>> welcome to "teen kids news." i'm siena. we'll start with our top story. in schools all across the u.s., a major change is taking place. as scott reports, when it comes to sports, the playing field is being leveled. >> to play sports, you often need... >> strength. >> high stamina. >> talent and athleticism. >> and that's just what these

athletes have. but for too many students, their biggest disability isn't a physical limitation. rather, it's the lack of opportunity to participate. that, however, is changing, thanks to a movement called adapted sports. >> adapted sports are really sports that are designed specifically for kids with disabilities. >> the white house says that students with disabilities shouldn't be sidelined. they need to be given the same chance to play sports as other students. sometimes that just means making some simple adjustments to existing programs. for example... >> if you're deaf, you could use a starting light, as opposed to the starting gun, in order to run on the track-and-field team. >> in other cases, school districts will need to set up programs that are specifically geared to disabled students. the new guidelines encourage schools to follow the lead of states like georgia. the american association of adapted sports programs has been supporting disabled athletes here for over 20 years. >> i would tell anyone who

questions the athletic-ness of adapted sports very simply, "come watch a game." [ crowd cheering ] >> when i was first approached, my opinion was, "you know, i don't want my son playing in a wheelchair environment." and i could have been -- nothing could have been further from the truth as far as what it's done for him and how competitive it is. >> we all know that playing a sport can be good for any kid. aside from the health benefits, it builds discipline and confidence. >> sports has taught me to be a better person, a more social person. you have friendly conversations out there on the court, but it's also taught me that, like, drive in life -- to, you know, never give up and always be the person that you want to be. and if you set our mind to it, you can do it. and i mean, that's true in sports, and that's what it's taught me. >> it's estimated that 1.5 million american kids are eligible for this kind of experience, but it's going to

take a lot of work to get school districts to make the necessary changes. and that's where terry's organization comes in. >> so we led a whole advocacy effort working with members of congress and the administration to get some new guidelines out there that really tell schools what's required in terms of providing kids with disabilities an equal opportunity to play sports. >> it's all about getting everybody into the game. if you want to learn more, there's a link on our website. >> if you've ever dreamed of performing on broadway, listen up. i'll tell you how some kids are finding their way to the great white way.

>> there's a saying that for every light on broadway, there's a broken heart. that's because many young performers dream of being in a

show on broadway, but very few ever make it. eden tells us about a group that's trying to change that. >> ♪ check the cupboard for you daddy's gun ♪ >> ♪ red sun rises like an early warning ♪ >> they're working on their moves in omaha, nebraska... and perfecting their pitch in charlotte, north carolina. >> ♪ change my monogram >> these are just some of the workshops run around the country by the broadway dreams foundation. >> the broadway dreams foundation is a mentoring and training program for young artists. >> classes are run by experienced professionals. >> understanding takes time. it takes a conscious pursuit, as well. >> ♪ blood is red as sunset >> the best students get to perform in a showcase that is watched by a real casting director, and that could actually lead to a job. >> ♪ in xanadu

♪ xanad-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u [ cheers and applause ] >> we are actually seeing all of the fruits of our labor with a handful of really great young artists that have been through our program that are now making their broadway debuts or making debuts in broadway national tours. >> ryann redmond is one of those success stories. >> ♪ hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ evil woman ♪ evil woman >> after going through the broadway dreams program, she landed a part in "bring it on: the musical." >> ♪ now i'm gonna end it with a bang ♪ >> whoo! >> ♪ it ain't no thing it was everything i could have dreamed in a broadway debut. getting to create a role at such

a young age was so rewarding, and it will be something i never forget, for sure. >> here's another thing ryann will never forget -- she was able to attend the dreams program thanks to a scholarship. in fact, the foundation gives financial aid to more than 40% of its students. it's a way of helping talented kids across the country reach for their broadway dreams. for "teen kids news," i'm eden. >> ever take a close look at your state flag? you should because you might be surprised at how much you can learn from it. here's brandon with this week's lesson. >> in september 1783, american colonists and members of the british parliament signed the treaty of paris, officially ending the revolutionary war. part of that treaty granted a parcel of land to the

united states known as the northwest territory. that territory would become ohio. in 1803, ohio was admitted as our 17th state. but it existed without a state flag for almost 100 years until an architect named john eisenmann came up with a most unusual design. >> the ohio flag is the only state flag of the 50 that is not a rectangle. it's a swallow-tail flag that we usually see on a boat. what it is is it's a pennant, but it comes to two points. and they chose that to be distinct. they wanted ohio to look different from all the other state flags, and they certainly achieved that. they chose to use the red, white, and blue of the american flag. several states have done that. but they also achieved simplicity by putting the letter "o" in the canton of the flag. and the letter "o" has two meanings to people in ohio. it's "o" for ohio, but also it's the buckeye state. >> buckeyes are round nuts commonly found in ohio that

native americans thought resembled the eye of a male deer, a buck. 13 stars are clustered around the "o," representing the original 13 states. four more stars stand beside it, representing the next four states to be admitted to our nation, including ohio. the red and white stripes symbolize roads and waterways, which helped establish ohio as a center of american interstate commerce. with flag facts, i'm brandon. >> a simple mistake that any of us can make today could endanger our future. i'll have that report.

>> during world war ii, there was a popular saying that, "loose lips sink ships," meaning that just by talking about something you shouldn't, you could be doing damage by helping the enemy. while we're no longer at war, it's advice still worth keeping in mind, especially with today's social media, though the warning could be updated to something

more like, "poor posts leave ghosts." ellie explains. >> poor posts leave ghosts. i like that because when you post something online, whether a text or photo, it could come back to haunt you. >> i posted a picture -- like, an embarrassing picture of my friend, and i really shouldn't have. so she kind of got upset at me, so i had to take it down. >> yeah, i always see, like, stuff on my news feed, and i'm just like, "you shouldn't have posted." >> a lot of people, like, say things that they wouldn't say to your face. >> one day i posted something about my friend, and she didn't necessarily like it, so i had to take it down. it was a big commotion. >> let's face it. many of us have probably posted things we've regretted. daniel post senning is the author of "manners in a digital world." hello. >> hi. >> you know, considering that your middle name is "post," you're no doubt pretty well-versed about posting. >> [ chuckles ] it's not the first time i've heard that. and i'm always curious when i google-search my name, pretty

much anyone with "daniel" who's posted something can come up. >> yeah, i can see that being a problem. anyway, dan, ever since the invention of the camera, teens have been sharing photos they've taken. and long before there were tweets, we would share comments about people we knew. so what's changed? >> what's changed is the number of people that are doing this and how many people can be reached. just a few years ago, the internet was brand-new. now it connects billions of people. and anybody with a smartphone has the ability to access that internet and those billions of people. so pretty much anybody has the power to broadcast to the whole world now. >> well, when is sharing a bad thing? >> well, it can be bad whenever it has the potential to hurt someone or reflect negatively on you. so maybe you could hurt someone's feelings by posting something that is inappropriate about them, but it could also be something that just reflects poorly on you that you don't want out there. >> what is "t.m.i." to put out there on a profile? >> "t.m.i." is too much information.

and as we talk about the internet is a very public place, and oftentimes it's not appropriate to put information up there that's just too private or too personal. the biggest mistake that i hear about people making in social media or online is over-sharing and the temptation can be great and the consequences can be >> why is it so difficult to take back something you tweet or post? >> you know, you can't always just take something down. and even if you can, you can't always take back the impression that it's created for someone. but you know, even if you are able to take down a certain facebook post, someone else may have already seen it. they may have captured it. even if you use a service like snapchat that promises a certain anonymity to the way that you send a message, there are ways that people can capture and store and save that message. and there's always someone that's gonna know a little bit more than you, have a little more technical knowledge who can trace back where a piece of information or message came from. >> how can what we post today hurt us later on in life? >> a lot of people will say that

the digital profile that accrues around all of us is a gateway to employment. so maybe it's the summer job that you want or the internship, or it could even be a college admissions interview or someone google-searches your name before they meet you for the first time. and what they see when they google-search your name creates a real impression about you. it can be hard to combat or overcome if they create a negative impression from what they see online. so if you gossip about people or you put up information that shows you doing things that are maybe illegal or inappropriate, that can create a really negative impression that can be hard to overcome. >> so what final advice do you have for us? >> i like to remind everybody that what you do online in social media has the potential to be both public and permanent. so you need to think about, "is this information too personal or too private?" and you also need to think, "you know, do i want this up forever?" >> you know, you're right. good advice. thanks for joining us today. >> you're most welcome. >> since we began this report with a famous saying, here's

another. it's from the book and movie "love story." so how's this? i like that. catchy, easy to remember, and very true. >> even though cheerleading requires great athletic ability as well as tremendous stamina, not every state considers cheerleading a sport. however, doctors want to change that. that's because every year more than 30,000 cheerleading injuries are reported in emergency rooms across the country. by having it designated as a sport, cheerleading will be required to follow the same safety rules as all other school sports. and that would certainly be something to cheer about. >> an avocado. people always ask me, "is it a fruit or is it a vegetable?" in my kitchen, it's pudding.

at 15, i was addicted. by 40, i'll have lung disease. at 50, i'll die of a heart attack. dr. regina benjamin: cigarette smoke causes immediate damage that leads to health problems, even death. those who quit or die are being replaced by a new generation of smokers. i'm dr. regina benjamin, united states surgeon general. go to cdc.gov. learn how to make our next generation tobacco-free.

forged out of bravery, sacrifice, and duty. ♪ sometimes reaching out for help can be the most challenging and worthwhile mission of all. ♪ when you recognize something isn't right, make the call to the veterans crisis line or military crisis line. dial 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

>> students from the culinary institute of america are sharing some of their favorite recipes with "teen kids news." here's what's cooking this week. >> hi, everyone. remember earlier how we were talking about if an avocado is a fruit or a vegetable and that it doesn't matter because in my kitchen it's a pudding? today i'm going to show you how to make that avocado pudding. it's very simple and only three ingredients. here we have one avocado, half a cup of greek yogurt, and one tablespoon of honey. we're using greek yogurt because it's nice and thick and perfect for a pudding consistency. okay, now we're gonna back up to where i showed you how to seed

an avocado. we're going to take an avocado, and we're going to be using a knife. be careful. be gentle. just place the knife in the avocado, and we'll roll along the seed until you get to the other side. remove the knife, place the avocado in your hands, twist a little bit, and then open it up. now we're going to be removing the seed from the avocado. if you've never done this before, don't be afraid. you can ask someone to help you. it's very easy, and i'll show you exactly how you can do it in a very safe way. the way i do it, i like to have a towel to put the avocado on so i have a little bit of stability for the avocado. place the part with the seed onto the towel and gently place the knife over the seed and then give it a little bit of a whack.

now, take the seed with the avocado and the knife and twist it just a little bit. see? very easy. now that we have the seed attached to the knife, we'll take that same towel and place it over the seed and gently move the knife out of the seed. [ applause ] so let's put it together. we'll simply put everything into this food processor, including our avocados... our greek yogurt... and our honey. and give it a whirl.

just keep going until it's nice and smooth. [ sloop! ] just pour it right into the bowl. it's a beautiful green color. and there's two reasons you want to eat this immediately. one -- it's too tasty to wait. and two -- avocados turn brown after a while, so you want to eat them as soon as you can. mmm! you wouldn't expect avocado to be in a pudding, but it is absolutely delicious. for "tkn," my name is aubrey from the culinary institute of america. have a great day. >> some of the world's tiniest creatures may be able to help scientists predict earthquakes. researchers found that a particular species of ant, the

redwood ant, acts strangely just before a quake hits. the ants may be sensing a magnetic, or possibly a chemical change. somehow it gives them a sort of disaster early-warning system. if we can figure out how it works, we might be able to save lives in future earthquakes. >> coming up, i'll tell you about a music camp that you'd think is for boys, but actually, it's just for girls.

>> they're the world's oldest instruments, and yet they're literally the heartbeat of just about every modern rock band. we're talking drums. and as kristina reports, drum kits are not just for boys. [ drums playing ] >> a good drummer? practice, determination, lots of time and effort.

>> a lot of focus 'cause you got to be, like, moving, like, your feet and then keeping the beat. it's very hard. >> well, you got to have a sick hairdo. and you got to have some skills. >> i always think of guys. i don't know why. >> i think of a male most of the time. >> that is exactly why we exist. >> she's talking about the willie mae drum camp. here girls sit at the kit. >> actually, a lot of girls really want to play drums, and a lot of times at their school or in their communities or wherever it is that they might be playing music, they're not getting the chance to get behind the kit. so that's why we invented drum camp. >> it's just a camp where anyone can express themselves and play drums and learn rhythm. you just learn how to express yourself freely without fear. >> that's an important point. along with learning how to play

the tom-tom, the snare drum, and the hi-hat, they're also learning how to communicate their feelings. >> it helps you express yourself and helps you be yourself. >> many of the girls say their school life is difficult. this camp gives them a way to drum up some new friends. >> the girls i met here are probably the most accepting group of people i ever met. i think high school can be a tough time period for a lot of teenagers, especially girls. so i think this place is the best place for them to be. >> my school's very judgmental, and this is the way for me to get out of that. >> gabby says she's shy at school, but not here. >> it has boosted my confidence because when i get behind the drum, like, it makes me really happy. the camp is named for willie mae "big mama" thornton. she wrote and performed songs in the early days of rock 'n' roll.

>> she recorded the song "hound dog" before elvis presley did. and she got 500 bucks for it and not a penny more, and she also wrote the song "ball n' chain," which was later recorded by janis joplin and became a big hit. but our whole camp is named after her in honor of her pioneering spirit. >> these girls are pioneers, too, not only learning how to drum, but learning how to be loud and proud. >> at drum camp, we're hoping that girls really develop their confidence in making noise. when girls leave our rock camp programs, i'm hoping that they're gonna come away with the feeling that they can do anything they want. >> the camp we visited was in new york city, but there are rock-'n'-roll camps for girls in other parts of the country, as well. so if you want to start drumming, start googling. for "teen kids news," i'm kristina. >> that's our show for this week. thanks for watching

"teen kids news." we'll see you next time. >> here's a shout out to p.r. newswire for including "teen kids news" on their big screen in times square, new york city. na's ana's animal adventures

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