Nick News Explores the Perils, Pitfalls and Pratfalls of Adolescence

Nick News Explores the Perils, Pitfalls and Pratfalls of Adolescence

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: The Worst Years of My Life? Surviving Middle School Airs Sunday, August 20, 2006, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon

'Former Kid' Guests Jon Stewart, Megan Mullally, Tony Hawk, Cynthia Nixon, Taylor Hicks, Jewel and Nelly Furtado Share Middle School Horror Stories

NickNews.com Poll Reveals What Kids Think is Hardest Part of Adolescence

NEW YORK, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Who can forget braces, sweaty palms and awkward school dances? Adolescence? Arrrgh! Just as tweens head into a new school year, the next installment of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: The Worst Years of My Life? Surviving Middle School, airing Sunday, August 20, 2006, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon, delves into all the slings and arrows of Middle School. Linda Ellerbee listens to kids, and some Middle School survivors including Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), Taylor Hicks (American Idol), skateboarding star Tony Hawk, and Grammy Award-winning singers Jewel and Nelly Furtado, about that speed bump on the way to adulthood called Middle School, and what it takes to live through it.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060803/NYTH131 )

"Whether you call it Middle School or Junior High, it's more than a place. It's a time, a sometimes hilarious, often painful and always challenging time. You're too young to be a grownup but you're not quite a kid anymore," said Linda Ellerbee, host and executive producer of the award-winning Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. "In this episode we give kids on the Middle School frontline, and some well-known ex-kids, an opportunity to speak out, to remind all kids that when it comes to Middle School, you're not crazy, you're not alone, and this too shall pass."

Nick News goes across the country to discuss issues that kids encounter during this time: the fluctuating hormones; the realities of puberty (What is it like to be you in a brand new package?); the social insecurities (I must fit in somewhere!); the necessity of keeping up with increasingly harder school work; the pitfalls of renegotiating the relationship with your parents (They used to be so normal. When did they change?); and facing the difficult choices that no one else can make for you. The simple truth is: you're too young for this and too old for that. But look out, life, here you come!

Nick News also conducted an online poll on http://www.nicknews.com/, in which kids were given the opportunity to share what they think is the hardest part of adolescence. For a majority of kids physical changes are the most difficult part of growing up with 19% of respondents listing body changes as the hardest part of adolescence, followed by school work (14%), fitting in (12%) and romance (12%). Other adolescent hardships making the list were feeling embarrassed a lot (10%), peer pressure (9%), parents (7%), pressure to succeed (7%), being comfortable with themselves (6%) and temptation to take risks (3%).

Nick News, which is in its 15th year -- the longest-running kids' news show in U.S. television history -- has built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it speaks to kids about the important issues of the day. The program has covered the tough topics, including the Sept. 11 attacks, the Columbine tragedy, divorce, bullying, learning disorders, all the presidential elections since 1992, the Balkan war, the Iraq War, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and AIDS. In 1992, Ellerbee's special, "A Conversation with Magic," which featured Magic Johnson, set the standard for talking with kids about AIDS. In 1994, the entire series, Nick News, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 1998, "What Are You Staring At?" a program about kids with physical disabilities, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 2002, "Faces of Hope: The Kids of Afghanistan," won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 2004, two Nick News Specials, "The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS" and "There's No Place Like Home," a special about homeless kids in America, were both nominated for the Outstanding Children's Programming Emmy. In fact, Nick News has received more than 20 Emmy nominations. Nick News, produced by Lucky Duck Productions, is also the recipient of two Peabody Awards, including a personal one given to Ellerbee for her coverage of the President Clinton investigation; a Columbia duPont Award; and more than a dozen Parents' Choice Awards.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060803/NYTH131
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN2
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491, both of Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://www.nicknews.com/

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