Teenagers in The Times: December 2021

Here is the December, 2021 edition of Teenagers in The Times, a roundup of the news and feature stories about young people that have recently appeared across sections of NYTimes.com. We publish a new edition on the first Thursday of each month.

For ideas about how to use Teenagers in The Times with your students, please see our lesson plan and special activity sheet, both of which can be used with this or any other edition.

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Education

Suspect in Michigan School Shooting Faces Murder and Terrorism Charges

A 15-year-old accused of killing four of his classmates and wounding seven other people had described wanting to attack the school in cellphone videos and a journal, the authorities said.

In the Michigan School Shooting, the Prosecutor Asks, What About the Parents?

After seeing the evidence, Karen McDonald made an instinctual, and unusual, decision to charge Ethan Crumbley’s mother and father. Can she succeed?

How ‘Shadow’ Foster Care Is Tearing Families Apart

Across the country, an unregulated system is severing parents from children, who often end up abandoned by the agencies that are supposed to protect them.

Third Accuser Says Epstein and Maxwell Preyed on Her as a Troubled Teen

The accuser, who testified under her first name, Carolyn, described being preyed upon as an especially vulnerable child.

Scuba-Diving YouTuber Finds Car Linked to Teens Missing Since 2000

A YouTuber who investigates cold cases found a missing Tennessee teenager’s car submerged in a nearby river. It is at least the fourth such discovery by amateur investigators in two months.

Teen Who Sought New Life Found Death at Hands of the Police, Father Says

The family of Valentina Orellana Peralta described the terrifying moments before the 14-year-old girl, who had recently moved to Los Angeles from Chile, was killed by a stray bullet fired by a police officer.

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Science, Health, Technology and Sports