Video Game Addiction Linked to Depression, Fights, Substance Abuse

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Two new studies say that videogame addiction in kids may have serious consequences.  Although most kids will never have a problem, those who do face an increased risk of depression, substance abuse, and lower grades in school. A study by an international research team found that 9 percent of Singapore kids were pathological videogame players.  The researchers say this number is similar in countries around the world. A Yale School of Medicine study found only 5 percent of adolescents reported having symptoms of videogame addiction. However, these kids were more likely to smoke cigarettes, do drugs, and get in fights. Reading both studies requires a subscription but Science Daily has more info.  You can read about the Singapore study here and the Yale study here.

Teen Accused of Savannah’s First Murder in 2011

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A teen has been charged with the first murder of 2011 in Savannah, Ga.  Trevonte Edwards, 16, is accused of killing 78-year-old John Green after stealing his wallet outside a convenience store where Green purchased a loaf of bread.  Edwards was denied bail in his first court appearance this morning. Edwards was found in a rooming house Tuesday with 9 others believed to have been involved in a rash of recent burglaries, according to the Savannah Morning News.

DHS Commissioner Presents Budget Cuts To Joint House, Senate Committee

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Georgia’s Department of Human Services Commissioner Clyde Reese III has joined in the chorus of agency chiefs outlining for lawmakers the challenges ahead for state agencies charged with keeping children safe amid the most recent wave of massive budget cuts. His 30-minute presentation Thursday [view it here] before members of the joint House and Senate appropriations committee comes on the heels of new Governor Nathan Deal’s announcement last week that all state agency budgets on average will be slashed by four percent during the remainder of the fiscal year ending in June. In his first state-of-the-state address, Governor Deal also warned that another seven percent decrease should be expected for fiscal year 2012. Newly appointed Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Amy Howell presented her planned cuts before the same committee on Tuesday. Reese tells JJIE.org that the budget shortfalls will undoubtedly make work tougher for his agency, which oversees the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), Aging Services Division (DAS), Child Support Services Division (DCSS) and Residential Child Care Office (RCC).

Inside an Underage Drinking Party

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If you’d like to know what happens at a teenage drinking party when the parents aren’t around, check out the latest event from the Cobb Alcohol Taskforce.  The Taskforce Youth Council plans to stage a mock underage drinking party inside a Marietta home.  The kids are prepared to show you what goes on, and answer questions. The event is free, and only for adults, on the evening of Saturday, February 12.  Registration required, click here for more info.

New DJJ Commissioner Talks To Lawmakers About Budget

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The harsh realities of the new year’s budget woes continue to sink in for Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) brass. Newly appointed Commissioner Amy Howell has formally shared the governor’s budget recommendations with members of the House and Senate appropriations committee. In a 20-minute budget hearings presentation Wednesday Howell, a former DJJ deputy commissioner, outlined the agency’s structure, highlighted challenges that further revenue slashes could impose and emphasized the critical role that legislative support would play in helping the agency continue to fulfill its mission. In his first state-of the-state address last week, new Governor Nathan Deal proposed cutting all agency budgets by four percent on average during the rest of the fiscal year ending in June and another seven percent during fiscal 2012. “We’re very cognizant of the incredible difficult economic times that the state is facing and we know that these difficulties are across the board for all agencies,” says DJJ spokeswoman Scheree Moore.

Albany Teen Could Face Death Penalty for Murder of Store Clerk

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An Albany, Ga. teen charged with murder may be fighting for his life.  Anthony Hill, 16, could be facing the death penalty for his role in a convenience store robbery that left a clerk dead, according to Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards. Surveillance video shows two men wearing ski masks enter the Miscelenea Guate-Mex Store waving guns.  After robbing the store, police say one of the men shot and killed the store clerk, Sentos Vincente.  They are still searching for the second man. Hill appeared before a Magistrate judge yesterday.  A Superior Court judge will decide on bail at a later hearing.

Judge Steve Teske: A Perfect Storm, An Imperfect System Equals Injustice

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We moved to Clayton County, GA in 1974.  I was 14 years old.  I had lived in nine different cities from California to New York, and back to our southern roots when my father was transferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. My childhood took me many places.  I met a lot of kids of all physical, emotional, spiritual, and social shapes and sizes.  Benjamin Disraeli once said that “Travel teaches toleration.”  In hindsight I must agree with the former British Prime Minister.  My travels have introduced me to different religious beliefs, political and social thoughts, and people of all colors and cultural backgrounds.  My childhood friends were white, black, red, yellow, and brown.  They were Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Christian of all denominations, atheist, and agnostic.  They came from families of varying political persuasions from conservative to liberal, from Republican to Democrat to Independent, and with economic tastes from capitalism to socialism in varying degrees. 

My many childhood friends from coast to coast in a thirteen year time span expanded my understanding of diversity and taught me to be tolerant of those with different cultures and beliefs.  However, toleration, I have learned, is a double edge sword.  In the words of Edmund Burke, “Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none.”  The determinative question when the tolerant sword is cutting is “Which side of the sword is doing the cutting?”  Is it the cutting edge that promotes the acceptance of people regardless of their differing beliefs or the edge that promotes the acquiescence of conduct hurtful toward others?  The former is good for al l, the latter is good for none. This concept of toleration raises an interesting paradox when applied to the arrest of kids on school campuses.  I think we can all agree that there should be no toleration of student disruption of any kind.  I helped to raise three children. They are now adults and doing quite well.  All my kids attended public schools.

Charity Streetball Tourney Honors Murdered Teen, Raises Scholarship Funds

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The unprovoked murder of an Atlanta teen just a few minutes after midnight on New Year’s Eve has inspired the creation of a charity street basketball tour whose next stop is Mt. Zion High School in Jonesboro on January 30. Fourteen-year old Reuben Hand was on his way home with friends after watching the Peach Drop when he was attacked by a stranger at the Five Points Marta station.  They argued over a cell phone.  Police identified the man as Tommy Christopher Collins, and accused him of stabbing Reuben in the neck.

Random Drug Testing for 6th Graders

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Children as young as 11 face random drug testing in Belvidere, New Jersey, and the news has people talking across the country. The Board of Education approved the plan for Oxford Street School on Wednesday, and apparently many parents support the idea, even though no drug or alcohol abuse has ever been reported there. The program is voluntary  - both parents and children must sign up.  If a child tests positive for drugs, he or she will get counseling.  School officials promise no suspensions and no police reports.  Principal Sandra Szabocsik  thinks it will be a deterrent, telling WCBS-TV, "We're hoping that the students, if they're at a party or someone's house or just hanging out somewhere, that they'll say 'I don't want to get involved in drinking or using any drug because tomorrow could be a drug testing day,”

Random drug testing in schools is nothing new.