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For the first time this fall, high school students in the Los Angeles, California area will be participating in a new addition to the curriculum, “Sext” Education. KNX 1070’s Mark Austin Thomas reports the L.A. Unified School District has put together a plan that will educate students on the dangers of sharing sexually-explicit photos via texting and the Internet. Each school in the district will receive lesson plans, supplemented by videos and handouts for the students.

A 2011 national Pew survey found that, while only 3 percent of teens with cellphones sent naked or near-naked photos or videos of themselves, 21 percent of teens ages 14-17 claimed they had received them. District Police Chief Steven Zipperman says the campaign will teach students about violations of child pornography and obscenity laws that can come with sexting, along with the personal consequences. The primary focus of the effort is to get students to really think before they hit “send”.

Holly Priebe-Diaz, the District’s intervention coordinator, believes “We don’t have the exact number on how big or how widespread the problem is specific to our district, but we do know that I’s a growing trend. So we want to try to get ahead of it and raise awareness for all of our students.”

Texas Professor, Jeff Temple who has co-authored a sexting study, hopes the curriculum gives facts without exaggerating the risks of sexting, and emphasized the importance of consent.

Do you think "Sext" education classes are inappropriate to implement in a high school curriculum? Have you been a part of, or witnessed a scenario where "sexting" became a problem?

Your opinion matters, let it be heard on a college campus where you can impact thousands of your peers. Begin your college search and allow the experts to determine which college best suits your needs by filling out a quick profile at Scholarships.com.

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When Matthew Ajibade walked into Chatham County Jail on a domestic violence charge on January 1st, little did he know that he had taken his last breath of the cool Georgian winter air. That evening, within the walls of the notable county jail tucked away in historic Savannah, Ajibade was found dead, strapped to a chair.

According to ABC 7 News, Ajibade, a 21-year-old Savannah College of Art and Design student, was originally arrested after a dispute with his girlfriend. During the altercation, Ajibade injured three deputies and initial reports show Ajibade had been stunned with a Taser while he was restrained; he was then left unmonitored in an isolation cell, where his body was discovered. On Wednesday, a grand jury charged former jail employees Maxine Evans and Jason Kenny and contract health care worker Gregory Brown with aggravated assault and cruelty to an inmate. (Additionally, Evans and Brown are charged with public record fraud, while Brown faces a third charge of making a false statement.) According the grand jury, the log book had been falsified to state routine checks were conducted on the inmate’s cell.

The victim's family released a copy of the death certificate, which ruled homicide caused by blunt-force trauma. Chatham County Coroner Dr. Bill Wessinger concluded Ajibade suffered several blows to his head and upper body and some blood was found in his skull case. Florida defense lawyer Mark O'Mara was adamant that Ajibade, who suffered from bipolar disorder, and was having a manic episode when jail deputies "beat the (expletive) of him to get control of him." As for the indictments of Evans, Kenny and Brown, O'Mara said it's "too little too late": He believes Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap should have already pursued a felony murder charge based on the fact the grand jury found that there was aggravated assault, the direct cause of Ajibade's death.

And don't forget, you should pay for your college education with as much free money as possible! Find as many scholarships and grants as you can before turning to student loans. Visit the Scholarships.com free college scholarship search today where you'll get matched with countless scholarships and grants for which you qualify, then apply and win! It’s that easy!

After nearly 100 years, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will rename Saunders Hall – named for a 19th-century Ku Klux Klan leader – to Carolina Hall. All together now: It’s about time!

Following years of activism by students, UNC-Chapel Hill announced the name change on Thursday. "These efforts to curate the campus and teach the past with greater context will present future generations with a more accurate, complete and accessible understanding of Carolina's history," said Dr. Lowry Caudill, chairman of the board of trustees. Curious as to why the building was named after Saunders in the first place? He was an alum of the UNC class of 1854 and served as North Carolina's Secretary of State from 1879 to 1891; when the building was named for Saunders in 1920, trustees cited his leadership in the KKK as one of his credentials. (In their announcement on Thursday, the current trustees said their predecessors were wrong to have used that as a qualification.)

Share your thoughts on UNC-Chapel Hill's decision to finally rename the building in the comments section.

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The diet of a typical college student likely includes a few high-calorie staples like pizza, Top Ramen, French fries and cookies. And as unfriendly to your health and waistline those options are, high-fat/high-sugar foods are also comparable to drugs in their addictiveness. Take Oreos: A new study shows that “America’s favorite cookie” is as addictive as cocaine and morphine.

Connecticut College students and a professor of neuroscience have found that lab rats eating Oreos activated significantly more neurons in the brain’s “pleasure center” than cocaine or morphine. “Our research supports the theory that high-fat/high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” said neuroscience professor Joseph Schroeder. “It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.” The student behind the study explained that she wanted to expand upon this research and explore how foods with high fat and sugar content contribute to obesity in low-income communities. “Even though we associate significant health hazards in taking drugs like cocaine and morphine, high-fat/high-sugar foods may present even more of a danger because of their accessibility and affordability,” said neuroscience major Jamie Honohun. (For more on this study, click here.)

What do you think of the study’s findings? Let us know in the comments section.

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Immigration disputes have long commanded top billing when it comes to our nation’s political agenda but as of late, it’s begun seeping into the educational realm as well: The state of Arizona has filed a lawsuit to block one of the nation’s largest community college systems from providing in-state tuition to young immigrants granted deferred deportation by the Obama administration.

Arizona officials insist that extending reduced tuition to those youths violates state law, which prohibits any immigrant without legal status from receiving public benefits. Meanwhile, college officials argue that lower rates were instated in September after concluding that work permits were already on the state’s list of documents needed to prove legal residency. With potentially thousands of individuals in limbo, the Arizona Board of Regents is looking into ways to lower tuition for these students without violating state law. Board members sent a letter to Arizona Senator John McCain and Senator Jeff Flake that, in part, read, “With Arizona at the forefront of the immigration reform debate, we routinely hear from hard-working, high-achieving undocumented students who have been brought to Arizona at a young age and have advanced through our K-12 system only to have their ability to further their education and contribute positively to our economy and society hindered by state and federal immigration laws." (For more on this story, click here.)

At least 13 states allow students who have lived in the county for many years without legal status to pay in-state tuition so what do you make of Arizona’s legal action to put an end to it? Do you support the decision or oppose it? Let us know in the comments section.

And don't forget, you should pay for your college education with as much free money as possible! Find as many scholarships and grants as you can before turning to student loans. Visit the Scholarships.com free college scholarship search today where you'll get matched with countless scholarships and grants for which you qualify, then apply and win! It’s that easy!

Not-so-breaking news: College is expensive and the costs associated with it show no sign of stopping their steady climb. What’s a college hopeful to do? Consider a school that’s finding ways to bridge the financial gap, like UC Berkeley.

Beginning next fall, Berkeley will amp up its financial aid contributions for middle-class students. School officials reported that while the number of low-income and wealthy students has increased over the last several years, the number from middle-class families has remained flat. Berkeley hopes to regain the interest of middle-class applicants by becoming the first public university to promise families earning between $80,000 and $140,000 a year will contribute no more than 15 percent of their annual incomes toward tuition.

This news – released just one day after Gov. Jerry Brown announced a $2.2 billion budget shortfall and another severe round of cuts to state colleges and universities – has already been dubbed a game changer by Terry W. Hartle: The senior vice president of the American Council on Education also believes other colleges will channel their competitive spirits and do whatever they can to offer similar programs. Learn more about Berkeley’s plan here then tell us what you think.

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Student nurses beware. According to the Associated Press, a ring of bogus nursing schools in New York defrauded students out of a total of $6-million and in return gave them worthless certifications.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said the five schools in Brooklyn, Queens and on Long Island ripped off students – mostly Caribbean immigrants. Prosecutors say some of the schools even coordinated with a nursing program in Jamaica to provide fraudulent documents. "These conspirators intentionally targeted people in pursuit of new opportunities, lining their pockets with others' hard-earned money," Schneiderman said in a statement.

Eleven people who owned or operated the schools were indicted and eight were arrested. According to an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn state Supreme Court, the defendants falsely claimed that students who completed the programs would be eligible to take the New York State Nursing Board Exam to become registered or licensed practical nurses. How much did the bogus nursing school cost unsuspecting students? Students paid $7,000 to $20,000 to take part in the program. The slight silver lining, the attorney general's office says four of the schools have been shut down and authorities are seeking to close the fifth.

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Last week, national immigrant youth-led organization United We DREAM started a petition asking President Obama to remove discussions of the DREAM Act from his campaign literature and fundraising emails unless he is willing to use his executive power to block deportations for DREAM Act-eligible students. The petition is a result of President Obama repeatedly saying he supports the bill and that undocumented students are not the focus of his immigration enforcement plans, yet over 390,000 people were deported last year alone.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has denied that it could use its discretion to stop the deportation of DREAM Act-eligible students. "I am not going to stand here and say that there are whole categories that we will, by executive fiat, exempt from the current immigration system, as sympathetic as we feel towards them," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in April. "But I will say that group ... are not the priority [for deportation]."

As the deportations continue, DREAM Act supporters say it is disingenuous for President Obama to use his support for the bill to drum up support for his reelection. Let us know what you think.

And don't forget, you should pay for your college education with as much free money as possible! Find as many scholarships and grants as you can before turning to student loans. Visit the Scholarships.com free college scholarship search today where you'll get matched with countless scholarships and grants for which you qualify, then apply and win! It’s that easy!

After much heated national debate, the Illinois state Senate passed the DREAM Act, a measure that will give undocumented students who’ve graduated from high school, completed two years of college or military service and have no criminal record a shot at citizenship. The bill passed the Senate by a margin of 45-11, with wide bipartisan support – 11 Republicans supporting the bill alongside 34 Democrats.

It is important to note that the State of Illinois does not have the authority to grant citizenship, but will instead create a “DREAM Fund” – a scholarship account funded entirely by private dollars that will provide scholarships to undocumented students seeking higher education. The fund would also encourage counselors to receive training on educational opportunities for undocumented students, as well as open up college savings programs and prepaid tuition programs to all Illinois residents.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), one of many pro-immigrant groups that descended on Springfield for Wednesday's vote, tweeted "Perfect timing. The state Cinco de Mayo celebration has started in the State Capitol."

Going to college doesn't have to break the bank or saddle you with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Check out the Scholarships.com free college scholarship search where you’ll discover you qualify for hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships in just a few minutes, then apply and win! It’s that easy!

You’ve read all about how colleges have been coping with budget cuts over the last year or so. Wait lists. Hiring freezes and holds on infrastructure improvements. Short weeks.

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill they hope will allow administrators at those institutions of higher education to breathe a little easier. The $26 billion they approved will go toward those same state budgets that have suffered in the economic crisis; while the funding isn’t specifically earmarked for state colleges, any funding the states receive at this point will allow those schools to avoid further cuts in an already-hurting higher education system. About $16 billion of that total will go toward Medicaid assistance.

According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, more than half of the country’s state lawmakers have been counting on varying amounts of emergency federal aid from Congress. While the expected totals aren’t as much as many had hoped—Maine had budgeted for $100 million, but will receive $77 million; Pennsylvania had budgeted for $850 million, but will receive about $600 million—the funding will help public university systems avoid further cuts. In Maine, administrators were preparing for cuts in the $8.4 million range, according to The Chronicle. While they had already reduced their budgets by $8 million over the previous year, the new funding will allow the state’s colleges to remain steady in the coming fiscal year.

Some states had already been preparing for massive cuts had the funding not come through. In Massachusetts, funding for public colleges there was already cut by 12 percent, a move lawmakers there must analyze now that some additional funding has come through. In Texas, a higher-education panel recently recommended that students take more of their learning off campus to save public institutions some money. According to another article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the proposal suggested students should complete at least 10 percent of their degrees via online courses and remote programming. The plan would affect undergraduates at all of the state’s public colleges. While this is still just a proposal, a push toward online learning isn’t a new idea. In Minnesota, higher education officials hope to have students earn 25 percent of all credits earned through the public college system through online coursework by 2015.

And remember, there’s no need to rely on expensive student loan options to pay for your college education. For more information on finding free scholarship money for college, conduct a Scholarships.com free college scholarship search today, then apply and win! It’s that easy!