The South Korean Pop Stars Are Inspiring Fans Around the World to Support Good Causes
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JANUARY 24, 2020 ● VOL. 10 ● NO. 15 EDITION 5–6 THE BTS EFFECT The South Korean pop stars are inspiring fans around the world to support good causes. timeforkids.com THE BRIEF WORLD ROYAL EXIT By Brian S. McGrath Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the duke and duchess of Sussex, made an announcement on January 8. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members” of the royal family, they wrote on their official Instagram page. The couple said they plan to support themselves financially. They will lead lives separate from the royal family, splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America. Many people were surprised by the announcement. No member of the British royal family has ever “stepped back” in this way. A royal’s job is to support charities and do other work that benefits the public. The duke and duchess said they will continue to “honor our duty” to Britain. But they plan to focus on their own charity. They also want privacy as they raise their son, Archie. Both say British newspapers have printed unfair stories about them. Stop and Think! On January 13, Queen Elizabeth issued WHY does the press report on a statement. The royal family is “entirely public figures, such as Prince Harry supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to CHRIS JACKSON—GETTY IMAGES and Meghan Markle? What might create a new life as a young family,” she said. THE NEXT STEP Meghan Markle lead a public figure to say that a and Prince Harry greet reporters story is unfair? “We respect and understand their wish to live in London, England, on January 7. a more independent life.” SPACE TEEN FINDS NEW PLANET By Karena Phan NASA recently announced a new planet. It was discovered by 17-year-old Wolf Cukier during his summer internship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight DISTANT WORLD Wolf Cukier discovered TOI 1338 b (the black Center, in Maryland. Wolf monitored data collected dot). In this illustration, the planet orbits its two stars. from TESS, a NASA satellite. (TESS stands for FROM LEFT: COURTESY BEN CUKIER; CHRIS SMITH—NASA’S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.) TESS’s mis- according to NASA. “It turned out to be a planet.” sion is to find planets outside our solar system. Called TOI 1338 b, the planet is nearly seven times Three days into his internship, Wolf noticed a the size of Earth. It’s “like Tatooine from Star Wars” signal from planetary system TOI 1338. (TOI stands because it orbits two stars, Wolf told TIME for Kids. for TESS Object of Interest.) “I thought it was a To read an interview with Wolf, go to stellar eclipse, but the timing was wrong,” he said, timeforkids.com. NEWS STORIES MAY INCLUDE REPORTING FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. COVER: SARA JAYE WEISS—SHUTTERSTOCK 2 Time for Kids January 24, 2020 FOR THE RECORD BROWN BIRD DESIGN FOR TIME “Every is about how many Americans have caught THE FLU in what’s single roll on track to be one of the worst flu seasons in years, according to government data released January 3. you place, you want it DREW WILLIS FOR TIME FOR KIDS to be in the is how high steam, ash, and pebbles shot into the air after the TAAL VOLCANO erupted in the Philippines on correct January 12. Taal is the Philippines’ second- most-active volcano. It spewed ash as far as capital city Manila, 45 miles away. spot,” said MAXTON HERST, a senior at Bullock Creek High School, in Midland, Michigan. Herst and his classmates built a 16-foot-tall pyramid over winter break using 27,434 rolls of toilet paper. They hope to break the world record and raise money for the school robotics team. DATA DEEP DIVE Korean popular music found massive global success last year. Read below to see how BTS and others scored big in 2019. The number of streams for the song “Boy with Luv,” by BTS, featuring Halsey The number of streams for the song “Baby Shark.” The catchy tune was created by Pinkfong, a Korean children’s educational brand. The number of times K-pop band SuperM’s The 1st Mini-Album was bought within a week of its release. EMOJIPEDIA.ORG, USING APPLE IOS 13.2 SET (13). SOURCE: NIELSEN GET MORE AT TIMEFORKIDS.COM. 3 COVER ARTS Fans of K-pop band BTS are of the 100 most influential people. BTS have a partnership with Formula inspired to give back to others. Their next album comes out on E electric cars. It’s meant to raise February 21. awareness about climate change. Jailynne Garcia, 10, loves the South Fans like Jailynne proudly claim The band wants to encourage fans Korean pop group BTS. Her mom, to be members of the BTS ARMY. to embrace clean energy. Michelle Santos, introduced her (ARMY stands for Adorable Rep- One of the biggest BTS cam- to BTS in 2017. “I like how funny resentative M.C. for Youth.) They paigns so far is with the United they are, that they’re good dancers help spread the word to newcomers Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). and singers. Also, that they help about the group and its good works. The campaign is called Love Myself. people,” the New York City fourth BTS are glad their fans feel Its goal is to protect children and grader told TIME for Kids. connected to them. “That was our teens from violence. “Our fans BTS debuted in 2013. The seven goal,” Suga told TIME in 2018, “to have become a major part of this members are J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, create this empathy that people campaign with their action and Jung Kook, RM, Suga, and V. Their can relate to.” enthusiasm,” RM said in a speech songs are mostly in Korean. But at the United Nations in 2018. BTS have become international A BAND THAT GIVES BACK “We truly have the best fans in superstars. They have more than In March 2019, the Korea Times the world.” Love Myself raised 23 million followers on Twitter. reported that Suga donated $2.3 million from album and mer- Their YouTube videos have received $88,000 to the Korea Pediatric chandise sales plus donations more than 3 billion views. They Cancer Foundation. Six months from the band, its had three Number 1 albums on later, RM gave away more than record label, and the Billboard chart in a year. And in $83,000. That went to the Seoul the BTS ARMY. MARK GARTEN—UNICEF 2019, TIME included BTS on its list Samsung School, to help students with hearing impairment. This year, FOR YOUTH BTS appear with UNICEF’s Lilly Singh (center left) and Henrietta H. Fore. 4 Time for Kids January 24, 2020 ROCKING EVE BTS performs live in New York City’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2019. PAY IT FORWARD Inspired by BTS, Jailynne and her mom joined the BTS fan group One in an ARMY (OIAA). It leads projects to help people in need. The two of them have donated coats and canned goods to charities and planted trees in their neighborhood. “I still have dirt under my finger- nails,” Jailynne jokes. OIAA was founded in 2018. “Some of us thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if we focused all that power to accomplish good things in the world?’” says Erika Overton, a SHUTTERSTOCK U.S.-based volunteer. Since then, the group has run more than 20 BIG SPEECH BTS member RM gives a speech at the United Nations, charitable campaigns. in New York, on September 24, 2018. Often, OIAA campaigns are timed to take place around BTS band members’ birthdays. So far, OIAA has raised money for refugees, reforestation, the environment, and more. Most people donate just a dollar. “We focus on microdonations so that everyone can feel like they are contributing toward the goal,” Overton says. Jailynne hopes the MARK GARTEN—UNICEF BTS ARMY will grow and continue to do good deeds. the BTS ARMY has raised more than “The more people like me that GROWING GOOD $28,000 for One Tree Planted. are doing this,” she says, One popular way for the BTS ARMY to In Malaysia, the fan group BTS for “the more happiness it brings give back is by planting trees. Fans Charity (below) formed the Green Namu to others who need it, and a often donate to One Tree Planted. Project. The group met in November bigger change there is in This nonprofit group plants trees to plant trees in honor of the birth- the world.” around the world. Since August 2019, days of Jimin, Jung Kook, and RM. —By Constance Gibbs Power Words debut verb: to make a first public appearance empathy noun: the ability to understand another’s feelings refugee noun: a person who flees his or her home country for safety COURTESY GREEN NAMU PROJECT AND BTS FOR CHARITY HEAR THE STORY READ ALOUD IN ENGLISH AND IN SPANISH AT TIMEFORKIDS.COM. 5 U.S. Power Word rural adjective: having to do with the countryside or the people who live there ON THE ROAD Kids in Talladega County, Alabama, do homework during their bus ride. CLOSING COURTESY OF GOOGLE THE GAP Schools are finding creative and technology tools as some of your the Internet. (These work in some, ways to keep kids online. classmates—that’s the homework but not all, rural areas.) Students in gap,” Beth Holland told TIME for several communities have created Students who go to school in Kids. She works at the Consortium Wi-Fi maps.