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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – According to a report released Wednesday, minority children spend an average of 13 hours a day using mobile devices, computers, TVs and other media. The figures cataloging how long they are plugged in mark about 4½ hours more than white kids.

The findings compiled by Northwestern University researchers and based on an analysis of two separate Kaiser Family Foundation surveys were presented to childhood and telecommunications experts in Washington, D.C.

Researchers analyzed that data to find out how black, Hispanic, Asian American and white youth use media for homework and for fun, and how long they’re plugged in on any given day.

Among 8- to 18-year-olds, Asian Americans logged the most media use with 13 hours, 13 minutes a day. Next came Hispanics with 13 hours, African Americans logged 12 hours, 59 minutes and whites garnered 8 hours, 36 minutes.

It remains unclear exactly why the racial disparity exists, however some experts believe children may turn to media if they feel their neighborhoods lack safe places to play or if their parents have especially demanding jobs that prevent engagement.

Based on the findings compared with white children, minority youth:

• Watch TV and videos one to two hours more a day;
• Listen to music about an hour more a day;
• Use computers about 1½ hours more a day;
• Play video games 30 to 40 minutes longer a day.

Black (84 percent) and Hispanic kids (77 percent) also are more likely to have TVs in their bedrooms and to eat meals in front of the TV, the study reported.

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Canal Winchester, OH, United States (AHN) – Two Ohio boys were kicked off the school bus for passing gas and being a disruption.

The incident happened on Thursday and according to one of the boys’ father caused riders to laugh, heckle and of course roll their windows down.

James Nichols in a report with the Columbus Dispatch said they boys were considered repeat offenders because a driver had warned them after a similar indiscretion weeks ago.

However this time officials at Canal Winchester Middle School intervened and deemed it was an obscene gesture that violated the student code of conduct. They were banned for a day from riding.

Nichols on the other hand calls the whole thing “laughable” the kids would be subject to disciplinary action for something natural and unintentional. His wife who was recently hospitalized with gastro-intestinal issues was offended by the whole thing.

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San Francisco, CA, United States (AHN) – A British beautician has sparked the ire of parents on both sides of the Atlantic after revealing she injects Botox into her 8-year-old daughter’s face every three months. The reason– so the child can be a “star.”

In a report in the Sun of London she said, “I wish that I’d had the same advantages when I was younger.”

“I know one day she will be a model, actress, or singer, and having these treatments will ensure she stays looking baby-faced for longer,” added Campbell, who now resides in San Francisco.

Campbell admitted she purchases Botox and Restalyne over the Internet and first tests them on herself before injecting them into her daughter.

Kerry also gives her daughter regular full-body waxes. “She also has her virgin wax monthly, which gets rid of her fluffy leg hair and makes sure she won’t develop pubic hair in the future,” said Kerry. “It will save her a fortune in waxing when she’s older.”

Despite experts warning that Botox is only considered safe for adults there currently aren’t any laws stating that it is illegal to inject it into children.

Britney Campbell who frequently competes in beauty pageants said that she no longer “cries that much” during the injections. She also hopes to get a “boob and nose job soon, so that I can be a star.”

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Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN) – According to a recent study on teen driving statistics, several “critical errors” are often one of the last in a chain of events leading up to a crash. Seventy-five percent of these crashes were due a critical teen driver error, while three common errors accounted for nearly half of all serious crashes.

Spearheaded by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance, researchers found teens are involved in fatal crashes at four times the rate of adults.

Among crashes with a teen driver error:

• Twenty-one percent occurred due to a lack of scanning that is needed to detect and respond to hazards

• Twenty-one percent occurred due to going too fast for road conditions

• Twenty percent occurred due to being distracted by something inside or outside the vehicle.

The researchers noted that environmental conditions, such as poor weather, vehicle malfunction, aggressive driving or physical impairments such as drowsy driving were not the main reasons for teenage accidents.

“This study helps dispel the myth that most teen crashes are due to aggressive driving or thrill-seeking,” said Dr. Allison Curry, lead author and a researcher at CHOP’s Center for Injury Research and Prevention(CIRP).

Some experts believe that laws and policies that address distractions by limiting the number of peer passengers and prohibiting cell phone use among new drivers will help reduce crash rates; however they only address part of the problems.

Based on the review of the findings, many of the 800 crashes reviewed occurred because teen drivers failed to detect and respond to a hazard in time.

Specifically, the act of scanning, which involves observing the surroundings far ahead of the vehicle and side-to-side, not just immediately in front of the hood needs to be focused on during the parent-child driving training.

It is a higher-level skill that typically develops over time with experienced drivers.

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Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom (AHN) – A U.K. computer software company is seeking female web coders to work in the nude. Nude House, is marketing its office environment as a “warm and private” space with a naturist attitude.

Company spokesman Chris Taylor in a published Register said, “As far as I am aware this is not only the first UK office job for naturists in web-coding or web-selling, but is also the first worldwide facility for naturists to earn substantial sums of money from work that incidentally provides them with the capability to work entirely without clothes.

“Because it is the first establishment in the world it is difficult to advertise – many seem to confuse the issue of being without clothes as being a place without concerns for personal freedom, where sex is paramount in its many varied forms.

“Sex does not play a part in naturism – yes one is aware of differences in sex and size and shape and age of everyone, but the concern is on sales and technical ability, not availability.”

Nude House business model includes selling imaging software that lets customers create product or hyperlink boxes on top of pictures.

Taylor goes on to say that the clothing liberal office does not bear “any benefit to business productivity other than providing a nice facility for the staff”.

The company website says: “New applicants will be required to work in the nude from the time they arrive at work until they leave to go home.

“Nude means no clothes whatsoever and no shoes either. All new applicants will be naturists and could be males or females.”

The company also has a sister company called Songbird – its IT staffers work fully clothed.

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Bergen, Germany (AHN) – 71% of teachers feel that a secure internet “parent portal,” where parents could see details about their child’s schooling, would improve school-to-parent communication.

In the survey conducted by itslearning on teachers in France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the U.S., 75% of the 5,805 teachers surveyed said parental involvement is important to student’s education. However 44% said they didn’t have the time or means to communicate with parents as much as they would like.

“Teachers agree that involving parents is critical, but they aren’t able to communicate with parents effectively,” says Morten Fahlvik, Research Manager at itslearning.

Teachers currently communicate with parents with 46% of them using email reach their students’ parents at least once a month; 37% use texts/SMSs and 24% still send letters.

School Boards and technology companies are currently experimenting with different online tools to make the teacher parent communication relationship more seamless.

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Chicago, IL, United States (AHN) – According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, perceptions of unequal pay and career advancement opportunities are increasing in the workplace.

Thirty-eight percent of female workers said they feel they are paid less than their male colleagues in the same roles that also have the same skills and experience, a marked increase over 2008′s 34 percent and 2003′s 31 percent during a similar survey.

Additionally, 39 percent of women feel men have more opportunities to advance in their career, up from 26 percent in 2008.

The perceptions seem to be rooted in fact. During a salary comparison, 45 percent of men surveyed reported they make $50,000 or more, compared to 24 percent of women. Ten percent of men make $100,000 or more, compared to just 3 percent of women. Alternatively, 40 percent of women reported their income at $35,000 or less compared to 24 percent of men.

In regards to advancement, 30 percent of men surveyed said they hold a management position compared to 21 percent of women.

“While many companies are working toward greater equality in all measures of the workplace, a significant disparity still exists,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “Workers in general are more aware of average compensation levels. They are also more vocal about shortcomings they believe exist when it comes to their pay and title, especially coming off of a recession when workloads and hours largely increased.”

More than one-third of women (35 percent) attributed the disparity in pay and career advancement to the fact that they don’t rub elbows or schmooze with management as much as men. Nearly a quarter simply felt management showed favoritism to the opposite sex.

When asked what annoyed them most about the opposite sex in the office, men said women tend to gossip or become too emotional or sensitive. Women said men can be too arrogant, make inappropriate comments and don’t take female co-workers seriously.

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Saint Albans, WV, United States (AHN) – A 74-year-old grandmother punched a man who had exposed himself near a school.

Joan William son was picking up her granddaughter Lexi, from George C. Weimer elementary school when she was startled by the man’s actions.

“He was right in front of my car, and masturbating,” she said. “I mean, exposed, and drinking out of a peroxide bottle.”

Williamson said she’d noticed him before acting suspicious and hanging around the school for several weeks.

However this time she hit him and he ran.

Police said the man is Jett Wilcher, 34, and they were able to catch him with Williamson’s help. She took off in her car and followed Wilcher as he tried to get away.

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Frankfurt, Germany (AHN) – Germany’s rail system maybe disrupted if the train drivers’ union GDL commences with a planned strike on Wednesday. Should the group stop working rail freight transport and passenger transport could be affected.

The move is being spearheaded by the union in an effort to force small passenger-service companies to enter a national labor contract with higher pay for its 26,000 drivers.

GDL is demanding an overall pay agreement that would cover all drivers who work both for the main national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, as well as private companies that operate some routes and in some case pay lower wages. Some of the companies pay their drivers up to 30 percent less than their colleagues employed by the national rail firm.

Germany’s rail system is critical to the region’s manufacturing and exports. Car companies in particular could be hard hit. Rail is the primary way vehicles move from their factories to Germany’s main car-export terminal at Bremerhaven.

German Chambers of Industry and Commerce boss Martin Wansleben voiced his concern on Saturday over the impact of an extended rail strike.

“Many industries depend on ‘just-in-time’ production,” he said.

“It would only take a few days for strikes in rail-freight transport to cause production disruptions because cancelled train consignments can often not be immediately rerouted via road or domestic ship.”

Several small stirkes have already occured however this potential large-scale industrial action is an attempt to get national rail operator Deutsche Bahn and its private competitors to “put an offer on the table at last that can be the basis for talks,” GDL boss Claus Weselsky said.

According to GDL the 14-hour freight strike would begin at 8 pm (1900 GMT) Wednesday, while a six-hour passenger-service strike would begin Thursday at 4 am. The strike is slated to only occur in certain regions and non-union drivers will stay on the job. Even in its limited scope the ripple effect will be felt throughout the entire network.

Striking members of GDL however will receive pay from GDL while they do not work.

GDL represents 75 percent of the 26,000 employees. Last weekend after previous negotiations failed more than 90 percent of the members voted for the stoppage.

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Johannesburg, South Africa (AHN) – A dead baby is now tied to a student of Oprah Winfrey’s South African school for girls.

The child was found in the bag of a 17-year-old girl who was rushed to an area hospital suffering from excessive bleeding.

Officials believe that the unidentified girl hid her pregnancy then gave birth secretly at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Hospital staffers discovered the lifeless infant.

The girl is still being treated at the hospital at this time no charges have been filed against her. However police are still investigating.

Because the case involves a minor a spokesman for the Chicago-based school said they would not be commenting.

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