ThreeSixty fall library workshop opens doors into world of religious and immigrant teens
Every fall, ThreeSixty runs a six-week workshop at an area library to teach interested teens about journalism. This fall, an incredible group of mostly immigrant Muslim Somali and Ethiopian Minneapolis teens, as well as one Pentecostal American teen, worked hard on stories that deepen understanding of their experiences in the Twin Cities, as well as their communities here.
The reporters investigate topics like balancing religious beliefs with fitting in at school, the struggle immigrant women go through to free themselves from domestic abuse, worry about a brother who chew’s khat, a stimulant, a sister’s potentially lethal disease, Sub-Saharan African women finding new educational opportunities when many of them never enter high school in their home countries, and what it’s like to adjust to life in America as a high school freshman who doesn’t know a single word of English.... Read more >>
Befriending exchange students broadens horizons, world view
At Eden Prairie Senior High School, Karin Paul is known as the foreign exchange student who stood up in front of the entire student body at a pep fest and asked if anyone wanted to go see the band Coldplay with her. She’s experienced many American traditions for the first time this year, including Halloween, Thanksgiving and skiing on Minnesota’s “hills.”
Karin Ingrid Anne Maria Paul, 18, moved this summer from a small town in Sweden that was established nearly a millennium ago to Eden Prairie, a 1880s-farming town that is now a Minneapolis suburb.
Befriending the exchange students at your school can show you a perspective of America only a foreign student can show you, and can teach you about other world cultures.... Read more >>
Japanese comics and cartoons -- manga and anime -- growing in popularity with American teens
It is 2:45 on a Thursday afternoon and a group of teenagers are sitting around in a circle at the Brookdale library, laughing and talking. They all have one thing in common: their love for manga — Japanese comic books. They are gathering for their weekly manga club meeting, and are part of a growing trend that is spreading all throughout libraries and schools everywhere.
The advisor, Brookdale Teen Librarian Alicia Anderson, starts off the meeting with a manga-related game; the winners earning Japanese Hello Kitty sodas. They then dive into their discussion of the manga book that was passed out at the last meeting, “The Sand Chronicles.” It is a story with some romance and tragedy, and overall realistic. Manga stories deal with every theme possible, even though they are thought to be mostly science-fiction and fantasy stories.... Read more >>
MySpace vs. Facebook
vs.
Social networking sites have become more than just something fun to do in one’s spare time, but a necessity for teens everywhere. Two of these sites stand out in particular: MySpace and Facebook. These two sites, and the differences between them, have become a hot topic at among teenagers. The ultimate question is: Which one is more popular, MySpace or Facebook?
When asked which teens preferred, some said MySpace and some said Facebook, but everyone asked was very firm about their answer, like they had made their mind up a long time ago.
“I like Facebook better because your image doesn’t matter as much and therefore people aren’t so fake. On MySpace, people post 20,000 pictures and stupid bulletins. I hate bulletins,” said Holly Corporaal, 15, a sophomore at Park Senior High School in Cottage Grove. ... Read more >>
