by Sarah Edmonds | 27 Jul 2022 | Decoders, Economy, Educators' Catalog
Inflation is one of the biggest worries for Gen Z and Millennials. Here’s why you need to care about rising interest rates — and what you can do. A tip box is filled with dollar bills, New York, 3 April 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) For the first time in more...
On the same day the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another 0.75%, News Decoder correspondent Sarah Edmonds delivered a decoder breaking down an economic issue that has an impact on us all, especially young people. Using engaging and informative language, Edmonds walks the reader through the history of interest rates, how we got to the position we’re in now and what options lie ahead. In a time when nearly half of Gen Z and Millennials live paycheck to paycheck, this decoder provides concise advice for smart financial planning.
Exercise: Ask students to look up the average cost of a house and the average interest rate in the year they were born. How does that compare to today’s averages?
by Feizal Samath | 15 Jul 2022 | Asia, Economy, Educators' Catalog, Eyewitness, Future of Democracy, Human Rights, Personal Reflections, Politics
My family can barely make ends meet amid runaway inflation and shortages of foodstuffs. No wonder Sri Lanka has kicked out a corrupt ruling clan. Protesters take over the office of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, demanding he resign, Colombo, Sri...
News Decoder correspondent Feizal Samath provides an on-the-ground glimpse of life in Sri Lanka following months of inflation, essential shortages and protests that led to the ouster of the president and the ruling clan. Samath gives context to a situation that many outside of the region ignored until images of protestors storming the presidential palace flooded the media. By painting a picture of his own challenges in procuring fuel and everyday foods, Samath puts readers in the shoes of those whose lives have been disrupted by turmoil.
Exercise: Ask students to imagine a part of the world different from their own and write a first-person narrative of what life looks like for a teenager there. How do the political and economic realities impact their family, their schools or their daily routines?
by Susan Ruel | 13 Jul 2022 | Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Eyewitness, Media Literacy, Personal Reflections
Marie Colvin started as a journalist writing for a New York trade union. She ended up a war correspondent who changed people’s lives. Medical staff examine Marie Colvin in Colombo’s eye hospital in Sri Lanka, 17 April 2001. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) A...
Susan Ruel reflects on the life and career of Marie Colvin, an accomplished foreign correspondent killed in Syria in 2012. Colvin reported on major conflicts in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, believing someone has to go there and see what is happening. “She always told the stories of the ordinary men and women who bore the consequences of the power struggles and wars waged by political leaders,” Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Robert Mahoney said. With more journalists murdered or missing this year than in nearly all of 2021, the rights of journalists in war zones cannot be taken for granted.
Exercise: Ask students to discuss how media coverage of war and conflict zones has evolved and what they think accounts for the increased threat against journalists.
by Maggie Fox | 5 Jul 2022 | Educators' Catalog, Health and Wellness
Most nations have rolled back steps to contain COVID-19. But the virus continues to kill. Many experts are frustrated governments are not doing more. Immunization, conceptual illustration (Photo by: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via AP Images) Airlines have stopped requiring...
COVID fatigue is worldwide even though the virus continues to spread. In many places, restrictions have been lifted for masks, travel and testing. Vaccination targets remain largely out of reach. Since the onset of the pandemic, health experts and governments have been at odds about the best approach to beat the virus. Our inability to curb the spread of the virus begs broader questions, including whether we are up to the task of combating climate warming. How could we have better balanced health and the economy, collective responsibility and individual rights to overcome COVID sooner?
Exercise: Ask students to debate the role of government versus individual responsibility in combating global crises such as COVID and climate change.
by Jeffrey Mo | 20 Jun 2022 | Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Ukraine
Dmytro Shelukhin is a Ukrainian working for a UK investment bank. But like many émigrés, he is finding meaning helping his home nation fight Russia. Dmytro Shelukhin on the way to Ukraine with war materiel (photo courtesy of Dmytro Shelukhin) For the past eight years,...
Like many big global news stories, the war in Ukraine has released a tsunami of ink, making it difficult for journalists to find a fresh angle. Jeffrey Mo, a fellow at the University of Toronto, manages to break new ground with a simple story about a Ukrainian émigré who sends war matériel to armed forces in his embattled home country. Mo lets Dmytro Shelukhin, a Ukrainian working for a UK investment bank, be the protagonist of the story, which discreetly underscores both the high stakes involved in the conflict and the depth of Ukrainian defiance.
Exercise: Ask your students to identify an issue dominating the news around the world – such as climate change or human rights – and to find a local angle. Then they should interview someone directly involved in the local matter and write a story capturing that person’s experiences and thoughts.
