SUMMARY: Following a week in the life of a middle schooler, the new film "Eighth Grade" sets the familiar fumblings of adolescence against the constant glare of a glowing screen or Snapchat filter. Jeffrey Brown takes a look at why it’s drawing strong critical praise for its raw portrayal of the challenges of being a teenager in the digital age.
SUMMARY: The promise of social media is instant human connection. But for many teens, greater use of social media mans a far greater sense of isolation, according to an increasing body of evidence. William Brangham speaks with Jean Twenge, author of "iGen" and a new article in The Atlantic, about the ways smartphones are affecting an entire generation's mental health.
SUMMARY: “Dear Evan Hansen,” a surprise hit musical, is the story of an ordinary teen who all his life has felt invisible. But when a classmate commits suicide, Hansen is mistakenly seen as his one friend and becomes the center of attention. The Tony-nominated show draws awareness to the loneliness and pain of teen life and how isolation can be intensified in today's social media world. Jeffrey Brown reports.
SUMMARY: The 2016 election mudslinging from “crooked” Hillary Clinton and “dangerously incoherent” Donald Trump has even piqued the interest of teens — and made teaching high school civics that much more difficult. So it's time to get creative, which one 12th grade government teacher has done with his ‘scandals, lies and incivility' curriculum. Education Week's Lisa Stark reports for the NewsHour.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): It's always been the case that the political science taught in textbooks can be a far cry from politics as practiced in the real world.
But given how different and unusual this year's presidential election has been, it's presented a particular challenge in some school settings, trying to square the civics book with the 2016 campaign as it's unfolded.
Special correspondent Lisa Stark of Education Week visits a high school in Maryland just two hours from the White House, where teachers are trying to help students understand this out-of-the-ordinary election.
It's part of our weekly series Making the Grade.
BRUCE FOX, North East High School: Good morning.
STUDENTS: Good morning.
BRUCE FOX: Good morning. We're going to start with a warm up here today. Number one, what are the three Constitutional requirements to be President?
LISA STARK (Education Week): Bruce Fox's 12th grade A.P. government class has been following this presidential election as the field has winnowed down and the rhetoric has heated up.
BRUCE FOX: And this year, you can easily make the argument that it's like that on steroids.
LISA STARK: Is it ever.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), Presumptive Presidential Nominee: She's a world-class liar. Just look at her pathetic e-mail server statements, or her phony landing.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), Presumptive Presidential Nominee: Donald Trump's ideas aren't just different. They are dangerously incoherent.
LISA STARK: From television to Twitter, it's been an unruly campaign.
DONALD TRUMP: Crooked Hillary Clinton. We can't let it happen.
LISA STARK: To help students cut through the noise, Bruce Fox is trying out his own ballot.
BRUCE FOX: We are going to look at scandals, lies and incivility in the 2016 presidential election. You are going to categorize each incident and rate it.
I think that this year presents extra challenges because the political parties traditionally have had a platform that was predictable and well-known, and, this year, things are a little bit more all over the place.
SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration will begin regulating e-cigarettes and cigars the same way it regulates cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. About 2.5 million high school students or middle schoolers vaped at least once in the last month; now e-cigarettes can no longer be sold to people under 18. Hari Sreenivasan talks to Mitch Zeller of the FDA for more on the new policy.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): There'll be no more e-cigarette and cigar sales to people under the age of 18. Federal oversight of the growing industry was announced today by the Food and Drug Administration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARI SREENIVASAN: They've been around since 2006, but until now, they were largely un-regulated. E-cigarettes turn nicotine into an inhalable liquid vapor, but without the tobacco in regular cigarettes.
WOMAN: With blue e-cigs there's no tobacco only vapor.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Ads for the products tout benefits, using celebrity endorsements, like this one from actress Jenny McCarthy. In fact, there's no scientific consensus on benefits, or potential harm.
But Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says the industry will now be regulated, citing its rapid growth among teens.
SYLVIA BURWELL, Secretary of Health and Human Services: Between 2011 and 2015, the percentage of high school students who smoke e-cigarettes has skyrocketed over 900 percent. Meanwhile, hookah usage has risen significantly among young people and cigar smoking continues to be a problem among high schoolers. Together, that means millions of kids are being introduced to nicotine every year, a new generation hooked on a highly addictive chemical.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Manufacturers, many of them small companies, will have to undergo a lengthy federal review in order to stay on the market.
In response, Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said today, quote, “If the FDA's rule is not changed by Congress or the courts, thousands of small businesses will close in two to three years.”
House Republicans (bough and paid for, my comment) have their own answer, a bill to curb retroactive safety reviews for e-cigarettes and cigars.
SUMMARY: Teenagers today have never known a world without the internet, which may be why half of all adolescents say they’re addicted to their digital devices. In her new documentary “Screenagers,” Dr. Delaney Ruston explores why young people are so drawn to social media and video games and what effect it’s having on their brains. Ruston joins William Brangham to share what she’s learned.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): A new report looks at how digital devices are taking a toll on kids and families.
The report issued yesterday by Common Sense Media found half of all young people feel they are addicted to their devices. Almost 60 percent of adults think their kids are addicted too. And a third of parents and teens say that they argue daily about screen time.
William Brangham is back with our look.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour): The documentary is called “Screenagers,” and, in it, Dr. Delaney Ruston explores the complex relationship teenagers have with their screens, both the pleasures they take in sharing their lives online with their friends, as well as the darker side, those who lose control of their digital habits, and spiral into damaging behavior.
WOMAN: When I went to hug him, I could feel the bones in his back. And that was scary.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The film also looks at the latest research about the impact all this screen time has on the brains of young people.
SHERRY TURKLE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: You have a brain that is wired for what in psychology is called seeking behavior, the kind of thing that a Google search gives you, something new, something stimulating, something different.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Throughout the film, Ruston also turns the camera on herself, exploring the real and all-too-common conflicts that flare up as she and her family haggle over screen time.
DR. DELANEY RUSTON, Filmmaker, “Screenagers”: What should the rules be? Because we don’t have any right now.
TESSA RUSTON: I think the rules should be there is no rule. It’s not like I’m on it 24/7.
DR. DELANEY RUSTON: When you have it, you’re always checking it. And I — don’t you think that…
TESSA RUSTON: Well, if you put this in front of me, yes, I will go on it, and, yes, I can find something to do on it.
