Youth

On the surface, "To Save a Life" doesn't sound that different from a host of indie films -- a drama involving a teen coping with the aftermath of a student's suicide who finds solace in a group of outsiders. The film, which opens Friday, deals with myriad real-life issues facing teens such as drugs, sex and social acceptance. The plot focuses on star athlete Jake Taylor, who seemingly has it all; he has a basketball scholarship, good looks, a cheerleader girlfriend and hangs with the in-crowd.

The TV series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" opens with a 15-year-old girl coming home from band practice, reaching into her French horn case and pulling out a home pregnancy test. Her horrified look confirms the results. No less startled are some parents whose children watch the ABC Family cable program that revolves around the sex lives of high school students.

The Internet has transformed how bands interact with their fans. But that can lead to troublesome consequences. A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that Warner Music Group, Atlantic Records and other music industry organizations helped coerce a 16-year-old girl into making pornographic rock videos when a band advertised for extras on MySpace, News Corp.'s teen-oriented social networking site. The companies and musicians' representatives deny they did anything wrong.

With their leather sleeves, collegiate colors and embroidered mascots, letterman jackets long have symbolized school spirit and athletic ability. They're traditionally awarded to students for success on the playing field, but these days even those who didn't make the team are wearing the classic jackets--the vintage ones once owned by jocks whose glory days are long past.

Like many teenage girls, these friends were fascinated by the high fashion and flashy bling of such young Hollywood celebrities as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Audrina Patridge. But unlike other fans, they allegedly didn't stop at Hollywood fantasy. According to Los Angeles police detectives, the group studied television shows, celebrity magazines and websites picking out clothing and jewelry they wanted. Then they figured out where the celebrities lived and, after casing the homes, broke in and took what they wanted, detectives allege.

Three plaintiffs who were incarcerated by the Los Angeles County Probation Department as minors filed a class-action complaint in federal court Tuesday alleging a total breakdown in the school at Camp Challenger in Lancaster. The three allege that teachers at the county's largest probation camp routinely missed classes without explanation, punished students who asked for instruction by sending them out of the classroom and, in the case of one plaintiff, awarded a high school diploma despite the fact that the student was illiterate.

Donna Yehl's fourth-grade students bob behind their desks, heads nodding up and down as if the children were on the deck of a ship. But they aren't fidgeting. The two dozen children in Yehl's Elgin, Ill., classroom read and write -- in fact, do all of their classwork -- perched on exercise balls. The inflatable balls are commonly used in Pilates, yoga and exercise classes. Some teachers say they belong in school classrooms too because they sharpen students' attention and improve their posture.

James Armstrong's got style, and he likes to smell good. Real good. And to smell good, he's got to have his Axe. "Axe is one of my favorite things in life," he said. "You don't want to be smelling bad in class." He's 13. He wears outfits, not clothes. And he has one scent for every day. And one for, well, you know, special occasions. "Sometimes when you wear it," said Milai Henriet, his classmate at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School in suburban Silver Spring, Md.

When Abby Berendt Lavoi graduated from college, she got a job in New York making television commercials as a full-time contractor for one of the largest media companies in the world. She was eligible for health insurance only after she had been working there for a year. Ten months into the job, Berendt Lavoi came down with painful stomach cramps. Terrified, she used Google to find a hospital that would accept patients without insurance, and underwent surgery to remove an ovarian cyst the size of a softball.

All she has left of the person she used to be is contained in a 5-by-7 photo album with "Aliyah Bacchus" written in blue pen on its cover, each picture inside tucked beneath a slip of clear plastic. There she is at 17, barely 90 pounds, smiling sourly on her wedding day in Queens, N.Y., dressed in hijab -- a pearl-toned princess bridal gown shimmering with beads, her slender hands dipped in sleek white gloves, a veil attached to a white qimar, or head scarf, fastened snugly around her face.

A little over a week ago, 5-year-old Monley Elize was gulping fruit juice and standing on two small shaky feet in a medical clinic here, the heralded survivor of eight days buried in the rubble of his home. Since then, he's been featured on CNN and he and his uncle also appeared on NBC. The initial report in The Times brought dozens of offers of help. Around Port-au-Prince, where Monley's was a rare good-news story in a city devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake, the pint-sized survivor is recognized on local buses, his uncle says.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Friday denied Roman Polanski's request to be sentenced in absentia, scuttling the director's latest bid to end his three-decade-old child sex case. Polanski hoped that such a sentencing would allow his lawyers to lay out evidence of judicial misconduct in his case and secure him a sentence of no further time behind bars. Although a state appeals panel had suggested that Polanski be sentenced in absentia, as the director is facing extradition proceedings in Switzerland, Judge Peter Espinoza said he was not bound by the higher court's suggestion.

On the surface, "To Save a Life" doesn't sound that different from a host of indie films -- a drama involving a teen coping with the aftermath of a student's suicide who finds solace in a group of outsiders. The film, which opens Friday, deals with myriad real-life issues facing teens such as drugs, sex and social acceptance. The plot focuses on star athlete Jake Taylor, who seemingly has it all; he has a basketball scholarship, good looks, a cheerleader girlfriend and hangs with the in-crowd.

Ayodeji Ogunniyi is a teacher who connects with students and stays with them until they absorb a lesson, his mentors and supervisors say. He's new -- he started his first full-time teaching job this month at Thornwood High School in a Chicago suburb -- but he knows he's found his calling. "He was born to teach," said Julie Glaser, an English teacher at Thornwood who supervised Ogunniyi when he was student-teaching. "He has a lot of patience. He likes the students. He enjoys being with them and seeing them grow and learn."

Can a well-endowed teen make MTV hot again? The youth-obsessed cable network, seeking to stem a years-long ratings slide, thinks it has found just the thing to get back on track: "The Hard Times of RJ Berger," a scripted comedy about a boy with an, um, anatomical "gift." The show, billed as a cross between "The Wonder Years" and the R-rated comedy "Superbad," is a raunchy coming-of-age tale about a nerdy teen who achieves notoriety among his high school peers when they discover that he has a rather large penis.

Three plaintiffs who were incarcerated by the Los Angeles County Probation Department as minors filed a class-action complaint in federal court Tuesday alleging a total breakdown in the school at Camp Challenger in Lancaster. The three allege that teachers at the county's largest probation camp routinely missed classes without explanation, punished students who asked for instruction by sending them out of the classroom and, in the case of one plaintiff, awarded a high school diploma despite the fact that the student was illiterate.

The 6-year-old boy was known for playing in the driveway of his Azusa home, where behind a tall, ornate fence it seemed nothing could bring him harm. "That's all he ever did," said his father, Jesus Valencia. "Play and play, inside and outside." On Friday, as Jessie Valencia chased around a remote-control car, his mother, who stood nearby, was startled by what she thought was an explosion at 3:47 p.m. A patrol officer driving a few hundred feet away at Azusa Avenue and Roland Street knew immediately what that explosive sound was: a gunshot.

Janet Jackson's fast-tempo track "If" blared over speakers as a handful of sweaty dancers moved in unison, their faces focused as they strained their legs to mimic the intricate moves of their instructor. Then the music stopped. "You feeling the flexibility? You feeling the stretching? You want to feel it here," the instructor said, standing in front of a massive mirror, motioning toward her upper thigh -- her leg extended perfectly straight in front of her. Inside the brightly lighted theater that doubles as a studio in the arts district, these dancers are mostly teenagers.

Recap: "Youth in Revolt" starring Michael Sera captures the misdeeds of a dweeb and his alter-ego in an effort to win the heart of his first love. Review: "There's not much here, but at least Michael Cera and company deliver some laughs in this long-on-the-shelf comedy." -- Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times film critic

"Youth in Revolt" isn't bad -- the cast is too good for it to be bad -- but archly comic coming-of-age fables are tricky things, and this adaptation of the first three C.D. Payne stories about an Oakland teenager's improbable life, times, fantasies and picaresque sexual adventures does not precisely feel like This Year's Stuff. Still, I laughed a fair bit. That's no ringing endorsement, but it's January. The movie seems like a rerelease somehow. Partly, it's timing and how long the picture has been on the shelf.