TRAUMARAMA

TRAUMARAMA
Your absolutely most humiliating moments
SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE
Sticky situation
I was pretty confident the first day of my sophomore year -- I'd developed over the summer and was no longer a geeky, awkward freshman. I arrived at school wearing a cute outfit and feeling great. As the first bell rang, I spotted an incredibly hot guy. I figured I'd get the year started on the right foot and strut my stuff. On my way over, I popped a piece of gum in my mouth to freshen my breath. When I opened my mouth to say hello, I was so nervous that I spat the gum right in the guy's face! It was humiliating. I just picked the gum off him and ran.
Rear view
My best friend and I decided we were going to dress up for the first day of senior year. I wanted a totally different look from everybody else's, so I picked out a nice short purple dress and knee-high nylons -- the outfit looked awesome on me. But that morning, I was running late and not really paying attention to what I was doing. When I walked into class, a friend immediately rushed over to tell me my dress was stuck in my underwear in the back! I'd walked through the entire school like that.
TEENS HEALTH
Even a few puffsof tobacco can kill
TEENSHEALTH.ORG
Do you need another reason to quit smoking?
Some teens -- and adults -- assume that smoking fewer cigarettes will reduce their risk of smoking-related health problems. But a recent study conducted in Denmark, which focused on a group of women who smoked just three to five cigarettes each day and a group of men who smoked just six to nine cigarettes each day, suggests these assumptions are dead wrong.
According to this study, the women, who were followed over a 22-year period, were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack and almost twice as likely to die from other causes than people who didn't smoke. The men had almost identical results. People who claimed they didn't actually inhale when they smoked also proved more likely to have a heart attack.
The conclusion? Although smoking fewer cigarettes may reduce the risk of some of the many diseases that smoking brings, deadly risks remain. Almost every smoker wants to quit, but because of the addictive nature of nicotine, it's often very difficult. The best answer: don't start. And if you do smoke, try one of the many methods available to quit ... completely.
HOT LINK
Web site of the week:Noodlehead.com
By JIM MARTYKA
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Many high-school students have a beef with the entertainment industry for not accurately portraying their pressures, fears and visions.
While some solid attempts have been made, the general attitude among students is that "nobody understands."
With the rise of computer technology, though, high-school students can more easily make their own entertainment, such as movies.
All they need now is a venue. The Noodlehead Network (www.noodlehead.com) is one.
The Burlington, Vt.-based network produces, markets and distributes educational videotapes created from kids' points of view.
Noodlehead pretty much accepts all submissions. The only requirement is that kids be involved in some step of the process: writing, acting, editing, producing or what-have-you.
Videos on this site cover subjects ranging from sexual harassment and depression to peer pressure and bullies. Current events are covered, too. You'll even find a video on how to make a video.
In "Gangs in My Little Town?" three teens quiz police, neighbors and ex-gang members to show the roots of the gang problem in their town. With clever video splicing, they provide a horrifying and detailed portrayal of gang-recruitment procedures.
Noodlehead features a chat room, news about high-school production efforts and video-making tips from a 16-year-old film fanatic.
Noodlehead executives include two guys, three iguanas, a finch, a turtle, a python, five crayfish, eight goldfish and a tarantula. No word on whether the nonhumans are also budding moviemakers.