(Describer) On a dark blue background with light blue strobes, a ring of news images rotates around planet Earth.

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(Describer) Title: Teen Kids News. Created by Albert T. Primo.

Hi, you are watching "Teen Kids News." I'm Lylah. Let's begin with our top story.

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(Describer) Curved screens with the Teen Kids News logo form a turning cylinder. Text: Top Story.

"Freedom of the press"-- it's a term we often hear, and we probably think it just applies to newspapers, magazines, and news programs that are run by adults. But as Alexandra tells us, freedom of the press is a big concern for us students as well. Thomas Jefferson, the man who gave us the Declaration of Independence, once wrote, "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." As we've often reported here on "Teen Kids News," a free press, whether newspapers, radio, TV, or online, is vital to democracy. It's one of our most basic First Amendment rights.

(Describer) A video collage of news sources.

Having a free press helps us to hold our leaders accountable for their actions. It also enables us to make decisions without undue influence by the government. And freedom of the press isn't just for adults who are journalists. More than 60 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that students don't "shed their constitutional rights "to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." It was a landmark ruling. Student journalists were being given the same freedom adults have to report on controversial issues. That ruling, in 1969, prevented teachers and school administrators from imposing a form of censorship called "prior restraint." That means they couldn't prevent students from speaking out on issues the administration wanted to keep hushed up. Everything was all good until the late 1980s. A new ruling by a much different Supreme Court took away that protection against prior restraint. The court ruled that a principal in Missouri had the right to prevent the student newspaper from publishing a story about teen pregnancy, as well as a story on divorce.

(Describer) A red stamp graphic reads: CENSORED.

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That ruling has had a chilling effect on student journalism all across the country. But there's a movement working hard to restore our First Amendment rights. A key player in that movement is the Student Press Law Center, the SPLC. With us again is Pratika Katiyar from Boston's Northeastern University. She's a student board member at the SPLC. Joining her is Hanna Olson. She's from Mountain View High School in California. Pratika, why do school officials stop students from publishing certain stories? There's a myriad of reasons why schools don't want certain stories out there. A big part of it is reputation. Certain stories that student journalists uncover, such as investigative stories, can delve into issues on campus, such as sexual harassment or bullying, or other important issues that make the school oftentimes look bad or look negligent. That's often the case where the school wants to protect the reputation. Hanna, the last time we spoke, you talked about how your school paper was censored. How did that affect you as a journalist? At the beginning of this process and when we were initially censored, it was very discouraging and very disheartening, I think to myself and also to the entire class, to see our work and our, you know, publication's autonomy and ability to publish kind of be discredited and undermined. But I think in learning about my rights as a student journalist and getting the opportunity to speak with, you know, members of the SPLC and, you know, get into contact with other student journalists in the area. So, it's been both discouraging at times and also empowering in the long run as a journalist. What is New Voices? So, New Voices are a series of pieces of legislation introduced to states across the country to help restore First Amendment freedoms for student journalists. So, in states that have New Voices laws, student journalists are protected from censorship, and oftentimes advisors are also included in these New Voices laws provisions, and the Student Press Law Center and student activists and journalists like myself and Hanna are working to get these laws passed across the country to help restore these First Amendment protections. Ironically, California--the state where you live, Hanna-- was the first to pass a New Voices bill. They actually did that before the Supreme Court took away student protection from prior restraint. Why didn't that protect you from censorship? Initially, I don't think that my school newspaper recognized what was happening to us as censorship. I don't think we were initially as informed about what constituted censorship as we should have been, and therefore we were susceptible to kind of pressure to make changes to our article and also, of course, the removal of our advisor and the removal of this introductory class. But that is really where the Student Press Law Center came in to help us regarding, you know, what we could put in our article and whether it was libelous or slanderous or untrue. And none of the things that we were publishing fell into any of those categories. So yeah, I think that had we been more informed about what we could and could not publish according to our California ed code, I think that we would have kept certain parts of the article that we otherwise didn't just because we were scared. But at least it does give you a strong case. So far, only 17 states have passed the New Voices legislation. Are more states considering it? Yes, currently there are a couple states that are considering New Voices legislation. It is a really long and slow fight in some states, but we're really hopeful that soon enough these states will recognize the power of student journalists and the need for these protections. Just so everyone's clear on this issue, why is passing a New Voices bill in every state so important? It's so important so that students can publish stories that matter within their communities and not be concerned about how it's going to make their school look. A lot of the stories that end up being censored are ones that reveal information about a school that is potentially hard to read and maybe hard to reckon with, but that's some of the most important information that needs to be out there. Pratika, Hanna mentioned the assistance that her school got from the Student Press Law Center. What is the law center, and what are they doing to restore students' First Amendment rights to free speech? The Student Press Law Center is a national organization that provides free legal services to students and their advisors. We also have the New Voices effort, where the ones that are spearheading this movement. So, currently the Student Press Law Center helps assist things like lobby days or postcard writing events so that we can really mobilize students and get them out there to help advocate for New Voices legislation. What can we students do to help? I think stay informed. Be aware of the student press freedom issues in your area, and also take a look at your schools and your states education code laws. Good advice. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. One of the most famous and most respected journalists ever, Walter Cronkite, put it this way: "Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy; it is democracy." Especially in this day of attacks on the media, we need to stand up for our First Amendment rights, including freedom of the press. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Alexandra. We've got lots more coming up, so stick around. And during this break, please take a sec to like, follow, and subscribe to our socials so you never miss out on "Teen Kids News." We'll be right back. Let's face it-- failures are part of life. And while no one likes to fail, fear of failing shouldn't stop you from trying something outside your comfort zone.

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(Describer) White letters on a black flip board spin into position. They read: If At First.

(Describer) You Don't Succeed.

(Describer) Emily.

Two inventors came up with a way of trapping air between two sheets of thin plastic. They believed they had come up with a great new kind of three dimensional wallpaper. But it bombed. Not giving up, they tried to market it as a way to insulate houses from heat and cold. But that bombed too. Their product might have faded into obscurity if not for tech giant IBM. Workers at IBM were looking for a way to ship some fragile computer components. They wrapped the components in some of the sheets of air-trapped plastic. That idea caught on. Sales of bubble wrap popped. Suddenly, it was in great demand by just about anyone wanting to protect items from breaking. With "If At First You Don't Succeed," I'm Emily for "Teen Kids News." We can all use some advice on how to do our best in school. So check out our "Make The Grade" report.

(Describer) Christin.

You might be years away from applying to college, but some of the things you're doing right now could count for extra credit when the time comes. Were you a camp counselor? Did you win a music competition? Set the school record for 100-yard dash? President of the chess club? You might think you'll remember achievements like that forever, but believe me, when senior stress hits and you're filling out college applications, it's easy to forget something important. So, now's the time to start a file called "Resume." You can do this either on your computer or even on your smartphone. Just be sure to back up your data on a drive or to the cloud. Whenever you do something you're proud of, add it to the file.

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When it comes time to apply for college, you'll have all those great things you accomplished at your fingertips. I'm Christin, here to help you "Make the Grade." We have to take a quick break, but don't go away because "Teen Kids News" will be right back.

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(Describer) A spinning logo. Title: Teen Kids News.

You may be the victim of a crime and not even know it. To be clear, this definitely isn't a case of ignorance is bliss. Katarina tells us why.

(Katarina) Between our computers and smartphones, the average teen spends more than seven hours a day online, and that doesn't count the time we spend online doing schoolwork. And that puts us at increased risk of having our identities stolen. According to a Harris poll, almost 60 million Americans were victims of identity theft. And that survey was conducted in 2018, so it's a sure bet that the number of us hurt by ID theft is now far higher. To learn more about identity theft and how to prevent it, we're joined once again by Kayla Joyce. She's from FTI Consulting, and her expertise is cybersecurity. Welcome back to "Teen Kids News." Thanks for having me. What exactly is identity theft? Identity theft occurs when a cyber criminal is able to access certain information about you online to use to impersonate you. That can range anything from a username and password to credit card numbers, to banking information, and even your Social Security number. Wow! Let's say someone steals my ID and opens a credit card in my name. How does that hurt me? If someone's opening up a credit card in your name, it's definitely not for the right reasons, unless it's your parents. If someone's doing that, they're just racking up charges in your name, and those charges are linked to you. If you don't pay for your credit card bills, that affects your credit score. And while that might not be something that's on the top of your mind right now, if your credit is bad when you go to buy a home or a car or get a student loan for college, you're going to have some serious trouble trying to convince the banks that that wasn't you making those charges. That's why it's always important to protect your identity so that you have great options for your future planning. But since I'm a teen, aren't I less likely to have my identity stolen? Not necessarily. Your age makes you a good target because, as you're young, you're probably not monitoring your bank accounts or your credit score as often as your parents are. It's important to be vigilant of those because they could be running rampant with your accounts without your knowledge, and by the time you realize, it's too late to undo the damage they've done. Okay, so what can we do to amp up our protection? The first thing I would recommend is to always enable multifactor authentication when possible. A lot of your accounts should have this available at this point, and what it does is it provides an additional layer of security to your login. So, when you go and type in your username and password and click Sign In, a second form of identification is required through a text message or an email that's sent to your phone. And so, without your phone, a cyber criminal won't be able to access your account even if they have your username and password. The second thing that you should do to amp up your protection is to make sure that you're using really secure passwords. Really secure passwords should include characters and long length, and shouldn't be things like your parents' name or your dog's name that are super easy for you to remember but also super easy for a cyber criminal to find out. And then the third thing I would recommend is to make sure that you're aware of what you're making public online. Are your accounts public? They should be private to secure some of your additional information. You should always make sure to be really vigilant of what you're putting online that can expose you to the risks of identity theft. Yikes! I've got a lot of work to do. Thanks, Kayla. No problem. Happy to help. Here's some ways to tell if your identity has been stolen. Pre-approved offers for credit cards or loans arrive in the mail. You get statements from a bank or a credit card company where you've never opened an account. You apply for a driver's license or a student loan only to discover that someone is already using your name and Social Security number. The old saying that an "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is especially true when it comes to identity theft. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Katarina. Whether from drinking alcohol or using any type of drugs, driving under the influence is dangerous. And the National Road Safety Foundation wants you to remember that.

(Describer) Teens meet friends by their lockers.

[school bell ringing]

Hey guys, did you get the text about the party? Yeah, I'm definitely down. Me too, but how are we gonna get there? I'll drive. I got my license last week, remember?

(Describer) In a parking lot, they get into one car.

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(Describer) The driver backs out of the parking spot and accelerates away.

-You think they have drinks? -Sure they will.

(driver) I won't be drinking. I'm driving, remember?

(Describer) A disco ball spins. Teens dance while drinking from red plastic cups.

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(Describer) A couple takes a selfie.

♪

Drink with us. No, I'm happy dancing. -Just one shot. -Can't. I'm the one driving. Come on, it's a party. And I'm partying,

(Describer) She spins around.

and I'm responsible for you guys, remember?

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(Describer) Text: A car crash is no way to be remembered.

(Describer) Don't Let Peer Pressure Pressure You! A message from the NRSF.

The NRSF produces lots of helpful videos. For info on driving safely, be sure to like, follow and subscribe to the National Road Safety Foundation. We'll be right back with more "Teen Kids News."

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(Describer) Title: Teen Kids News.

(Describer) Benjamin.

It is been called the "Mona Lisa" of American coins. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is worth millions. Why? Because it was not supposed to exist. Back in 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt felt that the designs on American coins needed to be improved. So, over the coming years, U.S. coins were given facelifts. The nickel sporting the face of Lady Liberty was slated to be retired after 1912. It was supposed to be replaced with a new Indian Head nickel, the one with the buffalo on the reverse side. But to everyone's surprise, five Lady Liberties surfaced with the year 1913 stamped on them. Remember, 1912 was supposed to be the last year for minting Lady Liberty nickels. So how did these five coins come about? No one knows. The best theory is that an employee at the Mint had the coins made illegally. In any case, there are only five 1913 Lady Liberties known to exist. Two are now held by museums. The other three are in private collections. The Lady Liberty is the most valuable U.S. nickel. If one ever surfaces in mint condition, it could be worth as much as $20 million. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Benjamin.

(Describer) A viewer email: I just wanted to tell you how wonderful I think Teen Kids News is! I gather my kids 19 and 6 yrs old to watch! Mandi

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We want to hear from you. Send us a short comment on the show, and if you want, send along a photo. Each week, we'll feature the best comment on air. We just need your first name and your town or city. Don't go away. There's still more "Teen Kids News" ahead.

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(Describer) Title: Teen Kids News.

(Describer) A video collage. Boxy stone houses topped with slanted orange roofs pack a rocky seaside point.

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(Describer) Ancient ruins.

(Describer) Text: Seeing Sicily.

(Describer) Ava.

No food is more quintessentially Italian than... Pizza. Pizza, pizza. Pizza. Pizza, mm-hmm.

(Ava) Although a form of flatbread with toppings can be traced back to the sixth century, BCE, Naples, Italy, is usually credited with having invented the modern pizza. It was brought to America by Italian immigrants towards the end of the 19th century, but it didn't truly catch on until the end of World War II. Returning soldiers stationed in Italy brought their love of pizza home with them. There are several types of pizza. For example,

(Describer) Pizza images.

round and thin crusted, deep dish, and square, Commonly called "Sicilian pizza," it has an inch thick dough with a center often described as "airy." So, while "Teen Kids News" toured Sicily, we went to find Sicilian pizza. But to our surprise, everywhere we went, we were served round pizza. At Covo Del Brigante restaurant, we were invited into the kitchen to watch how masters made their pizza.

(Describer) A wide variety of meats and veggies fill small trays.

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(Describer) Hands flatten and shape a ball of pizza dough.

(Describer) They add sauce and cheese chunks.

(Describer) A worker slides it into a pizza oven with a long-handled paddle, or peel.

(Describer) Now, the cheese is melted. The crust is puffed and golden brown.

So if Sicilian pizza, at least in restaurants, isn't square, what makes Sicilian pizza different?

[speaking Italian]

(translator) Our traditions use antique grains, that thanks to our soil we're able to have. We have a lot of variety of grains that in other areas you don't find. This is what makes the difference.

(Ava) Good to know. There are actually many varieties of Sicilian pizza depending on what region you're in.

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(Describer) A pizza with red sauce and sliced almonds disappears piece by piece.

(Describer) Sauce smudges the empty plate.

As we were leaving the country, we learned that the place to find square Sicilian pizza is from a street vendor. Guess we'll have to go back to do that. With "Seeing Sicily," I'm Ava. Well, that wraps up our show for this week, but we'll be back with more "Teen Kids News" next week. See you then.

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(Describer) Producer: Marilou Yacoub. Director/Writer: Alan J. Weiss. Executive Producer: Alan J. Weiss.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

(Describer) Copyright Alan Weiss Productions, 2025.

(Describer) Contact: info@teenkidsnews.com

(Describer) Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.