July 6, 1997
Little River, AL

      Five white teenagers have been charged with setting a fire that destroyed a black church. The FBI said some of the suspects attended a Ku Klux Klan rally a couple of days before the fire. If convicted, the suspects could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

June 27, 1997
Oklahoma City, OK

      An Oklahoma judge has ruled that the 1979 Oscar-winning German film "The Tin Drum" is obscene under state laws. Police have seized the film from the local library and six video stores. They went to the homes of three people who had rented the film and asked them to hand over the tapes. The movie is an adaptation of a Gunter Grass novel about a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany. It includes a scene where the boy, aged about eight, performs oral sex on a teenage girl.

June 26, 1997
Quincy, MA

      "Jim," a 32-year-old deputy sheriff for Norfolk County, spent seven months posing as a 19-year-old Quincy High School senior and got enough evidence to arrest 17 teens on drug charges.

June 26, 1997
New York, NY

      A recent study shows that most adult Americans have negative views of teenagers, as if we couldn't have told you. Only 37 percent of adults believe today's children, once they become adults, will make the United States a better place. Two-thirds used such adjectives as "rude," "irresponsible" and "wild," to describe teenagers. More than 6 in 10 believe young people failed to learn moral values such as honesty, responsibility and respect. To this, teens said, "Hey, screw you, pal."

June 24, 1997
Freehold, NJ

      Melissa Drexler, the girl who gave birth in the bathroom during her prom, was charged with murder after an autopsy indicated the baby she delivered was asphyxiated.

June 21, 1997
Tampa, FL

      A judge has sentenced three teens to 15 years each in prison on manslaughter convictions for the theft of a stop sign that led to an accident in which three people were killed.

June 21, 1997
New York, NY

      In the wake of the massive tobacco settlement, politicians and health officials are trying to protect children from smoking. If smoking among 12- to 17-year-olds isn't slashed by 60 percent over the next 10 years, the industry will have to pay as much as $1.6 billion a year in penalties.

June 19, 1997
Orland Park, IL

      A 16-year-old cheerleader who died within 24 hours of drinking a bottle of 107-proof schnapps on a dare had a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the state's legal limit. The girl was with friends at a party the previous night.

June 18, 1997
Flint, MI

      Michael Carter, 14, was shot to death after he and two friends jumped off a freight train in a crime-ridden area of Flint. The youths had hopped on the slow moving train in Carter's hometown and intended to ride it only about 10 miles to a semi-rural area, but went too far. Carter, 15-year-old Dustin Kaiser and a 14-year-old girl were looking for a pay phone after getting off the train when they met several young men who offered to help them. Police said the three teens were taken to an unlit park, where several of the suspects raped the girl, then beat, robbed and shot each of the three in the head.

June 4, 1997
Sacramento, CA

      Ruling that the Boy Scouts of America is not a business, a state appeals court has decided the organization does not have to admit a 13-year-old girl. Attorney Gloria Allred, representing seventh-grader Katrina Yeaw, said she will seek review of the case by the state Supreme Court, where cases challenging the organization's bans on atheists and gays are pending.

April 27, 1997
Port Washington, WI

      A Wisconsin teenager who admits getting his 15-year-old girlfriend pregnant has been convicted of sexual assault and now must register as a sex offender. He could go to prison for 40 years. Kevin Gillson is 18, and his girlfriend said the sex was consensual. She said he had agreed to marry her and provide for the baby. But then police found out, and he was arrested and convicted.

April 25, 1997
Harrisburg, PA

      A report on the amount of violence and the presence of weapons in Pennsylvania's public schools shows many students attend class in an environment of fear. During the 95-96 school year, Pennsylvania's 3,292 schools reported 31,597 violent incidents, including 20,030 assaults on students and 1,119 assaults on school employees, 274 firearms were found, 1,829 students were arrested and 27,957 students were suspended.

March 21, 1997
Portland, OR

      Adam McMakin, a 13-year-old boy who says he just wanted minty fresh breath has been suspended for violating his school's alcohol policy after being caught drinking Scope. School officials say the mouthwash violated their zero-tolerance policy for alcohol and they're just trying to make sure things don't get out of hand.

March 20, 1997
Bremerton, WA

      Fifteen middle-school students were suspended for passing around and tasting Alka Seltzer tablets on campus. Luckily, the three-week suspension can be reduced to three days if students attend drug-awareness classes and counseling.

February 6, 1997
Tulsa, OK

      Police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with three recent attacks on a family planning clinic. He is also suspected in two other clinic attacks last year. The Reproductive Services and Adoptions Affiliates clinic was firebombed on New Year's Day and again January 19. On February 2, the clinic, which performs abortions and other gynecological services, was broken into and several gunshots were fired into medical equipment.