According to a group of New York City teenagers, sexually explicit content involving their classmates is a regular occurrence in their social media lives and mostly, they said, they ignored it and kept on scrolling. But they acknowledged that they could do more to limit the bullying and “slut shaming” they see.

Check out our Storify presentation from the 2013 Digital Media and Learning Conference to learn how we teach young people to address social issues and personal stories through digital media.  

Radio Rookies' spring multimedia storytelling workshop launched just a few short weeks ago, and students from two high schools in lower Manhattan made their way to the downtown WNYC station for the first meeting.

"The ceremony took hours, but it wasn't until I walked out with my citizenship certificate that I finally felt claimed."

We decided to check in with Rookie Graduates in different communities to ask them how they feel about guns. They rated how easy it is to get a gun in their neighborhood on a scale of 1 to 10 [1 being very easy, 10 being very hard]. 

"I am a life-long resident of Bushwick, Brooklyn - a beautiful community besieged by gun violence" - Jesus Gonzalez.

*Mr. Gonzalez will be live chatting about gun control and school safety with Radio Rookies and Youth Radio from 1-2pm.

On Sunday, January 20th, President Obama was officially sworn in to his second term as president, but yesterday he shared his moment with the public at the inauguration ceremony. There were many great moments of the entire day, but Obama’s speech is what most people were waiting for (that and Beyonce’s singing of course)!

By giving New York City teenagers the tools to tell stories specific to their realities for over a decade, it is no surprise that Radio Rookies’ stories reflect how some teen issues have evolved over the years. This is especially true when it comes to the thin line between gossiping and bullying. Going through the Rookies archive, one can hear how the emergence of the internet and social media has amplified this issue.

Radio Rookies hosted an in-class live chat to coincide with a new story about sexual cyberbullying. Rookie Reporter Temitayo Fagbenle hosted a facilitated online conversation for high school students to discuss the issues her story brings to light.

In November, Radio Rookies took part in the Mozilla Festival -- in London! The festival is all about teaching everyone to be a webmaker. Presenters come to show off their own hard work but are also there to teach young people and educators their skills.  People have the chance to actually use the tools they learn to make things there at Moz Fest. 

Jessica Klein grew up in The Rockaways, and Rookie Grad turned Rookie Producer, Veralyn Williams followed her as she made her way to her parents' house after the storm.

Three cheers for another successful year! Bravo to our youth organizers who did an incredible job of creating what is a now a great tradition of bringing together youth, youth media enthusiasts and media professionals! 

I've had Sickle Cell Anemia since the day I was born—17 years ago. Despite what some of my friends think, Sickle Cell is not a disease you can get rid of! September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month and I thought I’d take the time to remember my Uncle Jhonnie.

The game is on! You can now enter to win cash prizes and bragging rights as this year's festival slam competition is now accepting entries.   

Recently a New York Times article delved into the issue of online gaming and sexual harassment. “Sexism, racism, homophobia and general name-calling are longstanding facts of life in certain corners of online video games.” But when do we draw the line?

When online gaming becomes a type of misogynistic and bigoted-bullying that goes beyond the world of avatars.

Radio Rookies attend "Bully" Movie Screening at the Village Cinema, hosted by Hive Learning Network.  

Radio Rookies took a trip to the Catskills -- tasting a bit of fresh air, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoyed the star filled night skies.  The trip was a tremendous success (we didn't get eaten by any bears!).

With the pressure of standardized tests, being graded by your boss and having those grades made public, and managing over-capacity classrooms with limited resources, we doubt that anyone would say it's easy to be a NYC public school teacher.  So in honor of all the teachers in our city, here's an oldie but a goodie from the Radio Rookies archives: Teacher, one boy's celebration of a teacher's life and work.