and physical activity. atta boy, pinocch. visit mypyramid.gov to learn more. coming up on this week's edition of teenkidsnews. love your mp 3 player? great. but i'll tell you why to turn it down. >> it's an unforgettable occasion. a day when children join their families. >> i'll reveal my very special interview with a performer of the "lion king."

>> a boy talks about his father's fears got him started on his career in documentary. >> news you need to know, next on "teenkidsnews." welcome to "teenkidsnews," i'm mwanza. >> and i'm jessica. let's take a look at the stories that made headlines this week. u.s. schools closed last week due to the swine flu are now reopening. the centers for disease control is cautiously optimistic. and health officials in mexico believe the worst may be over. businesses and restaurants began to reopen as the city returned to normal. however, the world's health organization warns that it's too early to be sure that the outbreak has officially slowed. the ailing u.s. economy is also on the mend.

the chairman of the federal reserve says the economy should improve in the coming months. but things will be slow to start. >> we continue to expect economic activity to bottom out, and then to turn up later this year. >> jv martin junior high in south carolina scored big, thanks to one of their classmates. this ambitious teen wrote a letter to president obama. she told him about her school's poor condition, hoping to get some help. when a chicago furniture company heard the story, they came to the rescue. they provided desks, tables, chairs and even a new cafeteria. scientists have made a surprising discovery about the galaxy we live in. not only is it bigger than astronomers thought it was, it's moving faster. the bad news is, we can bump into a nearby galaxy. the good news? it won't happen for a few million years. jessica? >> whew. thanks, lauren. here's a story we should be

taking seriously right now. if you love to pump up the volume on your personal music, listen up! you could be doing permanent damage to your ears. phillipe reports that mp3 players and their tiny headphones can be a dangerous combination. >> reporter: how loud is your music? >> i mainly do it like almost all the way, as high as you can go. >> probably as loud as i can. >> i put it on full blast, because, i don't know, i like things loud. >> i usually listen to them, like, full volume. >> reporter: decibels measure the intensity of sound. anything over 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. and hear this. >> the loudness from typical headphones, ear buds, can range from 90 to 120 decibels. and to but that in perspective, 90 decibels is like your alarm clock going off. at 120 decibels, that's like

standing next to an ambulance with the siren going. so potentially very loud. >> doctor richard rosenfeld is an ear, nose and throat doctor. he's worried about the future of mp3 users. ear buds send sound directly into the ear canal, and don't reduce outside noise, so they can do more damage to the inner ear than larger headphones. >> with ear buds, you've got to crank it up a couple decibels to get over the background noise, and that's where you have risk of hearing loss. >> at full volume, you can do damage to your ears in just seven minutes. the worst part is, you won't know right away. it can take years, even decades to, feel the effects of hearing loss. and once it's done, hearing loss cannot be repaired. >> have you had any troubles with your hearing or difficulties? >> reporter: many of us don't want to worry about the future, but the average teen today is expected to live until age 75. so imagine losing your hearing in your 40s.

maria has had hearing loss most of her life. she says you don't want this to happen to you. >> sometimes my friends say -- talk in a low voice, and i say "what" a million times, and they get annoyed and they don't tell me. >> every time you hear a sound, i want you to raise your hand, even if you barely hear it. even if it's tiny, i want you to raise your hand. >> ma i can't has her hearing tested regularly, the only way to know if your hearing is damaged. the only way to prevent hearing loss is to lower the volume. >> if you keep the mp3 setting at 60% maximum volume, you can listen safely, usually for about an hour or so at that volume. once you start getting to 70% and higher, you really run the risk of hearing loss if you listen for extended periods of time. >> another way to reduce risk? listen for shorter periods of time. give your ears a rest. you only have one pair. and keep this in mind. if your music is so loud you

can't hear what's going on around you, there is another risk. you might not hear sirens, horns, or even approaching trains. and that could be really dangerous. mwanza? >> thanks felipe. we've reported in the past about the perils of too much caffeine, it can effect you physically and emotionally. and now we're learning that caffeine affects guys more strongly than girls. there are better ways to stay alert, like getting a good night's sleep. >> there is one holiday better than all of the holidays put together, including christmas. >> we'll tell you what it is when "teenkidsnews" returns. begins with a weightless foundation that starts off white... and self-adjusts to precisely match your skin tone. with soft, flawless coverage. how cool is that? revlon skin matching makeup.

imagine waiting for one special day when you find out who your family might be.

nicole is here with story. nicole? >> reporter: jessica, it happens once a year. a day when thousands of kids who are hoping to be placed in a home get their wish. national adoption day happens every november. in courtrooms across the country. >> national adoption day is truly a national event, a national holiday, in a way. it takes place in more than 350 communities now. in all 50 states. and the u.s. territories, such as puerto rico, the u.s. virgin islands, and even guam. >> reporter: judges, lawyers, social workers and other volunteers come together to speed up adoptions. a process that can usually take a long time. >> i'm very excited. >> reporter: the kids who are adopted are foster children. that means they live in temporary homes until a forever family is found to take care of them. >> a forever family is a

permanent, loving connection to someone who will always be there. >> reporter: in the u.s., 130,000 foster kids are waiting to be adopted. some foster kids spend more than five years waiting for a forever family. why does it take so long? >> there are four myths that really stand in the way too often for people who are interested in adopting taking that step to become a permanent family. those myths include that a child may be too troubled. another myth is that these children may want to go back to their birth parents. they think they need to be the perfect image of the family. and another is that a family needs to be relatively wealthy to support the child. all of these [ buzzer ] are not true. fundamentally not true. >> we're all loveable and teachable, and a hug works the same way with us. >> reporter: victoria raul is a

well-known actress. but before she was famous, she was a foster child living on a farm in maine. >> we had pigs, chicken, ducks, we lived on a dirt road. >> reporter: victoria moved from foster home to foster home, but she was never adopted. she knows from personal experience why finding a permanent home is so important. that's why she became a spokeswoman for national adoption day. >> oftentimes, i'm asked to go into the courtroom. it's a privilege to witness. i sometimes participate in the process. it's an extraordinary, electrifying moment to witness people who love a child beyond the blood between them. >> it takes an army of people to make adoption day successful. >> reporter: an army, both lee and victoria say, teens can join. >> they can join with social service agencies in their

community to help raise the level of awareness about kids and their needs in foster care. they can befriend someone. >> there is so much that you can do. and it can start with pennies, it can start with canned goods. i was the beneficiary of these kinds of things. i've never forgotten that people brought a basket of food to my monthster mother. >> if you want to find out more about national adoption day, you can go to teenkidsnews.com and follow the link. here's hoping all those kids find great forever families. revlon skin matching makeup... begins with a weightless foundation that starts off white... and self-adjusts to precisely match your skin tone. with soft, flawless coverage. how cool is that? revlon skin matching makeup.

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here's a story that's extra special to us and teenkidsnews. it involves a young star on

broadway. and his connection to a certain young anchor man. >> clifford is spending a quiet afternoon at home, just like any other 11-year-old. he does his homework, helps his grandma with the dishes, and plays a little mario card. >> watch! and learn. ouch. >> reporter: but about five hours from now, he's going to be the king of broadway. ♪ >> reporter: clifford plays young simba in the lion king, based on the classical disney film. unfortunately, this footage is from before clifford joined up. you just have to imagine how awesome he is in the role. >> my favorite part of the show is i just can't wait to be king, because i feel so important, like i'm better than anybody else in the world. ♪ ♪ oh, i just can't wait to be king ♪ >> when i'm singing that song, i

just feel like i'm the king of the world. ♪ to be king >> reporter: and trust me, i know just how he feels. you know, ten years ago, i was young simba in the "lion king." >> are you serious? >> yeah. >>ha that's so cool. ♪ oh, i just can't wait to be king ♪ >> is that your favorite song? >> yes. >> reporter: way back in 1998, i spent six months on broadway, so, of course, clifford and i had a lot to talk about. >> how did you feel in your first show? >> reporter: i think for my first show i was really, really nervous and i think i was nervous for the first week or week and a half. and then after that, i felt like i had a handle of what was going on, and it wasn't so bad. >> when i did rehearsals, i was very nervous, but then when i did the show and knew what i was doing, i wasn't nervous anymore. >> reporter: but no matter how well-prepared you are, things always go wrong. >> one time, i tripped when i tried to do a cart wheel. and also, one of my as trij, the

head broke off. >> i remember, the curtains didn't close at the end, so everyone takes off their costumes right after the curtains close so they can prepare for the next number, so the the curtains didn't close and everyone was watching them. and i remember everyone running off stage, and i was the last one on stage, and i had no idea what to do. >> reporter: it was almost time for cliff toward to have dinner. but first, i needed a refresher course on roaring. >> so first thing you do, you have to think you're on top of your game, and you just think that somebody is about to attack you. and then all of a sudden, you go roar! >> reporter: all right. so i have to pretend that someone is about to attack me, i'm on top of my game, and then i i go roar! like that. is that good? a few hours before curtain, clifford headed to broadway with his dad and little brother. now, back when i was in the

show, it was in a different theater three blocks south of us. sad, because i was kind of hoping to see my old dressing room. clifford had his dressing room decorated with pictures of friends and a few girls he wished were friends. >> that's salina gomez from the disney channel. she's my favorite. this is my regular that actually fits me. and all of my corsets are all beaded. >> yeah, i remember my tail always got stuck in the elevator. >> reporter: clifford designed appear in the second half of the show, but does come out for the curtain call. that gives him more than an hour to kill back stage. sew has got a big box of dvds to keep him busy. >> i see you have the lion king. don't you get boared with the lion king? >> no, it's fascinating.

>> it was getting close to show time, so clifford headed over to get his hair and make-up done. so this is the wig you have to ware, right? >> yes. >> well, when i was in the show, my hair actually looked like that, so i didn't have to wear a wig. wow! >> oh, my gosh! >> i was surprised to find that some of the people i performed with nine years ago were still in the show. and believe it or not, they recognized me. >> wow. how are things going? >> really well. >> good! >> your hair is all short. oh, my gosh. but you're so tall! >> so you've got my old job. do you think you might want to host "teenkidsnews" someday? >> maybe. thanks mwanza. i'm clifford and this is teenkidsnews. >> that's pretty good. >> thanks, . >> he's cute. what a great story. does it bring back memories. do you still sing the old songs? >> no, i don't sing the old

songs, but it's nice to see the people. >> i know there is no audience here, but. [ applause ] here, but. [ applause ] for old i'm a single mother with two kids, i work a lot. i come home tired. you do miss a lot. he dropped out for a whole month. sometimes i would talk to him and he wouldn't even turn around and look at me. i would just get frustrated because any way i would talk to him, it just doesn't go through his head. i didn't give up because there is always hope that they will snap out of it. announcer: give your teen the boost they need to graduate. call 1-877-for-a-kid or join us at boostup.org for tips and advice.

vo: in the event of a car crash, three out of four kids are not as secure as they should be because their car seats are not used correctly. but the latch system makes it easier to get it right and to hold your kids tight.

anchor. tether. latch. learn more at safercar.gov. this report is brought to you by goodyear. fox derby winner tyler schultz is about to make history. he will battle it out on the quarter-mile track at derby downs in akron, ohio. and they'll be driving identical racers. but while greg has standard tires, tyler has a secret weapon. goodyear's new fuel max tires. so what's her strategy? >> to get down as low as i can in the car and to drive as straight as i possibly can. >> three, two, one, go! and they're off and running. >> reporter: with nothing but gravity powering them, they roll down the hill. but tyler soon pulls ahead. her tires are made out of a special compound that reduces

rolling resistance. so her raiser goes faster and farther. >> i won! >> the cars were identical. the weight in the cars were identical. they were weighted just the same so once the driver is in them, they would be exactly the same. the only difference was the tires. >> they really created something here that's good for anybody's vehicle. and i just wish i would have had them on mine. >> even if you don't have your driver's license yet, it's good to know that the right tires can save you money on gas. when you think of the movies, you might mostly think of made-up stories with actors. but some people make movies that take a look at real-life. they're called documentary film makers. lauren talked to one of the most famous about how he does it, and

why. >> reporter: you could say that a documentary is the movie version of reality tv. and it can be about any subject. from the habits of animals to global warming, the evils of fast food, to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [ sirens ] >> reporter: ken burns is a documentary film maker. but not just any documentary film maker. he's produced award-winning docs on the civil war, jazz, the brooklyn bridge, even on the history of baseball. his latest achievement is the epic series for pbs on world war ii. it's simply titled, "the war." ken told me that even though a documentary is based on fact, how you put those facts together can be very dramatic.

in fact, he earned an international reputation on the special way he approaches film making. >> i'm not interested in the dry dates and facts of history, but the emotional archeology that makes people think and feel about past lives and moments and events. >> reporter: ken didn't start out want to go make documentaries. as a kid, he set his sights on directing big hollywood movies. he had been improved by how a thin strip of film projected on a screen could have such an emotional effect on people. >> it was the first time i had ever seen my dad cry, and i realized the power that i just needed to know about. but i was sure i wanted to be a hollywood director. >> reporter: but when he got to college, ken learned there was more to film making than just movies. reality could go ju could be ju as exciting. >> i was drawn into documentary and history as a way to explore it, and explore the genes that are actually true, that you don't have to make up.

>> reporter: documentaries can have a big impact. they can touch hearts and change minds. but it's not a business to get into just because it seems like fun. >> a lot of people get drawn to film making of whatever kind, because they think it's glamorous. but i can tell you, everyone who has succeeded in the business does so because they work harder than anyone else. incredibly hard-working profession. >> reporter: and that's probably one of the secrets of ken burns' success. his documentary certainly takes hard work and a challenge for story-telling. for teenkidsnews, i'm lauren. >> that's it for this week's edition of teenkidsnews. thanks for joining us. edition of teenkidsnews. thanks for joining us. >> have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com write