What Students Are Saying About Voting, the Complexities of Identity and Love Across Distances
When people ask where I’m from, I’m usually conflicted. While I currently reside in Texas, I wasn’t born nor raised here. When I moved from California, I was asked a few times where I was from. I’d simply just say, “California.” Then, they’d ask, “Oh, really? What part?” I’d think to myself, “Well, do I…
What Students Are Saying About Embarrassing Parents, Personal Style and Social Media Perceptions
I definitely incorporate my cultural and religious identity in my style, being a Muslim girl, I choose to dress modestly but that doesn’t mean it takes the fun out of styling or wearing clothes, yes, it can be pretty hard to style clothes modestly in summers but lets just winters is my happy place just…
What Students Are Saying About Mental Health, Improving Sports and a Dusk-Lit Train
Swimming: Add Mixed Gender RelaysMy favorite sport, swimming, provides me with a sense of pride and joy. I relate to the professional swimmers I watch on television because I comprehend the amount of work they put into the pool to occasionally drop milliseconds of time in an event. It can be gruesome, but I find…
What Students Are Saying About Socially-Distant Friendships, School Accountability and Lessons From Animals
Yes to Restorative Justice.My reaction to the model of restorative justice discussed in the article was, finally. Finally schools see the difference between fixing a problem compared to pushing it out of the way. My school approaches situations like this by kicking the student out who caused a problem, I think this approach is not…
What Students Are Saying About Democracy, Caring For Plants and “Flights to Nowhere”
Democracy is the freedom of choice. It is the freedom of change, and a key to be utilized to mold a brighter future. I see our democracy our ability to hold an opinion, popular or not. It is the skin that protects our vocal cords, and the microphone that keeps our voices from being drowned…
What Students Are Saying About Justice Ginsburg, Parental Praise and Fall Fun
Growing up my parents definitely praised me for doing certain things. I feel this is an important thing to do when raising kids, because it does in fact give them confidence. I believe there is a happy medium in giving these positive affirmations. Not every little thing deserves a “great job!” However, praising leads to…
What Students Are Saying About Quarantine Dating, Ghosts and Songs of Hope
We all need human connection to survive and if we don’t get it we will become comfortable being alone. Many find that as a good thing but if you really think about it you can develop mental illnesses without even noticing and in the future you won’t feel comfortable talking to people about it because…
What Students Are Saying About Online Test Proctoring, Favorite Books and Driving Tests
For this week’s roundup of student comments on our writing prompts, we asked teenagers to decide if students should be monitored during online tests, to share what books assigned by teachers became their favorites, and to weigh in on whether or not teenagers should be allowed to drive without passing a road test. We’d like…
What Students Are Saying About ‘Life by the Numbers,’ Accents and Pandemic Protests
For this week’s roundup of student comments on our writing prompts, we asked teenagers to share stories about their current lives using numbers, explain what their regional accent means to them and share their thoughts on protesting during a pandemic.We’d like to give a warm welcome to the new students who joined the conversation this…
What Students Are Saying About Family Conflict in Quarantine, Starting Over and Health Care...
For this week’s roundup of student comments on our writing prompts, we’re highlighting teenagers’ thoughts on isolating with their families, beginning again after a setback, and the role of health care workers during the pandemic. Welcome to all the new students who chimed in this week from: Brooks School, North Andover, Mass.; Clarkston, Ga.; Dearborn,…
