>> here's what's happening on "teen kids news." >> we'll have some tips on how to deal with bullies. >> teens find out what it takes to become a firefighter. >> i'll try to put the rock in the house, coming up. [ chuckles ] >> and we're just getting started, so stay tuned.

>> welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm livia. here's our top story for this week. >> the golden rule of life is to treat others the way that you want to be treated, but some people forget that rule and become bullies. in this report, you'll see how you can deal with them by following another golden rule. >> singer taylor swift, olympic swimmer michael phelps, and even rapper eminem have admitted to being bullied as kids, and they're not alone. most of us have been pushed around by a bully. >> up until 6th grade, i was just like, "i love school." >> that's when some of ronnie's friends decided it wasn't cool to be smart. they started making fun of him for raising his hand in class. >> at lunch, kids would be like, "oh, we're not sitting with you," like, "nerd!" >> ronnie stopped participating in class, and his grades fell from a's to b's. >> i was trying to kind of do poorly on purpose, i guess. >> but it didn't help. kids still picked on him. >> i think everybody thinks that they have this image of, like,

one big, tough kid just beating up a little kid or stealing his lunch money or something, but it's a lot more than that. >> bullying has many faces and many forms. >> michael cassidy wrote "the skinny on bullying." the book uses clever stick figures to tell the story of billy and beth and how they helped their friends to deal with bullies. >> for bullying, the golden rule is to talk to an adult. talk to someone you trust, whether it's someone at the school or a parent or a cousin. all too many times, a kid will keep it bottled inside, and that's where, you know, a lot of problems can start, 'cause there are people out there trying to help. >> ronnie's kept his problems bottled up for two years before he finally told his parents, but when he did, they helped him find a solution. he's made new friends that sharedis interests, and now he's a great student again. >> i think it's hard, 'cause a lot of times, the victim doesn't want to get adults involved 'cause it's embarrassing. >> everyone has had an experience with a bully at some

point, it's fair to say, so if you talk to an adult, they could open up your eyes to things you didn't realize. they could teach you things you may have otherwise not known that you could do. they can give you advice on how to protect yourself and, if need be, take it to a school administrator and put an end to the problem. >> "the skinny on bullying" offers some other advice, as well. for example, there's safety in numbers. >> definitely stay close with groups of friends. you know, bullies like to pick out individuals who are by themselves, loners, so if you're around and amongst groups of friends, you know, you're less of a target. >> also, avoid hot spots. stay away from unsupervised places where the bullies might hang out. and work with your friends and other students to make it known that bullying just isn't right. >> the reason kids should stand up to bullying is 'cause in schools, bullying can be an accepted practice. it's all about what's cool, and if the school consensus becomes that bullying's not cool, if bullies know they're not gonna get the positive feedback -- the laughs, the snickers, all that stuff from the kids in the school -- they'll be less eager to bully other kids.

>> and remember the book's golden rule -- tell an adult. and it's not tattling because you'not the bad guy. >> there's a lot more ahead, so stick with us. >> "teen kids news" will be right back.

>> opinion matters. that's why we call this segment "speak of the week." >> speaking english -- should it be a requirement for american citizenship? find out what teens think. >> i don't think so, because they should have a right to share their cultures with other people. >> i think that it's important to teach english to immigrants because if they want to be immersed in our culture, then they should be able to speak our language so we can communicate best with them. >> yeah, i think that's a really important part of becoming a citizen of our country. >> absolutely not. it's a free country. people should be able to speak

whatever language they want, you know? >> no. i don't think learning english should be required because i think that the united states is a place of immigrants -- a country of immigrants -- and it's a place where people can practice their own beliefs and their own languages and their own cultures. >> of course, because if you learn english, it's, like, the basic language of our country, so once you learn english, you can maybe even go on to learn other languages and get jobs and build a future. >> with some communities passing tougher laws about immigration, we'll definitely be hearing a lot more about the issue. i'm emily for "teen kids news." >> there are basically two types of firefighters in this country -- professionals who are paid to do the job and volunteers who drop what they're doing, even if they're at work, to respond to an alarm in their community. whether professional or volunteer, you need special training to be a firefighter, and as carina reports, there are even programs for teens.

>> this is the bergen county fire academy in northern new jersey. it's a giant, state-of-the-art complex for training firefighters. >> they do 52 three-hour lessons, and they're taught everything from how to carry hose and how to attach the nozzles and how to put out fires, how to search buildings, and things like that. >> while many of the participants are adults, the program is also open to teens 16 or older, and it's not just for guys. >> i joined this program because i wanted to become a volunteer firefighter because my dad was and so was my grandpa, so it's kind of in the family. >> but things have sure changed since her grandfather fought fires. firefighters today use a lot of special equipment. >> this station here, students will demonstrate how to do an in-service check of their air pack to make sure it's functioning properly and they have enough air in it, and then they will demonstrate how to properly put it on their back, as well as their facepiece, and breathe air through it.

>> and it's important because if it's damaged, it might fail when you're firefighting, and then you'd be in trouble, and you could possibly kill yourself. >> safety is part of every aspect of firefighting. even with just tying knots, you really have to know the ropes. >> they have basic fire knots they have to be able to tie. >> you have your bowline, your clove hitch, you have your half hitch, you have your becket bend. >> certain knots are designed to carry certain loads. >> if you don't tie the knot correctly -- if you're a hoisting a tool -- it might come loose and hit somebody in the head or injure somebody. >> even just putting up a ladder requires training and practice. it takes a whole other skill set to climb the aerial ladder, especially since this ladder can reach as high as a 10-story building. >> they go halfway up. at that point, they have a ladder belt that they tie into one of the rungs on the aerial ladder. on the aerial, stop and lock in. [ metal clinking ] leaning back, holding, and being able to understand that they can

trust the belt, they can trust the ladder, because they need their hands free to actually do work while they're up there. >> after raising their hands to show that they've correctly attached the safety belt to the ladder, they unhook and continue to the window. these junior firefighters are practicing what's called a minuteman load. >> a minuteman load is a hose line that you can pull off a truck very quickly in case you need to put water on the fire as soon as you get off the truck. >> but there's another reason for the minuteman load. budget cuts and a shortage of volunteers have left many fire departments understaffed. >> in our diminishing ranks, if you will, of volunteer and career firefighters, it's very important to accomplish many tasks at the same time. so, it allows one firefighter to bring the entire hose load from the truck directly to the fire rather than having multiple people doing it. >> the idea of volunteer firefighters dates all the way back to one of our nation's founding fathers -- ben franklin.

we'll have more on becoming a firefighter when "teen kids news" continues.

>> checking for heat. >> we're at the bergen county fire academy, following teen trainees learning to be firefighters. >> so, we're gonna force entry. >> sometimes firefighters have to be able to force their way through a locked door. >> okay, you ready? ready? >> yep. >> strike. strike. strike. >> once inside a burning building, a top priority is looking for people who need to be rescued. >> it's completely dark. and what they're gonna do is they're gonna go in and do a full primary search of the room, search for all occupants -- on top of couches, on top of beds, laying on the floor, right behind the door, underneath windows. >> there's a lot of science to firefighting. for example, these trainees are using a simple physics principle to create what's called a fog vent. that's why the water stream is

aimed out the window. >> basically, they open it up into a cone shape just enough to fill the window, and it creates a negative pressure in the room, and it sucks all the heat, gas and smoke out of the room. once that happens, you get up off your knees, okay? approach it. give me an overhaul. any questions? okay. >> the academy prides itself on re-creating conditions as realistically as possible -- along with maximum safety, of course. here, trainees are put in the line of fire -- literally. the flames and heat are real. and so is the hose that twists and jerks like a giant snake on steroids. >> it's a lot heavier than it seems, and there's a lot of pressure when the water comes out, so it can really throw you back. >> that's why knowledge and teamwork are so important. no question about it -- this is not easy.

>> hardest part of the program is lugging around the -- all of your equipment all day in the hot sun and getting all sweaty. >> which brings up a question -- can girls be as good as guys at firefighting? >> i feel it's an equal team effort. i feel girls can do just as well as guys and vice versa. >> it doesn't matter your sex or race or anything. you're a firefighter. you can do it just as good as anybody else. >> way back in 1736, benjamin franklin helped start the first volunteer fire department. ever since then, america has depended on volunteer firefighters. but the ranks are thinning. >> 42 years ago, when i joined the volunteer fire service, we had 1.2 million firefighters, and 900,000 were volunteers. today, we only have 700,000 volunteers. it's much harder for families and their work environment to have time to volunteer. >> are you hoping programs like this will change that? >> oh, yes, i am. i'm hoping in the future, we can get more volunteers.

>> i see firefighting in my future. i really enjoy it. >> i would say go for it, you know? it's a lot of fun, and it's a great way to get involved in your community. >> no matter where you live, your families and your homes are a bit safer because of programs like these. for "teen kids news," i'm carina. [ chomp ] >> most foods have nutrition labels. but most of us don't know what to look for when we read them. so, we asked nutritionist jax hubbard to help us navigate. jax, where should we start? >> what you want to do with the nutrition labeis first start from the top and work your way down. you want to look at how many servings are in the package. all the information that follows is referring to one serving. for example, a small bag of potato chips may look like one serving, but it may be up to

2.5 servings. so, when you look at the rest of the information on the food label, you have to make sure to multiply all those numbers by 2.5. when you're looking at the calories, as a general rule of thumb to figure out how many calories you need in a day, you want to take your weight and multiply it by 20. so, let's say you're a moderately active female, and you weigh 100 pounds. you want to take your weight of 100 pounds and multiply it by 20, which will equal 2,000, which is the amount of calories you want to consume in a day. after looking at the calories, you want to move down to the fats. you want to look at the saturated and trans fats. these are the bad fats, so you want to have this amount of fats be as close to zero as possible. we're gonna look at the dietary fiber. this number -- you want it to be as high as possible because it's very healthy for your body. and at the bottom of the label,

you'll notice a number of nutrients listed, including vitamins "a" and "c" and also iron and calcium. you want to make sure you're getting as much of these nutrients as possible. thanks for the tour, jax. that was probably too much to remember. so, you can watch this report again at teenkidsnews.com. girl: mom, can i have a dollar? yeah. it's right-- i think my purse is upstairs on the bed. it's not here. check the dining room. nope. what about your sister's room? not there, either. the upstairs closet? the downstairs closet. there are no more closets.

announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways to keep kids active and healthy. get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. [thunder] announcer: up to 40% of businesses never recover after experiencing a major disaster. make a plan at ready.gov/business. >> curling isn't just something you do to your hair. it's also a sport. it requires strength, dexterity, and a whole lot of teamwork. hannah has the story. >> for most kids, sweeping is a chore. these guys do it for fun. >> all: sweep, sweep, sweep! >> this is the weekly teen practice at the ardsley curling club. they're learning to play a game that started in scotland more than 500 years ago.

how do you curl? >> well, it's a lot like shuffleboard on ice. you have to throw the stones from one side of the ice into the center of the bull's-eye. and whoever has the most in the center wins. >> by the way, those circles they aim for are called the "house." curlers play on teams of four people. players take turns sliding the stones, while their teammates sweep the ice just in front of the rock. so, how do these brooms work? >> well, right there, there's some cloth on it, and you rub it back and forth on the ice, and it will melt the ice and make the rock go faster. >> as you can imagine, getting a 42-pound granite rock to go exactly where you want takes years of practice. but it's not enough to be accurate. you've got to be clever. what's the hardest part of curling? >> i think it's the strategy 'cause there's so many different things you can do at a certain time. >> for instance, curlers can try and knock the other team's stones away from the house. and sometimes they will purposely throw stones that stop short to block their opponent's future shots. >> sometimes it gets really

tough to know what the right shot is. >> in fact, some people call it "chess on ice." which do you prefer -- throwing the rock or sweeping? >> i prefer throwing, usually. i like [chuckles] gliding down the ice. it's kind of fun. >> these guys make it look easy. let's see howdo. >> first step is push out a little bit. then you lift your hips, bring the stone back, and then out. okay, and then i put my hips up. >> yeah. >> and then i go like... watch out! so, who's the guy at the end yelling at everyone? >> that's the skip. >> what is he telling them? >> he's telling them to sweep the rock as it comes down. he'll say "hurry," "hard," or "yes." >> those are just different ways to say, "keep sweeping." can i try it? >> if you want to. >> [ chuckles ] take this one out. sweep! [ chuckles ]

>> aah! >> go! go! yes! go! sweep! sweep. sweep! harder! >> okay. >> [ chuckling ] that was awesome. what's your favorite part of curling? >> well, i like tore with my friends, and i like the sport. i like the ice. i like the cold. and...i don't know. it just seems fun to me. >> you can hang out with people from different ages and just have a good time. >> my friends and i are having a lot of fun. >> i'd have to say the hardest part about curling would be keeping your balance on the ice. sometimes it can be a little tricky. it's quite slippery. >> yeah, i experienced that. [ laughter ] i feel so awesome! curling may not be easy, but it a lot of fun. for more information on getting involved, check out teenkidsnews.com.

>> the purple heart is actually the military order of the purple heart, and george washington developed the ribbon, and it was awarded to three soldiers during the american revolution. in 1932, chief of staff of the army general macarthur was able to persuade congress to establish a new award called the purple heart. and those soldiers who were in world war i who were wounded received wound chevrons on their sleeves, and so all those soldiers later received the purple heart. and today the purple heart is awarded to any service member who is wounded or killed in action.

[nursery music playing] just three granules of lead dust can harm your child. if your home was built before 1978, log onto leadfreekids.org.

nice. oh... oh! oh! red! red! red! yes! yes! come on! oh. no! oh... bummer. [children shouting] hoops? yeah. sure. sure. announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways to keep kids active and healthy. works every time. announcer: get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. 't the only place kids find drugs. sometimes they find them at home. you can help stop prescription drug abuse by safeguarding medications in your home, encouraging friends and family members to do the same. and asking your pharmacist how to dispose of medications you no longer need.

>> this report is brought to you by the consumer electronics association. >> thin is in at the 2012 consumer electronics show here in las vegas. i've got five hot gadgets to share with you, and we're gonna start off with televisions. you won't believe the quality of tomorrow's tvs, beginning with this sony one. this is unbelievable technology called the crystal l.e.d. display. this is the world's first 55-inch true h.d. display with 6 million l.e.d.s mounted to the front of the television. in plain english, that translates to outstanding contrast, a wider color gamut, and incredible motion -- much smoother than lcd tvs. it's a prototype, so don't look for it on store shelves soon, but a glimpse at what's to come. if you're a mobile gamer, well, next month, on february 22nd, the playstation vita is coming out. the p.s. vita can best be described as a handheld gaming system that delivers a console-like experience. it's not just the h.d. graphics on the five-inch oled touch

screen, but it is amazing. take a look at these photo-realistic visuals with games like "uncharted" or "call of duty" or "assassin's creed." but it's also the control. you've got dual analog sticks, as you'll see there on each side of the screen. again, it's a touch screen, as well, touch panel on the back, wireless technology, dual cameras, and more -- beginning at $249 next month. now, speaking of wireless gadgets, this is the seagate goflex satellite. this is a wireless, portable hard drive that can stream three different things to three different devices at the same time. so, imagine you're on a road trip with your buddies. one's got a blackberry, one's got an android tablet, someone else has an ipod touch. no worries. everybody can watch what they want simultaneously. retails for $199 for this 500-gig hard drive from seagate. next up, one of the big buzz words at c.e.s. 2012 -- ultrabooks. this is what an ultrabook is -- a super-thin and lightweight computer that delivers a lot of performance. this is the h.p. envy 14 scepter -- or spectre, rather -- that gives an outstanding performance despite the fact that it's only .79 inches thin. it's powered by an intel core i5

processor. it's got that gorilla glass finish, so it's very durable, and it's got wireless technologies including near-field communication. you take a compatible nfc smartphone, tap the screen, and it will exchange information wirelessly. very cool stuff. this is $1,300 coming out next month, february 2012. last but not least, photography -- very hot here at consumer electronics show every year. now, get this. this is now in your pocket. this is the bloggie live h.d., the first wi-fi h.d. camcorder for your pocket. so, not only can you wirelessly upload your video to your favorite website, like youtube or facebook, but you can even stream live in real time. so, that means you're broadcasting. you have your friends and family watching what you're doing in real time wherever they are in the world. how cool is that? this is coming out for $249 at the end of january. for "teen kids news," in las vegas at the consumer electronics show, i'm marc saltzman. >> that's it for this week. thanks for joining us. >> we'll see you next week on "teen kids news."

can you imagine a place where these grow everywhere? yes! it's called the forest... a magical place to enjoy with your family ♪ music

so disver the forest and explore all the wonder that's there visit discovertheforest.org to find a forest near you announcer: 60 minutes of physical activity a day and eating well can help get your child healthy. get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. that's letsmove.gov.