Pictures

The first two pictures I found were in TIME Magazine's Pictures of the Week. I loved these pictures for two primary reasons. First, both photographers so powerfully and adeptly conveyed what was going on in each picture that captions were almost unnecessary. Second, neither picture would have had as great an impact with out thoughtful editing that must have gone into them. The picture that initially grabbed my attention shows a donkey transporting supplies to villages north of Kabul that are unreachable by automated vehicles. This donkey that is so weighed down that it cannot lift its head would have conveyed the struggle that went into his journey, but the photo editors' choice to include the entire landscape ahead of him shows us the magnitude of his trek.

The next picture that impressed me captures an Orthodox Jewish man examining a fruit to determine if it is ritually acceptable. The photo is especially effective, because his hands and the fruit are notable more in focus than the rest of the picture. On top of that, the man's face is in shadow and the yellow fruit stands out as the only bright object in the photo. The light cast on it emphasizes its need to be pure and perfect enough for a ritual.

The last photo I found did not impress me. It was in a photo essay on People.com of Brittany Spears’ memorable style moments. The photo shows her leaning against a surf board and squinting at the camera.This photo looks very posed and the point of her being at the Teen Choice Awards seems very deliberate. An action shot of her with that logo in the background would have been better.

Teen Nutrition Taken Seriously in Schools

By: Lane Johnson

Despite a national panic about obesity and other nutrition issues in America’s adolescents and children, school administrators and teens themselves are taking steps to ensure that Athens-Clarke County students stay healthy.

According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly one-fifth of adolescents – persons between the ages of 12 and 19 – were obese in 2007-2008, and in that same year an estimated one-third of adults were also said to be obese.

“Most people who see me are concerned with weight management,” said Katherine Ingerson, a registered dietitian for the Food Services Administration at the University of Georgia. As part of her job, she sees university students every day to discuss various health concerns they may face.

Ingerson also said, however, that she often sees the exact opposite problem in students – they aren’t getting the proper nutrients they need in their diet. She said that students’ diets often lack in things like calcium, fiber, and iron.

The National Institution of Health Office of Dietary Supplements suggests that adolescents need more calcium and iron in their diet than any other age group.

Meanwhile, the Clarke County School District recently adopted a new curriculum that is completely focused nutrition and food science.

“Last year, we expanded our family and consumer sciences (FCS) courses and adopted an entire nutrition and food science pathway at both high schools that includes the following 3 courses,” said the school district Director of Public Relations and Communications, Anisa Jimenez.

These new courses include food, nutrition and wellness, food and nutrition through the lifespan, and food science. Vera Giles, who currently teaches food science and food, nutrition and wellness, says that her courses focus on the science of nutrition such as how different ingredients in food interact and how food technology increases the food supply.

Students, however, credit their healthy eating habits to factors unrelated to their coursework. Jake Schaefer, 15, said that he felt he and his friends all tend to eat fairly well, despite alarm around the nation.

“I have to though because I run cross country,” said Schaefer.

Schaefer also said that he always had dinner with his family each night and that his mother made sure to cook a well balanced meal for the family.

Experts suggest that one of the best ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle is simply by eating with family and practicing healthy habits at home. “The habits you form in youth stay with you for life. Children and teens who do simple things like eating regular meals with their families are more likely to have positive associations with food, be at a healthy weight, and are less likely to develop eating disorders,” said Ingerson.

At the end of the day, promoting good nutrition in children and teens is a task that involves several different actors including families, schools, and the community.

“Eating nutritiously is a conscious decision and often times it’s hard to break bad eating habits. Good nutrition starts from birth and it has to be practiced daily in our homes and in our community,” said Giles


Side Bar

The United States Department of Agriculture makes several suggestions when it comes to keeping a healthy balanced diet including: substituting whole grain products for refined products, eating a variety of fruits and vegetables each today to keep things interesting and maximize nutritional value, consuming fresh ingredients at meals to reduce sodium intake, choosing whole fruits instead of fruit juice, and switching to fat free or low fat dairy products.

Looking for more information about Nutrition? Check out the MyPyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) and MyPyramid Tracker (www.mypyramidtracker.gov) websites. MyPyramid is a free and interactive resource that offers healthy lifestyle, nutrition and exercise information for all ages. Tracker lets you track your food for up to a year and gives complete personal nutrition analysis with fun graphs and easy to understand comparisons.

Teaching Technologies Trend Upwards

Computer technology as an integral part of the classroom has officially moved from the realm of intimation to incontrovertible truth.

“All of our textbooks have codes that give you access to an online version,” says AJ Perez, a 16-year-old high school junior at Lassiter High School in Marietta. The benefit of this, he adds, is that if he ever leaves his book at school, he can always access the content from anywhere in the world.

This is just one of the litany of ways in which teachers, students and administrators are using computer technology, especially the Internet, to enhance and enrich education. The fact is that every day technology is becoming more important to public education, due not only to teachers’ evolving methods, but also to statewide initiatives.

According to the 2007 Technology Counts report, only two states do not have technology standards for students. In 2008 the Georgia Department of Education drafted the Georgia K-12 Technology Plan. In it, the Department of Education outlines ways for Georgia to increase the use of technology in schools in order to contribute to statewide goals for improving student achievement as well as to meet No Child Left Behind standards.

Goal No. 3 of the plan states that one of the purposes is to,

“Increase instructional uses of technology in order to incorporate 21^st Century technology and thinking skills in the Georgia curriculum.”

These goals are being set at a time when 95 percent of all instructional computers already have high-speed access, 49.5 percent of students have computers in the classroom and 77 percent of students have access to computers in labs or media centers. The plan allocates money to improve upon existing technological trends, such as the increasing amount of online courses, which opens up opportunities for students to take courses that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

Most classroom technologies in use today are paid online resources, such as Blackboard and TurnItIn.com, which teachers use to complement their curriculum. Perez claims that every paper he turns in now must first be submitted to TurnItIn.com, a website that cross-references the content of a student’s paper with information on the internet to ensure that there has been no plagiarism.

Experts can predict which technologies are likely to gain in future classroom usage, even if current hardware capabilities preclude widespread use.. Analysts expect that eBooks will begin to play a bigger role in public education, which will conserve the resources spent on textbooks and lighten the students’ backpacks. Some current limitations, however, are that most eBooks are currently black and white and lack the capability to reproduce some of the important graphics featured in textbooks.

Beyond the classroom, school clubs and organizations are making the most of technology. Kristy Cates, a journalism teacher at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, heads the schools literary magazine. Because of the nature of their publication, it is important that they are sure none of the student submitted work has been plagiarized. TurnItIn.com is Cates’s resource of choice.

Ted Huddleston, a teacher at Berkmar High School in Gwinnett, uses his school’s literary magazine website in many innovative ways that enhance the experience. For example, the magazine might print a poem or short story from a bilingual student with a note at the end to see the website for a translation. Additionally, many of the poems published are actually song lyrics. The website provides an opportunity for readers to hear the music that goes with the lyrics.

In addition to the utilization of technology, schools are also taking on the task of teaching technology to students. Most schools now teach keyboarding to students who do not already have the skill, and many schools provide classes that teach the basic skills needed for the Microsoft Office Suite.

Though schools are doing much to teach, utilize and provide new and exciting technologies to students, there is still a great deal of improving to do. The key is to find the right places and the right ways to use these new technologies, and every answer may not be a correct one. Schools spend thousands of dollars on computer labs equipped with expensive databases and software suites, which students like AJ Perez might use, “a few times a year.”

Teen band proves their age isn't a gimmick

It’s approaching midnight at the 40 Watt Club, and the band onstage is rocking out. The bassist is on his back, shredding out a solo. The lead singer, wearing leather pants, croons anguished lyrics, and the drummer keeps the energy high. At the end of the show, the lead guitarist smashes his guitar on the stage.

Then the lights come on, and they walk over to the merch table to talk to their parents. They go back to being ordinary teenagers.

“I love seeing the reactions on [the audience’s] faces when they see something different or hear something different,” said Zak Smith, the band’s drummer. “The hype and the excitement onstage is just what does it for me.”

The musicians of Athens – a band named for its hometown – aren’t old enough to see an R-rated movie yet. But they’re eager to make serious music and set themselves apart from mainstream teen pop stars.

“All those people, like Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, they don’t have to worry about ages at clubs and stuff, because they’ve got Disney getting them in arenas,” said Chase Brown, the band’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist. “I think that [they] missed out on a lot of the work that you have to do.”

Athens began when Chase, now 15, wrote four songs in one day with his friend Beau Anderson, now 12. After taking lessons from the same teachers, Mike and Vanda Guthrie, the two decided to form a band and sought out more members.

They overheard Zak Smith, now 16, playing drums at the Guitar Center in Atlanta, and asked him to join. After trying several bassists, they found a good fit for the band in Justin Granados, now 15.

“At first, it was really just us three and our bassist,” Chase said. “And then once [Justin] came along it was really just a family.”

Athens played its first show in December 2008, and released its first EP exactly a year later. The band is now working on recording rough tracks for a demo, in the hopes of finding a record label.

“Our old EP doesn’t sound anything like what we sound like now,” Chase said. “They all say my voice, on the first song we recorded, I sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks…You can hear my voice go through puberty.”

But the band works hard on the quality of their performances, in addition to the quality of their songwriting. With the help of Jimmy Anderson, their manager and Beau’s dad, they’ve learned both the musical style and performance style of classic rockers.

“That’s kind of what separates us from being another kids’ band – that we have confidence on stage,” Justin said.

That stage presence has attracted fans young and old. Although they often play for audiences that are older than them, the band’s friends support them at all-ages shows.

Olivia Vasquez, 12, is a friend of Justin and Chase. After seeing Athens play at the Human Rights Festival in downtown Athens, she’s now a big fan of the band. She and her friend Kayla attend Athens’ shows when they can, with a new handmade t-shirt each time.

“They’re young to be that good and that famous already,” she said of the band.

But the band emphasizes that their youth is not a gimmick.

“I feel like the Runaways, sort of, except young and not female,” Beau said. “But see, everyone thought they weren’t serious because they were all female, but they could rock. Really amazingly.

Those who have worked with Athens have good things to say. Josh Jordan, the nighttime manager for the 40 Watt Club, said the venue makes an effort to provide a place for young people to play and see live music, and he supports the band.

“I just think it’s great,” he said. “If you haven’t seen them, go see them…A little kid in leather pants – you can’t beat that.”

Vanda Guthrie, Chase and Beau’s guitar teacher, said they had more talent and motivation than most students she’s taught. Not only did they learn quickly, they wanted to play rather than viewing practicing as a chore.

“That’s a difference from a lot of students,” she said. “A lot of students like the idea of playing guitar and don’t want to put in the work…[Chase and Beau] would play almost until their fingers bled.”

Although she pointed out that fame and success are sometimes unpredictable, she said she believes they will be “lifelong musicians.”

“They are not going to stop playing music,” she said. “They’ve got it in their soul.”

The band members are equally excited about their future, both as a band and personally. If the band doesn’t stay together or get famous, they have other plans too.

“No matter what, I want my life to have music in it,” Beau said. “Even if the band doesn’t work out, or we just fade away, I want something that has to do with music.”

Top factor in choosing major shouldn't be money

With the economy in a downward spin, choosing a career can be a difficult task, but it is a task that every student must eventually come to terms with, and it lies within you, at least that’s what David Ragsdale, English teacher at Clarke Central High School said.
“I think internships are really helpful as a means to immerse a student into a given field,” Ragsdale said. “I think site visits and conversations with professionals working in field help a great deal. Again, I think a student’s natural aptitudes and talents have to be tapped into for a successful choice of major.”
According to a recent publication by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), eight of the top paying 10 degrees manifest as engineer-related, the other two in the field of science.
Although the survey suggests top paying college degrees play a role in career choices, Ragsdale suggests that money should not always be a top priority when choosing a major.
“I can’t speak to a student’s individual needs for money,” Ragsdale said, “however, I do think a student’s natural aptitudes, passions and disposition must be factored into career choices.”
Some tips in discovering your natural talents, said Ragsdale, is to become involved in internships, observe others in the field, attend interviews and take a variety of elective courses in order to get a flavor for what occupation suits you best.
Vice President for institutional effectiveness at Athens Technical College Daniel J. Smith also agrees that the economy and money should play a factor in making a career decision, but it shouldn’t be the sole factor.
“The first thing students need to do is to evaluate their interests through interest inventories,” Smith said. “Oftentimes, prospective students state that they want to major in Career ‘A’ simply because a friend or family member has worked in that field. They have no idea what the field entails. They need to spend time with someone (other than their friend or family member) who works in that field,” Smith said. “They need to grill the person to see what they like and dislike about the field. They need to find out what types of courses they need to focus on in high school in order to prepare for the career field.”
Like Ragsdale, Smith said that money should not be the No. 1 issue in deciding a major. “Absolutely not, money doesn’t buy happiness,” Smith said. “If you are making a lot of money but are unhappy, get out and do what you want to do.”
Senior counselor for Clark Central Lenore Katz said that she doesn’t recall seeing any certain trends when it comes to Athens’ students choosing a major, but there are several broad areas such as psychology, English and science that seem to always be popular. From the technical college perspective, Smith said that Clarke County teens are applying most often for life sciences fields such as nursing, radiography and dental hygiene.
David Bridges, a junior at Apalachee High School in Barrow County said he’s still not certain exactly what his major will be, but unlike many teens, Bridges plans to pursue what he loves most, music.
“I came to this decision because all of my life I have loved music and now, as a teenager, I find that I also love playing music on all sorts of different instruments … it is my favorite thing to do and I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Bridges said.
Similarly, Bridges sees that his close-knit group of friends is also interested in pursuing what they are passionate about.
“Most of my friends want to be a musician [too], or … major in some sort of music,” he said.
Bridges and his friends seem to follow the advice that Ragsdale and Smith suggested, choosing a major based on aptitude, passions and natural talents, not money.

Sidebar Information:
According to NACE, the top five highest earning’s for a Bachelor’s degree based on the average starting salary, is as follows:

Degree
Average Starting Salary Offer
Petroleum Engineering $74,799
Chemical Engineering $65,628
Computer Science $61,112
Computer Engineering $59,917
Electrical/Electronics Engineering $59,391
Source: Summer 2010 Salary Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers.

New media seen as distraction, educational tool

Kinsey Clark is logged into Facebook for about six hours per day.

Though the Clarke Central High School student is not actively using the site for that long, she said the site is often open on her computer, regardless of what she is doing. Visiting Facebook is a regular part of her daily routine.

“I generally have Facebook up while I'm doing other things on my computer,” she said. “I'm probably online the site for an average of five or six hours a day, but I actually use the site at sporadic moments that add up to an hour or two every night.”

Social Networking sites were blocked in Clarke Central High School in Fall 2006, said Anisa Jimenez, public relations director for Clarke County schools. Jimenez said the decision was made by a group of teachers and administrators who wanted to keep students focued on their schoolwork.

“It is important that we keep the school day focused on instruction, and those sites are a distraction,” Jimenez said.

Cell phones, too, have strict policies surrounding their usage during school hours. While research has been conducted recently on how open teachers are to using social media in the classroom, for right now, Clarke County is very strict on what web sites are accessible on school computers.

Students still have access to these forms of communication at home, however. While Clark tries not to let Facebook distract her when she’s doing schoolwork, she said her cell phone and other websites can become distractions.

“If someone calls or texts me, I'll stop what I'm doing to talk to them, regardless of what work I'm doing,” she said.

Cody Clark (no relation), a student at North Oconee High School, said while he generally doesn’t use Facebook for more than 30 minutes per day, the site can sometimes be a major source of distraction for him.

“It’s definitely distracting,” he said. “Some days I don’t get on at all, but sometimes I’ll get on the computer to do homework and I’ll end up on Facebook. The other night I ended up getting distracted on it until 3 a.m.”

Social networking sites are blocked from the Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals High School computers. Cell phones, however, have become an increasingly prevalent distraction for students during school hours. Though rules and consequences regarding cell phone usage are strict, David Ragsdale, an English teacher at Clarke Central, said cell phone related discipline issues are very common in the classroom.

“Cell phones are a chronic distraction at Central,” he said. “They were far more rare ten years ago, but at this point, regardless of socio-economic status, students have them and use them whenever and wherever possible.”

Despite the heavy restrictions placed on cell phones and certain websites in Clarke County, however, some school organizations use social media to their advantage. Ragsdale said some teachers have used blogs in their classes in the past, but with the increased amount of firewalls placed on social networking sites, many have stopped using them. The Clarke Central yearbook, however, used Facebook last year to make announcements, and Odyssey Newsmagazine has a Facebook page as well as a Twitter account.

Though some organizations at Clarke Central use social media to their advantage, Ragsdale said he is worried about social media as a major means of distraction for students.

“The more distractions to taking care of class work that exist, the higher propensity of kids we’ll have who are culturally literate in mediums other than the culture of school,” he said. “We have kids who can LOL, ROFL, and talk to their BFFL, but who can’t spell out those words.”

Clarke Central is not unique in its use of social media for limited educational purposes. Recent research has shown that more teachers in K-12 schools have begun to use cell phones and social media as educational tools in the classroom. A 2009 PBS survey found a “strong interest of K–12 teachers in digital media and social networking.” The report said 15 percent of teachers valued blogs as an educational resource, up from 11 percent in 2008. Fourteen percent of teachers valued Facebook, Wiki and other social media communities.

Scott Shamp, director of the New Media Institute at the University, said he thinks social media can have a place in the high school classroom, as long as it is used in a structured format.

“With half a billion people on Facebook, we have to find a way of harnessing its energy,” he said.

Shamp said with the rise of new media comes a fundamental change in the way people communicate. Whenever a new form of communication is introduced, there are those who resist the change and insist on sticking by the old methods.

“This is a new way that people are interacting,” he said. “We can’t fight it.”

Stephen Castille, an English teacher at Cedar Shoals High school, said social media is so rigidly blocked from school computers at Cedar Shoals that teachers sometimes don’t have the chance to use even blogging sites as part of instruction.

“While there very well maybe other outlets to explore outside of the more popular ones, the more difficult it is to access the more well known services, the less likely people are to use any,” he said.

Cody Clark said he thinks social media may have a place in the high school classroom, if used correctly. Currently, North Oconee High School has a blog system called Moodle, which teachers use to post assignments and updates for students. Clark said it’s a balance for him to get on the computer to access Moodle for homework, since he sometimes ends up getting distracted on Facebook, but incorporating school work into social media websites might help some students complete their work.

“If some kids get on Facebook for three to four hours per day, it might be useful to have their homework right there for them to do while they’re on it, he said.”

Currently, social media is not completely integrated into the K-12 education system. Though Facebook and other sites can be a distraction for Kinsey Clark, she said she has also used social media to help plan study sessions or get help with an assignment. She said when studying or working on homework, students need to set restrictions for themselves.

“You just have to know that what you're doing is more important that someone's status or their most recent photo album and continuously remind yourself of that,” she said.

Sources:

Kinsey Clark kclark@odysseynewsmagazine.net

David Ragsdale ragsdaled@clarke.k12.ga.us

Scott Shamp sshamp@grady.uga.edu

Cody Clark ctclark19@aol.com

Stephen Castile castiles@clarke.k12.ga.us

Anisa Jimenez jimenezan@clarke.k12.ga.us

PBS Study http://www.pbs.org/teachers/_files/pdf/annual-pbs-survey-report.pdf

Eight simple tips to improve your point-and-shoot digital photography

It comes as no surprise that one of the most common myths associated with photography is the belief that in order to create good photographs, you must own an expensive camera. “As much as I hate to admit it, I could never paint a Mona Lisa, even if I owned Da Vinci's paintbrush,” said Phillip Blume, photographer and owner of Blume Photography based in Athens, Georgia. “A camera is just that: a paintbrush. It doesn't have to be fancy.” Like the car that can parallel park itself, new features on cameras today are giving even the most technologically-challenged people boundless opportunities to create beautiful photographs. These eight simple, yet insightful photography tips can help with what the camera cannot do.


1. Always have a clear subject. You never want your subject matter to be overtaken by various distractions in the background. Compositionally, try to arrange the photograph to where the subject stands out, perhaps against a neutral wall. “A good image needs a clear subject. You want to be sure the subject stands out from everything else. Try getting closer to your subject to get rid of distracting objects in the foreground,” said Blume.

2. Do not always center your subject matter. Many photographers use what is called the “rule of thirds” while composing a photograph. This rule essentially divides the LCD screen or photograph into a tic-tac-toe board, with nine identical squares. The subject of the photograph should fall at one of the four intersecting planes. Off-centering the subject is an instant way to transform an ordinary photograph into one that is aesthetically interesting. Other ways to display your subject more effectively includes using leading lines to direct the eye towards the subject or framing the subject with other objects in the frame.

3. Never be afraid to try different angles. Take lots of pictures from various angles. Then, review the photos and choose your favorites. “Taking pictures and reviewing them are the best ways to improve once you have the basics,” said Stephen Castile, journalism advisor at Cedar Shoals High School. “With digital film and cameras, that process is inexpensive and immediate.” Blume recommends imagining flying in a circle around your subject, getting multiple shots from all angles so you can choose your favorite later.

4. Find an editing software that works for you. It is amazing at the difference simply adjusting the color will make. iPhoto and Windows have great editing tools that allow you to convert your photos to black and white, sepia tone, or even “antique” or “seventies” tones. Picnik.com is also a free and easy photo editing website that allows beginner photographers to edit their photos in unique ways.

5. Wait for the moment. A good photograph should tell a story. Photographing someone in his or her natural environment is a great way to show emotion while telling a story within the photo, but it does require patience. “Most of your life as a photographer is spent looking, not shooting,” said Blume. “Taking a thousand photos doesn't guarantee you'll get one that's worth a hoot. Be patient.”


6. Know how to work your camera. Most point-and-shoot cameras have different settings on a turn dial at the top of the camera. Set aside time to read the manual and learn what each setting on your camera does. By understanding the camera preset modes, you can use your camera more effectively and improve the overall look of your photos. If you become comfortable using your camera, you’re more likely to never miss that “perfect shot” again. Mark Johnson, Photojournalism professor at the University of Georgia, emphasizes the importance of understanding your camera. “Understand the mechanics of photography so you can concentrate on the story,” said Johnson.

7. DO NOT be afraid to take tons of pictures. Back in the film age, this would have been quite an expensive endeavor, but with digital technology, you have nothing to lose. “SHOOT. SHOOT. SHOOT. Take a camera with you wherever you go,” said Ragsdale. “Take hundreds of shots, especially for sporting events.” Many times, it takes hundreds of shots to get one that you like. The more pictures you take, the more comfortable you will become with you camera.

8. Research and ask the professionals. Scour the Internet looking at various photography websites to gain ideas. Watch Youtube videos and other online tutorials if you do not understand something. Enroll in a local photography class if you have the time and the money. Do not be afraid to ask questions. “Don't hesitate to send an e-mail out to one of us professionals. We're not magicians; we don't mind sharing our secrets,” said Blume.

Poverty doesn't define Athens teens, school system pushes for success

Stop the stereotyping and labeling, and this is not just a message to students.

The message is basically the same school system wide: “Athens teens are no different than you and I,” regardless of economic status.

Poverty has a well-known presence here in Athens, Ga. 13.4% of all families in Athens live below the poverty level, according to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau,

But poverty does not define the teens of Athens—the school system refuses to let it.

“Our district believes that each student can succeed at his/her highest level. Teachers, counselors, social workers, administrators, graduation coaches and others establish relationships with students so they know supports are in place to help them succeed,” said Anisa Jimenez, Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Clarke County School System.

Poverty is easily looked at as just a number. It is easy to wonder who the ‘families’ are, but most people look no further and continue to go about their business. In most cases, those on the other end of the spectrum do not even think about those in need.

“We often forget that Athens, home of UGA and famous musicians, faces a huge gap between those who are financially stable and those who are not,” said David Ragsdale, a teacher at Clarke Central High School.

Inside each of those unnamed families in many cases is a teenager trying to get through the Clarke County School System as best they can.

“All families and teens struggle with themes common across all age groups no matter the economic status, “said Robin Weinrich, work-based learning coordinator for Clarke County.

The opinion that students are not statistics is spread over the Athens-Clarke County School System.

“Ultimately, kids from across the economic spectrum want to do well in school and want to be considered as individuals and not statistics,” said Ragsdale. “Sensitivity to this condition, not pity or condescension, is critical in helping our students find the means to battle poverty.”

Still, teenagers in poverty face different situations at home that can sometimes affect their schooling.

“Some students have increased responsibilities at home when faced with an economic crunch,” said Ragsdale. “These may include babysitting younger siblings or being a primary care-giver to an ill parent, as hospital or hospice care may not be available.”

“How would these responsibilities may a child behave differently?”

Ragsdale answered as an imagined Athens teen in poverty: “I’ve been babysitting my younger brothers all night, I may not have time to finish my homework, which leaves me unprepared for class and potentially a little edgy when I get to class because I know I’m not ready.”

The external circumstances of students can be hindering, but Ragsdale offered a solution: “Reaching out to kids on a personal level and engaging them on an individual basis certainly helps bridge the gap.”

Bridging the gap and addressing the individual needs of students is Clarke County School System’s goal.

Pairing poverty’s limitations with the idea that “kids just want to be kids,” the Clarke County School System delivers programs that work toward meeting the needs of teens at risk.

Each program is designed to foster parent and student engagement no matter the economic status, however, teens at risk can benefit.

Weinrich works with “Ombudsman Educational Services,” which provide accelerated academic programming for students who are referred based on behavior or academic recovery.

Students choose to attend the program, once referred, and as part of their academic package, “we include a work-based component that teaches them basic employability skills for any work site. Once they demonstrate these skills during their academic work, they are then placed into actual work sites.”

“This allows the student to experience connections between their academics and what is happening daily in the adult world of work,” said Weinrich. “My goal with this program is to show them [students] there are ways to rise above poverty with their education and making job choices that appeal to them.”

There are also organizations and programs outside the Clarke County School System designed to help families in need in Athens. For instance, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia provides a “Food 2 Kids” program for several counties across Northeast Georgia, including Clarke County.

“The Food 2 Kids program is committed to eliminating child hunger in America. We provide children identified as being chronically hungry with nutritious, easy-to-prepare meals during times outside school, such as summer holidays and weekends,” said Tanya Pass, the Athens Food 2 Kids program coordinator.

The program provides child-friendly foods that do not require an oven, such as ravioli, cereal, juice, milk, chicken noodle soup, peanut butter, bread, and fresh produce.

Another organization, One Athens, is a group with a community initiative created to eliminate persistent poverty by creating jobs and building community.

Although each of these programs exist, poverty is still not eliminated. It will not be just one program or a few caring people that will defeat the problem.

“I don’t have the answers, but instead of getting bogged down by the big scale of the problem, if we each contribute in ways we are able in our own circles—we will make changes that affect lives,” said Weinrich.

Reaching out to students living in poverty situations will make a potential difference in an individual student’s life—Weinrich and Ragsdale have both seen it. What may seem a “small scale” way to face the problem makes all the difference.

Resource officers befriend kids, leave discipline to schools

By SHAWN JARRARD

Swarming the halls between classes at Clarke Central High School, hundreds of teenagers “cut up” with each other, stop off at their lockers and eventually make their way to class. Gliding among them is a watchful guardian.

No, not Batman — this guardian has a real heart for the students, and doesn’t need a mask to affect the community within which he works.

“You get one or two kids that are normally going to drop out of school, and you get them to graduate,” said senior police Officer Tommy Barnett. “And you see them go across the stage. I think that’s my reason for coming back year after year after year, because I’m always hoping I can save just one more kid, one more kid — that’s the reason I wake up every morning and come here.”

Athens native Barnett is a school resource officer at Clarke Central High. Having been there for nine years, he knows well his role in the school.

“I think I’m a liaison between the police department and the teenagers, and also teenagers to the police department,” said Barnett. “I try to break down some of the barriers and not be so macho, or so rigid, but try to talk to the kids and get an understanding of what they’re going through, and why they’re acting the way they act.”

Each of the four middle and two high schools in the school district has a resource officer, with each high school getting an additional police officer from the Athens police department.

“It’s always exciting for me to play a part in a young person’s life,” said senior police Officer Chris Brogden, school resource officer for Clarke Middle School. “Something maybe that I said somewhere down the road maybe touched them to where they wanted to go out and do and make something of themselves.”

For a resource officer, it’s all about being there for the students.

“I got cereal for kids who are hungry, I got yogurt for kids who are hungry. I know I got kids coming here that are coming from a pretty crappy environment in life, and [I] try to give them some kind of stability. And if I know a kid’s hungry then I’ll sit there and shoot them some cereal or, ‘Hey, got some yogurt. You need anything?’”

There is a clear line, however, between the schools and the resource officers.

“Pretty much I leave everything up to the school, because it’s the school district — I’m here to just help them out,” said Brogden. “I help out in the hallways — you know, ‘Hey kids, y’all need to get to class.’ They see me in that role as somebody who will joke around with them, who will go in there and shoot ball with them. But they know I’m going to do my job, too, when it comes down to it, regardless of who it is.”

A resource officer doing his or her job “when it comes down to it” involves some pretty serious business.

“Having someone in the schools with the power to arrest and carry a firearm is important these days,” said Major Carter Greene, a superior officer in charge of the school resource officers. “You never know what is going to happen one day to the next. It can
also prevent and reduce the likelihood of another Columbine shooting.”

Becoming a resource officer has everything to do with finding the right fit for each school, and applying officers really have to show their interest.

“The SRO position is a voluntary decision on the part of the officer,” said Greene. “We open it up to any officer who is then interviewed by the school principal. The decision as to which officer is chosen is strictly up to the school administration.”

Although the resource officer acts as an authority figure, they don’t actually discipline students. If an officer finds a kid breaking schools rules, they get that student to an administrator, according to senior police Officer Barnett. It is up to the school to come up with a proper punishment.

The school district’s Code of Student Conduct contains 28 individual guidelines for addressing “prohibited behavior,” which encompasses “what students must not do.”

Discipline for violations range from detention to long term suspension or expulsion. If the principal or assistant principal recommends the latter, the matter is turned over to the district’s disciplinary hearing officer.

“The hearing officer is a neutral party who listens to the evidence given by both sides and decides whether the student has broken the rules and what disciplinary consequences, if any, are needed,” said Sam Preston, who fills the position for Athens’ school district. “I find the work very rewarding because I get to use my skills and experience as an educator to help students get the most benefit possible from what our district has to offer.”

The school district wrote the student code with the help of lawyers, and although the whole disciplinary process may sound technical and wordy, one of the main goals of the code is quite clear: “to ensure an environment for learning which is protected from interruption and harassment.”

It is this code, along with a lot of heart and understanding, that resource officers use to do their jobs.

“A lot of people like to say it’s a sign of the times, and kids are bad,” said Clarke Central’s Barnett. “But that’s not the only service that we provide, to be here to stop fights. We’re here actually to provide a safe environment for the kids to learn.”

Athens Teen Sexuality Remains Taboo Topic

The topic of sex remains in an awkward “gray area” for many Athens teenagers – a fitting

conversation between pals in the back of the bus or at an overcrowded lunch table, but

socially taboo with parents and school officials.

Unfortunately, many teens hold the perception that adequate protection from sexually

transmitted infections (STI’s) and unwanted pregnancy can be found with the aid of a

crinkly, two-year-old condom stuffed semi-neatly in a wallet next to a frequent buyer

card at Little Caesars.

Jordan Shapiro, a seventeen-year-old from Dallas, GA, agreed to share her experience,

explaining how the true consequences of misinformed sex came at an unexpected cost.

“I remember before I got pregnant, I would see pregnant teenagers at my school and

think, ‘How could they get pregnant? How stupid,’” Shapiro said. “But you don’t have to

be stupid to get pregnant. I was an Honor’s Student, active in JROTC, had a part time job

and was in [the] Student Government. I still got pregnant — life will find a way.”

Many teenagers see sex as a goal to reach, that once achieved guarantees immense

popularity and respect amongst peers.

“All teenagers have a sense of invincibility,” Shapiro said. “Often times girls, and even

guys, get involved in promiscuous circumstances and have the notion they’ll walk away

unscathed.”

Unfortunately, the metaphorical trophy earned by tearing up a V-card outweighs

any real possibility of bringing a screaming, kicking baby in to the world — a

notion that is instantly forgotten once that first “time of the month” is missed.

Although pregnancy prevention methods are readily available to those in need, it’s this

misconception of “it could never happen to me” that often leads many down a road they

were not prepared for.

“We did not use a condom,” Shapiro said. “I had been in a relationship with the

biological father for over a year — I trusted him. We had practiced other natural forms of

birth control but he ‘slipped up.’”

According to a 2005 Clarke County survey of local teenagers, 65% admitted to having

engaged in sexual activities – a number that might shock parents, but actually seem

relatively low to students. In fact, the birth rate in Athens-Clarke County is actually eight

times that of the entire country of France.

With so many teens admitting to being sexually active, the topic of teenage pregnancy

is nearly impossible to tackle from any particular anagle. Many professionals point to

the notion of simply being misinformed as a potential cause of many of the teenage

pregnancies.

“It’s a state law that anyone of reproductive age, whether or not they’re over the age

of 18, can seek reproductive services and birth control without the need for parental

consent,” said Sarah Peck, a Public Information Officer for the Northeast Health District

in Athens.

Teen Matters, an off-shoot of the public health department that has been around

since the 1990s, offers teens the security of sensitive services at a price that any

teenager can easily afford without sacrificing their daily trip to the vending machine.

“All the services at Teen Matters are free,” Peck said. “They offer pelvic exams, pap

smears, testing for sexually transmitted infections – including HIV – and a variety of

different types of birth control methods.”

Condoms are also available free of charge, as well as counseling if teens want to discuss

any aspects of their lives.

“A lot of teens are unaware that the services are confidential,” Peck said. “They

don’t understand exactly what confidentiality means, and that that’s a state law we’re

observing.”

Although parental involvement is by no means required at Teen Matters, it is still

encouraged and should begin in the home. At a time when kids and teens are being

exposed to things of explicit nature in the media (“bags of sand” means more to

most students then their unsuspecting parents), the “birds and the bees” should

not be left for Rated-R comedies to explain — it’s the responsibility of the parent.

“Parents are the first sex educators for all children,” said Katy Janousek, Sexual Health

Coordinator at the University Health Center. “The first line of education needs to come

from the primary care giver, which in many cases is a single parent, a guardian, maybe a

grandparent, so it’s not always just parents that are able to be there and have that type of

discussion with their children.

Serving as both an educator and guest lecturer in college classrooms, Janousek works

in the Health Promotion Department, working closely with students on and off campus,

and even does outreach for fraternities and sororities, as well as going to residence halls.

According to Janousek, the barrier between safe-sex and uninformed decisions often

times begins when teens try and purchase contraceptives.

“I had noticed since I moved to Georgia from Virginia that many places that sell

condoms actually lock them up,” Janousek said. “When I asked about it, they said it was

because they were having problems with theft. So there again we’re seeing that just the

stigma surrounding buying condoms is causing people to be too embarrassed to take them

to the cash register, maybe even to go through self check-out. The alternative then is

someone who’s too embarrassed to buy them now has to ask somebody else to open the

case.

The obvious issue that arises when teens are unable to attain contraceptives is unplanned

pregnancy, however, a new pill is helping change that.

Plan B, a hot and controversial topic amongst health officials and the FDA, is sold at

local pharmacies such as Kroger and Wal-Mart as an emergency contraceptive to be

ingested immediately after unplanned pregnancy.

“17 and older can get it without a prescription, though parental consent is required for

those 16 and younger,” said Dr. Kerri Wenslow, a 2006 University of Georgia alumna

and head pharmacist of Walgreens.

Taken with water in one and two pill doses, the active ingredient is 75 mg of a single

active steroid, levonorgestrel, which is essentially a high dose of birth control and

prevents the fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall.

If taken within three days, the pill can be highly effective, though sooner is always better.

Once implantation has occurred, Plan B will no longer work.

“If you’re already pregnant, it won’t do anything,” Wenslow said. “Timing is very

important”

It may seem that erasing a mistake is as easy a popping a bill, but that is not the case.

Plan B comes with risks.

“If you took too much plan B, you could theoretically throw off your hormone balance,”

Wenslow said. “It could be harder to pregnant later on when you’re actually ready to

have a family.”

Wenslow stressed teenagers who smoke should be extra cautious when using

Plan B, since there is an increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Ultimately, the decision to start having sex is up to the teenager and should be thought

about far before an innocent night of ice cream and Redbox leads to missing graduation

due to labor pains.

“I think it’s important for anybody, regardless of their age, to think about what they value

and what they believe in,” Janousek said. “They need to ask themselves questions like,

Am I ready to have sex? Do I want the same thing that my partner wants out of having

sex? Is this a relationship or a one time thing? Do I know how to prevent pregnancy? Do I

know how to prevent STI’s? Am I comfortable getting ways to have protection such as

buying condoms or having birth control?

For Jordan Shapiro, the ultimate decision to engage in unprotected sex came with it a

slew of bigger problems she had never considered.

“People seem to forget that in teen pregnancies, it’s not about the teen, it’s about

the baby,” Shapiro said. “That baby is going to demand all of his or her basic essentials

in life — food, shelter, clothing, a car seat, a Halloween costume, surgery for a broken

bone, lunch money, a car when they’re sixteen, and a college fund. Ask yourself if you’re

ready to provide all of that AND good parenting skills. If not, then just wait.”

High School Journalism Fun

Hey guys, Sorry this is so late.

Last Thursday I went to a seminar on Newspaper Design and then one on InDesign. I figured they would both be helpful since I'm photo editor of the magazine this semester.

In the newspaper design class we mostly just looked at different newspapers and talked about what worked and what didn't. We talked about the importance of white space and also the use of photos that not only draw in reader interest, but also help to add information to the story.

The InDesign class was extremely helpful. We mostly just talked about little shortcuts you can take when you're working with the program to save time, but it was a nice refresher course for me.

Athens High Schools Cater ESOL Programs to Meet Teen Needs

Many high school students in Clarke County are expected to function in English when they have spoken nothing but Spanish for the first 15 or so years of their lives.

“Students usually start and complete ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) programs in elementary school,” said Vicki Krugman, director of ESOL Programs in Athens Clarke-County. “For a student to be in a high school program they might have started ESOL in middle school or they may have just recently moved to the country.”

A typical ESOL student spends three years in the ESOL program. This is the minimum time frame for accomplishing the primary goal of ESOL instruction, success in four language domains – listening, speaking, reading and writing.

“We have basic components that all teachers follow, but the actual instruction is adjusted to age level,” Krugman said. “There are things that high school students have to learn right away that apply to their specific courses. So high school ESOL programs are generally faster paced and more intensive.”

In accordance with the Title IV Act stating that schools must provide some sort of service to help English learners fully participate, all Athens-Clarke County schools offer ESOL instruction. There are clear state guidelines regarding entrance into and exit from ESOL programs, but each district has choices in the services they offer.

“The choices are based on population,” Krugman said. “So our programs will look pretty different from schools with only 10 English language learners.”

ESOL programs in Athens cater to 1,191 students who have shown need. These students account for 10 percent of the entire district school population, and 90 percent of them are of Hispanic descent.

Although some students merely come from homes that speak a language other than English, many fall into the 13.2 percent of Athens residents who moved to the U.S. within the past year.

Brittany Mackay, an ESOL tutor at Winterville Elementary, taught a number of newly settled immigrants and found that their inexperience with English crippled, or at least hindered, their capacity to learn.

“You have to constantly ask them if they understand the material,” Mackay said. “And even when they say they do they usually don’t. They’re just too embarrassed to admit that they don’t get it.”

The extent of language setbacks in non-native speakers often exceeds the time and resources of ESOL teachers. In response to this problem, the Office of Early Learning in Athens-Clarke County developed Right Start Family Literacy. This program operates under the philosophy that parents are students’ first, and often most influential, teachers.

“We serve parents of children birth to 18,” said Nancy Heiges, a Right Start Family Literacy ESOL teacher.

“They often do meet their goals. They are able to go to appointments without a translator, and they’re able to work in an English-speaking environment.”

Although many non-English speaking parents are eager to improve their language skills, the Right Start Family Literacy classes are in such high demand that Heiges must be very selective in admitting students.

“I only have space for 24 students in my classroom, and the requirements limit who I can take,” Heiges said. “They must be parents for one thing, and I have to have a certain number of parents from certain programs.”

The Right Start Family Literacy program only allows 24 students in each class, because older students often need more specified and intensive attention. Recognizing older students’ need for more concentrated ESOL instruction, Athens Clarke County uses a similar approach called the sheltered method in its high school programs.

Elementary schools typically focus on the “push in” and “pull out” approaches. In the former, regular teachers and ESOL instructors deliver content to children during their normal class. The latter method involves tutors pulling kids out of class for intense English instruction.

“I personally like the sheltered method better,” said Carla Horne, an ESOL instructor at Cedar Shoals High School, “because there’s too much commotion and distraction involved with going into a classroom.”

Sheltered classes included only non-native speakers. They cater to a specific subject, like 10^th grade English, and focus instruction on the content that would normally be assigned in that class’s curriculum.

“They all need help writing so no one feels embarrassed or uncomfortable,” Horne said of her ESOL English literature class. “In the sheltered method we’re all together and we’re all a family.”

The Georgia Meth Project makes people uncomfortable, but with purpose

What if you woke up tomorrow morning and found yourself in the shower, eyes still closed and muscles still stiff but instead of scooting the shampoo’s suds around in your locks, you looked down to find a handful of those locks in your sudsy hand? What if you made your way to the kitchen and bit into a bright red apple and found bits of your own crumbled teeth inside?

Uncomfortable?

“That’s exactly what we want to do,” Jim Langford, Executive Director of the Georgia Meth Project said.

If you spend any time watching prime time television, whether your weekly fix is Glee, Gossip Girls or Lost, you have probably seen one of these anti-meth commercials. Discussion about these disturbing commercials has been going around newsrooms, classrooms, lunch rooms and family rooms for a while now, and a lot of people are talking about just how “gross” they are.

“Every once and a while I’ll get a letter from a parent afraid their child would see the girl in the bathtub and be frightened and have bad dreams, and we decided it was worth the risk. The reality is there are children living nightmares every day,” Langford said.

Who’s behind this?

But who is behind these nightmarish commercials and is meth really that bad?

The Georgia Meth Project, the folks behind these commercials, began with the ideas of a businessman named Thomas Siebel. Siebel wanted to come up with a way to prevent the rapidly growing problem of meth addiction.

Tons of dedicated people continue The Georgia Meth Project, each with his or her own story as to they care about the meth problem in Georgia. Jim Langford is one of them.

Langford grew up in Calhoun, Ga. and said he always appreciated the farm communities there. Though he moved away from Calhoun for a time, he came back 27 years later with his middle-school aged daughter and said his discovery was “depressing, terrible and sad.”

“I looked around and saw all these farms for sale. They were for sale because they became involved in meth and lost all their family money,” Langford said. “I grew up valuing community. To understand the fabric of the old farm communities is to understand the value of interconnectivity with families. It makes you feel whole and good and when you look back and see they aren’t the same community anymore because of meth and to see the children of those families go to jail, it’s a depressing thought to know everything you valued about community is crumbling.”

It was when Langford came back to Calhoun that he realized the meth problem in Georgia was so bad. He was offered a job as executive director of the Georgia Meth Project and eventually accepted.

“I knew it was a problem; it was just a bigger problem than I thought. I just realized that I could be a part of the solution” Langford said.

Is it reality?

The ad campaign in Georgia has been growing rampantly since its public appearance in January of 2010. Some people are wondering, though, if the ads are accurate and are leaving people scratching their heads wondering if one use of the drug can really turn them into a psycho, skin picking, hollow-faced individual.

“The meth commercials are reality. You’re a normal kid and as soon as you try it you’re hooked. The folks who come in here will tell you they were hooked the first time they tried it. You can’t stop once you start. Most meth addicts that show up on my door wanting help look like the people on the meth commercials,” Sandra Moore, Program Director of the Palm House Recovery Center in Athens, Ga. said.

Moore is not the only one who agrees that the commercials are reality.

“I think it’s a good way to scare people and it’s true; meth is death,” Gail Herrschaft, Director of Double Trouble in Recovery meetings held around the state said.

Not only are the horrors of the ads a reality, so is the prevalence of the drug and drug use among teens.

Moore said she began using drugs when she was thirteen years old. She’s been clean for 9 years but said the journey to get there was long and included encouragement from her parents, a support group and gumption to get up and keep going.

“You have to wake up every day and want to do something different,” Moore said. “I wake up every day and say that I’m going to live and not die.”

Herrschaft has a slightly different story than Moore. Though she also began using drugs in her teens, her children were the one's who intervened.

“I did drugs for 30 years, Herrschaft said.” I lost a lot of my teenage years, my 20s, my 30s and even some of 40s getting high. Getting clean was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.”

And meth doesn’t just find its way into farm communities like Langford’s. It shows up everywhere.

“It’s not just in the poor neighborhoods or the other side of the railroad tracks,” Moore said. “The disease of addiction does not discriminate against anybody. It affects people in nice neighborhoods with nice cars.”

Herrschaft said the same thing.

“It’s all over the place,” Herrschaft said. “You find drugs in the richest neighborhoods; they are everywhere. It seems like if you’re an addict, drugs find you.”

What adults wish you knew

Langford said teens are not the only ones these commercials are reaching, and there seems to be a few things adults were wishing teens knew.

Life is about tradeoffs.

“Are you willing to choose something and reap the rewards or suffer consequences?” Moore said. “Life is about making choices. When people are using they don’t stop to ask if their choices will put them in a 6 by 9, in a mental institution, or kill them. I always tell my nephews who are teenagers to stop and ask themselves to recognize there are always two things that could happen with what they do in life.”

Never be ashamed to talk about a drug problem.

Staci Pfeiffer, Licensed Professional Counselor and the Founding Director and Chief Inspiration Officer of The Banyan Tree Center thinks maybe some people aren’t getting help because of the bad rap meth gets in the social world.

“It has been stigmatized as trashy. The idea that it gets made in a trailer freaks people out,” Pfeiffer said.

Meth is even un-cool in the drug world. Addiction Counselor from Athens’ Recovery Café, Tommie Walton III, said he counseled a former drug dealer who got into some trouble with a meth dealer and said that if the guy had known, he would never have even talked to him.

“Even those who deal are prejudice of meth as a drug,” Walton said.

Addictions are unexpected.

Walton said he’s afraid teens will think the meth commercials are unrealistic and wants them to know that in the 37 years he has been practicing, no one has come into his office having thought they would eventually become addicted.

“Most of us wake up most mornings with a bias towards optimism,” Walton said. Most people think that way about using drugs. They think it’s all going to be okay”

Stats and stuff

Meth is deceiving. 35 percent of teens think there’s nothing wrong with trying it.
Meth is seducing. It sends the user’s dopamine levels 10 times higher than things like food and sex do, that’s why meth users are constantly trying to recreate their first encounter with meth.
Meth is expensive. It costs Georgia alone. 1.3 billion dollars a year.
Meth is awkward. 58 percent of polled teens say their parents have never advised them about using it.
Meth is dangerous. Meth is a factor in 42 percent of child endangerment cases in Georgia.

Mr. Zack Goes To A Conference

So, first thing, I am a little late, but (hopefully) this is one of those better late than never situations.

Do to some previous obligations I was only able to attend the last two lection sections of the last day of the conference. However, I was fortunate enough to be the only person in our class to stumble upon our humble instructor Joe Dennis speaking at one of the lectures.

Now, a few things need to be clarified. For one, he was not on the schedule to give this lecture. Joe was a last minute replacement, but a damn fine one if I do say so myself.

Secondly, the lecture was given on news writing. Which isn’t a topic that is exactly new to me, but hey, a review couldn’t hurt. Since I caught the last 35 minutes of the presentation I only got to see Joe going over “brainstorming.”

It would have been a bit nicer if this group of girls sitting behind me had not been talking about what was happening on their Twitter and Facebook pages.

For my second lecture I went to the one that talked about using diction and style to improve the “creativity,” of one’s writing.

This lecture I found more helpful than the last. In journalism I do sometimes find it hard to make topics like “Old woman grows flower garden,” or “high-school kids work part time jobs,” into anything all that creative or interesting.

The lecture discussed how simple changes in diction and emphasis in a sentence can really keep the readers interest.

I did have to leave 10 minutes early to get to work.

Local resources seek to educate community about child abuse, focus on prevention, communication

Prevention, knowledge and community can be the three most important words to replace neglect, violence and assault in the life of an individual affected by abuse. The prevalence of reported cases of child abuse in Athens may surprise many people, but what may surprise more individuals is the number of unreported cases. Fortunately, there are ways to effectively combat child abuse. Organizations work with families who have a potential for abuse and families or individuals that have already been affected by abuse. Regardless of a person’s particular circumstance, help is readily available.

According to Sally Sheppard, executive director of The Cottage Sexual Assault Center and Children's Advocacy Center in Athens, one in four women at some point in their lives will be a victim of child or sexual abuse, whereas one in six men will be victims. “Abuse occurs across all socioeconomic classes, races and genders,” Sheppard said.

A correlation between female victims who do not seek help and those who become pregnant in the future is evident. Living with abuse and surviving an abusive period can tie into a potential future of alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution or serious health problems. Drug use can occur as a result of never having learned how to cope, and health problems can be related to stress, causing cancer or cardiac issues in the future, Sheppard said.

Child abuse can be broken down into several categories. It is important to note that the word ‘child’ is used in this instance to refer to adolescents fewer than 18 years of age. Sheppard explains physical abuse as “hurting someone else’s body in a physical way.” The Cottage sees mostly adolescents who have experienced extreme physical abuse, including bruises, burns, cuts and broken bones that are usually caused by another person in the same household or someone with whom they are in a physical relationship. According to the Georgia Children’s Health Alliance (GCHA), in 80 percent of cases, the abuser is the victim’s biological parent, and 90 percent of abuse occurs in the victim’s home.

Extreme physical violence will often result after children of the house witness domestic violence between parents, partners or guardians, or when children witness extreme cases of violence, such as homicide or suicide. Another result of domestic violence can be dating violence, but most of the time these instances go unreported, Sheppard said.

Sexual abuse is “any unwanted sexual contact done to a person 15 years of age or younger,” Sheppard said. This can include physical touching or the showing of body parts, and is the most common form of abuse among adolescents ages 13-18. Sexual assault, also known as rape, occurs when there is penetration anywhere in another person’s body. The majority of abusers are family members, but in some cases they are complete strangers. Most cases of sexual abuse can be classified as statutory rape. According to Sheppard, these cases result when there is “consensual sex with someone 15 years old and younger with someone ages 16 years of age or older.”

Though physical markings such as bruises may make abuse evident, emotional abuse is harder to recognize. “The constant putting down of a child or adolescent can be hidden very well. Long-term emotional abuse can be as damaging as other types,” said Mary Hood, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Athens (PCAA).
Reported rates of emotional abuse are higher in Oconee County than Clarke, Madison and Oglethorpe, Hood said.

The reason cases of abuse oftentimes go unnoticed is because adolescents fear the blame will come back to them, Sheppard explained. The victim may feel guilty or shameful, or they may not want to be highlighted as a topic of discussion. Sheppard also added that just because one particular type of abuse is reported, others should not rule out everything else that may be going on with the victim.

PCAA also works in cooperation with the Clarke County School District. “As mandated reporters, the contact we have with child abuse and neglect victims is mostly around reporting. We of course have prevention efforts in the elementary school, such as Good Touch/Bad Touch, to teach children about child sexual abuse,” said Dawn Meyers, director of social work for the Clarke County School District.

Meyers also points out that the most common form of abuse is neglect. “Most of the child abuse that is reported through the schools is neglect — and most of that involves lack of supervision,” Meyers said.

The number of cases of reported neglect is higher in Georgia than nationally. In 2008, 78 percent of child abuse cases in Georgia were neglect compared to 60 percent of cases nationally, according to GCHA.

PCAA also offers a support program to parents or guardians that voluntarily accept help to better a child’s life. Hood and PCAA’s goal is to reach what they refer to as the “tipping point.” This means PCAA hopes to educate 4,000 people in the next three to five years. “If you can reach 5 percent and educate them, you can reduce the number of cases,” Hood adds.

With the help of local resources, preventative measures can be taken to continually reduce the number of child abuse cases — physical, sexual or emotional — both reported and unreported.

As Christian Orobello, executive director and CEO of Athens-Oconee CASA, points out, family and friends are able to be equally effective in providing support. “As a community, we need to be creating networks for people by being creative about what we’re doing in our community and creating informal resources,” Orobello said. “The informal ways of helping each other created by people in the community can be the difference we see in the child’s life.”

GSPA Seminars

The first GSPA seminar I attended was a NewsMag Crash Course presented by Jessica Norton and Erin Hill. Right now I'm taking Magazine Management, so I wanted to see if this seminar would add anything to my understanding of that course or just breeze over the same material. A lot of what they said about page layout and and staff structure was similar to what we have been discussing in my magazine course, but this seminar when into a lot more detail about editorial content. They discussed new features that will catch readers eyes and where those headlines should be placed on the cover. They also emphasized the fact that recurring sections, like how-to columns, are what keep readers returning again and again. While my magazine course focuses more on editorial philosophies in the professional world, this seminar gave me more insight into brainstorming specific stories. It was also more applicable to my current state as a college journalism major, rather than offering theoretical information about professional careers.

The second seminar I attended was Journalism: It's writing, not rocket science taught by Meg Ferrante. At first this seminar seemed a little more juvenile, because we started out by filling out a grammar madlib of sorts and sharing our results. After this brain teaser, however, Ms. Ferrante provided a lot of insight into how to make even very factual writing more creative. She passed out a list of leads from award winning high school magazines, that were less than impressive. She showed us all how easy it was to improve these leads and hook readers right at the beginning. She also stressed that writers need to be on their a-game throughout a story, especially in longer feature stories. If a reader is going to stay hooked, the writing has to be just as cutting edged in the middle as it was in the opening sentence.

GSPA

I learned many things at the GSPA Conference on Thursday, not the least of which was that there is such a thing as a high school hipster; and they are, in fact even worse than the regular kind. More relevant still to the issue of journalism are the things that were actually discussed in the sessions.

In the session Literary Magazines: A Best Works Approach, Kristy Cates spent a large part of the time talking to the high schoolers who were there and getting them to share ideas that they used in their own high school literary magazines. She opened by inviting everyone to write down what should be in a literary magazine and what should not. She said that the key questions to ask are: What are you trying to showcase? What are you trying to promote? Are you trying to be exclusive?

This last question is especially important for a literary magazine. What it means is that does everyone get published or are you more concerned with getting high quality content in your magazine. This is probably more of an issue for high school publications since it is not expected that everyone has an equal opportunity to be published in a professional publication. Still, you should not be too exclusive because literary magazines are seen as a way for people who don't usually have a voice to be heard.

Obviously, artwork is an integral part of the layout and design of a literary magazine. It is important to settle on a design template and theme early on and leave it open so that it will work with all future editions and any artwork that might be featured in your magazine.

In Newspaper Design, Nicola Corbin started out by showing different examples of newspapers from all over and pointing out some design flaws such as too much clutter or too much white space, though negative space is still a very important design element.

It is also essential to choose the right pictures to go along with your stories. They must be interesting but they must also further the story.

In all the conference provided a great opportunity to learn a variety of things from various informed sources. As it was a journalism seminar geared towards high school students, I was able to get some really good material for my article on technology in high schools.