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1 Teen Dies, 5 Other Kids Sickened in Rare Cancer Cluster: ‘Something Must Be Causing It, Right?’
Parents in a close-knit Southern California community are looking for answers after one teen died, and five more were diagnosed with a rare cancer. Six children from Ladera Ranch have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a very rare cancer of the bones and soft tissues, according to a report by NBC LA.
About 200 children are diagnosed with it each year, the American Cancer Society says. “Seems very, very out of the ordinary for our community to have that many cases here. And something must be causing it, right?” Dustin Matteson, whose son, Brody, died in March, told NBC LA.
Brody was first diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in August 2024, and as a GoFundMe established to support the family explains, his treatment caused him to develop a secondary cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He died on March 22. “We don’t have a clear line of evidence to pesticides, but it is one of the things that concerns us,” said Matteson, who told NBC that after Brody’s death, he heard from other parents in Ladera Ranch whose children also had been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma.
Brains of Teens With Autism ‘Tune in’ Less to Unfamiliar Voices, Study Finds
Like other teenagers, teens on the autism spectrum are itching to exercise their social muscles. They hope for new friends, fun with people who share their interests, maybe even a romantic relationship. “Adolescence is a moment of opportunity for these kids,” said Daniel Abrams, Ph.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine. “They want to build friendships.”
But spreading their social wings is challenging for teens with autism. A new Stanford Medicine-led study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on a key factor: how the brains of teenagers with autism handle the sounds of unfamiliar voices. Unlike neurotypical teenagers, the reward centers in autistic teens’ brains don’t become increasingly responsive to strangers’ voices as they mature, the research found.
The Days of Unrestricted Social Media for Children May Be Coming to an End
What started as a policy experiment in Australia has quickly turned into a global movement. Governments around the world are increasingly questioning whether children should have unrestricted access to social media, with more than 20 countries now either enforcing, proposing, or actively debating age-based restrictions. According to an AFP tally, at least five countries already have nationwide restrictions in force, while many others — including several European nations — are preparing to follow suit.
The momentum comes amid growing concerns over the impact of social media on children’s mental health, online safety, sleep patterns, and exposure to harmful content. Policymakers are also under pressure to address addictive recommendation algorithms, cyberbullying, and the growing use of AI-generated content that can make online platforms even harder for young users to navigate.
Australia became one of the first major democracies to introduce one of the world’s toughest social media laws, banning access for children under 16 in December 2025. Since then, several countries have adopted or announced similar measures.
Peter Thiel and Other Tech Billionaires are Publicly Shielding Their Children From the Products That Made Them Rich
Despite building an increasingly screen-focused world, billionaire tech leaders are keeping their own children away from the tech they helped create. As far back as 2010, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs told a New York Times reporter his kids had never used an iPad and that “we limit how much technology our kids use at home.”
Since then, the trend of Silicon Valley billionaires keeping their families away from technology has become even more pronounced, thanks in part to the rise of social media and short-form video.
Excessive device use among children has grown more common in recent years as busy parents turn to screens to find some peace. The trend has accelerated so much that some young children accustomed to extensive screen time have been dubbed “iPad kids.” On average, children in the U.S. ages 8 to 18 spend 7.5 hours per day watching or using screens, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Teen Social Media Bans Miss a Key Part of the Puzzle: AI Chatbots
A new addiction is quietly taking hold among teenagers. They’re not just doom-scrolling social media anymore. They’re increasingly locked into conversations with AI chatbots that seem endlessly knowledgeable, supportive and ever-validating. And they’re struggling to break up with it.
Roughly half of U.S. teens now use chatbots like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Character.AI for schoolwork, information, or just for fun, according to Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence shows that teens are using chatbots as a substitute for real-life friendships and relationships and are showing patterns related to addiction.
Does this sound like a painfully familiar story? That’s because it is. Let’s zoom out for a second.
When Australia became the first country to legally enforce a teen social media ban in December, it became a trial run for the rest of the world. It led to several governments, from the U.K. to Spain, France, Greece, and Canada, following suit in the months after. Meanwhile, state-level bans are gaining traction in the U.S.
