Originally posted in The Pearl Post                                                                                                  
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Originally published in The Pearl Post Friday, April 27, 2012 By James Coster It’s no secret to students that Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) food whimpers in comparison to that of an average middle class lunch or breakfast. What most students however don’t know, is that an inmate living at Los Angeles County jail
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By Rick Rojas, Los Angeles Times
High school students from around L.A. write for their peers in L.A. Youth, a newspaper that tackles weighty subjects important to teens. But its sources of funding have taken a hit.

 By Precious Sims, 18, Central HS (Long Beach) A week after I turned 18 last April my foster mom told me, “You know I don’t get paid for you anymore.” I thought, “OK, so you’re just taking care of me for the money.” I always felt that way. I know that she cared about our safety
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By Elitza Batchiyska
The Pearl Post

While many witnessed the life of journalist Daniel Pearl as one that was rich in honesty, journalistic passion, musical ability and the arts, eyes should be opened to the morals of virtue, trustworthiness and pride that he expressed. To this day, Pearl’s legacy lives on as one who searched for the truth and excelled in all his pursuits.

By Julia Waldow, 17, Beverly Hills HS

LA Youth

My freshman year, I ran myself into the ground trying to live up to my dreams of going to a top school like Stanford, Berkeley or Yale. I’d heard about these colleges from friends’ siblings who went there and from TV shows like Gilmore Girls. I’d see Rory walking across the Yale campus with its old, ivy-covered brick buildings and cobblestone pathways. I wanted the same experience.

YMLAC
Last fall the Youth Media Los Angeles Collaborative, a consortium of advocates who engage and nurture young journalists, surveyed more than 1,800 high school and middle school students about how recent draconian budget cuts have harmed their ability to learn.

By Amanda Riddle, Mike Fricano and Linda Bowen
YMLAC
The first injustice kids learn to recognize is hypocrisy. And right now that’s one of the lessons we’re teaching them about education and opportunity. From the moment kids walk through the kindergarten doors their schools are pushing them to aim for college. Sadly, despite our increasing emphasis on the importance of college we’re failing to provide the proper conditions for students to get to college, let alone succeed once they’re there.

By Portia McGroarty

Media Mentor, Spring 2012

Pablo Patricio, a 26-year-old graduate of CSUN’s journalism program, helped nurture the development of high school journalism students across the San Fernando Valley through his participation in CSUN Journalism Department’s Media Mentors program in Fall 2011. Now he is paying it forward, by offering his support and guidance to a new class of Media Mentors as the featured speaker during a session on the San Fernando Valley campus.

By Kristy Plaza, 17, Duarte High School

LA Youth

*To protect his privacy, the name of Kristy’s friend has been changed.

At my school same-sex couples are welcome to every school dance. The administration is trying to create an open-minded environment, but the reality is that not all students at my school are tolerant. There are guys who call my gay friend Tom* offensive things like “you stupid, sick fag” whenever they see him. He told me that even though now he doesn’t care what “a bunch of idiots” think, the attacks used to make him sad. But during high school he decided he wouldn’t let the words hurt him anymore. Whenever I hear stuff like this I think, “Why is there such hatred in this world?”