Safety

By Grace Pastoor

When Ready Htoo tried his first hot dog in America he loved it – until he found out what it was called.

By Radio Rookies series

To mark the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, Radio Rookies, WNYC’s Peabody Award-winning youth journalism program, presents “Our 9/11: Growing Up in The Aftermath,” an hour special hosted by NPR’s Brooke Gladstone.

By Kelly Schueler, Eastview High School Class of 2011

Kayla Meyer was inspired to testify before the Minnesota Legislature last spring and helped get a law passed that requires youth sports coaches to bench players suspected of having a concussion until they are cleared to play again by a medical professional.

By Kimberly Mao, Woodbury High School

Malcolm Peterson, a 21-year-old Century College student, binge drank once when he was 19 and doesn’t remember much from that night. He’s pieced together most of the night from what friends have told him, and he can only remember throwing up three out of five times. He passed out and awoke upstairs at his friend’s house where someone had carried him.

By Angela Zhang

In January 2010, a new online school opened in Minnesota for GLBTQ students.

By Grace Pastoor

When Joe, a 21-year-old high school student from Minneapolis, was shot last November, he was sure someone was trying to kill him. He knows who shot him and is sure it was gang-related, but he doesn’t want the police involved. Joe’s story reflects who’s most likely to get shot in Minnesota.

By Simon Lancaster

Alfred Olson, 16, was visiting an online forum, “Forum Springs,” when an anonymous person told him: “Screw you, you suck.”

By Minnesota teens

One surprise in ThreeSixty Journalism’s essay contest about bullying is how common it is, particularly among middle-school students. In most cases, the bullying is not via cyberspace but in the gym, the cafeteria, the school hallway.

By Dan Baden

You can’t see. Your fireproof suit and protective gear feel heavier than ever on your back. All you can feel is the ground beneath you and your partner’s ankle that you’re holding. Forming a human chain with your three other partners, blinded by darkness, you proceed through a doorway and crawl to reach an unconscious victim.

By Olivia Deans of Eden Prairie Senior High School

Two years ago, Cassie Ruha got a tattoo of an angel on her back after her grandfather’s passing.

By Shanice Brown of Robbinsdale Cooper High School and Maximiliano Ferreira of Columbia Heights High School

It is not uncommon for teens to use guns in video games or see shootings on TV or the movies. However, those images can blur the line between fantasy and a horrible reality.

By Jessica Langevin and Edwin Flowers

The news is constantly filled with stories of shootings, drug overdoses and other tragedies involving teens.

By Abby Grosse of Mounds View High School

The concept of health goes a lot deeper than how many fruits and vegetables a person eats each day.

By Ty Heimerl

Every time Carter Falah, 17, gets into a car, he starts to text. The Edison High School student said that on average he sends up to five texts while driving.

By Simon Lancaster

At sundown on April 16, a chilly Friday night in Minneapolis, 13-year-old Qa’id Walter’s feelings on homelessness were rather lighthearted. “Homelessness doesn’t seem so bad,” he said. “It sounds kinda easy and ya know, maybe a little fun.”

By Ty Heimerl

One day, my older brother Joe was doing the one thing that annoyed me the most: he was taking my Pokemon cards from my deck. I warned him that I was going to call the police on him if he didn’t return every last card to my deck that he had taken. Being the stubborn older brother that he was, he took his chances and kept taking cards from me. With the tears gathering in my eyes, I grabbed the phone, and began to dial the number.

By Elise Purkapile

When a 17-year-old Carolyn Phillips, now 46, of Minneapolis, brought her new 19-year-old boyfriend, Rick, to meet her parents, he was charming and sweet. Carolyn’s mom was especially charmed by Rick. So when he started being abusive they were on his side.

“He would even take my mom out to breakfast every Saturday,” Carolyn said.

After about six months of dating, Rick started to get abusive. He didn’t start out hitting Carolyn. He punched walls and threw things and told Carolyn this was what she would get if she didn’t do exactly what he wanted.