Gay teens talk about dangers of being different.

Prescription drug use has exploded recently, especially among teens. They comprise the second most abused drugs by 12- to 17-year-olds, behind marijuana.

Before 2008, Janice Guzon never gave a second thought to good eyesight. Thumbing through magazines while doing research in the library that summer, she noticed that few people from Third World countries wore eyeglasses. She just assumed that they all had really good vision, unlike her.

Professional soccer’s top competition will be played in South Africa this summer, and the country is buzzing with excitement. Not only will it be the first time the Federation of International Football Association will stage the FIFA World Cup on African soil, but it also recognizes soccer’s importance to this historic land and its youth.

Allison Correll, 18, likes to help people. She also likes to take photographs. When she joined Neutral Zone, she got to do both. Neutral Zone is an artistic teen center that gives teens opportunities to take up new hobbies and find new talents.

DreamYard is Chelsea John’s outlet. She became involved in third grade when the organization came to her school to teach art and she’s now a high school junior bringing art to others.

In Des Moines, Iowa, music venues are not allowed to hold all-ages music events after 9 p.m. That has not sat well with under-21 activists who have been working with city officials in hopes of changing the code to make music venues more available to the city’s youth.

Fawna Racine, 19, went from almost dropping out of high school to creating her own group, finding her own voice, and making her own mark on her school.

In 2006, the Nintendo Wii was introduced and immediately gained worldwide popularity among young people. Wii players loved the game simulations but soon learned how to cheat the system – finding that a flick of the wrist was as good as a full swing in hitting a home run in baseball, or faking perfect balance on the balance beam by using hands instead of feet on the game platform.