Jessie Chris: Hey, it's Jessie Chris, and Channel One News starts right now!
Tom: Jessie Chris starting us off with a tune! Plus she has got an anti-bullying message coming on up.All right, I am Tom Hanson. It is Friday the fourth, and May the fourth be with you.
First up, nearly a million students in Arizona will now be going back to school as teachers go back on the job.They spent all week on strike, not showing up for school and demanding more money for education. And they won their fight.
Teachers in Arizona cheered yesterday asthe governor signed the first of several bills to increase education spending by more than a billion dollars when fully implemented.Three hundred million dollars would go to giving teachers raises and $100 million for support staff.
Noah Karvelis: We fought our first fight, and it took each and every single one of us standing together to get it done,but we got it done.
Tom: But these teachers are determined to get even more funding for education.
Karvelis: We return to our schools tomorrow, we get back in the classroom,we take the fight to the ballot,we take it to our communities, we explain why this is not enough, and we leave it up to the voters to fund education once and for all!
Tom: Arizona is just one of many states facing teacher strikes, including Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky and Colorado.
All right, so you might remember last fallthe Boy Scouts made a bold move and said it would begin to allow girls to join the organization.Well, now more changes are hereas the organization tries to make girls feel more welcome.
For 108yearsthey were known as the Boy Scouts, but the word "boy" is now gone! From now on, the name of the program for children 11 to 17 will be Scouts BSA.It is all part of trying to make girls identify more with the youth organization.
Kelly Watkins: I think it's really cool.I guess I understand people who just want it to be boys, but I think it's a good thing that girls are going to get to,like younger girls, younger than would be able to join VenturingCrew. I think it's good that they're going to have a place where they can really go outside and learn things like that.
Georgie Hightower: I think that's okay. I mean, because everybody needs the, everybody should know the leadership opportunities that Boy Scouts is giving out.
Tom: But the name change did not impress the Girl Scouts organization.The CEO of Girl Scouts USA,Sylvia Acevedo, said in a statement, "We are, and will remain, the first choice for girls and parents.” Both the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts organizations are in a fierce battleas they struggle with declining membership.
All right, so today is Anti-Bullying Day. And I am sure most of you know someone who has been bullied, or maybe you have been bullied yourself. One out of every five students in the U.S. says they have been bullied, and many become depressed, which can lead to problems like low self-esteem and anxiety. And as Arielle Hixson shows us, it can happen to just about anyone, even rising stars.
Arielle: You may have seen Jessie Chris before, on the stageor even on TV.
Now, you have performed in a variety of different venues at this point.
Chris: That’s right.
Arielle:Do you ever get nervous?
Chris: Okay, I used to get nervous before every performance until I did “The Today Show.” That was the most nerve-racking experience that I think it scared the nerves out of me for life.
Arielle: At 20years old, she is already an accomplished musician, making this year's list of “Billboard's” 15 country artists to watch. But it wasn't always so easy.
Chris: Since I was always in the entertainment world, anytime I had a little glimmer of success, my classmates would try to bringme down. They would say things like,“You didn't deserve it,”or “You should just give up because you'll never be good enough.” I would get body checked against the lockers.
I struggled a lot with self-confidence growing up, and so, being an entertainer, confidence is key because it takes all of it to go out on stage.It takes all your confidence.
Arielle: How did you turn it on when all day you were pretty much being bullied?
Chris: Well, I would come home from school — Iactually became antisocial, I was depressed — and Iwould come home, and I would go in my bedroom and play my guitar for hours. And it was my way of dealing with the anger from the school day.I didn't realize I was practicing and I was getting better, and through that I was getting more confident.
Arielle: Jessie uses the struggles of her past to help students face bullying in the classroom today.
Chris: I'll get messages from fans online saying that my music is getting them through their bullying, and it just touches me to be able to pass it back along.
Arielle: She is touring the country, visiting 100 middle schools to share her story.
Chris: I just hope that I can kind of be like a big sister and they can talk about it or learn a lesson from it.
Arielle: Do you ever still get bullied?
Chris: I still get bullied all the time.It's how you handle it. I don't feel like I get bullied anymore because I'm comfortable and I'm confident now, but I do see the messages, andI just ignore them. They are not worth my time of day.I need to focus my energy on the people who are positive.
Arielle: Although bullying is everywhere, Jessie encourages everyone to rise above it.
Chris: Unfortunately,a lot of the people who do get bullied are some of the most remarkable people, and it's just because you're different, and that could be in a really good way. So just know that, anddon't let anybody try to change you or bring you down.
Arielle: Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.
Tom: Very cool.
Okay, when we get back, it is a lesson you need to know: Digital Privacy 101.
Tom: All right, so in a typical school day, you probably study English, science, math and history, but there is a new class that may be coming your way.
Emily: Yeah,and this one teaches you about digital privacy: how to keep your personal information safe online. And some students in New Jersey are already getting schooled.
Yolanda Bromfield: What is privacy? How does privacy affect my life?
Emily: At St. Michael's School in Union, New Jersey, the students are social media savvy and already living in a digital world. Many already have cellphones.
Professor Gaia Bernstein: I think family life was changing, relationships were changing, and parents were getting worried.
Emily: Seton Hall law professor Gaia Bernstein designed the class for this pivotal moment in modern life. A study shows 50 percent of teens feel they are addicted to their mobile devices.
Bernstein: When you get your first cellphone, where the kids are more likely to listen.
Emily: More likely to listen, start talking and, hopefully, begin to understand how their actions online can impact their daily lives.
Bromfield: And some of that information never goes away. So you should always keep in mind the consequences of sharing the information.
Emily: Eleven-year-old Eva Zazzali graduated from the class earlier this year.She got her first phone a few months ago and already has three Instagram accounts.
Eva Zazzali: The most important thing I learned was probably, like, to be aware that some of the stuff you post affects other people.
Emily: So now, she says, she takes a moment before posting something to make sure it is safe.
Emily Reppert, Channel One News.
Tom: Yeah, definitely important stuff, because, of course, what you post can have long-term impacts, for sure.
And for more on digital privacy and cool facts on how technology and social media impact your brain, just head on over to ChannelOne.com.
All right, now,D is here with a story about two teens who are serving up an interesting fundraiser through ceramics.
Demetrius: Yeah,Tom. They are hoping to raise money for a local soup kitchen, and I have to say that they are really kiln it. You get it? Because you have got to put ceramics in a kiln? You get it.
Tom: All right,roll the tape for this week’s Feel-Good Friday.
Sydney Webber: Now I'm pinching, like, the middle so it can, like, start to have the bowl form.
Demetrius: Using spinning wheels to mold mounds of clay…
Tessa Massucci: And then you have to, like, pull the bowl up and be really careful not to make it fall.
Demetrius: …Concordia High School students Sydney Webber and Tessa Massucci are carefully crafting bowls.
Tessa: I just come during my lunch period. Instead of going to lunch, I come make bowls.
Demetrius: And they are not doing this for class. It is for a schoolwide community service project.
Sydney: For our Serving Bowls project, we're going to have a, like, a gallery and, like a chili, like, soup dinner. And then they can buy it for $20, and they’ll get the chili, and then they get to keep the bowl.
Trevor Campbell: We have about 200 finished up right now or in the process. We will have a little bit over 200 to sell.
Demetrius: Teacher Trevor Campbell is leading the project. He says that Sydney and Tessa are among 35 students and teachers who have been busy making bowls for the fundraiser. And the money will go to a local soup kitchen to help with its $270,000-a-year operating cost.
Campbell: We wanted to make sure that it went to somebody local so that we were actually using our artistic talents to give back to the community.
Tessa: For youth group we work with the soup kitchen, and we go and serve the food there, and we, like, get letters from themthat are, like, prayers for us to, like, pray about at youth group.So I feel like it’ll be cool to, like,be actually,like, helping them, like, raise money for the soup kitchen, like,the people that we, like, help and, like, pray for every week.
Sydney: Kind of satisfying just to, like, mold it in your hands.
Demetrius: Using their hands to give a helping hand to those less fortunate.
Sydney: It'll make a big difference, hopefully.
Demetrius: Demetrius Pipkin, Channel One News.
Tom: Very cool — hope they reached their goal.
And did you catch Words in the News? Soup kitchen — it is a place where free food is served for those who are homeless or in need.
All right, we are out of time today, but have a great Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, and we will see you back here on Monday.
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