♪ "teen kids news" is on now, and here's what we've got. >> i'll show you how a garden helps teens with special needs. >> is more school a good idea? i'll have your answers. >> have your parents ever told you to "play nicely" with your brother or sister? well, i have an unusual twist on that one. >> and i'll tell you why the most dangerous thing in your car could be this. that and more coming up next on "teen kids news." and don't worry, the car is off.

♪ welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. >> reporter: this report is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. these teens are taking part in a special program held in washington, d.c. it's the department of transportation's distracted driving summit. >> car crashes are the number one killer of teens in the u.s. and i think it was 2009, over 4,000 teenagers were killed in distracted driving-related deaths. >> reporter: a startling statistic for sure. but what exactly is distracted driving? >> distracted driving is anything that takes your eyes

off the road, whether it's putting on makeup, texting, anything that distracts you. >> distracted driving is a huge problem concerning teens. we have teens that are dying every day. the national road safety foundation is a part of this youth summit, because we're trying to assist in bringing awareness to teenagers. >> reporter: the teens aren't just learning about the dangers of distracted driving. they're learning how to become "safety ambassadors." >> we invited youth from all across the country to apply to be part of the youth team and selected the top 20 from that who are going to go back to their local communities and implement distracted driving prevention projects. >> you know part of it is personal behavior change. you know, teens influence one another. if these teens go back and when they're a passenger and they're telling their friends, "don't text. put the phone away. not when i'm in the car." one by one that's what will help to change different behavior of

the teens. >> reporter: during the three day summit, the teens heard from industry leaders and government officials, including secretary of transportation ray lahood. >> distracted driving is an epidemic. it's an epidemic, because everyone has a cell phone and everyone thinks they can use it while driving. >> reporter: then they were tasked with an assignment -- come up with the most effective ways to encourage safe driving. >> we gathered in a circle and picked five topics that we thought would be really important and then we split up into working groups where we made them more detail-istic, so that we would be able to bring them back in our communities and present them to our community so that they can help save lives too. >> reporter: after each team brainstormed ideas, they presented them to the whole group. >> my idea was a really simple one, and it's just to go to local businesses, restaurants, and put up signs on all their exits that say, "seatbelts on, cell phones off."

>> my idea was to have like an obstacle course using like either golf carts or scooters or something of that sort where kids actually have to, like, go around dangerous obstacles like would be on the road and focus on many different things like they would have to do if they were driving. >> an online tutorial covering the different aspects of distracted driving and at the completion of it, students would receive a certificate saying that they have been informed and are aware of the various aspects of distracted driving that they will try to prevent those or remove those issues from their own lives while driving. >> the idea that these young people will go back to their communities and help us persuade their colleagues, their peers, their friends that texting and driving, cell phone use and driving is very dangerous. >> reporter: dangerous behavior that can have devastating consequences. >> my older sister died in 2007 by a distracted driver, and so it took that for me to understand. i mean, i was only 14, so i wasn't driving yet, but i didn't

know about distracted driving before then, and i don't want my story to be the same for a lot of other teens. i want them to understand before they get on the road, before they kill someone, before they kill themselves. >> reporter: the old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" was never truer. nor more important. for more information on distracted driving, visit our website. "teen kids news" will continue right after this. new power chair or scooter at little or no cost to you. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. in fact, if we qualify you for medicare reimbursement and medicare denies your claim, we'll give you your new power chair or scooter free.

i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. america has 50 states. and two of them have more states as neighbors than any others. tennessee and missouri share borders with eight states each. borders with eight states each. food fresh from the garden always seems to have a special flavor. as adrian reports, it's especially tasty when you raised that food yourself! >> here's some right here. does anybody need some? >> i need two more. >> reporter: these kids are learning about gardening, but they're also learning about themselves. it's part of a program at green chimneys, a school for students with special needs.

>> i do have a garden worker, and he teaches me all about how to garden and stuff. he teaches me how to plant, water, take stuff out. >> reporter: they call this "horticultural" therapy. horticulture refers to the science of growing plants. >> well, the way you find out if it's ripe or not is you go -- you hear that? try that. >> reporter: so the school uses gardening to teach the teens social skills and self-esteem. it's a way to make therapy fun. >> i water plants, i cover them in hay, and i do a lot more, like plant plants and like tomato plants, i guess, and green beans. i do a lot. >> reporter: the fruits and vegetables are then used in class to make recipes like french fries and pesto sauce. >> all our curriculum, all our activities are related. not only do they grow the vegetables, work from early

spring or late winter, to through the season, but they also take the vegetables, and they bring them to their life skills area, and there they'll cook the vegetables. they'll understand how they taste, what's the best way of cooking them, what's the best way to present them. >> reporter: the students are also learning to be good members of the neighboring community. for example, some of what's grown here goes to a good cause. >> we take it down to the local food pantry for the homeless. >> our food pantry row was actually suggested by one of our students about three years ago. she turned to us and said, "well, why don't we make a row for the hungry?" and so we took that idea and ran with it, and one of our volunteers runs that. last year we brought over, oh, i think it was 360 pounds of food to the local food pantry. >> reporter: today the students are picking tomatoes and other vegetables from the garden to make salsa. >> so what do you put into salsa? does anyone have an idea? j.j.? >> tomatoes, onions. >> tomatoes and onions.

carly, what do we put into it? >> garlic? >> what do you think, jacob? >> beans. >> you guys forgot one imporant thing, though. jacob? >> the tortilla chips. >> yeah, the chips. right? >> they're actually going to go and harvest the vegetables -- tomatoes, peppers, onions, cucumbers, and take them back and create salsa and actually eat the salsa as a reward for all their hard work that's been going on since almost february. >> oh, i found a nice red one right back here. >> look at this cucumber, ms. chamberlain! >> wow, that is gorgeous. if you can take that and just twist it. there you go. >> that was good. >> the salsa tasted awesome. >> it was amazing. >> certainly looks delicious. for more information about the green chimneys children's garden, visit our website.

it's a sight to make you look twice, even if you have seen a synchronized rowing crew before. these teens take tradition for a ride. >> reporter: there is a dragon in the water. a dragon boat, that is. >> my sister told me endless stories about her experience on the dragon boat. >> reporter: that's what got benjamin chan to join team nova. now he and his teammates compete every year in the hong kong dragon boat festival. and you don't have to go to hong kong to see it. festivals are held in many cities across the u.s. >> you feel this euphoria that just energizes you and all the teamwork, and you know the physical activity that you do. it's really exciting. >> all about teamwork. everybody's mind has to be at the same place. >> reporter: to do that takes a lot of preparation. we got to watch as some teams

practiced for the big event. dragon boat racing takes up to 20 paddlers and puts them all in a 40 foot boat. athletes paddle like crazy to get to the finish line first. >> the two people who sit in the front on the right and the left are called the pacers or the strokers. they are responsible for setting the pace, and the drummer is responsible for making sure they're always synchronized. >> reporter: since this was only a practice, we didn't have a drummer on board. but that didn't stop the team from working on the all-important rhythm. timing is everything. experts say being able to paddle in proper cadence is more important than strength. the sport traces its roots back to ancient china. according to legend, some fishermen raced to save a famous poet from drowning. festivals are still held in his memory. in competition the boats are all decked out like dragons. traditionally the symbol of water, the dragon represents

power and prosperity. originally, only men competed. >> like i would hear stories from my uncle, and he would be like "back in china we like dragon boats. all strong guys. you're girls, like how do you have the strength?" and i was like, "ugh, we can do it too." >> reporter: in fact, there are now teams that are all girls. nor are teams limited to only those of chinese heritage. >> it's very important because for us it's not just trying to recruit all the asian girls, you know? we try to open this up to all girls of different backgrounds. >> reporter: male or female, it takes three things to be good at dragon boat racing. >> well, teamwork definitely, because we all have to paddle at the same time. toughness because you have to hang on there, so you have to have really good endurance. and lastly, i guess, trust. because you have to trust everyone on the boat. so i guess that's like the three ts of dragon boating. >> reporter: dragon boat festivals are held throughout the world. if you'd like to learn more about the sport, find the link

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it's time to get your thoughts, opinions and comments in "speak of the week!" >> reporter: we all know that more school sounds like, well, as much fun as a trip to the dentist. but do you believe that having a longer school day and a shorter summer is actually a good idea? >> a longer school day? i don't think so. maybe a longer summer, but not a shorter summer. >> no. i like my summer.

>> i think nine months eight hours a day five days a week is enough. and i mean i think we deserve that extra two or three months to just, you know, unwind and relax and, you know, do what we want for a change. >> having a longer school day and a shorter summer probably wouldn't be a good idea. >> i don't believe that having a longer school day and a shorter summer is a good idea, because we get tired at school and we need breaks. >> reporter: in china, kids are in school until 8:00 p.m. and summer break doesn't start until mid july. what do you think of that? >> that's harsh because we work, work, work and we need, like, breaks too. >> i think that is a little ridiculous. i think that's too much work, and i think too much work is not a beneficial thing. >> reporter: maybe a longer school day isn't so bad. unless i have to spend more time in math class. ♪

whether you're a geography lover or a sports wiz, you might want to click this. purposegames.com here you can take quizzes on everything, from the amazon to zoology. or see if you can name 50 states in 60 seconds. then compare your scores with those of your friends. these are tests that are actually fun to take. and who knows? you may find you're smarter than you think. it's time to play "word." pick out what's true from among the false definitions. start with this word -- "bipartisan." it means either -- an actor who plays both male and female roles? representing or supporting two parties? or an artist who uses only black and white paint. "bipartisan" means representing or supporting two parties. as in, "the candidate received bipartisan support because she was the only one running." >> yay. >> how about this adjective? "pre-emptive."

it means either ready to be emptied, pertaining to the geelogic era between 2 and 3 million b.c., or acting to prevent or replace something that is expected. "preemptive" means acting to prevent or replace something that's expected. "i thought my classmate might cheat, so i covered my paper as a preemptive measure." and how about "porous"? full of holes or pores, continually flowing, or needy, as in "poor us." "porous" means full of holes or pores. "get plenty of calcium or your bones will be thin and porous!" to review, bipartisan, representing or supported by two parties. preemptive, taking action to prevent something that is expected. porous, full of holes or pores. and that's "word" for this week.

now here's hannah with the sound of a brother and sister who make great music together. ♪ these siblings have written music with a major songwriter, sold tens of thousands of albums, and opened for acts like mitchel musso and david archuleta. all at the ages of 12 and 13. >> hi, i'm michael, and i play the guitar and sing. >> and i'm marisa, and i play the drums and sing. and we're from the band michael and marisa. >> reporter: michael and marisa have been traveling across the country for about five years now, performing on tours and in festivals, and opening for some major stars. >> touring on the road is actually so much fun because you get to experience different audiences and like different kinds of people from like different places.

>> reporter: michael has been playing guitar since he was 6, and marisa started playing drums at age 8. a lot of siblings in their situation might not get along very well, but not michael and marisa. >> yeah, we get along so well. it's fun to have, like, that bond with your sibling. >> marisa and i get to like bond more even though we are very close. but you know. my sister. ♪ >> we're in connecticut at camp jam, and michael and marisa just did a set for the kids who attend this camp. it's a camp for kids who want to explore their musical interests, play instruments, learn, expand, and michael and marisa are here doing a clinic or master class type thing where kids can look to them as what they would like to do and learn from them how they got there. >> reporter: these siblings are an inspiration to other kids interested in music. >> i play the drums, and i pretty much am influenced by the fact that they're so confident in achieving these goals that they're setting out to just

accomplish. it's just -- it's just impressive. >> it lets me believe that you're never too young to do this. it's like possible. it's not just like those people out there that you look at and you're like, "oh, i'll never be able to do that," but it's led me to believe that i can do it too. >> they had good stage presence and a cool style like of music. >> reporter: their music isn't just "cool," it also has a message. for example, their song called "the same." it's meant to encourage people who see someone being bullied to speak up, not be bystanders. they wrote it after a local teen committed suicide as a result of being bullied. ♪ >> so many kids like came up and said how they really love that one because they can really get something out of it and they

walked away with a different outlook on like how to treat people. >> we're very happy that we could like reach out to people, and have them understand. >> well, i thought i was really good, because personally i'm not the coolest kid in my school and there are those kids that want to bring you -- put you down. but personally i really thought it was really good because i -- i've seen a lot of kids get bullied. >> reporter: michael and marisa say they wouldn't be where they are today without the help of, you guessed it, their parents. >> our dad will help us like rehearse and make a set list and stuff, and then our mom, she's just so nice. she like films and takes pictures, and she does -- she just gets everything together. >> and she helps book things and stuff like that. >> we don't have a musical background at all. and this is really something that was driven by the kids. >> so we tell them just to continue to do it as long as you're having fun and having fun

is the most important thing and if it ever becomes not fun for you then, you know, stop. >> reporter: talk about a family that really rocks. for more information on michael and marisa visit our website. >> this report is brought to you by ralph lauren. >> reporter: it's a fashion show like you've never seen. >> we are doing a world premiere of the first ever 4-d spectacle. >> it's actually bigger than imax. it's high resolution on imax. >> reporter: the 4-d lightshow was projected on ralph lauren's flagship stores in new york and london. the event celebrated the 10-year anniversary of ralphlauren.com it also marked the launch of the website in the united kingdom. >> there's an amazing sequence where prince charles's polo team is playing. it freezes into a polo player,

which turns into a fragrance bottle, then four fragrance bottles, which are about 3 1/2 stories tall, will spread out seemingly floating in front of new bond street store and over madison avenue as well in new york. and then they'll spray real fragrance. 4-d experience comes to life. >> reporter: to create the show, digital artists built computer replicas of the two stores. >> this building is being captured from using a laser scanning technique similar to building surveying, and it's accurate to within plus or minus five millimeters. >> reporter: then crews built actual sets and shot real life models. the result was a show that was truly breathtaking. >> my favorite part was probably seeing the polo games and horses come through. >> the lines thing and the gold sparkling, it was really cool. >> reporter: as david lauren says, "the light show was an

amazing and unique combination of art, technology and fashion." for "teen kids news," i'm carina. that wraps up our show, but we'll be back with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and have a great week. ♪ ♪ write to us at info@teenkidsnews.com. >> and a big thank you to our troops in iraq for their >> and a big thank you to our troops in iraq for their service. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com