10 Story Ideas for October, 2025
Dave Davis, director of the ASB Workshop, advised a high school newsmagazine for 34 years at Hillcrest High School in Springfield, MO. Now he is the adviser of the brand new broadcast program at Greenwood Laboratory School, also in Springfield. He will post the “pitch meeting” the first day of each month, September - May.
Do You Know the First Amendment?
Recent events in the news have sparked all sorts of debate and discussion about censorship, and there is obviously a lot of information, and misinformation out there. A great free resource for scholastic journalism students and teachers, the Student Press Law Center, has a very thorough First Amendment quiz online. Maybe you could use the quiz to frame a story that clarifies some of the common misconceptions about free speech and expression, and of course student press rights. Check it out: https://splc.org/first-amendment-quiz/
We Just Keep Losing
If you have a school that excels in sports—especially football, basketball, and all the others that draw large crowds and vocal support—you probably have great school spirit and participation. BUT…many schools are not strong at sports, and it definitely has an impact on students and athletes. Repeated losing seasons can lead to attrition, with kids quitting or not even going out for the team. A negative team culture can occur if the losing continues. Good coaches may be hard to retain if they face an uphill battle every year. This topic could lead to a serious, in-depth report about participation, lack of on-the-field/court success, and just how losing seasons impact a school’s image and atmosphere. It could also reveal a strong culture built on improving, doing your best, and showing sportsmanship in the face of defeat.
Garage Band
Not the software, but the real thing. Find a teen garage band and do a profile. What are their hopes and dreams? Do they write their own songs, or just do covers? How often do they practice? How have they kept it together when so many bands break up all the time? Some great opportunities for visuals and nat sound, and maybe a chance to record them at a gig somewhere in your town.
There’s an App for That
According to the CDC, 40% of teens in the U.S. experienced persistent sadness and 9% attempted suicide in the past year. Diagnosed anxiety has increased 61% since 2016. There are apps available that can offer some assistance to young people trying to better cope with everyday life and challenges. Here are a few: https://teenlifeline.org/five-mental-health-apps/
They’re Baaaack
Retro 70s fashion has made a comeback among teens, especially…wide-leg pants. Wide-leg jeans, wide-leg sweats—they are everywhere. While young people can talk about their fashion choices and the end of skinny jeans, this topic could also be examined through the eyes of grandparents who actually grew up in the early 70s and wore bell bottoms and flare jeans all the time. They probably have photos to share and amusing thoughts about their fashion coming back around. There are plenty of tips you can find online for styling with wide-leg pants for females: https://whattocook.substack.com/p/wide-leg-pants-are-here-to-stay-so And for males: https://www.themodestman.com/how-to-wear-wide-leg-pants/
All Work and No Play
Teens taking on part-time jobs is nothing new, but some are working so many hours that their grades suffer and they have little time left over to be a teen. To join a club. To be an athlete. To just get involved at school in some sort of extracurricular activity. This article from March of this year points out the good and bad of being a working teen: https://middleearthnj.org/2025/03/10/pros-and-cons-of-teens-having-a-part-time-job/ This might suggest a feature on students who are working a lot of hours each week and facing the challenge of keeping their grades up. Each situation is different. You could discuss students who have to work for family reasons vs. those who choose to work so they have some money and independence. There are many angles to this one.
Bad News About Bad News
This actually may not be all that surprising—recent research has linked news consumption with depression symptoms. You can choose to step away, to change the channel when watching broadcast news, which can often feature jarring, graphic images of violence and disasters. But studies have shown when we read news online, we often go down rabbit holes and it gets more and more distressing as we click link after link. The Grow Therapy blog has an article about news consumption and mental health worth checking out: https://growtherapy.com/blog/is-news-bad-for-mental-health/ We know from recent surveys that teens get their news mainly online, so this topic could hit home with your primary audience. Are they even aware of what consuming bad news does to them? Have they noticed? Or do they just ignore the news and focus on their own lives?
Masters of the Cube
Speed cubing has surged the last three years. That’s what they call the folks who solve Rubik’s cube and other “mechanical” puzzles at lightning speed in competitions designed just for them. There is of course a parent organization governing the “twisty puzzles” contests: https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/ There are also a lot of tutorials online for those interested in becoming a speed cuber, but better yet, find a cuber in your own school or town. Maybe there is a competition happening near you? This is what light features are made of.
Oh, the Horror
Horror movies took a downturn in the 1990s after the slasher movies of the 1980s, which became a tired, predictable genre. But horror movies eventually came back strong, thanks initially to The Blair Witch Project in 1999, an independent film that cost around $700,000 to produce and eventually grossed $248.6 million worldwide (about $482 million today). One of the most popular national contests for teenage filmmakers takes place in October: the Student Television Network’s “60-Second Horrorfest.” https://www.studenttelevision.com/horrorfest Teenagers produce their own short movie based on a prompt, and the top entries are screened on October 31. Do you have a team at your school entering the contest? Follow them around and get footage of them in action. Or are there students who have already produced some creepy short movies you could cover? Even if you have no students producing these, you could spin this into a piece about students who love horror movies. After all, October is the month we think of creepy things and jump scares.
Psst…PSAT Time
October is PSAT/NMSQT testing time. These tests for juniors in high school can lead to scholarships and national honors. They can also lead to some anxiety and frustration. Talk to people who recall their own PSAT efforts, and what it was like when they learned their scores—and of course visit with teens who are about to take the test for the first time. (Note: Some states/students will be taking the ACT instead—but that also lends itself to the same type of story.)
