by Adayé Sosthène Yvan N'guettia | 2 Nov 2020 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Contest winners, Educators' Catalog, Government, Student Posts, Youth Voices
For years, Ivory Coast has been split politically and at times torn by outbursts of violence. Youth are working for peace in the West African nation. Voters at a polling station during the first round of Côte d’Ivoire’s presidential election in Abidjan, 31...
Ivory Coast has a complex political story, but Adayé Sosthène Yvan N’guettia keeps it simple in his story about youth working for peace in the West African nation. Many young people are upset over the state of the world that they will inherit, but N’guettia shows initiative by interviewing three activists toiling for change in Côte d’Ivoire. He listens and offers telling quotes, using a deft hand to drive home his message. Growing up is about discovering the world, and some students — N’guettia among them — see the challenge as a learning adventure. Ask your class to read N’guettia’s story, interview three activists and, using the activists’ words, summarize what they’ve learned.
by Lucy Jaffee | 27 Oct 2020 | Contest winners, Educators' Catalog, Human Rights, La Jolla Country Day School, Student Posts, Youth Voices
A U.S. school district wants the Supreme Court to overturn a landmark free speech case and let it punish a student for criticizing her school online. Students protest for the right to free speech outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, 19 March 2007. (AP...
Lucy Jaffee of La Jolla Country Day School tackled a complicated topic — a court case involving a student’s freedom of speech and social media — by interviewing two experts, including the foremost authority on the U.S. First Amendment, Floyd Abrams. The lesson: If you put effort into understanding an issue, experts will be glad to speak to you. Students should contact experts because they will offer unique insights and help answer the question, “What next?”
The case Jaffee’s article focuses on lends itself to classroom discussion because it engages a matter of great interest to students. While students may instinctively side with the young woman whose Snapchat post triggered the controversy, there may be other off-campus outbursts on social media — Holocaust denial, racist language — that they might like to see sanctioned. Like so much in life, First Amendment issues often lie in the gray zone.
by Marouane El Bahraoui | 12 Aug 2020 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Educators' Catalog, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Once ruled with an iron fist by a dictator, oil-rich Libya is now ravaged by war. With foreign powers meddling, a political solution is badly needed. A sniper fires towards Islamic State militant positions in Sirte, Libya, 21 September 2016. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)...
The author, Marouane El Bahraoui, is a Student Ambassador at the African Leadership Academy, a News Decoder partner school. He spent seven months researching Libya, working closely with News Decoder editors to sharpen his focus and add authority to his reporting. What started as an incipient interest in the North African country matured into a nuanced view of a highly complex geopolitical situation. El Bahraoui’s story caught the admiring eye of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, who contacted the young author to chat about Libya and Morocco, El Bahraoui’s home country. “Who thought that a U.S. ambassador would read my article?” El Bahraoui said. This story shows the kind of potent reporting that a determined and curious student in our network can produce for a global audience.
by Isabella DeMarco | 23 Jul 2020 | Indiana University, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Meat production contributes to global warming. Will the planet shift to plant-based meat to help avert catastrophic climate change? A conventional beef burger, left, next to a plant-based burger containing wheat protein, coconut oil and potato protein, Bellevue,...
by Hanna Rahman and Sadie Dyson | 9 Jul 2020 | Economy, Podcasts, Student Posts, Youth Voices
We wanted to learn about immigration. So Sabina told us her story about leaving Colombia for the U.S. to escape violence and embrace opportunities. To understand immigration, we must listen to immigrants as they tell their stories. In our podcast, we spoke to Sabina...
by Sonia Goyle | 20 May 2020 | School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Youth Voices
An American in Spain, I learned that different cultures and distance could not mask the similar values of my two Moms. María José (L) and Renu when they first met (photo courtesy of Sonia Goyle) Squeezed around the dinner table in a corner of the kitchen, the four of...
by 00 ND Admin | 13 May 2020 | Chadwick School, Health and Wellness, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Thousands of homeless in Los Angeles are finding it hard to shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic despite authorities’ efforts. Camper vans for homeless in Los Angeles County (photo by Sage Silberman) While millions of people in California are sheltering...
by Philippa Lewis | 5 May 2020 | La Jolla Country Day School, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Gun violence, racism and mental health are issues we should care about, but they aren’t always easy to discuss. Music can help. Protesters sing as they demonstrate against the presence of federal immigration agents outside a school in New York, 12 March 2019....
by Claire Wang | 20 Apr 2020 | Contest winners, Health and Wellness, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Complacency, denial, bigotry: In my journey around the world, I observed scant recognition of the shared danger of COVID-19 until home in China. Passengers from Wuhan, China’s epicenter, together with railway workers wearing full protective gear at the railway...
by Ryan Rothman | 30 Mar 2020 | Chadwick School, Contest winners, Environment, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Plastic pollution hurts humans, animals and the environment. Students from around the world gathered recently to share tactics in tackling the problem. (Photo by Ryan Rothman, Dana Point, California, 29 February 2020) This story was runner-up in News Decoder’s...
