Debatable

What about the word "opinionated"?   Is it bad or good to be opinionated?  What is the connotation of the word?
What does it take to become informed? 

Drugs -- Marijuana 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/25/feature/legalizing-marijuana-is-fine-but-dont-ignore-the-science-on-its-dangers/?utm_term=.07084104b8ca&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

Fidget Spinners?  

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865680112/Why-my-kids-dont-have-fidget-spinners.html

Handwriting

https://newsela.com/articles/handwriting-champion/id/31945/

https://newsela.com/articles/epitaph-for-cursive/id/20223/

Dead horse?  Do people need a warning that they might see a dead horse in a photo?

Are girls treated differently than boys?

Make your heart like a lake, with a calm, still surface,
and great depths of kindness.

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. 

Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” 

― Elie Wiesel

Refugees

What They Took With Them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS-Q2sgNjl8

Dead Boy in the Sand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMjIUneTF6M 

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/education/college/students-protest-circus-outside-uccu-center/article_cc080863-8cfc-533f-a0e0-256fe92b6116.html

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” ― John Steinbeck

Money Suit Social Experiment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_nuPlE2KU8

The Lost Generation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRG4ySdi_aE

The Girl Who Silenced the World for Five Minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/15/poverty_nation_how_america_created_a_low_wage_work_swamp/

Do superheroes make good role models?  Can we learn helpful lessons from superheroes?

Professional Juries

with arguments addressing counterclaim!

http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201509#pg25

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-elementary-children-violence-chicago-0728-20140725-story.html

Sleep and School:
http://my.hrw.com/support/hos/hostpdf/host_text_101.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/06/teen-sleep-school-start/31212457/

Another debatable topic: Tattle-Tale or Good Citizen?

Martin Luther King, Jr.  -- his life - how he became the leader he was
http://my.hrw.com/support/hos/hostpdf/host_text_124.pdf

Curfew:
http://www.npr.org/2014/08/31/344643559/for-their-own-good-new-curfew-sends-baltimore-kids-home-early

Police Using Deadly Force:
http://www.npr.org/2014/09/25/351373721/police-mental-stamina-metrics-shed-light-on-deadly-force

Want your parents to understand your music?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/08/28/344023685/the-good-listener-parents-just-dont-understand

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/08/22/342419651/who-owns-a-monkey-s-selfie-no-one-can-u-s-says

Robin Williams as the U.S. Flag:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_L1vLv84vs

Kid's baseball: There should be no coaches. There should be no umpires. Ties should go to the runner.  – Bill Littlefield
http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2014/08/20/little-league-world-series-baseball

Every Word Has Impact?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWlJcGJB1yM

Competition?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/08/05/331412567/when-kids-start-playing-to-win

School Mom?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-fenton/5-ways-i-will-be-a-different-school-mom-this-year_b_5644250.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

Comic Con or comic cons?
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58229373-78/comic-con-diego-san.html.csp
http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/genericideterm.htm

Facebook?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carly-steyer/why-i-dont-have-facebook_b_5613962.html?utm_hp_ref=teen

The middle school ‘cool kids’ are not alright

Dead Mothers in Movies and Stories
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/13/330728443/kids-films-and-stories-share-a-dark-theme-dead-mothers

David Kaczynski's Brother Ted nearly killed Gary Wright . . . .David and Gary. . . . have. . . become best friends
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20221738,00.html

Extreme Sports/animal cruelty:  The Running of the Bulls
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/12/330683866/wounded-bull-runner-if-you-run-long-enough-you-get-gored

"The Happiest Person in the World" radio program from 1948:
http://www.myoldradio.com/old-radio-episodes/family-theater-the-happiest-person-in-the-world/35

Tracking Devices on Kids?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/07/10/330406463/a-new-device-lets-you-track-your-preschooler-and-listen-in


Should they or shouldn't they?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/05/28/186924477/personalized-coca-colas-but-not-if-your-name-is-mohammed-or-maria?utm_source=news&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130529


Genetically Engineered Crops?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/07/31/206969863/genetically-modified-organisms-to-eat-or-not-to-eat?utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130731

Yelling?

Whom do you want to emulate? 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2323795/Mother-shuns-Disney-Princess-ideal-dresses-daughter-REAL-heroines-history-commemorate-fifth-birthday.html


Suspending a Football Team
http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_7019.shtml

Should McDonalds market to kids?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/10/231531070/catcher-in-the-fry-mcdonalds-happy-meals-with-a-side-of-books

Video Games and War Crimes?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/10/12/232480753/red-cross-wants-video-games-to-get-real-on-war-crimes

Trained bear?
http://zasmejsa.com/videa/zobrazit/62981/v-tom-rusku-je-mozne-asi-naozaj-vsetko/?lang=en

Technology -- How Much -- or None -- for Kids?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-rowan/10-reasons-why-handheld-devices-should-be-banned_b_4899218.html

Books on the Screen or on the Page?
http://mic.com/articles/99408/science-has-great-news-for-people-who-read-actual-books

Suit for handcuffing student

Teens Sleep Too Much?

Perhaps it's not so cool to be cool in junior high.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/12/321314037/cool-kids-lose-though-it-may-take-a-few-years

Too much texting?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/06/22/323568848/redefining-what-it-means-to-talk-in-the-age-of-smartphones

Should dogs be counted as family, not property?
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58105457-78/officer-kendall-dog-police.html.csp

Do you think our sky would look better with a bigger moon, more moons, a moon with rings?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2014/06/24/325201114/what-we-need-is-a-moon-with-rings

Is texting actually good for kids' spelling and grammar?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10895575/Texting-improves-childrens-spelling-and-grammar.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/09/30/351521488/kids-and-screen-time-cutting-through-the-static

Civil Disobedience:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/03/328163481/purling-in-anger-arrest-breaks-up-knit-in-at-vermont-utility

Body Image:
http://www.beautyredefined.net/body-powerful-use-instrument-ornament/

Nose-Picking:
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20140108-25962-2.html
Does Frozen tell it as it is?

School in Gaza
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/09/22/349920992/in-the-gaza-strip-the-school-year-gets-off-to-a-rocky-start

Child Labor
http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/10/11/355141727/nobel-laureate-kailash-satyarthi-aims-to-eliminate-child-labor

Billboards (edit for language -- President Johnson takes the name of God in vain and used a word that means separated from God)
http://www.npr.org/2014/09/06/346153394/in-cities-across-texas-activists-battle-billboard-companies

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/students-biggest-lie-resolving-it-jose-vilson

What is a geek?

________________________________

From HONY:  What is it that makes someone useful?

"What's your biggest goal in life?"
"To be useful."

(Odessa, Ukraine)



______________________________________

Would you like to know the biggest seller among "robot emotion chips" sold in The Echo Park Time Travel Mart in Los Angeles . By the way, the store motto is "Whenever you are, we're already then."
Their biggest seller is Schadenfreude.
scha·den·freu·de. noun, often capitalized \ˈshä-dən-ˌfrȯi-də\. : a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people

https://newsela.com/articles/bullying-popular/id/3273/  8th grade
https://newsela.com/articles/bullying-popular/id/3278/  7th gradeIn school, popular kids get bullied just like the outcasts, study says

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2862375/Boy-12-kills-bullied-cheerleader.html

A reason to read fiction:
http://mic.com/articles/104702/science-shows-something-surprising-about-people-who-love-reading-fiction

Bullied --

How do we treat people who stutter or have other "speech impediments"?
http://www.npr.org/2014/12/21/372117734/desperate-to-speak-how-emily-blunt-found-her-voice

Dealing with disability:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/04/372453585/paralympic-champion-makes-the-case-for-meningitis-vaccine

To Shoot or Not to Shoot?
Vaccines

School Start Times
http://www.sciencealert.com/science-agrees-that-you-start-work-and-school-too-early

Trapped in His Body  -- See the other articles linked from this.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/09/376084137/trapped-in-his-body-for-12-years-a-man-breaks-free


http://www.npr.org/2015/01/25/379787274/howd-a-cartoonist-sell-his-first-drawing-it-only-took-610-tries



http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/28/381622350/why-teens-are-impulsive-addiction-prone-and-should-protect-their-brains?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150128

Woman charged with killing hunter's falcon to save duck

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho woman faces charges after authorities say she beat a hunter's falcon to death with a beaded scarf after seeing the bird of prey take down a duck.

Patti MacDonald, 60, of Hauser, was charged with a misdemeanor count of beating or harassing an animal, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported (http://bit.ly/1EVs0LB ).

Authorities say MacDonald fractured the skull of the 8-year-old falcon named Hornet on Jan. 7. The duck also died and was being stored as evidence, Idaho Fish and Game said.

Hornet's owner, Scott Dinger, said MacDonald should be charged with killing a protected species.

He said he was about 500 yards away when Hornet made a successful attack and landed with the duck. He said he was approaching the spot then he saw a red Jeep Wrangler pull up to the side of the road, and Hornet flew away but appeared injured.

Dinger said the woman told him she beat the bird, which had been with humans since the day it was hatched.

"So they don't really know they are falcons," Dinger said. "That was probably a part of his undoing, because you could walk up to him and he wouldn't fly or try to get away."

Craig Walker, a regional conservation officer for Idaho Fish and Game, said he later received an anonymous call from a woman saying she tried to save a duck from a falcon. The phone system identified the caller as MacDonald.

Walker wrote in his report that the woman stated "that she had been very upset about the duck being injured, but felt bad about injuring someone's pet."

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said he reviewed Walker's report and determined the misdemeanor charge was appropriate. Beating or harassing an animal is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 for a first-time offender.

No phone listing could be listed for MacDonald to try to reach her for comment Monday.

Dinger said it was tough to accept what happened because his bird was 8 years old, and falcons can live for about 30 years when they're with humans.

"I had planned for Hornet to live longer than me," Dinger said.

___

Information from: Coeur d'Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com

http://www.sciencealert.com/124-year-old-patent-reveals-the-proper-way-to-use-toilet-paper

Article about boy who revealed cheating at his school: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/10/139393742/indonesian-family-pays-price-for-exposing-cheating

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/04/02/396810355/searching-online-may-make-you-think-youre-smarter-than-you-are

Minecraft?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32051153

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-minute-film-festival-talking-about-race-and-stereotypes

One Child Is Holding Something That’s Been Banned In America To Protect Them. Guess Which One?

Child Soldiers: It's Not Happening Here, But It's Happening Now

The End: "If You Smoke, Statistically Your Story Will End 15% Before It Should."

Air Pollution Kills 60,000 People A Year

Cell Phones at School

Police Involved in Shootings

http://www.localnews8.com/news/officer-involved-in-shooting-explains-what-its-like-to-be-cop/34424472

Editorial Cartoons

http://upfront.scholastic.com/top_news?linkId=15908540

Is this true?

http://www.the-open-mind.com/bride-groom-feed-4000-refugees-instead-of-throwing-traditional-wedding/

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all -- in which case, you fail by default.” -- J.K. Rowling

"The world has been abnormal for so long that we've forgotten what it's like to live in a peaceful and reasonable climate. If there is to be any peace or reason, we have to create it in our own hearts and homes."

— Madeleine L'Engle, A Swiftly Tilting Planet

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” 

― Booker T. Washington


https://wethepeople.globalgoals.org/

Attitude 

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Stereotypes:

http://fox2now.com/2015/10/21/moms-dear-teenage-boy-at-the-skate-park-story-goes-viral/

• Is it okay to just do okay at things? 
• The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (Apr 24, 2007)

http://sni.scholastic.com/resource/uploads_classmag/Social%20Media/Junior/JS-121415-DangerInToyland[1].pdf?linkId=19325708

Tipping: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/18/i-dare-you-to-read-this-and-still-feel-ok-about-tipping-in-the-united-states/?tid=a_inl

Difficult things can be accomplished
given enough enthusiasm, joy, and purpose.