>> teen kids news is next and here's what we've got. >> we'll give you an inside look at a summer program offered by one of the most sophisticated police organizations in america. >> an injury epidemic is benching young athletes. i'll have a report on how to avoid it. >> we'll find out what inspired a boy to write two books by the time he hit his teens. >> when it comes to the internet - how much is too much?

we'll hear from an expert. >> i'll show you how kids discover other cultures in dance class. >> all that and more, so stay tuned for teen kids news. >> hi, i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. let's check out this week's big stories from around the world. >> an historic event in iraq this week. the u.s. military officially handed over control of baghdad and other iraqi cities to local security forces. >> our assessment is the iraqis are ready, willing, and able to step up to this. >> celebrations across the country marked the occasion. while this is a first step, it's not a complete withdrawal of u.s. troops. about 130,000 u.s. troops still

remain in the country, president obama hopes to have all combat troops out of iraq by the end of next summer. >> after seven months of legal battles, minnesota finally knows who won its election for senator, democrat al franken. >> uh, frannie and i are so thrilled that we can finally celebrate this victory. >> with franken in office, there are now enough democrats to overcome republican filibusters. a filibuster is a way for politicians to stall legislation from passing. >> michael jackson's death may have left his family with a hefty financial burden. reports claim that jackson was millions of dollars in debt. besides dealing with his estate, the jackson family is also taking care of the superstar's three children. a judge has awarded michael's mother temporary custody. around the world, there continues to be an outpouring of

grief in the wake of michael's sudden death. fans and stars alike shared their feelings for the king of pop. >> you feel people really feeling the need to express their love for someone who will feeling the need to express their love for someone who will never be9 his legacy will always be here. >> for teen kids news, i'm lara. >> america has a weight problem and you might see it at the restaurant buffet. a new study shows that people who are overweight tend to sit closer to the all- you-can-eat table. jessica? >> thanks, lauren -- we spend most of our lives in school. but how we spend the summer is important, too. erika shows us a program where kids could be marching toward their future. >> yo left, left, left, right, left. >> reporter: thinking about going to summer camp? how about summer boot camp? this probably doesn't look like the typical graduation you've seen before.

that's because these young men and women are graduating from the 79th trooper youth week program. the program is sponsored each summer by the new jersey state police. >> the program was incorporated in 1965, as a way to foster relationships with the citizens that we serve, the state of new jersey, and our youth. and a chance to give them a firsthand glimpse of what it's like to be a state trooper. >> reporter: each year, hundreds of students from across the state and beyond, apply for the opportunity to participate. if they're accepted, they'll spend one week of their summer vacation living in sparse military barracks, away from home and loved ones. >> reporter: but let me warn you this program is not for everyone. it requires commitment, a desire to learn and stamina. >> it was pretty brutal the first day that we dropped her off. >> repeat after me -- good bye loved ones, good bye loved ones.

>> feel free to sell all my video games, 'cause i won't be needing them anymore. >> everything to learn about law enforcement is here. this is the best program in the nation. >> i'll see you on friday after my extreme makeover. >> we give them some insight into recruit life. they have military drill, physical training. how to conduct car stops, some accident investigations, title 39 statutes, which are our traffic laws, some criminal law, and we give them insight into the court system by having a mock trial at the end of the week. >> reporter: in fact, this is the same training state troopers go through as new recruits with one major distinction. >> the recruit program here is

25 weeks long, and this is 5 days long. we see some very specific changes within those five days that we see in recruits after 25 weeks. so we like to kid around here that every day is worth five weeks to these trooper youths. >> they come in not knowing what to expect. they're probably nervous, even before we start screaming and yelling at them. but by the time they leave on friday, it's well worth it. they're having a good time, a lot of them actually even want to stay a little longer than five days. >> reporter: and, very few drop out. in fact, an impressive 98% of all students who sign up for the program follow it through to graduation. >> young people today, especially today, have it very difficult. a lot of peer pressure, there's a lot of issues out there with drugs, and alcohol and gangs. and when you come in here, one of the foundations is good decision making.

>> this is your first audition to become a platoon leader. are you a leader or a follower, vasquez? >> a leader sir! >> all right, we'll see, we'll see. >> column right - march! >> reporter: and what about girls in the program? >> as long as you have the heart and the discipline to do it, i think a girl can do it as good as a guy can. >> last week there was a very shy little girl when i first got here on wednesday but by friday she came up to me and said, you know, ma'am, i have a different self-confidence about me. and i can ask an adult a question confidently and get an answer. >> i actually attended for the 28th youth week in 1979, and then came back and went through the academy, and i've been a member of the state police for 23 years. many of our graduates from the trooper youth program graduate, and then come back as troopers. >> and others go off to just do great things within their community, whether it be law, or

medicine, or teachers. >> hello loved ones! i'm back! >> i learned a lot about discipline and how to stay motivated. >> definitely taught him a lot of organization skills, so i'm hoping that will help him with his life in the future. >> he attends a school where he majors in law and public safety, and this is a tremendous opportunity for him to learn and grow and learn from the best, so i'm extremely proud of him. >> reporter: if you'd like to learn more about this or similar programs, speak with your guidance counselor or local police department. for teen kids news, i'm erika.

>> reporter: a controversial presidential election led one kid to his true calling. now he's written two books about u.s. history and he's only 13. siena has his story.

>> reporter: some kids would rather leave their history books in their lockers. but for noah mccullough, studying the past is a passion. he's been into history, since he started reading. >> i got interested in presidential history when i was 5 years old during the 2000 election. >> reporter: noah wanted to know more about the candidates before he voted in a mock election at school. >> what will bush do about this? what will gore do about this? >> reporter: soon noah was researching every man who's held the presidential office. and by age 11, he wrote his first book. which is "the essential book of presidential trivia." now noah has a second book about the littlest people who live in the white house. >> i thought that that would be really cool to have a book that's interesting about something that we've all kind of wondered, what's it like to be the child of the president? >> reporter: according to "first kids" - living in the white house didn't stop our presidents' children from acting their age. >> there were a lot of interesting stories like the time when one of the theodore roosevelt children brought their

pony algonquin up to the other sick roosevelt child through the white house elevator. >> reporter: noah didn't just "google" this information on the internet. finding it took some serious time and dedication. >> he spent almost a year he worked really hard did a lot of research he traveled around the country to the different presidential libraries. >> reporter: noah worked with brenda to get his book ready for store shelves. she has this advice for kids who want to follow in his footsteps. >> figure out what you're really passionate about. start doing some research online. read books and magazines about the topics that you are interested in and then devote some time every day to writing. >> reporter: you may need to get experience with other publications before you're ready to write an entire book. >> i would say start with your school newspaper and then your local paper or submit stories to magazines that you really like to read and then a lot of areas have writing workshops and contests that you can enter. >> reporter: most publishers

like scholastic require writers have an agent before they'll even consider working with them. >> you can google literary agencies and it'll come up and then you can find in your state and even your community people that would be willing to represent kids. >> reporter: noah already has an idea for a third book and big dreams to make history himself. >> i'm running for president in 2032 on the republican ticket. >> reporter: until noah's name is on the ballot, we'll see it in book stores around the country. for teen kids news, i'm siena. >> reporter: today's site is called phonevite. and you'll definitely want to try it next time you're planning a party. first you record an invitation using your computer's microphone. if you don't have a microphone, you can use a telephone. then you tell phonevite your friends' phone numbers. it'll automatically call them and play your message. here's the really cool part. they can rsvp right on the phone by pressing one for yes, two for no, and three for maybe.

i'm not sure this is any more convenient than e-mailing out invitations but it's certainly different. do you play soccer? we'll have news you can use, when we come back.

we like to think of sports as a healthy activity. but as we all know, there are risks involved. tyler's here to tell us about a new program that makes soccer safer. >> reporter: mwanzaa, it's called pep. that stands for prevent injury, enhance performance. and some young californians got to give it a try. >> keep your heads up and butts down. >> reporter: this tape isn't running backwards, these kids are. they're learning an innovative warm-up program to help them dodge injuries while on the soccer field. >> we've spent nine years developing our acl prevention program to help kids keep healthy while playing sports.

>> reporter: the acl is one of the main ligaments that holds your knee together. damage to the acl is the most common - and one of the most serious injuries among soccer players. that fact was driven home by former pro soccer star and coach cobi jones. >> i had a goalkeeper that had the ball in his hand, was about to throw the ball to another member of the team, and all of a sudden you hear a pop and an agonizing scream from the goalkeeper and the next thing you know he did his acl. >> reporter: the acl can tear if an athlete stops, turns or jumps the wrong way. so the pep program targets these maneuvers. >> we do that through strong running, jumping drills, agility drills that are specific to sport and then we utilize it as a warmup program. >> reporter: the kids were coached through all the different exercises and they got to mix with the experts who created pep. >> how often do you do programs like this? >> i think you do this program you do two or three times a week depending on your schedule and your age. for you twice a week would be good. >> reporter: they also got to meet some of the gold medalists

from the u.s. women's soccer team. >> i always loved soccer - if i could play it everyday, i would. i thought it was really cool that the players came up and showed that they were injured too. it showed that kids aren't the only ones that got injured. >> reporter: with more and more kids playing soccer, joint injuries are on the rise. and girls are up to eight times more likely to get hurt than boys. >> i know one girl on my team, she pulled something like in her ankle, and if she probably did this she probably wouldn't have. because she'd know how to to land cause she landed wrong doing a header. >> reporter: these are serious injuries that can put you on the sidelines for months, even years and they can lead to problems like arthritis later in life. >> well i think all teams should do this because it does really help. when we developed this program obviously it's to prevent injury but the bigger message is to promote fun in sports. >> we had a great time.

>> reporter: for more information on how to play safely, go to teenkidsnews.com and follow the links to this safely, go to teenkidsnews.com and follow the links to this story. hey, mark. hey, mark. hey. where've you been? i lost my cat. aw. that's not right. yeah. so i made this cat magnet to try and get him back. cool. does it work? kinda. [meow] nice. yeah. but that's not my cat. i gotta keep working on it. see ya. see ya. see ya. announcer: anything's possible, keep thinking. get started on your own inventions or just play some games at... my name's brandon. in 9 years, i'll be an alcoholic. all: hi, brandon. i'll start drinking with the older kids, and whatever they do... i'll do. announcer: kids who drink before age 15 are 5 times more likely to have alcohol problems

when they're adults. so start talking before they start drinking. i know it'll start with alcohol. i'm just not sure how it's gonna end. [distant sirens wail] when life's this hard, graduating can be even harder. but you can help ativa and the students in your community make it through by visiting boostup.org. texting, instant messaging, downloading, gaming and social networking. our generation is plugged in a lot. but as your parents have probably mentioned once or twice there is such a thing as too much time online. nicole sits down with an expert to find out how to find a balance between real life and the screen. >> reporter: i'm here with doctor michael osit, psychologist and author of "generation text." hello doctor, thank you for joining me! >> hi, nicole.

>> reporter: so how is the technology kids are growing up with affecting them positively and negatively? >> well it definitely has positive and negative effects. the technology enables kids to have access to the world, and it's a world of information right at their fingertips and that's wonderful for them. it also allows them to stay connected with each other, using technology - cell phones, i.m.ing, social networking sites. it's also mind-expanding for kids. it helps them with thinking skills, problem-solving and analytic abilities. but there is a downside, too. you have to be careful not to be overrelintd on technology for their social relationships - what i call "inter-machine relationships" as opposed to interpersonal relationships or face to face contact where you don't get the ability to feel that that closeness emotionally with people being with them. >> reporter: it seems kids want to be "plugged in" all of the time and parents want them to "unplug" who's right? >> well, you know, you have to

remember one thing, kids and parents are on the same side - your side. they want you to be happy, they want you to be healthy and i think it's unhealthy for kids to be plugged in too much, but you still really need the technology to help yourselves grow and socialize, so i think striking a nice balance between, um, having plugged in time and unplugged in time so that you can maintain good relationships and bonding with your family as well. there should be limits set, such as no cell phones during dinner time, no cell phones on long car rides, so the family interacts but yet you should be able to play video games, surf the net, i.m., do social networking. i think those are very good things for you guys. >> reporter: thank you, doctor. that's great advice we can all use at home. >> thank you, nicole. >> reporter: on another episode, we'll talk to doctor osit about staying safe and in control online. for now, i'm nicole for teen kids news. have you been scratching, and you don't know why? it might be stress. researchers say stress activates the immune system and that leads to itchy skin.

a small church in pennsylvania got a big surprise. it was named in the will of a farmer who lived in a mobile home, a man who saved and invested his money instead of spending it. no one dreamed he had $2 million to pass on. the church plans to use the to pass on. the church plans to use the money for good deeds. narrator: every day is a brand-new journey of discovery for your baby. and when that journey is by car, the latch system will help keep them safe.

it's easier and makes your car seat secure. so your baby's journeys will be safe and sure. to learn more, visit...

here's another reason to practice your flute or piano or tuba. a new study finds that kids who play instruments do better on academic tests than those who don't. the research was done on kids who took music lessons for at least three years. so, stick with it! an exciting discovery in outer space. a probe landed on one of saturn's moons. it has been sending back pictures and nasa says they show lakes filled with liquid. it's the first time liquid has been found someplace else in our solar system. how would you like to spend part of your school day, dancing? sam tells us about a program that's transforming lives by leaps and bounds. ♪ >> reporter: shimmying across

the stage are some of the 35,000 students who take part in the national dance institute dance program. every year, the ndi offers them dance classes taught by professional artists. ellen weinstein artistic director the arts, and dance in particular, engages emotion. and when emotions are engaged, learning happens, children become excited about learning. >> ndis mission goes far beyond dancing. any of these teens will tell you that they have learned a lot more than dance moves. >> i have, more confidence, more self-e self-esteem in myself. ever since ndi came to my life, i've been not the shy person that i have been before. >> dancing in this program has given me a way to use extra energy that i was unable to use before. >> ndi teaches us that um, that like dance is like, it can really bring out a lot in a child. >> reporter: at the end of the year, all the students come together for a final performance. they get to show their families

and friends the kind of dancers they have become. mexican culture is the theme of this performance. its name has a special meaning. >> "volando a mexico" means "flying to mexico." >> a brother and a sister are traveling to mexico and they experience a lot of things including a myan creation myth, a sundance, and a day of the dead dance. >> we wanted to learn more about mexico, and thus sort of launched this journey of discovery. >> reporter: ndi gives these kids an opportunity to discover not only different types of dance, but other cultures. >> it just kind of shows how different cultures can have different ways of representing themselves and showing their emotions and expressions, which i thought was really cool. >> reporter: a lot of the students participating in the

program never had a chance to shine in their schools. the ndi uses dance to change their lives. >> dance is sort of a way in, it's a conduit, a window, to learn about and understand their world, and at the same time, discover something about their own inherent excellence and potential. >> the best therapeutic interventions you can do for children is to give them art, to give them dance, to give them something that i feel is a right, and not a privilege, and to have them dance together. >> reporter: after a year or more in ndi's in-school program, these teens know who they are. some of them even have a new sense of direction. >> dancing is um a lot of fun for me and i wanna keep with it >> i've gotten a lot out of ndi but one thing i've gotten out of the most was being myself and finding my true self and dancing was my passion and what i really love to do. >> reporter: ndi's program goes to show you it's a small world

after all. to find out more about the national dance institute, go to teen kids news for teen kids news, i'm sam. that's all for us this week - thanks for tuning in. >> we'll see you next time, on teen kids news. [distant sirens wail] when life's this hard, graduating can be even harder. but you can help ativa and the students in your community make it through by visiting boostup.org.

girl: my name is emily, and in 7 years... i'll be an alcoholic. all: hi, emily. announcer: kids who drink before age 15 are 5 times more likely to have alcohol problems when they're adults. so start talking before they start drinking. announcer: every child needs good nutrition and physical activity. atta boy, pinocch.