>> you're watching "teen kids news," and here's what's coming up. >> think geography is just about locating a place on a map? think again. >> congress is holding discussions on concussions. i'll explain how that could affect you. >> a technique thousands of years old is helping teens today. i'll show you how. >> think summer jobs are tough today? try working on this ship 100 years ago. >> meet a teen who's rocking out on a string instrument that's not a guitar. >> that, and lots more, right now on "teen kids news."

>> welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm siena. here's our top story for this week. >> it happens on fields, rinks, and courts all across the country thousands of times a year -- a player takes a hit and suffers a concussion. even if he or she gets back up again, the damage can be serious. nicole reports on a national effort to make sure players, parents, and coaches know what to do about these injuries. >> i got hit from behind once, and then somebody came from the side and hit me, helmet to helmet. >> football is a contact sport. kids get hit and hurt. so, usa football, a youth-league organization, is joining forces with the government's centers for disease control. they're educating coaches, parents, and players about concussions. >> a concussion is any direct

hit to the brain which changes the way your brain normally works. it's basically your brain getting rattled inside of your skull. so, what happens with a concussion -- and football players are great examples of this -- is that, while they're protected by all their helmets and protective gear and padding, the helmet itself does a great job in stopping the skull from getting injured. however, the brain within the skull actually moves forward and hits the inside of the skull. >> the most obvious symptom of a concussion is a loss of consciousness, but that doesn't always happen. other symptoms might include a headache or a pressure in the head, nausea or vomiting, balance problems or dizziness, double or blurry vision, sensitivity to light or noise, feeling sluggish or groggy, concentration or memory problems, confusion, or just not feeling right. you need to be checked out by a doctor. and remember -- the damage to your brain can continue even if the symptoms go away.

>> some of the symptoms of a concussion can present a day later, without any warning. so, you do have to be on the lookout for that. [ indistinct conversations ] >> football is just one of the activities that puts young people at risk. emergency-room visits for sports-related concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 doubled in a decade. [ whistle blows ] the good news is that some of that increase is attributed to more awareness about the dangers of head injuries. people are starting to realize that when you bang your head, you don't just get up and keep going. >> if you bang your head, they want you to tell the coach that you're not feeling well and your head is ringing, and they'll make sure that you sit out and you're okay. >> head up! good. >> here's something many kids and parents don't know -- having one concussion increases your risk for another. this man's son suffered six concussions. >> if i would have known what i know now, i wouldn't have

allowed my son to continue playing high school football all the way to his last game, when he got his last one. [ indistinct shouting ] >> now there's a united effort to address concussions on all kinds of playing fields. >> and this is truly a multi-sport issue. so, we have u.s. lacrosse and soccer and even hockey, to name a few, and then also the ncaa and the national federation of state high school associations, all working together to come up with a common standard of excellence when it comes to signs and symptoms and an action plan for concussions. >> recently, young concussion victims came here to washington to tell their stories to congress.ified about trouble concentrating in the classroom because of head injuries on the field. with increasing awareness of long-term damage from concussions, some states are enacting tougher rules about when you can return to play if you show any symptoms of a concussion.

>> you need to, at the very least, go see your pediatrician or your doctor and be cleared for return back to activity. your brain needs to be fully recovered before going back to play, and even when you do go back to your sports practice, it should be a gradual introduction back. >> do not feel like you need to be a hero, okay, because your well-being throughout your life is more important than a football game. >> on capitol hill, for "teen kids news," i'm nicole. >> stay with us. there's a lot more coming up on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. >> a secret memo shows the justice department gave the c.i.a. approval to kill anwar al-awlaki, a charismatic u.s.-born cleric and al-qaeda operational leader. the memo, placing al-awlaki on a "kill or capture" list, calling him a combatant targeting u.s. citizens -- that took away his

protection, says an american. the justice department justifying his killing as an act of self-defense. awlaki was killed in a c.i.a.-led drone strike on september 30th. he's been connected to the fort hood shooting and failed underwear-bomb attack. israel welcomes parts of an international proposal to resume long-stalled peace talks with the palestinians. the plan, by mid-east mediators known as the "quartet," calls for a peace deal in a year and asks both sides to produce comprehensive proposals on territory and security within three months. israeli officials expressing concern about the plan's timetable. palestinians vowing not to return to talks unless israel freezes settlement building and accepts the pre-1967 war borders. defense secretary leon panetta says the ongoing turmoil in the middle east makes negotiations critical. >> my main message is to both sides -- you don't lose anything. you don't lose anything by going into negotiations and trying to

pursue the peace process. >> the supreme court getting back to work after a 3-month recess. president obama's healthcare overhaul is at the top of the agenda. the nation's highest court will consider legal challenges on whether the healthcare law is constitutional. other issues awaiting action include arizona's immigration law and affirmative action. for "teen kids news," i'm rick leventhal, fox news channel in the classroom. >> do you know which countries boarder the dead sea or which state averages more rainfall -- nevada or delaware? these are just some of the questions these students have to answer in order to make it here, the national geographic bee. >> mozambique. >> mongolia. >> portugal. >> for more than 20 years, the national geographic bee has been challenging students to learn about the world around them. >> which european capital city is located closer to an international border -- madrid or copenhagen?

>> copenhagen. >> copenhagen is correct. >> john fahey, the president of national geographic, says his organization's mission is to "inspire people to care about the planet." he hopes the bee will "foster a life long passion for learning about other cultures." here's how it works. the competition starts in schools. students compete against their classmates, and the winner then advances to the statewide competition. one winner from each state gets a ticket to washington, d.c., to compete at a national level. in all, four million students participated in the bee this year. >> i got interested in geography because i've traveled to many places around the world, like france, germany, singapore, australia. >> that's aadith moorthy, a grand champion. he says it wasn't easy to get to the top. >> well, there was a lot of hard work. i prepared 20 facts a day for 4

months, and i studied those facts. i learned that there are a lot of things in geography that i don't know. >> so, he developed a system for remembering some of the hardest facts. >> i think the most challenging thing is learning place names and how to pronounce them. you should break up the words into different pieces and then learn them by pieces. divide and conquer. >> in the beginning of the bee, it didn't look like aadith would conquer. he actually missed the first question of the championship round. >> there was a choice of three cities -- kiev, kuala lumpur, and kinshasa. and the question was, "which city has more than 7 million people within its city limits?" i thought it was kuala lumpur, but the answer happened to be... >> kinshasa. >> but aadith didn't give up. >> i was extremely nervous. just after i missed my first question, i was really scared. but then i calmed myself down and i kept my cool and i won the

bee. >> keeping calm paid off -- literally. >> put your cards up. oliver wrote down port-au-prince. aadith wrote down cap-haitien. the correct response -- the largest city in northern haiti -- is cap-haitien. aadith, congratulations, young man. you are the 2010 national geographic champion. >> as part of his grand prize, aadith won a $25,000 scholarship and a trip to the galapagos islands. he also won a lifetime membership to national geographic. for now, aadith says he plans to sit back and enjoy the win. >> oh, it feels great. and i'm also really happy and pleased with myself, and my parents are really proud of me. >> and he has a tip for future bee competitors. >> my study tip is, work hard, and you should get success. and never give up. >> by the way, if you're wondering about the questions i

asked at the beginning of this story, here are the answers. jordan and israel border the dead sea, and delaware gets more rainfall than nevada. to learn more about the national geographic bee, you can follow the links on our website. >> fearless warriors. no, i ma not talking about xena or hercules. it's actually an ancient form of exercise. i'll tell you what it's all about, coming up next. >> together: om. >> if you think this is all there is to yoga, try striking a pose. >> a lot of athletes go into yoga and think, "i'm good at everything. this is gonna be easy, a piece of cake." and then they fall and they're embarrassed and they're in shock. >> yoga is a series of poses based on movements and postures found in nature. >> and we're gonna take your right foot into tree pose.

>> the positions help increase strength, flexibility, and focus, while relieving stress. that's why mary kaye chryssicas started teaching yoga to teens. >> and there's a lot of worry and anxiety in today's teens. so, anything that can reduce worry is a good thing. >> i braved mary kaye's boston class. as you can see, it's pretty popular. it turns out more athletes are making their way to the yoga studio to help improve their skills on the field. >> i work with a baseball team, and specifically with pitchers, to teach them how to breathe because the breath is what calms you down. [ man breathes deeply ] >> mary kaye gave me some one-on-one time to go over poses i had a tough time with in class. mary kaye says she taught this one to the harvard rugby team -- no problem. tricky poses, like crow, help with balance, but they also give teens skills they can use in

everyday life. >> each pose that is more challenging, like crow pose -- that gives them a little bit more confidence. >> poses like warrior also build confidence while strengthening the legs. mary kaye believes a more confident kid is a stronger kid, overall. now i'm ready for that football game. for "teen kids news," i'm tyler. >> okay, everyone it's time to find out what teens think. here's our "speak of the week." >> whether you love crunching numbers or expounding on homer in english, chances are there's at least one class you like in school. so, tell us -- what's your favorite subject? >> language, because i like reading a lot. so, we do a lot of work with, like, reading books and then answering questions about them. >> gym, because i play, like, basketball a lot. >> my favorite subject is math because i like to, like, figure

things out and i'm good at counting. >> my favorite school subject is theater. [ laughs ] >> does lunch count? >> history, because i like to know what happened before i was born. >> history, 'cause i believe if it's in the past, we should learn about the future. >> algebra, i guess because of all the numbers. it's hard to think that way. >> social studies, because -- it interests me, but i'm a hands-on person, and i don't like to just read books mostly. [ chuckles ] >> class dismissed. for "teen kids news," i'm sam. [ rock music playing ] >> when you go to see a rock band, you probably expect to see a keyboard, guitar, and drums. but a violin? zack explains. [ rock music playing ]

>> meet antonio pontarelli, a 19-year old composer, singer, and musician who's playing the violin on a whole new scale. [ music continues ] >> they expect me to play classical music, and when i get up there on the violin, it's actually quite interesting to see the reaction and to kind of bring something new to it and kind of try to explore what other people in my genre haven't done. >> while most children at the age of 3 might be learning how to tie their shoes, antonio was learning how to tune strings. >> well, when i first started off, i was definitely just like any other toddler picking up a violin. i'd practice every once in awhile, but it wasn't really serious. [ classical music playing ] as time went on, i started getting more and more into classical music. >> but classical music wasn't enough. antonio wanted something a little different. >> i wanted to play the music that i was listening to. at one point, my dad started playing jimi hendrix and led zeppelin. and what can i say?

i love the music. so, i started wanting to play that with the violin. [ "foxey lady" playing ] >> but how do you become a rock violinist? like all instruments, it starts off with the basics -- an interest, lots of practice, and a little push from the parents. >> i didn't want to practice. i mean, nobody really wants to sit down and, you know, lift weights or practice or do your math homework. >> he would want to stop, and i had to find ways to positively empower him and motivate him because i knew that's what he really wanted. but i didn't really have to nag him. he may tell you that, though. [ chuckles ] >> but now antonio is the first to admit that the practice has really paid off. >> when it comes to performing and when it comes to playing, you do have to put in the hard work. >> antonio's been rocking out on the violin ever since, and he's discovered that there are no bounds to the sounds he can make. >> what i'm trying to do is trying to convince people that there are other ways you can play it. i mean, you can get different sounds than just a normal violin.

you can get, you know... [ high, rapid chords playing ] [ record scratching ] all right, what we have here is the electric violin. and as you can see, it's quite different than the acoustic violin. [ electric chord plays ] you can add a lot of effects. you can add delay. you can add reverb. you can do a lot of things with this instrument. and the most important thing for me and the reason that i use this over an acoustic is the fact that it projects over an audience. >> over the years, antonio's won several talent competitions. he was also the winner of nbc's "america's most talented kids" in 2004. >> ♪ excuse me while i kiss the sky ♪ > that was like the coolest thing i've ever seen. >> antonio has even performed at carnegie hall, a place where most musicians can only dream of playing. >> how do you get to carnegie hall? practice, practice, practice. i mean, it's one of those places where, once you've really worked the hardest that you can and you've reached the highest point that you can, you play at carnegie hall. >> antonio also leads workshops

to help other musicians develop their craft. >> i actually have a lot of opportunities to not only inspire youth to get interested in classical music and get interested in the violin, but also i'm able to help violinists who may want to break out of classical music. >> he hopes his classes will inspire teens to find their passion. >> you need to find that one thing that really you get the most enjoyment out of and not be afraid to have to put in the hard work to reach it because everything in life is balance, and if you can somehow love what it is that you do, then you've hit a home run. [ rock music playing ] >> and if your passion is the electric violin, try not to wake the neighbors. to learn more about antonio and his music, you can visit...

>> if you were a teen 100 years ago, working on this ship would have given you an opportunity to see the world. of course, you would have had to be fearless, with a good set of sea legs. >> the peking itself was one of the largest sailing ships ever built. she's more than 377 feet long, and her masts go up about 17 or 18 stories or so. well, this was a ship that was designed to go basically from hamburg, across the atlantic, south of south america, through cape horn, up the coast of chili, where it would pick up fertilizer -- nitrates. and all of that fertilizer would be hauled back to germany again. >> the cargo may not have been exciting, but working on this early-20th-century sailing ship must have been an incredible adventure. >> it's a journey of about 8,000 miles, and she did this very regularly.

it took two to three months that these sailors were out on the seas, delivering these goods from chili to hamburg on a regular basis. it was a tremendously difficult trip. i mean, going south of south america, you're almost into antarctica, and there were some terrible storms. >> what's most amazing is, many of the sailors on board were not much older than me. >> german sailors would have been teenagers. the crew would have numbered no more than 20 to 25, maximum, during these journeys. plenty of work to keep them busy. they would work in shifts. basically, there was always someone on deck, 24 hours a day, doing some type of work. >> the work was difficult and dangerous. currents around cape horn, for instance, are among the most treacherous in the world. [ thunder crashing ] >> a huge storm that this ship had to sail through and crew were flying all over the decks and they're climbing up on the masts 150 feet up in the air to

try to secure the sails before the wind actually would blow. with the pressure of the wind on the sails, it could actually de-mast the entire ship. so, it was quite an ordeal. >> i tried to imagine what working on this ship must have been like. what are these big wheels for? >> this is the wheel that is going to steer the ship. it's a very mechanical process, a very simple process. the rudder is straight below us, and it's the rudder that's going to be able to turn the ship. you needed to have some pretty large wheels because there is really a lot of effort to keep this going straight, especially when there's a lot of wind and the sails are unfurled and this ship is pitching and rocking out. and as large as this ship is, it really would go up and down and pitch and rock throughout all of the waves. you needed to have sometimes a couple of people on these wheels to keep the rudder going in the direction you wanted to go. >> which way should we go? >> well, port's to the left, starboard's to the right, and aft is behind us, so we can kind of take our pick at this point. >> what are all these ropes that come down for? >> well, the ropes served a variety of purposes.

this was a cargo ship. you needed pulleys and winches, and they would run off of ropes. so, it was human-powered to load up the cargo that was heading in here. also, sailors needed to climb up those masts on a regular basis to furl and unfurl the sails, depending upon what's going on. so, you had to have ropes that would enable you to get up there, and fairly safely, as well. so, ropes, rigging -- or lines, as they would have been called on the ship, is tremendously important. and where they are and how they fit in this maze of lines up there is very complicated and requires a tremendous amount of training for sailors. >> ropes, rigging, masts, and huge steering wheels -- there certainly is a lot to know. what are these ropes for? >> well, these lines here are what's keeping the ship tied to the dock. there are a number of different lines that had to do that. to haul them back in, for ropes like this, you could do that with a crew. if you were to haul the anchor in, which weighs about 2 1/2tono that. >> although tpeking's primary

trade route was between germany and chili, today it is moored at the south street seaport in new york. what's the significance of a ship like this to the development of new york? >> well, ships like this were cargo ships. this is where the goods came off of these ships, were unloaded by stevedores and carters on the docks, hauled into the counting houses and the warehouses in new york. this entire street along the water was a street of ships. it was a forest of sails and masts. there were hundreds, if not thousands of ships coming and going in and out of new york. and that's what enabled new york to grow so rapidly and enabled the country to grow the way it is. >> sounds like these sailors had important jobs, but i'm glad it wasn't me. it may not be as adventurous, but flipping burgers and babysitting seems a whole lot safer. from the pekiat the south street seaport, i'm erika for "teen kids news." >> that wraps up our show, but we'll be back soon with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and have a great week. @