at the end of the day. There were other lessons. I...
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The Meaning Of A Name
The following aired on KCBS. By: Sheila BlandonI started living a double life on my very first day of kindergarten. About half of the students were native Spanish speakers, and during recess Latinos were a target for bullies. The words beaner, wetback and immigrant were everyday taunts. Even kids who were born here were told to go back where they came from. But I was an exception, I didnt have a common Latina name like Ana or Maria. When my teacher first called me Sheel-ah, I didnt correct...
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Impressive College Application, But At What Cost?
The following aired on KCBS. By: Kendrick CalkinsTo run track, I'll be giving up two important things. My job, but more importantly, my daily interactions with my family. I'll end up being a ghost in my own house. Sweaty and tired from the day's track practice, I walk into my house, wanting so bad for the smell of dinner to hit my nose, and my family to come usher me inside. But it's already eight o'clock and my family are early birds. So I'm greeted only by my father's loud snoring, and...
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The Meaning Of A Name
The following aired on KQED-FM. By: Sheila Blandon I started living a double life on my very first day of kindergarten. I remember crying even before I walked into the classroom. Sitting on the carpet surrounded by kids I didn't know, my teacher took attendance. Sheila Blandon, she called out. I raised my hand and said here. At home my family called me Chay-La Blandon, spoke in Spanish and ate Nicaraguan food, but for the next 13 years I hid Chay-la. Throughout the '90s, there was an...
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Far More Than Just A Paycheck
The following aired on KCBS. By: Jamani WilliamsThe way I was brought up -- being employed is a rite of passage. It demonstrates that you can handle responsibility, and to me, it also gives you the right to call yourself a man. One of my really good friends is going on to college and a family member gave a speech saying my friend can call himself a man because he took care of his family, graduated from high school, and had a job. Im up next to graduate, so that speech soaked into my...
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Breaking Up With Technology
The following aired on KCBS. By: Joshua ClaytonI was the kind of kid that could play video games and stay on the web all day. My parents liked that I was handy with gadgets. But no one realized I was becoming a slave to technology. When my aunt moved out of our house she took her computer with her. I felt like I was going crazy, especially when I needed a piece of information. Every five minutes I had to ask my grandma how to spell a word. Finally she said, Just go get the dictionary boy! I...
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Lack Of Diversity In My Classroom
The following aired on KCBS. By: Donisha DansbyOn the surface my high school is a really diverse place, but on the inside...That's not always the case. My high school has roughly 3600 students, broken up into smaller academies. Mine is called Community Partnership Academy, or CPA. But students sometimes joke that it should be called Colored People Academy because its predominantly black. I learned that the reason for creating smalls schools was to close the achievement gap between whites and...
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Upgrading My Phone Without Hurting My Wallet
The following aired on KCBS. By: Malchi SegersAt only $35, my phone bill is pretty cheap. But in exchange, I get a terrible phone that barely works! Yet my story is extremely common among young people. Whats up with that? Just how bad is my phone? you ask. Well, often when it turns on, it gets stuck on the boot up screen forever, and then theres no way to get it on correctly unless you take the battery out. Its awful but the best phones are expensive, and their plans are too. Some companies...
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I Chopped My Hair Because It Was Beautiful
The following aired on KCBS.By: Rayana GodfreyFor Beyonce, it's her voice. For Michelle Obama, it's her arms. But for me, my hair was my glory.That's what my grandmother used to tell me. It was as if, tangled in every strand of my hair was a little piece of me. From my personality, to my confidence. And cutting it would make it disappear. I was sick and tired of my hair being my identifier.After weeks of going back and forth with myself and my family, I finally gained the courage to make the...
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Getting Beyond My Own Racial Stereotypes
The following aired on KCBS. By: Jaylyn BurnsAs a young black woman, I feel like some people look at me and assume I'm poor. But on the other hand, I subconsciously think things too. Recently, I went on a retreat for low income teens who had overcome major obstacles in life and still are succeeding in school. There was a mixture of Asians, Latinos and blacks, but what surprised me was the group of white kids. Being African American, I know my history. In America white people have always had...
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Tattoos Tell Teen's Life Story
The following aired on KCBS. By: Davina La'ShayMy tattoos are like a book. You can read my life story on each page of my skin, but my book isn't over yet. I have 20 tattoos and counting. Every single tattoo I have is able to be broken down and explained. The tattoo on my left arm says I'm swimming towards success because I refuse to drown in failure. I came up with this quote when I wasn't enrolled in school. I didn't want to be a high school drop out and this quote motivated me to get back...
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Foster Kid Gets Toes Wet As Parent
Having been in foster care, I'm use to taking care of my self, without the help of parents. But now I know what is like to foster somebody else.Living in foster home, you don't know who's going to move in next. When a four month old baby moved in, I wanted to stay in my room. I couldn't stand all the noise.But our foster mom works every day and can't take the baby with her. And my foster brother left me alone with her as soon as I got home from school.I remember my grandmother telling me...
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Falling In Love With The Rennaissance
The following aired on KCBS. By: Kayla SeayThere's part of me that lives in 2012 and there's another part of me that lives in the year 1458. In my mind, the Renaissance era was about celebration, gathering, and welcoming strangers. These aren't things i see in my life every day. People who lived during the Renaissance celebrated the beginning of each new season. There was a culture of art and music that you could see in the streets. Now, the only time I celebrate a season is during...
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Clocked In: How Teens Benefit From Retirement Tidal Wave
By: Jaylyn Burns This story aired on Marketplace 8/30/12. Northern California utility giant Pacific Gas Electric could lose nearly have of their entire workforce in the next five years. They call the wave of grey haired retirees The Silver Tsunami, and since cutting the power isn't an option, PGE is relying on a program calledPowerPathwayto train a new generation of utility workers.At a pole climbing yard in Oakland, California, Ray Atkinson is pretty much training his replacement....
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PTSD, Teens and the Brain
Also aired on NPR's All Things Considered on August 17, 2012.On the night of Stephanie Romeros twenty-third birthday, she and her friend were attacked by a stranger. My friend went outside to have a cigarette and there was this guy he came out he was harassing us, Romero said. Then the man hit her and her friend. She was shocked. It was a total nightmare, Romero said. I think about it all the time. Ive never gone through anything like that. After the attack, Romeros friends and family...
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America is Pre-Post Racial
The following aired on KCBS. By: Maya GodfreyThe best thing about being on the radio is that you have no idea what I look like. Ideally, that wouldnt matter anyway in a post-racial society. I remember waiting for my parents at the end of a middle school dance. I had just met a girl from another school. We were talking about what to wear to the next dance when she randomly asked, Youre mixed right? I told her that I was African American, not mixed. Her response was one Id heard too many times...
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Foster Youth Debates Emancipation
This piece originally aired on KALW.4,000 foster youth emancipate each year in California. Many of them have no place to go. But a new law that went into effect this year aims to help them transition to adulthood. AB12 allows foster youth to stay in state care until theyre 20 years old. They get financial support, and help finding housing and scholarships for college. They also have to check in with a social worker, and have regular court dates. Advocates hope the law will reduce the chances...
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Trayvon Martin Killing Sends Shock Waves Through...
Since the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, racial profiling has been the topic of conversations from the floor of Congress to dinner tables across the county, particularly in regards to the safety of young black men.Gerald Gray, a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker whos spent much of his career working with victims of torture, sat down with his son Jabari, an employee of Youth Radio, to discuss trauma he feels as the father of a biracial son who has been repeatedly...
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Teaching In The Young Lion’s Lair
The following originally aired on KCBS By: Pendarvis Harshaw The phrase I don't give an F-Bomb resonates throughout high school hallways every day, which begs the question: how do you get students to actually give a flying F-bomb? Earlier this year I worked as an educator in the Oakland schools, in a pilot program designed to prevent young black men from dropping out. My students, all freshmen in high school, were in my class because of discipline issues, low attendance, or academic...
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The Brand Of Me
The following originally aired on KCBS By: Brittany AustinIn my wallet I keep a fortune I got from a cookie that says, Your Dreams Will Become Reality. Every time I open my wallet I see my future: having the most popular radio show in the country, performing my poetry in Madison Square Garden in front of millions of people and more. But I also see the hard work its going to take to get there. Im constantly putting my spin on things, late night tweeting, and passing out business cards. In my...
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Learning American Culture In The Fast Food Lane
The following was originally broadcast on 11/12/11, WABE-FM AtlantaBy: Aaron Choi I immigrated to the United States from South Korea when I was twelve years old. My first fast food experience was a few days after I arrived. I strolled into a local Burger King to try out their famous burgers. After a short glance at the menu, I ordered what looked to be the most American meal the store had to offer: the number six combo. A rich steakhouse burger with fries and a large coke. Before approaching...
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Teen Fathers Count Too
The following originally aired on KCBS.By: Bianca Brooks When my best friend told me his girlfriend was pregnant I was shocked. For the first time my sympathy was not for a teen mom who had to bear a child, but for the young father who had to help raise it. With all the trendy television shows on teen mothers, its not uncommon for their male costars to fade to black. We read statistics showing climbing rates of teen pregnancy, and because the male is not pregnant we figure hes not included....
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Scott Olsen Injury Becomes Rallying Point For Oakland...
In Oakland, California last night, thousands of residents gathered in front of City Hall to plan for a general strike, in the wake of violent clashes between police and Occupy Oakland protesters earlier in the week. Many were also there for a vigil for Scott Olsen, a former Marine taking part in the protests who was wounded on Tuesday night. Olsen has become a symbol for protesters, drawing attention to excessive force used by the police department, and sparking criticism of the mayors...
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One Girl's Take On Disability History Week
Born with a disability, I know how hard it can be to go to school every day, feeling different.Since I was one of only a few students to have a physical disability in Elementary and Middle School I didnt have many friends to turn to when I was a victim of bullying.As I was growing up, my classmates were afraid to be friends with me because they thought my disability was contagious. After graduating, I thought about many of the friendships I missed out on and realized I wanted to break down...
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Business School View of Occupy Wall Street
Not too long ago I did an exercise in a small business class where students talked with each other about companies that had a negative image. A friend of mine mentioned that Goldman Sachs had a bad reputation and another classmate responded, Really, you think so? I think they're one of the best banks on Wall Street.The situation summed up the divide I see among business school students. One group is driven entirely by success and the other deeply believes that businesses have a social...
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Eating Healthy In the Workplace
The following originally aired on KCBS.By: Tierra Walls Does your job affect what you eat? Because mine has. In high school, I played three sports for five months straight every year. I made sure that I packed a sandwich, fruit, and water for after school. As senior year arrived, I started to change. I wasnt into sports as I was before. I needed to save money for college so I got a job at Kentucky Fried Chicken, joining the 21 percent of all food beverage workers were between the ages of 16...
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Different Opinions On Interracial Dating
The following originally aired on KCBS.By: Meisha Sanders Not everyone likes to date outside their race, but race doesnt matter to me. When I asked my dad what he would do if I dated outside my race he told me, I dont rock like that. That made me question who I should or shouldnt bring home. He doesnt want someone elses family to be judgmental towards me. But race isnt a factor to me when I date. When I meet someone I just look at their personality traits. If a guy has a sense of humor and...
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Seeing The Down Side Of American Diet
This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C. By Lalaram Guyadin I remember the first time the cafeteria server put a sealed plastic cup on my tray. I asked my friends what it was. A fruit cup, they said, laughing. I had never seen anything like it: grapes, peaches, pineapple and pears cut into small squares and put into a cup, weeks or months before being eaten. They looked nothing like the original fruit. And when I tasted it, I realized just how...
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College Bound But Financially Illiterate
The following originally aired on KCBS. By Maya Cueva This Sunday I am heading to Europe with four of my best friends. And while in school, my friends and I have taken language courses to prepare, Ive been thinking that a lesson on how to handle our cash may have been more useful. In high school I took an Economics class for a semester and can now recite: the concept of supply and demand, how to calculate GDP, and how to maximize opportunity cost. But in that class we spent only two days...
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College Bound But Financially Illiterate
The following originally aired on KQED-FM.This Sunday I am heading to Europe with four of my best friends. In order to make sure we see and do everything under the Tuscan sun, we have to carefully budget the whole trip. And while in school, my friends and I have taken language courses to prepare, Ive been thinking that a lesson on how to handle our cash may have been more useful.In high school, I took an Economics class for a semester and can now recite the concept of supply and demand, how...
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A Roundtable Discussion on Harmful Lead Exposure
Lead is a naturally occuring metal used in everyday consumer products like toys, accessories, and furniture. When someone is exposed to lead, either through inhaling or absorbing it through the skin, it can poison their necessary organs and affect the nervous system, causing behavior and attention problems, hearing problems, reduced IQ, slowed body growth, and poor brain development. All this definitely can affect ones performance in school. I personally feel lead is super dangerous and if...
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Pet Foster Mother Learns To Let Go
This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C. By Genevieve Ludwig One of my earliest memories is of being woken up by my dad in the wee hours of the morning to be shown a glassy-eyed baby something, staring at me from behind the glass wall of an unused terrarium. As it turned out, one of our many cats had brought in a flying squirrel, and my dad had managed to save it from an untimely demise. We took it outside to our giant oak tree, watched it...
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Teachers Need To Innovate And See Past Students' 'Issues'
This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C. By Calvin Jackson In many D.C. Public Schools classrooms, teachers face a lot of disinterested or uncooperative students. But I can vouch that there's a wealth of hidden talent and intelligence waiting to be tapped -- if the teacher has the right skills. To define those skills, we have to look at professions way outside of education. Imagine being sent to Mbuiru, Kenya, a village river community...
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College Students Reflect On 30 Years Of HIV/AIDS
This story was broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered on 6/3/2011, and wasoriginally published onTurnstyle News.. A lot has changed since the 80s. Or so Im told. I wasnt born until 1991 the same year Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV. Im 19 now, and I cant tell you how many times Ive heard people joke that Magic Johnson discovered the cure to AIDSmoney. Katherine Hood knows the same joke. Shes a senior at UC Berkeley and has grown up knowing about the disease her whole life....
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Striving For Diversity, Living In Separate Societies
This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C. By Roger Wood America has long touted diversity as one of its strengths, and according to a Pew Research Center survey, six in 10 Americans say theyd prefer to live in racially-mixed communities. But diversity may be more of an ideal than a reality. I attend a majority black and Hispanic public high school in D.C. Its a pretty diverse place with kids from the Philippines, China, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and...
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2012 What's The Point Of Worrying?
The following originally aired on KCBS. By Deyantae Newson There is a theory based on the Mayan calendar that the Earth is coming to an end in 2012. There were similar concerns during Y2K. Instead of overreacting and being afraid, we should do what we can to help our Earth in the meantime. When I first heard of these Doomsday theories, I was shocked because I thought Armageddons only occurred in movies. I admit I got a little scared when I heard these theories. Eventually, I realized that if...
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Gender Roles
The following originally aired on KCBS. By Morgan WilsonA boy playing dress-up. A girl playing with toy trucks. Common gender expectations are swapped, but why does this seem so strange to society? When a child asks for a toy that isnt for them, such as a boy wanting a Barbie doll, parents often say no because the toy is gender inappropriate. But they dont realize that theyre denying much more than just a toy. I remember when a friend of my moms criticized my nephew for pushing a stroller...
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Silence Isn’t Enough
The following originally aired on KQED-FM. By: Sayre Quevedo Sitting in class, a friend tapped me on the shoulder and I ignored her, hoping she'd take the time to read the plaque hanging around my neck: Please understand my reason for not speaking today. I am participating in Day of Silence, a national student protest against the silence faced by the LGBTQ community and their allies. About a hundred kids at my school managed to stay silent the whole time while others simply wore the cards in...
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Let's Talk About Getting Tested
The following originally aired on KCBS. By David Villamarina Recently I saw a friend of mine who was furious at a woman for giving him an STD. In his rage, he plotted his violent revenge. Listening to his threats I thought to myself - is it really her fault or his? According to the Center for Disease Control, teens have a higher risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases. So why aren't we preventing them? It seems like every time the conversation of getting tested comes up between two...
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Breaking A Cycle Of Violence
This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C By Beza Mesfin An estimated one in four women in the United States has experienced domestic violence, usually at the hands of a current or former partner. For decades, community leaders have tried to understand what keeps victims trapped in an abusive cycle, and when violence hit home. So have I. I remember the last time it happened. My friends called me outside, and when I got there, I saw them in the car...
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Being A Foster Kid Can Be Tough
The following originally aired on KCBS. By Zenobia West You tell me whenever you get mad at your mom and stepdad that you wish you were in foster care, but If you knew what I know you would think otherwise. See Laurie, I was four years old when the police took me and my brothers away from our home. I remember pulling up to a house with a lady in the doorway but it was too dark to see her face. One of the officers got out and took my brother inside and all I could hear was screaming. I didnt...
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Half Way Out
The following originally aired on KCBS. By Sayre Quevedo I came out to my 5th grade class when I was nine years old and even had a coming out party. But my fathers side of the family doesnt know Im gay. Sometimes, they ask me about girlfriends Ive brought along on family camping trips. I just laugh and say Those girls werent my girlfriends. It wasnt that I trusted a group of fifth graders more than half my family, I just cared less how they reacted. Recently, I wrote an editorial about the...
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Life and Death Merit Badge
The following originally aired on 11/07/10 KCBS.By Ross Andrews I learned about my friends death during a lifesaving class. My friend was telling me about this crazy party hed been to the night before where he performed CPR on a passed out sophomore who later died. It wasnt until he told me that the guys name was Joe that everything clicked. Joe was not only a neighbor, a fellow boy scout, and a teammate, but one of my best friends. The Boy Scout motto is Be Prepared. A scout should never...
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Back To Unschooled
The following originally aired on KCBS and broadcast on KQED-FM. By Sam Fuller While most teenagers are getting back into the rut of school, my alarm clock remains unset. Im unschooled, which is like home schooling, except entirely self directed. I learn what I want to learn, when I want to learn it, and not always in typical ways. The closest Ive ever been to a conventional classroom was spending four days at drivers ed. After the first day of copying answers, hellish boredom, disruptive...
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How to Make College Bound Students Financial Pros
By: Ariel Edwards-Levy The following was broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition on August 26, 2010 When Fahiya Rashid started college at UC Irvine, she thought she knew most of the financial traps to avoid. Chatting at an LA coffee shop, she says her father's experience taught her to watch her spending. When he was in college, he went crazy, says Rashid. He had, like, 18 different credit cards. He took student loans. And now he's almost 50 and he's still paying that money back. And there's not a...
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The Plague of Summer Boredom
The following originally aired August 1, 2010 on KCBS By Maya Cueva Throughout the school year, I sit in stuffy classrooms day dreaming about endless freedom. Yet when summer finally comes around, I often feel plagued by boredom. In past summers, my days would start at noon when I finally got out of bed. Then Id watch pointless TV shows I didnt like. Laziness was my forte, mostly because I was too old for summer camps and wasnt that interested in finding a job. This summer started out very...
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Part Time Protestors
The following originally aired on KCBS. By Kavon JonesEveryone gets upset and riots when a white person kills a black person, but when black on black crime happens in our own neighborhoods, what do we do about it? Black people need to stop being part-time protestors, and start addressing the problems inside our community. There are thousands of Oscar Grants, except too often the killings are black on black violence, but its no different. Picking and choosing which murders to protest wont...
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Police Chief Says Oscar Grant Trial Is Defining Moment...
On New Year's Day in 2009, then-BART Transit officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an unarmed 22-year-old man named Oscar Grant. Following the shooting, the city erupted in multiple angry protests, some of them violent. Today jury instructions are expected in Mehserle's trial, and Oakland is tense once again. So we called Oakland's Police Chief Tony Batts to ask how he expects Oakland to respond... Click here for more multimedia stories about the Oscar Grant case.
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Summer School vs. Online Classes
The following originally aired on KCBS. By: Dawit Gebremedhin I hate waking up. But if I had a choice between going to summer school early in the morning, or taking an online course whenever I wanted, Id choose summer school. Too bad Im not allowed. To get into summer school you have to fail a class completely to be eligible to enroll. Meanwhile, my school counselor told me my chances of getting into free community college classes are unlikely due to state cutbacks. So, he referred me to an...
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Cartoonist Dream
The following was broadcast on WABE-FM, Atlanta. By Daniel Gilstrap When I was about 5 years old, I started drawing. I used to draw characters from my favorite cartoons like Digimon, Gundam, Dexters Laboratory, and even Dragon Ball Z. These were difficult to draw, so I used to ask my uncle to draw them for me. I really wanted to be able to draw like him. Then, in second grade, my friend Lucys dad invited our class for a fieldtrip to see his office - at Cartoon Network Studios! We all went,...
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Senioritis Going Viral
The following originally aired on KCBS. By: Caitlin Grey Being a second semester senior is not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. Part of me expected the Monday after fall semester finals to be completely different like only 4 kids showing up to class, NO HOMEWORK! written in huge letters on the chalkboard, and incessant pizza parties. Instead, I was shocked to learn that nothing had changed. I still find myself doing all my homework and going to all the club meetings I did first...
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Watching Your Health Chip Away
This story originally aired on NPR's Morning Edition, March 24, 2010 President Obama signed the health care overhaul bill into law yesterday. Still, some health organizations want more to be done to provide care to uninsured Americans including the American Dental Association. They opposed the bill because it didn't increase funding for dental services paid by Medicaid. And that, the ADA says, won't help the millions of Americans without dental insurance. Youth Radio's Jennifer Obakhume...
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Haiti Images
As heard on WABE, Atlanta. ByErin BailieMy friends father is a cameraman for a cable news channel. He was sent to Haiti almost immediately after the earthquake hit there. My friend was worried for her fathers safety, knowing how bad things were for everyone there. Within days, the footage he shot was on a special news program. I decided to watch it partly to support my friend. They say seeing is believing and I wholeheartedly agree. The images were powerful, and the fact I knew the person...
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Credit CARD Act: Band Aid Fix to Super Glue Problem?
Ill never forget when I was nine years old. My parents had recently separated and my mom just moved into a new apartment. One of the first nights, I distinctly remember my mom talking in her sleep. You have to have good credit, you need good credit. Im Asha Richardson with a commentary from Youth Radio. The Credit CARD Act effective this week changes everything for the under 21 set. You dont have an income? You dont have a credit card. Your parent refuses to co-sign? You still dont have a...
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No More Dreams of Wall Street
By Lauren Silverman A few years ago I secretly dreamed about working on Wall Street. I used to picture myself in a pinstripe business suit strutting past the Charging Bull before the opening bell. Working there seemed cool. It was like working for the company that makes the blackberry before the iphoneor working for Enron before the bankruptcy. Then the bailouts happened And I changed my mind about Wall Street like that. I remember watching the bailouts and bonuses fiasco from my desk with...
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Musical Parties
As heard on WABE, Atlanta. By Dionne Humphrey Im in the band and the orchestra at my school and Ive noticed some interesting parallels between these groups and our political parties. Like the Republicans and Democrats, theres definitely some tension between the marching band and the orchestra. The marching band is really conservative, like the Republican Party. All band members dress exactly alike. We dont show our personality when it comes to our uniforms. And there is a strict rule about...
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Shades of Identity
As heard on WABE, Atlanta. By Deranda Butler Far too many times have I heard people tell my friend Sara she's pretty for a dark skinned girl. Or how about the many times during black history month when I get the heart cutting remarks about how light skinned people had nothing to worry about during segregation and that I would have been a well-protected house slave, simply because I am a light skinned. How crazy is that being judged so strongly by people of my own race! We love to address...
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"Negro" Has No Place In American Society
Imagine filling out a survey and suddenly seeing a question you find offensive. You cant bear to look at it, but at the same time you have to answer it because its required by law. The picture I just painted is one many blacks will face when taking the 2010 Census. When asked about their race, all blacks are to check a box that reads Black, African-Am., or Negro. Many African-Americans like me have found offense to this n-word being incorporated into the survey. While its not used as much...
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