Students: We are Mrs. Benac's sixth-grade class from Rockridge Junior High in Taylor Ridge, Illinois, and we wanted to remind you to tell your mom a Happy Mother’s Day, and Channel One News starts right now. Happy Mother's Day!
Maggie: Good point, guys — do not forget about Mom this weekend, or else you will probably be in big trouble.
All right, let's start the show and get right to headlines. And first up, the feds are getting tough on e-cigarettes. In a landmark move, the Food and Drug Administration has announced that it will regulate electronic cigarettes. Now the companies that produce
e-cigarettes will have to meet federal health standards to stay on the market.
Dr. Robert Califf: The rule also will allow the FDA to evaluate the ingredients in these additional tobacco products, how the products are made and their potential impact on public health.
Maggie: The ruling also bans selling e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. Lately, the use of e-cigarettes is on the rise for kids and teens. In 2015 3 million middle and high school students used the nicotine devices.
Sylvia Burwell: Nicotine does not belong in the hands of children.
Maggie: Some people use e-cigarettes thinking they are a healthy alternative to regular cigarettes, but that is unclear. Another unknown factor is whether e-cigs lead young people to become regular smokers. All the new rules go into effect in 90 days.
Next up, we move north to Canada; that is where a wildfire is out of control, threatening to destroy an entire city. The inferno rages on, threatening to reduce the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta to ashes. The winds are sending flames toward the city center. The evacuation zone is expanding; emergency crews went door to door telling people to get out. More than 88,000 had to leave.
Woman: It's pretty scary.
Maggie: The fire has torched at least 1,600 homes and incinerated entire neighborhoods.
Eric Lavallee: It's something like you'd see outta the movies.
Maggie: The fire is also in the heart of Alberta's oil sands, the third largest oil reserve in the world. More than 250 firefighters are battling the blaze.
Now there is some good news in America's schools. A new report out says schools may be getting safer. The study found a drop in reports of violent crimes, bullying and harassment because of sexual orientation in U.S. schools.
And students who reported being afraid of getting harmed at or around school dropped as well, from 12 percent in 1995 to 3 percent in 2013, according to the National Center for Education Statistics and the Justice Department.
Still, about 3 percent of students ages 12 to 18 said they were victims of crimes at school in 2014. Middle school students were the most likely to report being bullied, according to the report. And on college campuses, the number of sexual attacks actually went up, more than doubling between 2001 and 2013.
The research also showed that the majority of schools used security cameras, and almost all controlled access to their buildings.
All right, coming up, how by just being a girl you are probably paying more at the store.
Maggie: All right, so you walk into a store to buy something — say, shampoo — and when you check out, you have to pay more just because you are a girl. It is called the “pink tax,” and women are up in arms about it. Azia Celestino investigates the divide and finds out how some lawmakers are trying to end the gender tax.
Azia: It is about more than pink or blue packaging; when it comes to products for men versus women, the real difference comes down to the price.
Whitney Stevenson: Gender bias is a real thing, and if it's geared towards a woman, it's going to be significantly higher.
Azia: We hit the store to find out just how much higher.
All right, guys, so we just got two different kinds of deodorant from the same brand — one for men and one for women. But even though they have roughly the same ingredients, the women's cost over a dollar more, and it has a little bit less.
And this isn't uncommon. A New York study found differences in clothing like these jeans, personal care products like these razors, and toys like this scooter. Their research showed that women paid more than men for similar products 42 percent of the time.
Gerson Chandler: It's kinda sexist. That's weird.
Gabrielle Loperena: It just makes me feel like it's unfair. I mean, the products are essentially the same thing. I wouldn't understand why it wouldn't cost the same thing.
Tod Marks: You don't realize how badly you're getting ripped off, or being taken advantage of, as a woman because you've become so conditioned to pay more.
Azia: Paying more for a service because of your gender is illegal in New York, Miami–Dade County, Florida, and California. But so far, there is no federal law against this discrimination when selling products. California lawmakers are aiming to make that illegal too, with a new bill that is already getting pushback.
The California Retailers Association says it would be "impossible to coordinate the pricing of these goods when placed on the retail market" because it would "require different pricing standards for California than other states."
Michael Cone: And we don't really know who is responsible for it.
Azia: Michael Cone is a trade lawyer who says part of the problem is the tariff, or tax, the U.S. charges to import goods from other countries. He found that women's clothing often enters the country with a higher import fee than men's. For example, men's sneakers were taxed at 8.5 percent, while women's were taxed at 10 percent.
Cone: It might be $5 that you pay that’s extra to Uncle Sam, but by the time it hits the retail consumer, it could be $10, $12, $13.
Azia: Experts say all of this adds up. Women end up paying about $1,400 more than men on goods and services each year.
Gabrielle: Because they know that women are the ones to be spending the money, so they target the women.
Azia: Azia Celestino, Channel One News.
Maggie: And this so-called pink tax isn't just a problem in the U.S. Women in France and the U.K. have been fighting against similar discrimination.
All right, coming up next, we are making a splash in this week's next big thing.
Maggie: We have got a Next Big Thing that takes off-road biking onto the water. But before we get to that, let's see what you guys thought about last week's.
We told you about a new eco-friendly product created by 16-year-old entrepreneur Benjamin Stern, shampoo balls called Nohbo. Is it the next big thing? Eighty-one percent said, “Yes — that is how we ball out!” But 19 percent said, “No to the Nohbo.”
Time to hear from you!
Class: Hey, Channel One, this is Ms. Curry's fifth-period class…
Class: We are Miss Clark's class from Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Virginia…
Class: We think Nohbo is the next big thing because it can reduce waste, it can reduce waste, it can reduce waste — Nohbo.
Maggie: But not all of you agreed.
Class: This is Coach Ruiz' seventh-period class from Houston, Texas, and we think the Nohbo is a no go!
Maggie: Love those videos — keep them coming.
All right, now we are heading out on the water to get fit and have some fun.
Woman: I have never seen that before.
Woman: Yeah, I’d give it a try.
Maggie: It is called pedalboarding. It is like paddleboarding but without the paddle. Instead, your legs power the pedals to propel it forward.
Woman: I think it looks great. I think it’s something I could totally get into and not have to use my arms and get a work out with my legs.
Woman: If you're just standing there and you’re just paddling, you only get upper body; you don't work your legs. So that works the whole body if you're pedaling and you’re working your legs.
Maggie: They haven't even hit the stores yet, and they are already making waves in the fitness world.
Woman: I saw it on Facebook.
Maggie: Unlike traditional stand-up boards where all the work is in the paddles, with this invention, it is in the pedals. Handlebars allow you to steer and keep you steady. Since Hobie, a surf company, launched it on Facebook last month, it has gotten 70 million hits and is on backorder.
So is pedalboarding the next big thing? Let us know. Head on over to ChannelOne.com to vote, and send us videos to .
Well, before we say good-bye, we are sending you off with some more videos you sent us, but these are all about showing love and appreciation to those amazing mentors and friends in your life — the people we call teachers. All week long you have been saying "thank you" to the super teachers in your life…
Students: We appreciate Mr. McDowell and Mrs. Robinson.
This video is for Teacher Appreciation Week, and it goes out to my math teacher,
Mr. Ramos.
Maggie: …pulling out all the stops to honor them the best way you know how…
Students: My favorite teacher is Ms. Ally.
Ms. Cole! Because she is the best teacher in the world.
Our favorite teacher is Ms. Maoz. Mr. Johnson.
Maggie: …breaking out the rhymes, awards, and special surprises.
Students: Our favorite teacher is Ms. Meed. She wants us to succeed. We plant seeds so she can see us creed.
And we’d like to honor her with an award…because you’re very appreciated, and everybody just loves you.
We'd like to give a big thank you to the entire sixth-grade staff.
Maggie: Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
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