When asked what color he would use to describe his life, Ricardo Mendes, 17, of Salvador, Brazil, said he would choose black. "I think black means history, and my color is history," he said. Jefferson Sosazo, 18, also would choose black "because the black color says it all. It means suffering. It means that we want a better life." Centuries of slavery have left their legacy in Brazil. Although the

Over the course of a year, more children and teens die from gunfire than from cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, and HIV/AIDS combined, according to the Children's Defense Fund. In 2000, 3,042 youths ages 19 and younger were killed by firearms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Y-Press went to the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility to talk to four teens about th

In Favela Calabar, 10 people live in a two-room house -- one room heaped with blankets and sheets, the other mired under pots and pans. A tattered curtain separates the two. In an upscale neighborhood, three people live in a two-story mansion surrounded by a gate. The grounds contain a swimming pool, a nearly full-sized soccer field and a tennis court. Brazil is a land of disparities. Where you li

Timothy, 18, describes how guns and greed put him in the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility. Originally from Elkhart, he was paroled on Dec. 30 and now lives in Marshall County: "When I was like 5, I was woken up by someone banging on my door, and I answered the door, and it was a black guy (who) used to live next door to me, and he was shot in the chest and in his back. He wanted me to call

They practice so much that they often have to give up outside activities. Their coaches are demanding and expect a lot out of them. They perform under hot lights for audiences who sit comfortably in air conditioning. And they love it. They are members of the Indianapolis Children's Choir, whose goal is "to provide quality music instruction while attaining the highest level of artistic excellence i

"My name is Darrell Ford. I'm 16 years old. Up until last April, I was a student at Lawrence Central High School. I was expelled late April, and after an arduous battle to get my credits so I could in fact become a junior, I went to the Indiana Academy, where I am now." In the aftermath of the shootings at Columbine High School, school administrators worked to prevent a similar incident. In the pr

Today in America, there are children of every possible shape and size. A lot of attention has been focused on children who make drastic changes to make themselves thin. But how many children need to be concerned about being too heavy? Y-Press interviewed Emily Loghmani, a dietitian in the Department of Adolescent Medicine at Riley Hospital for Children. Several girls from Girls Inc. also shared th