In polarized times, we need to listen even to hateful views

In polarized times, we need to listen even to hateful views

Playing in a rock band helped me see that in these polarized times, we need to listen to hateful views to heal divisions and save democracy. Black Lives Matter protesters brawl with supporters of then U.S. President Donald Trump, Huntington Beach, California, 6 June...

It’s a common lament that we live in polarized times. Echo chambers, confirmation bias, troll factories — these are terms we’re all too familiar with now because they identify a problem that is besetting politics and democracy. Vicki Flier Hudson tackles the issue head-on, but unlike so many writers, she takes off the ideological blinders to offer a lesson in empathy — replete with mention of her rock band. She offers techniques at the end of her article that all of us can use. Teachers can ask students to identify an abhorrent point of view and explain why someone could possibly hold that perspective.

In Nigeria, police brutality stirs youth awakening

In Nigeria, police brutality stirs youth awakening

I joined protests against police brutality in my home country of Nigeria and saw them almost become a war, then a rude awakening for youth. Protesters in Umuahia, Nigeria, October 2020 (All photos courtesy of Eje Studios) This story was a runner-up in News...

Joy Chinaza takes us into the streets of Nigeria to join young people protesting against police brutality. Like youth elsewhere this year, she is driven by anger over rights abuses perpetrated by police charged with protecting civilians but who instead turn weapons against minorities. A shared sense of injustice motivates Chinaza and millions of others around the globe, making her story a metaphor for youthful outrage. But the personal details in the tale by the African Leadership Academy student, including the beating her own brother suffers, add poignancy that sets her account apart. Make sure students note how the first-person pronoun draws them into the story. And how her outrage — so common among youth — is tinged with ambiguity at the end.

I went to school with Joe Biden. He’ll be a caring leader.

I went to school with Joe Biden. He’ll be a caring leader.

Joe Biden and I grew up in the same city. He was upright in school and on the playground. He’ll be a caring leader as U.S. president. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden visiting his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 23 October 2019 (Jason Farmer/The...

A lot of ink has been spilled about Joe Biden’s background, but how many authors played sandlot baseball with the U.S. President-elect? News Decoder correspondent Gene Gibbons covered six presidents while at Reuters, but he grew up with Biden, and his reminiscences of their upbringing in Pennsylvania capture key qualities of the next U.S. leader. It’s the details — the nicknames the schoolmarm gave her students, Biden’s phone call to the same teacher — that enliven the story. Without hyperbole or boasting, Gibbons tells a story that packs a punch and highlights Biden’s journey from a vacant lot — “mostly dirt and cinders” — to the White House.

What I learned from a refugee camp in West Africa

What I learned from a refugee camp in West Africa

My family fled civil war in Liberia to a refugee camp in Guinea in West Africa. I learned the power of resilience and the value of diversity. The author, in white next to the woman on the right, at the Kouankan refugee camp in Guinea This story won first prize in News...

News Decoder’s goal is to create a global community, and Varlee Fofana has added his unique voice to the conversation with an essay about growing up in a refugee camp in Guinea. Not many News Decoder students have had to flee civil war as Fofana did, yet many play football, as the author did to connect with other refugee children. Gathering wood, plowing farmland or selling kerosene might not be common chores for most News Decoder students, but they, too, face challenges. Ask your class to read Fofana’s story and then, in up to 600 words, describe a personal experience that shaped their life and character. Encourage them to follow Fofana’s example by using simple words and an unassuming tone to draw readers into their world.

Personal Reflections