Story Archives of 'Youth'

In Manchester, desecrating buildings with graffiti is a felony.
Those in charge of removing it estimate that 40-percent of city businesses have been affected at some point.
NHPR Correspondent Ellen Grimm found out how big the battle is during a ride in Manchester’s Graffiti-Removal Van.

We know communication technology is changing how we talk to each other. Currently 340 million people worldwide have instant messaging accounts, 24 million are on Facebook, and more than 1 trillion text messages were sent globally in 2005. Wth those numbers come changes in the way we write, read, and even listen to language.

Teachers from grammar school on up are wondering how tech-savvy kids who communicate with smily and winky faces will learn to write. High school teachers complain that kids can’t compose essays anymore. And college professors worry about a sea of distracted faces hiding behind laptop computers.

Naomi S. Baron, professor of linguistics at American University, has spent a decade researching how technology has influenced our reading, speaking, writing and listening behaviors. She joins Word of Mouth to dicuss her new book, "Always On: Language In An Online and Mobile World," and what will become of written culture.

Also, we hear about a machine to teach toddlers foreign languages, invented by a group of researchers at the University of California-San Diego. Reporter Molly Bently visited Ruby the Robot and her students for the BBC program Science in Action.

(Photo by QwirkSilver/Kristine)

At about 2:30 this afternoon the first of three busses full of Londonderry students is scheduled to leave the high school.

Destination: Beijing.

The Londonderry High School Band and Color Guard have been invited to play during a Pre-Olympic event called the Beijing Cultural Youth Festival.

Pollyann Winslow is the mother of one of those students and an organizer.

She tells NHPR's Mark Bevis that 253 students plus dozens of chaperones and parents will be on those busses headed for the adventure of a lifetime.

New Hampshire is number one... when it comes to childrens health.

That's according to the annual Kids Count survey compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The Survey looks at several factors evaluating children's lives from low birth rates to drop out rates.

Despite the good news, Ellen Fineberg, President of the Childrens' Alliance New Hampshire, tells NHPR's Mark Bevis that bad news may be on the horizon.

Fineberg says the most recent survey is based on 2006 numbers.

She fully expects the poverty rate numbers to jump as the survey takes into account the recent economic downturn.

The video game Grand Theft Auto IV hits the streets today.  Controversy has surrounded the Grand Theft series since its beginning, due to its adult nature and violence.  But its in-depth storylines and high production values have helped the franchise sell over 70 million copies, and the new release is expected to be the top selling game of all time. Politicians and pundits have linked every school shooting in recent memory to violent video games, and they are often accused of corrupting our nation's youth. But there is a growing body of research that shows no connection.  Cheryl Olson and her husband, Lawrence Kutner, direct the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital, and they're psychiatrists at Harvard Medical School. They've co-authored a new book, Grand Theft Childhood. Tuesday on Word of Mouth, New Hampshire Public Radio's Abby Goldstein talks with Cheryl Olson about her research.

Video games are also popping-up in places you might not expect, like your local public library. We'll talk with Beth Gallaway, a consultant who helps libraries set-up video game programs to attract more members of the community, no matter what their age. Her company, Information Goddess Consulting, is based in Hampton, New Hampshire.

(Photo by Adam Melancon)