You know all those times you read about lawsuit settlements where the financial terms are undisclosed? That silence isn’t a sign that no one wants to talk about how much they won or lost; it means that agreement will likely be nullified if people start blabbing about the money changing hands. And that includes a plaintiff’s teen daughter. [More]
kids today
College Senior Hopes To Pay Off Student Loans By Selling Ads On Graduation Cap
By 1.22.14
A student at the University of Michigan-Flint looked into the crystal ball and saw visions of student loan debt. But what if he could figure out a way to pay off that pile of debt before he even enters the job market? And so the young man started a campaign to sell advertising space on the top of his graduation cap. [More]
McDonald’s Figures Out Best Way To Keep Away Pesky Teens: Blast Opera At Them
By 11.22.13
The image of loitering teens in the parking lot annoying customers has been around for quite some time, probably starting with the greaser tough-guys of the ’50s cat-calling at poodle-skirted girls and dumping milkshakes on awkward George McFly types. And one thing we all know that if there is one thing that teenage toughs will run screaming to avoid, it’s opera. Or at least that’s how one McDonald’s claims to have rid itself of those pesky kids. [More]
L.A. School District Shocked That Kids Would Figure Out How To Use iPads For Purposes Of Fun
By 9.25.13
If you hand out iPads to a bunch of adult employees and tell them the devices can only be used for work purposes, some of them will abide by those guidelines. Do the same thing with a school full of kids and most of them will be Tweeting and on Facebook in a matter of seconds. And yet the nation’s second-largest school district is shocked that several hundred students have taken advantage of a simple work-around that turns a boring school tablet into a fun tablet computer. [More]
12-Year-Old Robs 10-Year-Old’s Lemonade Stand At BB Gunpoint
By 8.1.13
The world is a sad and scary place, and kids are only reflecting that back to us. That’s the impression we get from the report out of Pennsylvania that one child held up a younger child’s lemonade stand with a BB gun, making off with $30. Have heart, though: other kids chased the culprit down and turned him in to police. [More]
Ian MacKaye OK With Urban Outfitters Selling $28 Minor Threat Shirts; Thinks You’re An Idiot If You Buy One
By 7.31.13
Ian MacKaye is more than just a guy who’s fronted important, influential bands like Minor Threat and Fugazi and started Dischord Records. He’s also been a vocal opponent of huge corporations like Ticketmaster, refusing to play venues where ticket prices were too expensive for his fans to afford. And unlike many other labels, you won’t see shirts, hats, buttons, posters and other band-branded merch on the Dischord website. So it surprised some when Urban Outfitters recently began selling licensed Minor Threat shirts for the not-punk price of $28. [More]
Apple To Refund $6,000 Spent By 8-Year-Old On In-Game Purchases
By 7.22.13
Another day, another story of a youngster racking up a massive bill on some unlucky adults’ iPad. This time, it’s an 8-year-old in England who tallied up £4,000 (around $6,100) on in-game purchases over the last few months — half of it in just a six-day period. The girl’s dad thought he’d have to sell his car to pay the bill, but Apple says it has decided to refund the money. [More]
Did Your Kid Make In-App Purchases On Your iPhone Without Asking? You Might Be Due Some Cash From Apple
By 6.24.13
A couple years back, Apple came under fire from parents and regulators after reports that kids were making in-app purchases, sometimes to the tune of four figures, on their folks’ iPhones and iPads. The company has since changed its policy to prevent children from draining their parents’ wallets in this fashion, but that didn’t stop the class-action lawsuit from the people who’d lost money before the policy change. [More]
HOA Bans Just About Everything Fun A Kid Might Do Outside
By 3.18.13
Apparently going by the notion that the best way to keep a child from getting run over while playing outside is to keep the kids from going outside, a homeowners association in Boca Raton, FL, has decided to ban just about any fun activity a child might enjoy in the complex’s shared areas. [More]
If You're Going To Leave Your House Vacant, Don't Be Surprised To Find Kids Partying There
By 9.4.12
Like bloodhounds on the scent — or maybe more like pigs sniffing for truffles — industrious teens will find places to get drunk and do other things they have seen in movies. And with a large number of houses sitting vacant while awaiting sale or foreclosure, it’s a partier’s market out there. [More]
Cable Companies Should Be Worrying About Kids Who Have No Plans For Ever Getting Cable
By 8.3.12
For many adults between the ages of 20 to 45, cable TV was a staple of everyday life — and something that a lot of us automatically purchased for our homes when it came time to make nests of our own. But for the younger folks who have no memory of a world without widespread access to broadband Internet, cable could be looking more and more like a relic of an older world. [More]
13-Year-Old Aspiring Hot Dog Vendor Shut Down By City, Sells Cart At A Profit
By 7.31.12
A Michigan teen’s hot dog cart is a more complex operation than your garden-variety lemonade stand. Wanting to earn some money to help out his disabled parents, the 13-year-old saved up to purchase a hot dog cart, then set up business in downtown Holland. The city promptly shut him down. Thanks to zoning laws designed to protect downtown eateries, food carts can’t set up in the city unless they’re part of an existing restaurant operation. The young entrepreneur is too young for a street vendor’s license, which could have kept the business running. So what did he do next? After attracting national media attention, he sold the cart to a local business, but retains the right to borrow it back for special events that might require hot dogs. [More]
Why Are Fewer Teens Driving These Days?
By 7.28.10
Here’s some news that will please many of you who cringe when you see a cocky teenager behind the wheel of an automobile. A new report claims that not only are fewer teens driving their own cars, but that fewer teens are on the road in general. [More]
Kids Who Can't Even Read Recognize Logos For McDonald's, Disney And… Toyota?
By 4.12.10
A new study of brand recognition in kids shows that even kids who can’t read can recognize corporate logos like Disney, McDonald’s and randomly… Toyota. [More]
