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Word of the Day: exhortation

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Word of the Day: exhortation

The word exhortation has appeared in 30 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on June 20 in “One More Chorus of ‘Humm Baby’ for a Baseball Lifer” by Scott Miller:

Craig was 93 when he died this month. He was married to his beloved Carolyn for 71 of those years. And at a memorial on Saturday filled with laughter, tears and the kind of sweet and funny stories that, thankfully, outlive eras, Craig’s legacy gleamed as the central cog of a group of three men who together spanned the past 111 years of Major League Baseball.

… “Can I get a ‘Humm baby!’ from everybody?” Mark Grant, the former Giants pitcher and current Padres television analyst, asked at the beginning of his remarks during the memorial. The congregation at the outdoor ceremony loudly obliged, shouting, “Humm baby,” Craig’s joyful and universal go-to phrase, which served as an exhortation, an exclamation and a descriptor. It was appropriate, and encouraged, for all occasions.

Can you correctly use the word exhortation in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.

If you want a better idea of how exhortation can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

What’s Going On in This Picture? | Nov. 13, 2023

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What’s Going On in This Picture? | Nov. 13, 2023

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?

We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!

More?

• See all images in this series or slide shows of 40 of our favorite images — or 40 more.

• Learn more about this feature in this video, and discover how and why other teachers are using it in their classrooms in our on-demand webinar.

• Find out how teachers can be trained in the Visual Thinking Strategies facilitation method.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Understand the Key Players in Affiliate Marketing

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Understand the Key Players in Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry, and understanding its key players is essential for anyone looking to tap into its potential. It’s a modern marketing model that thrives on collaboration between various parties, each with a distinct role to play. In this article, we will delve into the world of affiliate marketing and explore the key players, their roles, and how they contribute to the success of this dynamic industry.

Meet the Key Players

Affiliate networks, advertisers or merchants, affiliate marketers, and affiliate programme administrators are the important players at the forefront of affiliate marketing. Together, they create a vibrant system where collaborations, advertising, and income generation blend. To successfully navigate the complexities of affiliate marketing, you must have a thorough understanding of the responsibilities and contributions of these important stakeholders. We outline some of these below:

The Merchant (Advertiser)

At the heart of any affiliate marketing programme is the merchant, also known as the advertiser. The merchant is the organisation or company that offers a product or service and is looking to increase sales and market share. They leverage affiliate marketing to expand their reach and tap into a network of affiliates to promote their products on various social platforms. The merchants create the products, set the commission rates, and provide affiliate materials, such as advertising banners, other marketing collateral, and product links.

The Affiliate (Publisher)

Affiliates, also known as publishers, are individuals who promote products or services in exchange for a commission. Affiliates can take various forms, such as bloggers, social media influencers, website owners, email marketers, and even comparison-shopping websites. They join affiliate programmes and use their marketing channels to drive traffic and sales to the merchant’s website.

Affiliates are essential in expanding the merchant’s reach, as they can tap into niche audiences and markets that the merchant might not otherwise have access to. Therefore, the success of affiliate marketing largely depends on the ability of the affiliate to effectively promote the merchant’s offerings.

Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks act as the middleman between merchants and affiliates. These networks provide a platform where merchants can list their affiliate programmes, and affiliates can discover and join them. They offer a variety of tools and resources to assist both parties in managing and tracking their affiliate marketing activities.

These networks play a crucial role in connecting merchants with affiliates and facilitating a smooth collaboration between the two. Additionally, affiliate networks often handle commission payments and ensure that affiliates are compensated accurately and on time. 

Affiliate Managers

Many companies, especially those with extensive affiliate programmes, employ affiliate managers to oversee and optimise their affiliate marketing activities. These managers are responsible for recruiting and onboarding new affiliates, providing them with the necessary resources, and helping them maximise their performance. Affiliate managers also monitor the performance of affiliates, analyse data, and adjust commission structures or marketing strategies as needed. In essence, they are the bridge between the merchant and the affiliates, ensuring that the programmes run without any hiccups.

Consumers

While not directly involved in the operational aspects of affiliate marketing, consumers are a vital element in the system. Affiliates ultimately target consumers, and it is their actions, decisions, and purchases that determine the success of affiliate marketing campaigns. Thus, it’s important to understand their behaviour and preferences as these serve as crucial data for both merchants and affiliates to create effective marketing strategies that resonate with their target audience.

Tracking and Analytics Tools

The successful execution of affiliate marketing campaigns heavily relies on accurate tracking and analytics tools. These tools enable merchants and affiliates to monitor various metrics, including click-through rates, conversion rates, and sales. By analysing this data, they can refine their strategies, identify what works, and make data-driven decisions to optimise their campaigns. Some popular tracking and analytics tools used in affiliate marketing include Google Analytics, affiliate-specific tracking software like Post Affiliate Pro, and affiliate network-provided reporting tools.

Review and Comparison Websites

In some cases, review and comparison websites play a significant role in the affiliate marketing landscape. These websites provide in-depth reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for various products or services, often within a specific niche. Affiliates partner with these sites to promote products, and the review site earns a commission for referred sales. Review and comparison websites can be influential in the decision-making process of consumers, as they offer valuable, unbiased insights and help buyers make informed choices.

Sub-Affiliates (Two-Tier Affiliates)

Some affiliate programmes allow affiliates to recruit sub-affiliates or two-tier affiliates. These sub-affiliates work under the primary affiliate and earn a portion of the commissions generated by their referred sales. This two-tier model allows for the expansion of the affiliate network through a multi-level structure. Additionally, sub-affiliates can be beneficial in reaching a wider audience, as they bring in new affiliates and drive additional traffic and sales. This arrangement provides an opportunity for affiliates to benefit not only from their own promotions but also from the efforts of those they recruit.

Legal and Compliance Experts

In the complex world of affiliate marketing, legal and compliance experts play a crucial role in ensuring that all activities align with relevant laws and regulations. The industry is subject to legal scrutiny and evolving privacy and data protection laws. Experts in this field help merchants and affiliates navigate the legal landscape to avoid potential pitfalls.

Payment Processors

Efficient payment processing is essential in the world of affiliate marketing. Payment processors are responsible for handling affiliate commissions, ensuring that affiliates are paid accurately and on time. They facilitate financial transactions and play a critical role in maintaining trust and transparency within the affiliate marketing community and relationship.

Affiliate marketing is a dynamic and multifaceted industry that relies on the collaboration of various key players to drive success. Understanding the roles and interactions of these key players is essential for anyone looking to enter the world of affiliate marketing. By doing so, marketers can build successful partnerships, optimise their strategies, and harness the full potential of affiliate marketing for mutual benefit. As the industry continues to evolve, the roles and significance of these players will continue to adapt, making it an exciting field to be a part of.

The Potential Harm of Learning Styles

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The Potential Harm of Learning Styles

By Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel

We have discussed the learning styles myth in different blog posts and you can find all of our posts in this topic here. Briefly, the idea of learning styles is that if you assess the learning styles in students and then match instruction accordingly to their self-reported learning style, their performance will be better than when they are instructed in a way that misaligns with their learning style. There is, however, no empirical evidence suggesting that tailoring to learning styles is effective for learning. A very recent series of experiments published this year (1) goes one step further and looks at how awareness of learning styles can affect the perception of student abilities in teachers, parents, and children. Put differently, being told that students are ‘visual’ versus ‘hands-on’ (kinesthetic) learners, changes our perception of the abilities and intelligence of these students. This is quite alarming and adds to the evidence that learning styles are not only ineffective for learning but potentially harmful. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at the evidence first.

 Setup of the experiments

They conducted three experiments.

  • In Experiment 1, children (6-12 years old) and parents were given the description of two students with one being described as someone who “learns best by using their hands…when they can touch and feel things with their hands” (kinesthetic learner) and another being described as someone who “learns best by using their eyes…when they can look and see things with their eyes” (visual learner). Then, they were asked how smart they think each student is and how sporty each student is.

  • Experiment 2 was similar to the first experiment with two differences: First, instead of children, the researchers investigated parents and teachers. Second, this time the participants were asked which of the two students (visual learner versus hands-on learner) is smarter/sportier. So, they had to make a choice between the two learner types. In addition, they were prompted to list the school subjects the respective students would likely excel in.

  • In Experiment 3, teachers and parents were asked to guess the grades the two students would get on their report cards for different school subjects (e.g., arts, music, math, language).

You’ve Heard of Generative AI, But What Else Is Out There? 

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You’ve Heard of Generative AI, But What Else Is Out There? 

In the past year, our understanding of AI has increased as programs like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Midjourney have become ubiquitous tools in our daily lives. These programs all fall under the same category of generative AI, a type of AI that excels at synthesizing new text and media content. But AI can do much more than generate content, and it’s worth exploring and familiarizing yourself with the technology’s full range of possibilities. 

Before we get into the different types of AI, it helps to define what AI is. People often use AI as an umbrella term to describe many different techniques, says Nitya Mandyam, Codecademy Senior Curriculum Developer. (Fun fact: Along with creating a ton of our data science courses and content, Nitya’s also pursuing a postgraduate degree in AI Ethics.)  

“AI is an interesting field because it’s kind of defined by the end goal, which is achieving human or superhuman intelligence, rather than what it actually is,” Nitya says. “Curiously, this lack of a precise universally accepted definition has probably helped the field grow and blossom.” Simply put, AI refers to intentionally constructed systems that actively interact with the world and are usually guided by large data models.

Learn something new for free

Early AI systems were inspired by mathematical logic and sought to mimic conscious thought processes through rules. (For example, in the late 90s, IBM built a chess-playing commputer called Deep Blue that was able to beat a grandmaster in chess.) Today, the many different types of AI that we encounter are much more sophisticated, in part because our understanding of human intelligence is more in-depth, Nitya explains. 

While its roots go back decades, modern AI really accelerated in the last few years. As AI advances and seeps into technology we use, the lines between different types of AI can be hard to distinguish. Ahead, Nitya breaks down the various categories of AI that you might come across and key differences that you should know about each. 

The different types of AI 

When we talk about AI, there are two general categories that systems fall under: goals, which are AI systems designed to achieve a specific outcome; and techniques, methods of teaching a computer to replicate human intelligence, Nitya says. Here are the main types of AI goals and techniques that you’ll come across. 

Computer vision 

Computer vision (CV) refers to neural-network based algorithms used to classify and generate image data. The overarching goal is to teach computers to “see” the way we do. CV is used in the automotive industry to develop self-driving cars, and it’s also heavily used in medicine to diagnose tumors and help health professionals catch things that the human eye can’t. 

Natural language processing 

Natural language processing (NLP) refers to neural-network based algorithms used to classify and generate text data. NLP has a wide range of uses, from virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to large language models like ChatGPT. It’s also heavily used in translation. Check out our Data Scientist: Natural Language Processing Specialist career path if you want to start building your own NLP program. 

Machine learning 

Machine learning uses algorithms that use large amounts of data and computing power to find patterns in data and perform tasks like prediction, classification, and generation. You likely interact with some form of machine learning every day, like when Spotify or Netflix suggests new content based on your interests. 

Generally, there are two types of machine learning: Supervised and unsupervised. 

  • Supervised learning involves manually telling a program the correct output repeatedly until it learns to do it itself. 
  • Unsupervised learning involves giving a program a ton of data and allowing it to make its own connections. 

You can learn the basics of machine learning algorithms and how to train supervised and unsupervised models in the path Learn Machine Learning.

Neural networks 

Neural networks are “information processing units arranged in specific configurations designed to mimic the human brain,” Nitya says. While neural networks serve as the foundation for various AI methods, they require vast amounts of data and computing power and can be very complex, so they’re not necessary for tasks that can be accomplished with other machine learning techniques. 

Generative adversarial networks 

“Generative Adversarial Network (GANs) basically involve two neural networks duking it out until one convinces the other that stuff it generated (text, images, etc.) is good to go,” Nitya says. 

The two neural networks that comprise a GAN have different tasks. One generates new data, while the other evaluates whether or not it fits the prompt. “Let’s say the goal is to generate images of cats,” Nitya says. “The generator wants to do as good a job as possible at generating cats, and the discriminator wants to do as good a job as possible filtering out things that aren’t cats.” 

GANs are used heavily in image-based tools like Photoshop and Stable Diffusion. 

Deep Learning 

Deep learning is an umbrella term that covers many of the other types of AI listed here. “It’s basically machine learning done with neural networks,” Nitya says. Neural networks have multiple layers, and they can be either shallow (with few layers) or deep (with many layers). Deep neural networks require more computational resources but tend to outperform shallow ones. 

Reinforcement learning 

Reinforcement learning uses a penalty-reward system to perform tasks. “Say you’re building a self-driving scooter and want it to distinguish between the sidewalk and the road,” Nitya says. “You upload images of both and every time it correctly distinguishes between the two, you give it a point, and when it’s incorrect, you reduce a point, and this calibrates the system to do what you want.” 

Reinforcement learning is used to develop self-driving cars, and it’s always used in tandem with deep learning algorithms. There’s also reinforcement learning based on human feedback (RLHF), which uses human fact checkers to work with systems and help them respond appropriately to prompts. 

Learn more about AI 

As you can see, there’s way more to AI than just generative AI. Want to dig in and learn more about the different types of AI and what they can do? Check out our AI courses to explore large language models, prompt engineering, chatbots, and more.

Film Club: ‘A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes’

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Film Club: ‘A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes’

“A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes” is a five-minute Opinion video addressing the quiet drug epidemic facing our nation — excessive drinking. “Imagine a way,” the Times filmmakers ask, “to drastically cut the number of deaths on America’s roads, to spare many from fatal disease, something that could reduce violence and even unwanted pregnancies.” The good news, they inform us, is that it actually exists: raise taxes on alcohol. The bad news is that politicians are petrified to do so.

How persuasive is the film? Do you agree that excessive drinking is a national crisis? Is it a big problem where you live? After watching the video, do you think raising alcohol taxes is a good idea?

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

  • What questions do you still have?

  • What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: What can be done to reduce the destructive effects of excessive drinking? Is raising alcohol taxes a good idea?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read “A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes.” Kirk Semple and Adam Westbrook, the Times filmmakers, write:

The Opinion Video above is about a drug problem — but not the one you may think. While the United States struggles to deal with the opioid crisis, there’s a quieter drug epidemic that has been unfolding for a lot longer. It involves a substance that was normalized long ago but that, by some measures, plays a role in more than 140,000 deaths a year.

It’s alcohol.

But don’t worry. We here at Opinion Video are not a bunch of temperance reformers coming to take away your six-packs and single malts. We just think there’s a lot more that American lawmakers could be doing to lessen the harm that alcohol causes.

Sure, the government has set limits on how, where, when and to whom alcohol can be sold. But there’s another highly effective measure that officials have largely ignored: tax increases. (Even if the thought of more taxes makes you want to reach for a bottle of something, take a look at the video and tell us where you stand via the poll below.)

Want more student-friendly videos? Visit our Film Club column.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

What Students Are Saying About Accountability at School

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What Students Are Saying About Accountability at School

I do not think students will, or can be, compelled to succeed if everything is given to them. I know that if I was guaranteed a 4.0, as this article suggests many are, then I would not try in any class. Successes are also far less beneficial for learning. I find that I learn best if my success comes at length, following a good deal of challenges and struggling. Tough teachers have always appealed to me. I think that, while teachers and institutions should be considerate of a student’s particular needs, stringent work and grading appropriately is a necessity to encourage quality education among high school students. I think that failing to grade students as they deserve creates a kind of entitlement; snowplow parenting does not adequately prepare children for the realities of life.

— Jackson, Cumberland Polytechnic High School

Parents and bad policies are making the job of teaching one that no one really wants, which can be seen through the national teacher shortage plaguing almost every district in the U.S. A teacher on the East Coast named Russell explained that every student in the graduating class at his school had a 4.0 GPA and the students also knew that “failure was a bad word” and one that the students feared immensely. Because of these bad policies and overbearing parents, teachers are becoming more and more burned out every day. Because of this burn out, teachers are simply finding it easier to just pass the students instead of putting in the effort of holding the students accountable, since it wouldn’t even work anyway. Now, I’m not calling these teachers lazy by any means at all, they’re simply burned out and it is not their fault. When the student doesn’t perform, the teachers are made to be at fault, not the students, and they’re questioned by parents: “Why is my kid failing your class?” and “What are YOU going to do about it?” Teachers are being held “accountable,” not the students.

— Ava, Hoggard High School

What would make teaching more appealing to me is if teaching was a more appreciated profession. Although administrations, parents, and students do respect teachers, I do not believe they respect teachers enough. Teachers have such an important role in society, but yet people treat them as if they do not.

— Katalina, New Rochelle High School

It’s not fair to force a teacher to display a certain grade and still hold them responsible for keeping kids accountable when it comes to learning. Most teachers chose their jobs because they realized their contribution to society. But if they are unable to contribute because of policies and angry parents, it’s not surprising how they may fall out of love with their job. I would consider teaching as a career because I enjoy it. I love teaching kids new things and watching them grow as people, but I wouldn’t be happy with the way school is seemingly less focused on educating/preparing kids for the real world and more focused on keeping students happy.

— An :), Bentonville West High School

Learn more about Current Events Conversation here and find all of our posts in this column.

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Nov. 15, 2023

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What’s Going On in This Graph? | Nov. 15, 2023

Economists and demographers who study population size project that the world’s population will reach a peak of about 10 billion people around 2085, if not earlier. Thereafter, the population is not expected to plateau, but instead decline to less than two billion about 300 years later, over perhaps 10 generations. Factors that influence population size of a country include fertility, mortality, migration and age structure. One of the results of population decline may include reduced economic growth.

1. After looking closely at the graph above (or at this full-size image), answer these four questions:

The questions are intended to build on one another, so try to answer them in order.

2. Next, join the conversation online by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box. (Teachers of students younger than 13 are welcome to post their students’ responses.)

3. Below the response box, there is an option to click on “Email me when my comment is published.” This sends the link to your response which you can share with your teacher.

4. After you have posted, read what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting a comment. Use the “Reply” button to address that student directly.

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, teachers from our collaborator, the American Statistical Association, will facilitate this discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time.

5. By Friday morning, Nov. 17, we will reveal more information about the graph, including a free link to the article that includes this graph, at the bottom of this post. We encourage you to post additional comments based on the article, possibly using statistical terms defined in the Stat Nuggets.

We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!

More?

• See all graphs in this series or collections of 60 of our favorite graphs, 28 graphs that teach about inequality and 24 graphs about climate change.

• View our archives that link to all past releases, organized by topic, graph type and Stat Nugget.

• Learn more about the notice and wonder teaching strategy from this 5-minute video and how and why other teachers are using this strategy from our on-demand webinar.

• Sign up for our free weekly Learning Network newsletter so you never miss a graph. Graphs are always released by the Friday before the Wednesday live moderation to give teachers time to plan ahead.

• Go to the American Statistical Association K-12 website, which includes teacher statistics resources, Census in the Schools student-generated data, professional development opportunities, and more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Do You Use Swear Words?

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Do You Use Swear Words?

Do you use curse words? If you use them, do you ever think about why? Does it feel good to unleash some foul language? Does it get attention? Does it help you bond with others or fit into a group?

And if you don’t, why do you avoid it?

In the Opinion essay “The Secret Power of Swearing,” Rebecca Roache writes about how certain words have become off-limits in polite company:

Swearing can be so satisfying that it can help us withstand pain. It can shock, offend and entertain. It can release tension or increase it. It can foster intimacy.

What’s swearing’s secret? How do four-letter words move us in all the ways they do?

All languages have taboos, things that nice people don’t mention in polite company, and these taboos tend to cluster around themes like religion, defecation, disease and sex — in other words, things that can harm us physically or spiritually. As the linguists Keith Allan and Kate Burridge put it, the harmfulness of taboos “contaminates” certain words that refer to them, making those related words taboo, too. This is usually how a word becomes a swearword.

Which taboos are strongest tracks societal values. Something previously acceptable can become a taboo, or vice versa. In prudish Victorian Britain, extremely lewd street names that existed unproblematically throughout the country in the Middle Ages were bowdlerized. And in increasingly secular cultures the taboo around religious-themed words has waned. Take “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” Rhett Butler’s famous line in the film “Gone With the Wind”: It is far less shocking to modern ears than it was to the film’s audience in 1939.

But ghosts of once powerful taboos can continue to haunt us. Consider, as Professors Allan and Burridge do, spilling salt, which was once both expensive and spiritually significant. Throwing a pinch of spilled salt over one’s left shoulder, into the eyes of the devil that resided there, was supposed to ward off bad fortune. Lots of people still do this, but not, I suspect, to blind the devil. In a similar way, swear words, once contaminated with the disgust or power associated with a strong taboo, retain their power even as the shock value of those origins wanes.

These days we mostly cause offense by swearing because swearing is a behavior that causes offense. When we swear in a context in which we can assume those around us would prefer we didn’t, that choice is a sign of our disrespect.

Situating the capacity to offend in the swearer’s intent helps some puzzling things about swearing make sense, like why it’s somehow less offensive to replace a letter with an asterisk, despite the fact that everyone still knows what it means. The choice sends a message to the reader: I recognize that this word might offend you, and I care about your feelings. Because intent matters, a few asterisks can rob the word of its potency.

But swearing, even without censorship or euphemism, can also be affectionately benign. To be understood this way, a listener needs to trust that the speaker is not verbally attacking but letting his or her guard down and signaling that the setting is informal and the relationship is friendly. Swearing in these contexts can even foster intimacy between recent acquaintances. Between people who already trust each other, it’s an excellent way to communicate affection.

Students, read the entire essay and then tell us:

  • When it comes to foul language, do you use it? If so, how often, and for what reasons? If not, why not?

  • Do you have any “rules,” conscious or not, about swearing? For example, if you use curse words, are there certain situations and places in which you avoid them? Are there people around whom you know better than to use objectionable language? Are you someone around whom others tend to watch their language?

  • What do you think about the idea that swear words have power, even if they are no longer generally very shocking? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

  • A review of a book by Benjamin K. Bergen about profanity addresses the potential harm that swear words may cause:

Doing parents everywhere a favor, he points out that despite what the American Academy of Pediatrics has said, there is no evidence that exposure to profanity harms children. And he argues strenuously “that there are better ways to deal with profanity than to suppress it,” even though he acknowledges evidence that one type of profanity — slurs directed at people because of their racial, ethnic and sexual identities — are measurably harmful.

What have you learned from your parents or other adults in your life about swearing, whether via direct conversations or your observations of their behavior? What have they communicated about what is appropriate and what is not? If you have children one day, what do you think you would teach them?

  • As Ms. Roache notes in her essay, The New York Times has “a steep threshold for vulgar words,” rarely publishing obscenities. You’ll notice also that the site, including The Learning Network, does not allow profanity in the comments section. Why do you think The Times has made this choice? What tone does it set? Do you think it is a wise policy? Why or why not?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Walking Through Town

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Walking Through Town

Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration or, describe a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Picture Prompts here.

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