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Should social media access be restricted for users under age 18? Many parents and lawmakers think so. In the United States, state governments, as well as the federal government, are making moves to limit access to sites like Instagram and TikTok.

Four U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would make it illegal for children under age 13 to use social media and would require children aged 13 to 17 to get permission from a guardian to create an account. Senators Katie Britt of Alabama, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and Brian Schatz of Hawaii say they’re responding to parents who worry that social media use is affecting their children’s mental health. Other concerns about social media include the fact that technology companies can collect users’ personal data and target advertising to children and teens.

This is not the first time leaders have proposed a law restricting social media use by minors. In the past, laws were proposed in the U.S. Congress but did not pass because lawmakers didn’t agree on the details. But a few new laws have been proposed in Congress, and some states have passed laws that would apply to children who live there. 

Not everyone supports such laws. Some people, including those who run social media companies, point out that social media can have a positive effect on children’s lives because it can help them feel more connected. Others say the government shouldn’t restrict social media and recommend leaving the decision up to parents.

 The legislation that has been introduced in the U.S. is bipartisan. That means it’s been introduced by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Some of those lawmakers have said this is a sign that many Americans would welcome these types of laws.

“We simply say kids 12 and under shouldn’t be on a social media platform at all,” Senator Schatz told the Associated Press. “And I think most people agree with us.”

When you can’t be with someone in person, a video call may be the next best thing. That’s true not just for people. A recent study found that pet parrots may benefit from having video calls with other pet parrots.

In the study, researchers and parrot owners taught 18 pet parrots how to touch a photo of another parrot on a tablet screen to start a call with that parrot. Over the course of three months, the parrots made 147 deliberate video calls to each other. During the calls, the parrots behaved the way they would if they were with other parrots in real life, according to study co-author Dr. Jennifer Cunha of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

“[The parrots displayed] mirroring behaviors where they might move in the same kind of way, dancing, singing together,” Cunha told National Public Radio. “They really seem to, as one owner said, come alive during the calls.”

“I was quite surprised at the range of different behaviors,” Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, another co-author, told the Guardian. “Some would sing, some would play around and go upside down, others would want to show another bird their toys.”

Parrots are very intelligent, social animals. In the wild, they often live in large flocks, but as pets, they are often alone or in a small group. Pet parrots run the risk of getting bored or lonely. Some even develop psychological problems with symptoms like pacing back and forth or plucking out their feathers.

Researchers say the calls with other parrots could benefit the birds by mimicking the experience of living in a flock. In fact, Cunha said the study resulted in lasting friendships.

“Some of the birds continue to call each other,” Cunha said. “So I think that there’s a lot of long-term potential for these kinds of relationships.” 

Check out the video for some highlights from the study.

The weather’s warming up—which means summer is right around the corner. From novels to comic books to movie blockbusters, summer is the season of storytelling. And there’s a story for everyone. Here are our picks for the perfect summer reading experience.

It’s not every day that a new king or queen is crowned. The coronation of King Charles III, which is set to take place on May 6, 2023, will be the first crowning of a new British monarch in nearly 70 years!

Both King Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, will be crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, England. Charles became the king of the United Kingdom (U.K.) immediately after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8, 2022. The coronation is a ceremony in which the monarch’s role is made official. Coronation ceremonies in the U.K. (and England and Scotland before they joined together to become the U.K.) have taken place for more than 1,000 years.

During the ceremony, King Charles will promise to uphold the law and the Church of England. Experts say this is a formality. Long ago, England’s kings and queens were its true rulers. As a modern monarch, Charles holds no political power. (The government is run by a prime minister and a lawmaking body called Parliament.) But many of the traditions of the monarchy live on.  

As is fitting for a king, the event is designed to look very regal. The king and queen will travel from their home at Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the black and gold, horse-drawn carriage known as the Diamond Jubilee State Coach. Well-wishers are expected to line the route, as they often do when members of the royal family travel to a major event.

Will King Charles actually get a crown? Sort of. The royal family has a collection of incredibly valuable items, including more than one crown. During the ceremony, St. Edward’s Crown, which was made in 1661, will be placed on the king’s head. It’s the same crown that was placed on Queen Elizabeth’s head in 1953, at her coronation. 

Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony, including Charles’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as William’s family. For everyone else, the ceremony will be broadcast and live streamed in many parts of the world.  

You can see photos having to do with the coronation in the slideshow below!

Mina Fedor is at the forefront of the fight against anti-Asian racism. The teen activist is the founder of AAPI Youth Rising, a youth-led organization that works to bring about positive change through small actions.

Now in its third year, AAPI Youth Rising (AAPI stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander) came together after a rally in March 2021, which Fedor had organized. More than 1,200 people—many of them under age 18—gathered in Berkeley, California, to raise awareness about anti-Asian hate. After the event, Fedor realized it was only the beginning.

Led by a group of middle school and high school students, AAPI Youth Rising is dedicated to making AAPI voices heard. Its members have given speeches; participated in panel discussions about racism, bullying, and other topics; and helped people register to vote. A large part of their mission is education. Fedor, whose mom is Korean, says most U.S. schools don’t teach enough AAPI history. As a result, many people aren’t aware of the rich cultures and histories of the diverse AAPI community. And ignorance, or a lack of knowledge or understanding, can fuel racism. 

In 2022, Fedor and three other teens put together a slideshow to share information about AAPI history. The slideshow covers both painful and inspiring events, including the passage of U.S. laws that discriminated against Asian Americans and the fight against this legislation by Asian American activists. The teens visited schools where they shared the slideshow, and AAPI Youth Rising later converted the slideshow into a video format. Now, anyone can download the video from the Teach for America website. 

“It’s very important to learn your own history and learn others’ history because that is the first step to sort of working against racism,” Fedor told Teach for America. “You have to learn about histories of racism and histories of celebrating other communities as well.”

Felix Finkbeiner planted his first tree when he was 9 years old. Now 25, he’s on a mission to get young people around the world to do the same.

Currently, there are about three trillion trees on the planet—about half as many as there once were. That’s a problem. Trees release oxygen and take in carbon dioxide—a major ingredient in the climate crisis. They also provide cooling shade, slow soil erosion, and help control flooding.

Finkbeiner’s organization, Plant-for-the-Planet, encourages and empowers children and young adults to help restore the world’s trees. Finkbeiner, who grew up in Germany, was inspired to take on tree loss after reading about Wangari Maathai, an activist from Kenya who led a movement to slow deforestation that resulted in the planting of 30 million trees.

When he was in fourth grade, Finkbeiner gave a presentation in front of his class. He told his classmates that kids in each country should plant one million trees. On March 28, 2007, he and his classmates planted a crab apple tree in front of their school. Soon after, Finkbeiner launched Plant-for-the-Planet, and within three years, the organization’s tree count had reached one million. 

Finkbeiner says one reason Plant-for-the-Planet caught on was that it was created by a kid, and therefore received a lot of media attention. When kids around the world heard about it, they wanted to help—and they started planting trees. 

Trees are among the best tools we have to take on the climate crisis, Plant-for-the-Planet says.

Iris is headed to the Moon.

If all goes as planned, a rover called Iris will be sent to the lunar surface on a rocket on May 4, 2023. Iris wasn’t built by seasoned experts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) but by a group of college students who will go down in history as the first Americans to send an uncrewed rover to the Moon.

The architects of Iris are current and former students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, as well as university professors.

“Hundreds of students have poured thousands of hours into Iris. We’ve worked for years toward this mission, and to have a launch date on the calendar is an exciting step,” said Raewyn Duvall, commander of the Iris mission. “Iris will open up lunar and space exploration by proving that a tiny, lightweight rover built by students can succeed on the Moon.”

At 4.4 pounds (2.0 kilograms), with a frame the size of a shoebox, the rover will be the smallest ever to travel into space. During the mission, which will last a few days, Iris will take images of the lunar surface and send them back to Earth.

Everything will be controlled by the students at Carnegie Mellon. They’ll oversee the lunar mission, controlling the rover as it explores the surface of the Moon. Working in shifts, they’ll ensure that someone is monitoring the rover around the clock. The students spent weeks preparing for Iris’s lunar adventure. They learned how to steer the rover—and what to do if anything goes wrong—by conducting simulations here on Earth.

The students are way ahead of NASA. The space agency plans to send its own rover to the Moon in late 2024, in advance of a human mission to the Moon that’s scheduled for 2025.

On March 17, 2023, young climate activists—many in their teens—gathered outside the Vermont State House. The activists demanded that state lawmakers pass the Affordable Heat Act, a law that would make it more affordable for Vermont residents to switch to heating and cooling systems that produce fewer carbon emissions. But their goals went beyond this single piece of legislation. The protesters wanted state lawmakers to address the climate crisis.

“I’m here alongside my fellow students continuing to demand real, impactful climate action,” said 14-year-old Miriam Serota-Winston, according to VT Digger.

All over the country, teens are fighting to save the planet from the effects of climate change. They protest outside lawmakers’ offices. They march in the Global Climate Strike, a once-a-year day of worldwide youth protests established by young activist Great Thunberg in 2018. They even file lawsuits against governments. 

In fact, young activists have sued several state governments, as well as the U.S. government. Their complaint is that governments aren’t prioritizing the climate, and that the climate crisis violates the right of the people to live in a clean and healthy world.

It’s not an easy fight. Judges have thrown out some of the lawsuits. In one case, Juliana v. United States, 21 young people sued the U.S. government in 2015. Five years later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed the case. The court said it agreed that the climate crisis is threatening the future. But it said the activists should take up their complaints with presidents, governments, and lawmakers directly instead of using the court system. 

But setbacks haven’t discouraged young climate activists. They’re filing new complaints and appealing court decisions. Climate action will continue. Activists say their very future depends on it.

The Vikings were fierce warriors—but a new study suggests they also loved animals. Scientists found evidence that when the Vikings invaded England, they brought companion animals with them.

LeBron James isn’t just the best player in the NBA. He has also dedicated himself to giving back to Akron, Ohio, the city where he grew up. On March 30, 2023, his LeBron James Family Foundation opened House Three Thirty, a center where members of the community can shop, dine, and receive valuable training and advice. 

House Three Thirty is located near I Promise, the public school that is supported by James’s foundation. The center, which is intended to serve the school’s students and their families, includes plenty of places where families can gather or kids can hang out after school. There’s a taco restaurant, an ice cream shop, a music venue, and event spaces. There’s also a Starbucks, where employees will receive job certifications so that they can go on to have careers in the hospitality industry, and a kitchen where people can learn additional job skills.  House Three Thirty also has its own banking facility, where families can go for financial advice, or advice about money.